Another ending and beginning

 

    I said goodbye to the apartment that’s been my home then studio for the past fourteen years today. With Sofia’s help this morning, I moved the last of my belongings and the cats over to the house. I got the cats situated in the third floor guest room and then set off back to the apartment to clear out the rest of the things that were trash and being donated to whomever wanted what I put out on the curb, mainly a mirror and really nice table. I wish I could have found a home for the table, but I’ve had too much to deal with these past few months. I’m sure someone has already claimed it. 

    It’s going to take a while to process that I’m finally not living nor working there any more. I haven’t had a chance to really stop and think about what the ending of this chapter in my life means. Fourteen years is a long time and a lot did happen in this space. Like most of life, there were ups and downs, but overall, I enjoyed my time there. I think my deepest memories come from the lives of the cats who lived there with me and Eva. They’ve been the most consistent presence through everything that happened there. I pretty much mark my time there by the cats, more than anything else. 

    I went up to the property management office BMG (Bay Management Group) to turn the apartment keys in today and no one was in the office. This was around 4:30pm, they close at 5 and no one was there! I was livid! I called the office number that was answered by someone taking and routing calls for the office, explained the situation and he offered to call one of the people who work there that was on a site somewhere, which he did and the best the person could suggest was to mail the keys to the office. I’m not doing that because I want to hand the keys over to someone who works there. I was assured that I wouldn’t be penalized (which I shouldn’t since this is their problem). I’m just going to take them up in the morning. I’ll call first to make sure someone is in the office and to expect me.
So far, Banjo, Cooper and Sage are hanging out in the third floor guest room, getting acclimated to being in a new space. I feel so bad for them since they were so used to the old space, but I’m sure they’ll feel better as time goes on. I do feel bad that they have to stay in the one room for now, until we can move them downstairs into Sofia’s middle room and then slowly introduce them to the other cats. It’s going to be a challenge with seven cats living here, but we’ll find a way to make it work. 
My Instagram account was hacked last week. So fucking annoying! I’m not going to go into the whole scenario here because I’m really tired of thinking and talking about it. I lost access to my main art account and have attempted to get it back, but I haven’t heard anything from Facebook/Meta as to what’s going to happen next, yet. I started a new art account, but I’m really not into posting anything right now. I think the hack took the wind out of my sails regarding social media. I don’t feel the same cautious enthusiasm I’ve had in the past about it being a good tool for my art business. I lost access not only to the account itself, but all of the people I followed and who followed me. Over the years, I amassed a following of over 5,300! It took a long time to get to that point and now, that’s all but gone. If I return to posting on the regular again, I feel like it might not take as long to regain a significant following. Maybe, who knows?
As I said above, my enthusiasm for using IG and other social media sites has diminished a lot more than it has over the past few years from this one incident. This could be a good thing, as it’s making me re-evaluate how I engage with people digitally. One thought has been to revive my art blog and post there much more often than I have. I started doing that a little earlier this year, but IG pulled me right back in. I also don’t know how much people will relate to the longer form writing that I do there. It very well could be  a better way to get my thoughts out there without the constant scrolling that happens on social media. I don’t know what will work, honestly. I have a little bit of a reputation and following IG and really could/should leverage that. I seem to also be gaining a lot of followers on LinkedIn now for some reason. I don’t post there nearly as often as on IG, but my LI following has exploded recently. I don’t know what to make of this. I should make a new post there soon to keep eyes on the page. 

TM

New Studio Update

 

    Yesterday was my first full day in the new studio. I spent the day opening boxes, figuring out storage and generally moving things around to start making the space work for me. By the end of the day, I even managed to get my lights up in the entryway., a hold over tradition from the old apartment studio. I love sting lights because they lighten my mood a lot and add a little personality to this space, in particular, being as utilitarian as it is. I had more strands, but they must’ve gotten damaged during the move somehow because all three didn’t work. Not a problem, I’ll find more soon. 

I’m still amazed that I found room for all of this stuff in the old space! I mean, most of the bulk here are the boxes and most of what’s in them will be used, but still. I’m proud of my organizational skills to have made this work before. I’m a little sad that I can’t have the cats at this location. I’ll be able to be with them at the house, but it’s not the same. Granted, they sometimes got in the way while I was working, but their presence became a part of the workspace and I miss that. The reality is, though, even if I were able to have them here, it’s still a little too far for me to check in on them when I’m not there on the weekends. The old space is only a 15 minute walk from the house, an easy trek, but the new studio is up in Kensington, which would take much longer for me to get to. Anyway, everything will be fine and work out. 

