More Progress from Last Week

It's official and legal...I can now open up shop in the City of Chicago.

Montego Bay Blue...I'm going to try to live with it for awhile, definitely not the color I had envisioned.

Rich surprised me and brought Izzy & Alice to see the shop...

Just as I suspected: Izzy went right for the windows wagging her tailat every passerby and and Alice could hardly contain herself and had tobe be tethered by her leash...

I spent an entire day caulking and painting the metal brackets around the windows, this has made a big difference, I'll show the before & after close ups when I remove the tape.

The floors were sanded and varnished on Friday. I'm hoping to move my studio in this coming weekend. Our friend Flint, and the drummer in Rich's band, has come to my rescue and will be painting the outside of the building for me sometime over the next week or so...this is a huge relief, he will make it look ten time better than I ever could, not to mention I would be flinging paint allover the concrete. Oh..and I still have to make that sign, it's 29" high by 14 feet long...I think some people thought my photo-shopped photograph of the shop was the real deal.

Progress...

Sorry I haven't posted any photos - I'm working so hard, exhausted and early to bed every night (and I'm a late night person!) Trying to get all the painting done before they come to refinish the floors on Friday. Hoping it's warmer next week so I can get started painting outside - haven't even started the sign yet but have gotten some good advice on what to paint it on / how to hang it etc. Last week I had Mark the handyman helping me...he patched holes, weather stripped the backroom, removed a half wall, added more tracks and other electrical work and most importantly put white beadboard paneling on the ceiling of the front window bays. This was a huge improvement...Below are some random photos from last week, I'll share this week's photos in my next post:

covering walls of many different colors...

weatherproofing a very drafty & creepy storage closet

 

the build out that Mark removed for me:

 

it was just placed to close to the back, this will be my easel/painting area

 

Mark installing the paneling, look at the top left of this photo, that's what the entire window bay ceiling looked like. I was a little panicked over how I was going to cover this up, then as luck would have it I saw the beadboard paneling used on an HGTV home improvement show - perfect!

P.S. I've done all the painting myself and all white which blinds me, cannot wait to get some color going...keeping it clean though, color only on the back and front walls.

The First Official Canine Visitor...Maisie

Yesterday I had my first canine visitor in the space, this is Maisie...she was recently adopted by a Francie, a wonderful customer of mine and devoted animal advocate. Francie is the reason we have Alice, she was working with Chicago Canine Rescue and had sent an email about all these puppies needing foster homes...the rest is history. For the past couple of years Francie has been working with A New Leash on Life, this is the group that took Maisie in...she's a very sweet little pup and actually full grown at 1.5 years...very petite for a pit mix. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better as well as many other dogs in the neighborhood!

The Name Game....help me out!

Thanks for voting! I'm keeping it Anne Leuck Feldhaus Studio on the banner sign, then on the hanging sign below I will put 'Gallery & Shop' - retains all the branding I have been doing up until now but still gets the point across that there will be other price points and gifts with the word 'shop'. Thanks to Kathy Weller & Ellen Crimi Trent for their feedback on Twitter...so helpful to bounce off ideas in the moment.

The Key...to my future!

It's been a crazy week, I knew I might get the keys to the space early but had no indication of when. On Monday afternoon Sarah of Sacred Art called and said she was all moved to the new location and ready to hand them over. Very generous of her since the lease does not start until the 1st. So I have been busy cleaning and meeting with people to get quotes for the work I need done. Floors, weather stripping, face-lifting the front window bays, patching the ceiling and adding more track lights. I'll be doing most of the painting - it's so many different colors right now that I need to just get a white base coat on everything and then I'll be able to see it clearly and choose the color(s) going forward. So many details..arranging alarm system, gas, electric, phone and internet, insurance, city business license.... and my current cell phone gets zero to very little reception, so it looks like I'll be switching wireless carriers too. My Angie's List membership has really come in handy for finding the best companies to work with, as well as recommendations from friends. 

I sold the print above on Etsy yesterday, and personalized it for the buyer. I was a little leary, markers are permanent and it's not like I could just paint over it if I messed it up..it looks pretty good. Next time it's an extra charge (anxiety fee). Okay, time to get all the commissions wrapped up that I was supposed to be working on during the week, and then hopefully painting in the space this afternoon. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Fear...

Fear is what has motivated me most of my life....I just realized the other day that I have finally made a shift in my thinking when I saw these words:

Fear Regret, Not Failure.

It was actually the fear of not facing fear and making a change that pushed me to take this new risk/opportunity/challenge and that translates to fear of regret. Life had gotten a little too predictable. I want to connect with and be more a part of the community bringing my love of art and people and pet advocacy all together. I've worked with many different rescue groups over the years but really at arms length, donating artwork for fundraisers and designing posters & t-shirts for events but not being present and interacting directly at the events. I want to use this space to make art and to publicly connect and help support these groups - hosting adoption events, etc. as well as share my art process and possibly even teach kids to do their own pet portraits. 

The Adventure Continues....

I alluded to some news awhile back, here it is: On April 1st I get the keys to my new studio storefront at 2040 West Roscoe, in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago! I have been talking about making this move for quite awhile, back in January the stars aligned and I learned that the perfect spot would soon be available only 1.5 miles from our house in a lovely neighborhood surrounded by shops and restaurants and other businesses. This space has been the home of Sacred Art for almost 3 years, Sarah is moving her store to Lincoln Square so it's only fitting that we keep art in this location. It has a tree and a park bench right outside the door. I mocked up this photo I found on-line as a vision board exercise while I waited to see if my offer would be accepted, and it worked! (A tool my good friend Eva May used to seal the deal with her storefront on Ashland back in 2007).

I'll be using future blog posts to show the progress and to get your advice and feedback on things I'd like to do with the space, I hope to be open for business by mid-April. In the meantime, being the sentimental gal that I am, I did a video tour of my work space here at home (2 weeks ago) so you could see it before I took all the paintings down for my show in Cedarburg. Please excuse my 'and's and 'um's and jerky camera, it's so hard to hear my own voice but I decided to get over it and share with you.