Almost exactly six years ago today my husband and I purchased a 1920's Craftsman bungalow around the corner from our house with a backyard adjoining ours in which to house Siyeh Studio and allow me to move my business out of the basement and into the light. A year later I expanded the vision for my business and opened Siyeh Glass--a Bullseye Kiln Glass Resource Center with a kiln-forming classroom, a 7-torch beadmaking classroom, and a hotshop out back for glass blowing. I added more people to the studio family to teach and staff the facilities. And the wild rumpus began. It was a wild ride and rumpus indeed, and it's time to get off.
So today I closed Siyeh Glass and the hotshop. I no longer have retail hours, regular kiln-forming classes, open studio every day, glassblowing date nights or classes, beadmaking classes, studio elves, or other regular teachers. There are many reasons why I felt compelled to take this step--first among them is a shift in my priorities to my family as my mother has had serious health issues all year and my husband and I are homeschooling our daughter for the first time. But the straws that finally broke me and forced the change now were the hotshop being struck by lightning while I was in Montana this summer (causing the furnace to go out AGAIN), and the website being hacked. I could have spent the money and time to deal with the one and the time and more time to deal with the other, but I just couldn't fix both on top of everything else.
Will I still have open studio? Yes, if someone emails me and asks to come in and work, I'll schedule time for them. Will I still sell Bullseye glass and other glass supplies? Yes, by appointment (again, through email), and probably through a newsletter for people who would like to get in on a large order from Bullseye. Will I still teach/offer classes? Yes, occasionally, and maybe even for a wider variety of media than just glass--I have been approached about leasing space to teachers in other disciplines so they could offer classes in a studio configured for teaching messy hand-crafts.Mainly I will be focusing on my own production work and getting the website for it--Siyeh Studio--back up. I need to spend time developing new work and nurturing old relationships with my galleries.
Life right now, though, is about a lot more than glass. Deep breath in, out, and moving on...
4 comments:
Good luck on your new Life Chapter. Focusing on yourself and your family is a good thing.
Tough decisions. I respect your choices and understand you are doing what you need to do. Better to take care of yourself, your family than continue to fight unneeded stresses. Wishing you much success in your new ventures.
I made a big decision several years ago as well. that 7 years I spent focusing on pate de verre and chasing galleries and exhibitions and galleries and hopefully collectors mostly just left me with an incredible debt. plus doing the work was no longer fun, I hated going to the shows because it was so demoralizing, I didn't have time for anything else and I mean that literally. So after the economy crashed and all my efforts and hopes were dashed to the ground, I let go of the whole path. had to resurrect my commission business that I had neglected, got out of debt, and now just do the cast glass when I have time and it's fun again.
OY!
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