Today, my goal is to open up more wall space so that I can start painting again soon, get my work tables set up and painting supplies out and stored. 

TM

Here We Go!

 

So, this has been a very busy week, so much so that I’ve barely had a chance to catch my breath. There’s a lot going on, even though I moved most of my art things into the new studio last Friday. The move itself went well, although we had to make two trips instead of one. Thankfully, I had prepared as well as I did because it could have been a shit show and headache for all involved had I not. One of the movers even complimented me on how prepared I was compared to other art moves they’ve had to do. From start to finish, it was a very efficient and pleasant experience, one I didn’t expect considering all of the things that had to be moved and packed into the truck. I knew one of the guys, Jay, from my days at Essene, where he was a customer. Jay’s an excellent packer. Phil and Von (sp?) were also really good at the job. 

As can be seen in the photo above, the studio is pretty packed already. Thankfully, I have a decent amount of built-in storage right above the area from where the photo was taken. I hated having to move so much artwork, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been if I hadn’t already purged a number of paintings. Still have a large amount. Hopefully, I’ll be able to have studio visits and move some of this work. 

So, since last Friday, (actually since Monday), I have been hard at work cleaning up the apartment and continuing to organize the left over boxes that are coming to the house, along with a few going to the studio and going for donation. I need someone to help out with a van or something this coming week. I’m also hoping that some money comes soon so I can pay someone to help out. I need to be completely out by May 31st, but I’m trying to be done by next Friday and turn in the keys. So looking forward to that moment. 

This weekend, we’ll be up in New Paltz, NY to attend Julia’s niece, Kanji’s, grad school graduation. Really proud of her. Can’t believe how fast time has gone by. Of course, just about everything seems that way when you get to be in your late ‘50s. I just saw pictures of Shelly Spector’s daughter (whose name escapes me right now) yesterday on Instagram and she’s just graduated college. I used two spin her around in Essene whenever Shelley brought her in. I’m really annoyed that I can’t recall her name now. Anyway, that’s how it goes, on and on, everyone changes, ages, grows up and life keeps going. If we’re lucky, we have some good memories to carry with us. 

Yesterday, I met up with Barry Halkin, a photographer that Bridgette Mayer Gallery uses to photograph exhibitions and projects at the gallery. We spent some time photographing my mural, Bound Together, at 10th and Callowhill Sts. He’s quite expensive, but after studying what he does to get the shots, I don’t have to question the cost any more. It’s the same when it comes my work. People might look at something I’ve made and perhaps wonder why it costs so much, but if they had any clue as to how much work actually goes into making paintings and maintaining a small business as a painter, they’d understand.

TM

New horizons

 

    A huge change is coming. I've been spending the past few weeks organizing, packing and purging in anticipation of moving to a new studio space next week. Honestly, I can't wait. I've spent the past few years working out of the apartment and the time has finally come to expand beyond this space. While necessity made me make the most of my circumstances, there was only so long that I could flourish here. I began the studio search and didn't think that I'd be able to find anything that was within my budget and large enough. I lucked out on both fronts and found a new studio in one of the best arts buildings in the city-the Crane Building in Kensington. 

    I looked at several spaces prior to visiting the Crane to see a space there that someone was moving out of. The space costs the same as my current studio and is larger than other spaces I looked at, so the choice was pretty clear. Not only that, but I'll be right next to Rebecca Rutstein's studio and Arden is right on the second floor. There are a number of other artists that I know who are in the building, as well, including two former art professors of mine. I had a loft storage area and painting rack built in the studio already. I'll go in Tuesday to have my orientation, get keys and the lay of the land. I know the building, but not as a tenant, so there's a few new things to learn. 

    I'm moving on Friday and having a moving company deal with everything. I've been trying to downsize some of my belongings and purge artwork that didn't need to be around any more. It's been about 10 yeas since I did the most recent purge and with the passage of time, I've been able to see some of the work in a different light. It was much easier to let go of older works this time than before. It's been a very cathartic and needed experience. I still have a ton of work to move and that's a bit annoying, but at least I have space to put it all without having to rent an outside storage unit. 

TM