Studio Renovation Complete

Entrance to Pottery by Peggy

We are only 18 days into the New Year and my first resolution is completed! Not bad! There’s nothing like starting the year with a clean, fresh renovated studio. The process started last August, when we decided to enter yet another turning point (one such event resulted in the creation of Turning Point Arts) in our careers! It was then that two major decisions were made.

First, we decided to close down The Pottery Store in Chemainus. (you can read about that here). Of course, our goal was to sell it so the 17 year tradition could continue – but the economic climate prevented us from finding a buyer. Perhaps the universe was taking care of me by not letting us sell the business, because I acquired more shelving, tables and plinths than I could ever use.

Secondly, I decided that after 30 years, I wanted to stop teaching pottery. As a result, I put my four very old pottery wheels up for sale on Craig’s list. Much to my delight, all four sold within a couple of weeks! That left some empty spaces to be filled up. Luckily, I knew where to get some shelving to accomplish just that.

In October, I drew up my studio renovation plans keeping in mind the re-purposed store furniture. Then, I did what I now know is a very smart thing to do. I put it away until after Christmas, then took a vacation for a week to settle my mind on new plans. As a habitual ‘rusher’, this is a new technique for me and one that I think will serve me well in all new endeavours.

I had a lovely New Years with friends and family, then a three day vacation in Victoria with my sister. Fortified with proper sleep, good feelings, great food and pleasant experiences, I was ready to tackle the very huge task of tearing apart and reconstructing my studio.

A pottery studio is prone to collect a lot of dust and debris – a garage pottery studio adds cobwebs, dead bugs and other unpleasant surprises. Ruthlessly, I forged ahead, disposing of bags of stuff I have held onto far too long – old pottery, half finished projects, ancient chemicals, dried out clay, broken tools. After the purge, I re-visited my floor plan and tweeked it up a bit.

Now the fun began: lugging torn down Ikea shelving from the store to the studio. If you have ever assembled, un-assembled and re-assembled Ikea shelving, you will relate! I added about 35 feet of shelving – at last there would be a place for everything and everything can remain (one hopes) in its place. (okay that’s another resolution!).

New Pottery Studio Setup	Throwing Area
Glazing Area	Slab Roller and wedging area

So, here it is – the new Pottery by Peggy studio. What do you think? I have created two rooms using a shelving system as a divider along the length of the room. On the left is the building area – 2 work tables, slab roller, pottery wheel, throwing batts and tools. On the right side is the glazing and firing area – chemicals, glazes, brushes, tools, work table and plenty of room for holding work going in and out of the kiln.

You will note the small “Welcome to The Pottery Store” sign in front. That will be mounted so it is visible as folks approach the studio. I want to help our loyal Pottery Store customers find us, so we are keeping the signage, brand and mailing list to educate people to find the artist studios.

Peggy’s new wheel!

By the way – no new, state of the art studio would be complete without a new state of the art potter’s wheel. That’s a brand new Shimpo VL Whisper wheel. What a treat! My first projects on that wheel are the two large rain barrels on the work table.

Rain Barrels in progress

Next time I write, you will see the final product – and you can check up on me to see if I have achieved my second New Year’s resolution: to keep the studio organized and clean(ish)! Until then, thanks for reading! I wish everyone creativity and joy in whatever your passion in life is in 2014!