The Studio Evolution

Hello for those of you that like to see the work areas we present a raw look at the studio.  My current studio is still evolving it has been under construction for the last 5 years or so.  When we moved out to our current location we decided to build my studio over the garage.  This is the first piece of floor that we built.  The stairway is to the left of the photo.  This shot is taken looking from the door of my kiln room across the back of my studio.  This area has only recently been 'finished' (well nearly finished)  ironic since it was the first area to be built.  As you can see on the far wall we have foam insulation in the building.  The first year that I worked in the studio I didn't have this foam insulation and nearly cooked while working in this very area on tables made up of plywood over saw horses.  The steel building would get very hot in our phoenix summers.  So much so in fact that if you happened to touch it by accident you would actually burn yourself.  Sitting here working felt much like being under the grill of your oven.  One day in particular I remember that I came out to the studio to work and by 10:30 am it was 114 degrees in here.  Needless to say I didn't work long that day.  Now with the nice insulation and an evaporative cooler it is quite comfortable.



This is a shot of the same area now, looking from the other side over toward my kiln room.  In the foreground you can see my china painting table with several pieces in process and a book that I was using for reference.  The next table over I use for building hand built pieces with both porcelain and PMC it currently is covered with PMC projects.  The far table against the wall of the kiln room I use for cleaning cast greenware, sanding, drilling and polishing things.

This is a shot of my kiln room.  You can see the exhaust fan on the wall and my two larger kilns.  I now have a steel table above the kiln on the left with my smallest kiln on it.  The door is a pocket door that slides into the wall keeping it out of the way.  I can close the door and turn on the fan to keep all the bad fumes out of my studio area.

This is a shot of my pouring area.  This is a rather old photo and there are shelves against the left and far walls now as well.  To the left you can see my cooler.  On the right you see the table where I pour all of the slip cast pieces that I make.  Above the table is a cabinet that holds all of my tiny mold for my dollhouse miniatures and some of the jewelry pieces.  Most of the over 500 molds that I have I have made myself.  I make molds from a variety of things including found objects, antique pieces, buttons, and original sculptures that I have made specifically for a given purpose.

This shot is of a table area that is located on the other side of the stairway.  The table you see is against the wall of the stairway and you are looking back toward the first area I showed you.  It is very bright because of the lovely windows that are across the back of the building.  To the right of this area behind a wall is the pour area.  This is where I was doing my china painting while we were working on the area next to the windows that I showed you first and you can see the painting materials on this table.  They have since been moved to the new tables which I showed you first.  This area is now cleared out and is ready to be finished.  We have to finish the ceiling (cover up the insulation), paint and texture the walls, and tile the floor.  Then this area will be used for the assembly of jewelry and other pieces.  This completes the tour of my studio.  I hope you have enjoyed it.

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