Well,
it is a truely interesting experience.
Shortly after moving flats I find myself in the state of moving the MV Studio.
Well, actually you can say the MV Studio will be shut down and I will have my smaller studio at home.
Work at home once again. Not bad in uncertain times of living through a pandemic as a selfemployed artist. I will save money for studio rent. It will be much smaller, more accurate on my actual needs.
And to be honest: It is about time.
I know that the studio will be shutdown since several years and often the move was on the horizon with new room options here and there. Actually it never happened and it was a draining experience over the years. It is just about time for a fresh start.
The change is hard. Emotionally, mainly.
Why you might ask?
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| This amazing wall of memories needs to be removed, soon. With a cold beer in hand! |
Well, imagine a place you put your heart in over eight years.
Build up with friends to make it a shared workspace.
Imagine a place you did teach many students. A place that forged memories, good and bad ones, amazing ones and beautiful ones. Where you sat hours of your life, painting, teaching, thinking about projects and where you horded material that you will always find everything you need. Imagine a place that healed a broken heart, imagine a place that cured creative madness, imagine the ultimate hobby cave.
It was always clear that the studio will end one day.
Since some years I am in there mainly alone, not as it was in the beginning of the MV studio, where in high times four to five people -- Raffaele, Peter, Bene, Erik and me - used the studio as a creative place, celebrated birthdays there, welcomed students and shared our love for the hobby and this form of art together. It faded away with the years, the initial energy and the time everyone could manage to bring up for the hobby/work.
The last year I got great company from Johannes, once a student of mine and he drove from Munich to spent time with me in the studio. Sometimes Momo, a sculptress from Munich and my girlfriend Tanja joined us too and these days always were my highlights in the last year of the studio.
During a pandemic with restrictions such a studio is a lonely place where creativity is not a common good. It is about time to change it and not wait for the day life will change this situation. It is about time to change it myself.
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| Thank you for all the beautiful sunsets |
Many visitors have seen the studio and many friends spent time there. Many students learned lessons there and it has been a great time! Thank you, MV Studio for the time you allowed us to enjoy!
Goodbye to you, Massive Voodoo Studio!
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| So often I started a journey to a seminar and workshop from here! |
While writing this the old studio is a messy place.
My plan is to finalize setting up the new studio at home first. Then get everything I truely need from the old place and then tearing the old place down. It all goes slow as I had to order material for the new studio online and it is funny on waiting time and availability during these last months of lockdown.
It is a weird state of progress at the moment.
The first times I entered the studio I felt a stomach pain that could only be described as grief. Slowly this is changing to acceptance and moving forward from it. It is all a process that has to be accepted.
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| Hall of memories, soon empty |
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| Messy Chaos |
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| No table, no painting |
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| Not yet sure how to manage all that stuff in a smaller studio ... :D |
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| So much to organise and sort before taking it to the new studio |
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| To accept this madness you got to cheer up! So cheers! |
New Studio Progress
So, off to new horizons and let's speak about the progress in the new studio.
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| With the great help of my friend Erik I started to set up the new place |
The new studio for the next moments in my life will be a part of my new flat. A room in the flat that can be closed with a door. Maybe in the future this will change again, when pandemics calm down or a great new place appears as an option, but now it is time to make the best out of the actual situation.
Now imagine to order a table online for your studio, with exact dimensions to fit in that room. No stores are open during lockdown. You order. You wait for it, two weeks. They tell you it is not available. You find somewhere else to order. It has been like that with mostly everything during lockdown. Of course this slowed down the process and action and possibilities. Weird.
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| Online orders of 8 wooden planks were recieved like this! Trolloooolllooo! |
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| Erik made me do it again and properly ... |
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| The table and LED panel frame is a really cool construction |
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| Momo is helping too ... |
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| DRRRRRRR!!! |
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| It is coming along nicely ... |
This is the actual state.
Next steps are building up another shelve, setting up the airbrush table and airbrush station and then get mostly material from the studio in well planned waves and loads. Also the photobox table has to be planned soon.
While doing all this my level of creativity for miniature painting is low atm. Again learn that I need everything in place in my studio and soul to be creative. I do conquer the new studio with daily drawing and illustration at the moment and it helps to get back to it ...
Some of these original artworks are for sale. If you want to support me in these times, feel invited to check back with my artworks for sale!
So far from this report!
Stay tuned for more!
Keep on happy painting!
