Almost two weeks after moving my studio from Allston to Acton I have made my first print:

Remarkable, really. The Epson 9500 seems to have made the trip without a hiccup. It ran two cleaning cycles before I made this, which came out just fine. 

Ever think about what an inkjet printer has to do to make an image that looks like a photograph? The technology boggles the mind. Those of you that don't print, should, as it can be one of life's great pleasures. Tiny little dots of ink being sprayed out on a piece of paper. A far cry from the endless years of sliding photo paper into a developer tray and rocking it back and forth, watching the image appear.

At any rate, I am in and slowly the studio is becoming presentable and usable. Clearly, I have made far too many pictures over my career, this evidenced by the new frame rack being completely full. Some pieces are lost and looking for a home with nowhere to go, leaning up against the wall until I figure out a shelf system that will house them. 

I have my first presentation next week, which will be more chaotic than usual as I have no idea where some framed pieces are as they sit in the frame rack but we will work it out.

Contemplating a move? Make it sooner rather than later. These past two weeks have been exhausting and stressful but I am extremely pleased I am over the worst of it. I have learned that what seems overwhelming is manageable if you just hunker down far enough in advance and work each day.

One of my teaching lessons is: "Get in, get it done, get out." 

That's just what I did.

We've been leading up to the studio move now for a couple of months. February 1 2022 was the day. It was long and exhausting, moving out of my studio in Allston MA that I'd been in for ten years and into a new space in Acton MA.

Many of you have been to the old studio, a near-perfect location and space in a building filled with creatives. I will miss it.

But, since moving to Acton two years ago the drive to the studio in Allston was a killer. It took a couple of years to find something close by but the new space is perfect, about a mile from home.

These are from last week, before the move, building the new rack for framed work.

I went back to the Allston studio this morning to make sure it was clean and ready for new tenants. Bare and returned to its native state, it is no longer mine and no longer has my personality. Just an empty space again. 

I found myself in tears as the studio in Allston evokes memories of some of the best years of my life and the most productive as well.  Printing, framing, preparing exhibitions, showing work to collectors, curators, editors, designers, yearly open studios, parties, dinners, brunches, presentations, teaching workshops and holding critique sessions, great conversations with friends new and old, and above all a place for art: the making, the looking, the discussing and the packaging to send off for a show.

In telling my daughter Maru how I felt leaving the space she said, "A door closes and another opens". How true. The new space is a new and exciting chapter.

Change is harder when you're old.

Right now the new studio is so crammed with everything I can hardly envision how it will work, but it will, and please consider this an open invitation to come and see it when it is ready.

Stay tuned

This is a heads-up post. We are moving my studio from Allston, MA, where it has been for almost ten years, to Acton, MA. 

Why? The new space is far closer to where I live and it is also larger, as the old space was feeling pretty tight.

The current studio a couple of years ago at Allston Open Studios

I have been searching for a new space since I moved to Acton almost two years ago.

Since open-heart surgery in June, my work has been in a kind of limbo. With some smaller projects in process but no shows on the horizon and no effort being made to create new shows.

The new studio is in an office building where I will be the only artist. In order to make it suitable, the owners are knocking down walls to open the space up. The move is February 1 and we will shut down printing and framing in Allston on January 1 to get things ready for the move.

The new space in Concord

To a career artist such as myself a studio represents more than just a place to work and perhaps house a career's art, it is one's identity, a visual and physical marker of the work made and the person that made it as well. An invitation to come to my studio and look at work allows me to share not only some portfolios of prints but also to share my workplace. A studio such as what's described should be a warm, quiet and attractive space with good light for it is where my ideas are brought to fruition, where shows are made and framed, where work is housed and made easily accessible and ideas are made real. 

An artist studio, whether in a backroom in your home, a repurposed garage or a separate small building on your property, says you've made a commitment to being an artist.  It speaks to a level of professionalism and that there is history, years of work represented there. 

Committed to your art? A dedicated studio space says just that.

I can't wait to get in the new place.

I welcome your ideas. Reach me: here

Last month I wrote about moving out of a studio I've been in for 22 years into a new one. Well, it has all happened this week. I showed the old space in the blog Studio Move but here is the new space, taken just after a fresh coat of paint and two days before the move:

And here it is yesterday during and after the move:

Why post this? For me it is just too exciting not to write about. Exciting for a few reasons. One is that, since retiring a year ago, the studio move has been looming large all year. I obtained permission to stay in the old studio for a year after I retired. It was a great gig, having my studio in Northeastern's warehouse, rent free for 22 years. But my affiliation with the school ended when I retired and it was time for me to move on. Which I have now done. I like very much no longer being in debt to the school. I served my time now it is okay to move on and out.

But also the old studio existed in relative isolation from the lively and active arts community there is in the Boston area. The new studio is in a large building teaming with graphic designers, offset printers, painters, architectural firms, film production companies, book makers, other photographers and even a soap maker. There is an open studio weekend in the fall every year as well.

For the next few weeks it will be unpacking and organizing, maybe even having a print and frame sale as I have far too many frames that aren't needed.