My Studio

I don't write about my studio, The Space, very much. I'm not really sure why. I spend most of my days (and many late nights) there. It's my home away from home. "Space Sweet Space" as we like to say. It's a happy place and a place of comfort for me. Why, then, was I considering not sticking around for another year? Let me explain...

The thought first crossed my mind in January. That's when I was looking at my financials from the year before. Without getting into too much detail, I wasn't sure if the studio had made me any money. I gave it some thought and figured that I hadn't even been there for an entire year yet, so I couldn't really say whether or not it was a good business expense. I should give it another year. Done... right?

The thought didn't leave my head. This worried me. When something sticks in my head, I find it really hard to get rid of. I really like that studio. Without it, I'd be back to working from home and meeting clients in coffee shops. But the money I could save! It all came back to money.

Then the obvious hit me: It's not about the money or the rent, but the opportunities having a studio creates. I started thinking about everything that's happened in or because of the studio and I couldn't believe how much has happened in less than a year! Let's just take a look, shall we?

- When the weather is nice, Belinda and I can pretend that we live downtown and head out for evening walks in the city. We've had some great walks through the Highlands, down the 16th St Mall and even to the Denver Public Library!

Me and Belinda hanging out near the Denver Art Museum!

- We've hosted fundraisers for organizations and political candidates we believe in.

- We've hosted networking events for groups that we're involved in such as CRAVE Denver and Smug Mug. We've also held open houses where photographers who typically work from home can hang out with other photographers and get work done, socialize and network.

Smug Mug meeting... it was a packed house!

Art working hard at a networking day.

- We hosted a workshop with one of Mexico's best wedding photographers (Fer Juaristi).

Here's Fer having a good time outside of the studio.

- The Fer workshop might just have lead to one of the biggest business decisions I'll make (but I'll save that for a future announcement).

- We've used it for surprise parties and game nights. It's so close to everything and is in such a fun neighborhood, it's a great place just to hang out with friends.

- Finally, lots of friendships have been started  there. I've grown very close with some of my studio mates and have become good friends with photographers who happen to work nearby or come to our open houses. These connections would not have happened if I'd still been working from home.

So, let's see... it's improved my social life, raised money for causes I believe in, introduced me to some world-class photographers, allowed me to meet lots of local photographers and business owners and created life-long friendships! Oh yeah... I guess it also made me more productive, relocated my office out of my basement and might just have increased my sales. What's the downside again?

Needless to say, I'm sticking around. If all of this has happened  in the last 7 months, I can't wait to see what the next year holds!