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new studio, not soon enough

January 13, 2013 by Megan 1 Comment

My new studio could not be ready soon enough! My current space is a mess (as evidenced by the fact that I’m making earrings on top of my laptop) but I can’t bring myself to give it the thorough cleaning it deserves until I’m ready to move to the new space.

Unfortunately, the new space is still a little ways off. We have a structure you can walk on now(!) but the plywood isn’t nailed down yet, and there’s still a railing in the floor. Not to mention that after all that’s done, I still have to clean out the rest of the stuff, install flooring, figure out the layout, and move, build, or buy furniture! Now that I’ve spelled it all out, it seems like a long way to go.

Perhaps I should just go clean my current space.

painting sunshine

January 10, 2013 by Megan 1 Comment

If you know me, you know that I hate winter. When it’s cold, my brain just shuts down.

Yesterday was kind of a grey day, and I found myself online, searching for cheap flights to somewhere warm next week. And while I did find some, heading south isn’t really in the cards for me next week. (I’ve got some work to do to get ready for New York Gift at the end of the month.)

So I did the next best thing. I headed into the studio and painted with the brightest colors I had. Lemony yellows and bright blues and greens. And you know what, it worked! By the end of my painting session, I was feeling much warmer!

Paintings 1 + 2

January 9, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

I’ve finished my first two paintings of 2013! Both are 12″x12″ acrylic on canvas. The process I’ve been developing is that I work on multiple canvases at once, in lots of different sizes. The 12x12s are the smallest size I work with, and they’re nice because they tend to come together much more quickly.

I’ve got several larger canvases in the works, and I’m hoping to get a few more paintings finished by the end of the weekend!

The Reconstructionists

January 8, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

Have you seen The Reconstructionists yet? It’s a new, collaborative project between Lisa Congdon and Maria Popova that celebrates remarkable women!

I’m a huge fan of Lisa’s paintings and hand-lettered quotes, and to see them in tribute to incredible women (or as I like to call them, women who make a statement), well…

Totally. In. Love.

I’ll be anxiously following along all year to see which women made the cut.

panoramic love

January 6, 2013 by Megan Leave a Comment

I recently got a new camera (more on that later) and one of the features that I’m absolutely in love with is the panoramic mode.

Now I’m well aware that iPhones and iPads are capable of this as well, but there’s something really satisfying about using my camera and hearing the click, click, click of the shutter as it captures the scene.

This wasn’t even a feature I knew about when I bought my camera, but it’s so addicting that I know I’ll be using it a lot, especially for the studio renovation and my trip to Europe!

my new studio (the beginning)

January 3, 2013 by Megan 4 Comments

Joe and I are currently working on the (very slow) process of renovating and moving into the house I grew up in. Most of the work is cosmetic, and involves sorting through 30+ years of accumulated stuff, tearing up old carpet and wallpaper, and redoing the bathrooms.

But one of the first projects we’re tackling is also one of the most major – we’re converting the old pool room into my new studio!

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Yes, there was a pool inside the house. But the pool has fallen into disrepair, and the cost to get it running again far exceeds the cost to convert the space into a studio.

And what an amazing studio it will make! High ceilings, skylights, and plenty of space.

As you can tell from some of the pictures, I’ve already been using the space for painting. But when it’s all done, it will house my jewelry design and production space, office, and shipping area, not to mention space for painting.

Right now the space is pretty much a mess, but on New Year’s Day, Joe made some serious progress on the floor. (That’s him hard at work in the pictures!) We purposefully designed the floor structure so that if I ever move to a different studio space, we could convert the room back into a pool.

I’ve worked so hard on my business over the last 6 years, and I’m so excited to move into the space of my dreams. It still needs a lot of work, but I’m also really excited to share the transformation with you.

hello, 2013

January 1, 2013 by Megan 16 Comments

I really didn’t set any goals for 2012, I think because, deep down, I knew it was going to be a rough year. But I’m the kind of person who thrives on goals, so, inspired by this post, I sat down yesterday and came up with four goals for 2013.

All of these goals feel really right to me, and they reflect the things I’d like to spend my time on in 2013.

Goal 1: Create a hundred paintings. Coming back to painting was a huge saving grace for me in 2012, but its also created some conflict as I tried to imagine how painting fits into my existing creative practice and business. Setting this goal gives me permission and motivation to paint, learn, push myself, improve, and see where painting takes me.

Goal 2: Hit $200k in my business. I didn’t have a sales goal for 2012, but I was happy to see that the business grew, even with all my time off. Now I’ve come to understand that setting a sales goal motivates me to use my business to create an ideal life for myself. Hitting this goal means continuing to grow my wholesale business, adding new jewelry to the line, and creating some new programs for Designing an MBA.

