Repainting the Studio

At the end of August, I had a hunch that things would not being back to "normal" anytime soon. Covid-19 had upended much of life and I knew with fall coming it was probably going to get worse before it got better. I am not a pessimist, but I knew then that January can be a hard month and February, the shortest month of the year, can feel the longest.

I decided to repaint the studio. I also decided in would take three days. Spoiler alert: it took so much longer. Above is what the studio used to look like, you can see I have my power washer out and am ready to go.

Here's a pro tip: do not power wash stucco. I learned that the hard way.

I painted most of the studio myself with some guidance from Scott at Repco Lite Paints. Repco Lite Paints are made in Holland, MI and I was really excited to buy from a local paint company.

All the wood trim had to be primed before we could begin painting. I don't feel comfortable at the top of that long aluminum ladder and had to recruit Joe to come and help me reach the high spots (above),

The studio has many textures to cover. There is stucco (remember don't power wash that), siding, wood, and cinder block because of that, it all had to be done by hand, no painter sprayer here. 

You know when you are doing one project you always start a side project? Well if you don't do that, I don't recommend starting that habit. But as I was painting I decided I should recoat the driveway and use these old bricks I have laying around for a landscape boarder. It sure does look pretty!

I have been using stars in my work since I started Bella Joy Pottery back in 2015 and sketched up this star that Christine from Folk Art by Christine Beals turned into reality. It's hard to see in this photo, but several of the bands encompassing the star sparkle with glitter! It is so magical in the sunlight.

All-in-all, the studio took about 2 months to complete. I painted around pottery making and am so pleased with how it turned out!

I even made fun little birch trees for the winter. I kept the blue and white Christmas lights up to fill the winter nights with light.

And the color of the repainted studio makes an excellent backdrop for photographing pottery like this mug!