i used to be a painter
Did you know I was a professional painter at one point in my life? While Ella and I were painting our dining room over the holiday break, I casually mentioned my brief career as part of a painting crew in Detroit and surrounding areas. She was surprised that she didn't know, but not surprised that I was.
As a college student I was always looking for more cash (to pay tuition, to pay rent, to pay food, to feel safe?) and was (and am) always up for learning new things. In my German poetry class, I met Rainer Maria Rilke through his poetry, but I met a musician who had a house painting business on the side through an overheard conversation in the hallway outside class. As it turned out, he needed help to complete a project before the holidays in order to fulfill a contract, so I offered my services. I think I surprised him by offering my services, likely wearing cute heels and brightly-colored tights with a short skirt and looking anything but professional. but I needed some money, and I had some experience. I had previously cleaned and painted my parents' rental houses to prepare for new tenants, I had refinished wood floors in historic homes, and I am pretty skilled with my hands in general, so I volunteered to be on his crew.
On the first weekend job, I arrived early with coffee for everyone. It was so cold we could all see our breath in the air so we guzzled down our drinks to warm ourselves before we piled into a pickup truck with no heat for the drive to the job site. When we arrived, the owners of the house left for the day while we labored removing 50-year-old wallpaper and scrubbing the walls to even out the surface. We scraped the windows and repainted everything so beautifully it felt like a new house when we were done. It was two days on a 4-person crew and I could not get enough of that satisfying transformational work, so I made myself available for the next couple jobs he had contracted.
I eventually ran into the German student/painter again when his rockabilly band was playing at the club my band was scheduled to play the following night, but my singing days are another career for another time.
I learned so much by participating in that professional smooth-running team. I appreciated the camaraderie of waking up super early and drinking bad coffee together before traveling in one vehicle to the job site. I learned brush control, so I didn't waste time relying on masking tape and still having to fix drips that escape underneath even the most carefully applied protection. Tape is so much better these days than in the early 90s!
It was exhausting, fulfilling work. When the new semester started, I was hired as a research assistant for our German professor, which meant I couldn't spare the time to paint anymore, so that was the end of my professional painter-hood. (But indulge me and look at that perfect edge, below!)
Every apartment I moved into received a fresh paint job before I ever unpacked anything. I moved every year, yet I always managed to make the place my own right away with color and texture and light. It was surprising to me that I didn't paint the walls in my studio space until now. I guess renting a space in order to gather people together wasn't the most prescient timing in January of 2020, but with John working from home 3 months after that (he still is at home, now), it was needed anyway.
This month I have been really embracing a new vision for the space and decided to give it the just-moved-in-and-made-it-my-own treatment of my past self, and even though the paint is just a warmer white and not a drastic color change, the walls that are already painted just feel better already.
I ordered a new desk and I'm still deciding on how to make the best cutting table for filming video (suggestions are welcome!) Soon I'll have some dimmable daylight LED tubes installed to replace the fluorescent bulbs I've only turned on to show people how terribly bright they are. Some reorganization and sorting and settling in more intentionally feels like I'm finally claiming the space that was already mine. I can't wait to show you when it's done.
The newly painted studio will be ready in time for the upgrades I'm making to Sewing is Magic. It's back for a second round, including hand sewing for those who don't have access to or don't want to always sew with a machine and more opportunities for live (virtual) interaction.
I'll also continue pay-what-you-wish Mending Labs each quarter with new skills and themes. I'm introducing Fit Labs later this year for garment makers who want advice and techniques for fitting their own handmade garments in progress, or alterations to store-bought clothes.
I'll be back at Esther's Fabrics for a series of in-person Intuitive Patternmaking workshops which I'll also offer online for those of you who aren't local to the Seattle area.
I can't adequately express how deeply I long for a future when we can get away for a retreat to make things together. Until then, we'll keep making the best of things.