Goal 3: Bike a century. A century is 100 miles, and this is the year I’m going to do it! (My previous long ride is 66 miles.) I really didn’t bike a lot in 2012, and it’s definitely something I’ve been missing. When it comes to fitness, I really need a big goal to keep me motivated, and this is one I can get excited about. Plus, since I’ve gotten both my husband and mother-in-law into cycling, it’s a goal I can share with others.

Goal 4: Visit four new countries. This was actually the only goal I had for 2012, and I fell just a little short. (I hit three – England, France, and Australia.) Of my 2013 goals, this should be the easiest, as I’ve got my eye on a four country Europe trip in March. (Hopefully, Italy, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic.) One of the things I learned in 2012 was that traveling in the second half of the year is tough (that’s the busy season for the jewelry biz) so if I want to hit this goal, I’ve got to knock it out early.

So those are my four big goals for 2013. I feel really good about all of them, and I actually have a second BHAG (that’s Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for each of the first three. But I’m keeping those to myself for now.

How about you? What are your 2013 goals?

peace out, 2012

December 29, 2012 by Megan Leave a Comment

If there ever was a year that I’d love to kick to the curb, it’s 2012. This has been, by far, the hardest year of my life. I did have some pretty great adventures this year (London, Paris, Australia, plus some fun trips around the US) and I wish I’d shared more of them here on the blog. (However, I did share them on Instagram, so if you do want a glimpse into my life, you can follow me there.). But all the adventures and triumphs I had in 2012 will always be overshadowed because this was the year that my mom died.

Most New Year’s planning advice tells you to start by reflecting on the previous year. But I don’t want to take a look back, so it’s a little hard to look forward. Fortunately, I do have some exciting plans in the works for 2013. Another European adventure. More time for painting. And lots of new jewelry designs! And I’m looking forward to sharing them all here with you.

So for now, here’s to 2013. It’s got to be better than 2012, right?

the last four years

November 7, 2012 by Megan 7 Comments

I woke up this morning and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I don’t believe I’ve ever been so nervous about an election. I scrolled through Instagram to see my friends’ happy faces.

But I also saw a few signs of a less happy note. The kind of disgusting, unfounded rhetoric that needs to go away. Comments about how our economy is going to crumble. One disgusting “joke” about how Obama supporters can stay up late partying because they don’t have jobs to go to in the morning.

Not only do I find these types of comments horribly offensive, but they completely miss the mark.

I don’t care what pundits and reporters and politicians wanted us to believe. This election wasn’t about the economy. It was about basic human decency – about defending our rights to live a life of our own choosing – to have control over what we can do to our own bodies, to have a choice in who we can marry, and to have access to health care.

When I look back over the last four years of my life, this couldn’t be more obvious.

I went into business for myself in 2007, so I was just a fledgling when Obama took office. (Might I remind everyone, in the middle of a recession.) 2009 was a tough year for my business, but it was also an important learning year. I made up my mind not to blame the economy (it would have been so easy to do so) and to analyze and move forward from the mistakes I made. I went from a loss in 2009 to a profit in 2010, doubling that profit in 2011. In 2011 and 2012 I had six figures in sales. I hired an employee. My business supports me, and I use what I’ve learned to help others grow their businesses as well.

But over the last four years, I also witnessed the most important woman in my life get diagnosed with and die from a reproductive system cancer. Ovarian cancer can be swiftly moving and difficult to detect early. And as I watched my mother fight and fight and fight until she didn’t have anything left, I also struggled with my own future health. Genetic testing. Conversations with my doctor about “options.” The possibility of freezing my eggs or removing my own ovaries.

Ovarian cancer is a scary cancer, and I’m fortunate to have a doctor that is proactive when it comes to testing and detection. I haven’t made any decisions yet, but having someone I trust to help me consider every option makes a world of difference.

But the thought of women being denied the testing and preventative care that could save their lives because of fear and misunderstanding caused me to ache with fear. The possibility that my ability to choose any or all options when it came to being proactive about the health of my own body could be taken away was something I could not stand the thought of. When it came down to it, that was the only issue that mattered to me.

Four years ago, on a Wednesday morning in November, I posted how proud I was to be an American. This morning, seeing some of the comments online, I’m not sure I can say that. But as I watched the President’s speech on my phone, as I watched him walk onto the stage with three strong, confident women, as I saw the love and respect he has for those women, for ALL women, and for all people, I am proud of the choice we made.

And I am happy and grateful for four more years of that.

(And while I have your attention, I want to remind every woman out there to see your doctor for an annual exam. If it were up to me, we would have that preventative exam every four to six months. But please, don’t go more than a year between visits. I’ve seen first hand what can happen when things aren’t caught early, and no woman, no family should have to go through what we went through.)

non-verbal communication

October 13, 2012 by Megan 21 Comments

{image via her white sunrise – original source unknown}

“I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” -Georgia O’Keeffe

I have to admit I’ve been feeling a lot like the above quote lately. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and thinking, but words just don’t seem to come. Painting, on the other had, seems to be the best way to express what I’m feeling.