First Day

It's the first of February 2019 and it's the first day I've made anything in my studio this year. Just a few small pendents to test that the equipment is still working as it should before I delve in to orders and memorial paperweights.
I have managed to shuffle most of the hotshop around to give us a bit more space and I've even scrubbed the floor in places! (It's made from wooden decking so it's not getting a complete clean as I'm just going to burn it again soon anyway) The storage room and lobby have both been repainted and restocked with essentials, we can even open both doors all the way now! There's no stuff in the way anymore, we used to have a load of bags of chemicals left over from the days when we melted our own glass from scratch. I'm currently trying to find out how to dispose of them safely.

Everything has taken so much longer than anticipated. The smoke damaged areas took so many coats of paint and everything was just so dirty. The cleaning definitely took longer than the painting but the painting would have been hell without the cleaning first. 
I have also discovered how difficult it it to paint a small ceiling... when you're 5'3".
My mum and step-dad have been amazing throughout this entire process, they have cleaned, masking-taped, painted, organised, done tip runs, painted some more, taken things home to clean and paint, hassled the council about my lease for me, moved heavy stuff, and painted some more! I wouldn't be anywhere close to finished without them! I am so grateful to have my amazing family and friends around me right now.
Plan to open back up in a couple of days. Best get my glass stuff back to the station.

New Tyres

So I'm sat at a garage waiting in the mechanic to fit the two new tyres that I need. I have a nail in one and a bulge in the other.
This may seen like a strange start to an arty-type blog post but bear with me.

I have recently begun the slow transfer of ownership of a glass blowing business and studio. It will happen over the next two years. I now don't get paid to be there and my main income is from selling my own work through the gallery area. I work there in exchange for studio time and pay towards the gas and cullet.
Just before this arrangement began (when I had paid work for four days a week) I had such a hard time dealing with a colleague at another studio that we refused to work with each other from then on. I had worked with this person for two and a half years and dealt with a lot of unnecessary s**t from them.
This meant that I lost two of the paid days a week I had which was going to be my financial stability whilst I started up my business. It couldn't have happened at a worse time for me.
I've had to take a heavy hit to my spending habits, social life, petrol consumption and what I eat and where I shop for it.
Everything has to be saved for and every time I begin to relax a little because I have some money in the bank something comes along and drains my bank balance. Like my car.
I've started selling bits on eBay to make a little bit of money but it's not exactly going to keep my going.

Starting up a glass business and customer base is hard.
Officially a struggling artist right now.