Roman
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If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
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I can already smell good new things happening in the new studio. Inspired by Keiko and Momo. The wooden beams full of new memories and the walls filled with pictures!
ReplyDeleteSo great to see this coming together, and that also the new lighting situation there.. evolution from old days where single Ikea lamps littered the area for those joining in on paint parties.. so much growth and so much more to come! Huge hugs, and can't wait for the world to reopen so we can visit it in person!
ReplyDeleteI always remember when you said to me that the memory wall is a living wall -- it is meant to change, just like life, you said. Now the wall itself has moved and changed location, but it is still there for you, your friends, and your memories.
ReplyDeleteI moved to a new apartment last autumn. It is rough around the edges; the maintenance staff is lazy; there is less storage space; and I have had to chase out ants and hornets. But it is on a beautiful lake, where I can walk in peace almost every day and watch the wildlife. I am only a mile away from my girlfriend instead of across town; I have an additional room for hobby; and I have a more comfortable office to wait out the pandemic.
So while the place felt awkward at first, it was great to reset my life and begin a new chapter. I imagine you may be experiencing something similar. Best of luck to you, Roman, and may you find rich comfort in your next chapter!
Happy memories of happy painting and learning.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess that a studio is whereever you lay you brush. 😁
Looking foreward to seeing stuff from the new studio. 👍
Happy memories of happy painting and learning!
ReplyDeleteI guess that a studio is where ever you lay your brush. 😁
Looking foreward to seeing new stuff from the new studio. 👍
I hope you have all the creativity and painting flow for your artistic expression in your new flat. And also hope you have a warm welcome for students ;)
ReplyDeleteIn every beginning there is magic. / jedem Anfang liegt ein Zauber inne. (Goethe)
ReplyDeleteIch habe viele schöne Erinnerungen an euer Studio. Das lag aber nur an den Menschen dort. Viel Erfolg beim Umzug. Wir sehen uns bald mein Freund 🙏🏻
In every beginning there is magic. / jedem Anfang liegt ein Zauber inne. (Goethe)
ReplyDeleteIch habe viele schöne Erinnerungen an euer Studio. Das lag aber nur an den Menschen dort. Viel Erfolg beim Umzug. Wir sehen uns bald mein Freund 🙏🏻
In every beginning there is magic. / jedem Anfang liegt ein Zauber inne. (Goethe)
ReplyDeleteIch habe viele schöne Erinnerungen an euer Studio. Das lag aber nur an den Menschen dort. Viel Erfolg beim Umzug. Wir sehen uns bald mein Freund 🙏🏻
In every beginning there is magic. / jedem Anfang liegt ein Zauber inne. (Goethe)
ReplyDeleteIch habe viele schöne Erinnerungen an euer Studio. Das lag aber nur an den Menschen dort. Viel Erfolg beim Umzug. Wir sehen uns bald mein Freund 🙏🏻
I can really feel the grief you are describing. I can feel the warmth, the memories, the vibe from the old place in the pictures. I have only been to the studio once during my coaching but I can still remember the walk from the bus, being outside seeing the wall sign, entering the building, the stairs, the toilet, the sounds of a creative old building, the hallway and wall of memories, the sofa, the room and all the creative energy in there, you painting and discovering one bird after another on a Lucas Pina bust - "oh! there's another one! and another!", our talks, our long pauses of painting silence, the Kamehameha! But I can also see that the new place are already a place filled with kind of all it needs - the big heart and smile of Roman! Miss u man!
ReplyDeleteMarkus/Arvika
I think this could be pretty exciting and refreshing for you. I never left easy when i have been to a place for a long time but afterwards i always felt refreshed. It's a chance to clean up and focus on the things you really need. It's never easy to choose what to take with you and what to leave behind. In the end it was part of the journey. I always wanted to vitsit you in your old studio and now i'm looking forward to one day, i may will do in the new one. :) Keep your mood up. We are with you and you will do great things, no matter where you sit down and paint.
ReplyDeleteThanks to you all for your kind words on this. I am really happy about these and that many of you can relate too. Thank you for the tipps and the perspectives. I will definetely get back to normal and creativity again, after all this is settled! Happy that you enjoyed the read! Thanks to you all for the good memories that came up with your comment.
ReplyDeleteHey Roman,
ReplyDeleteleaving old things behind can be hard. Taking things into your own hands is probably for the best. Thanks for keeping this blog up and running. It is always an inspiration!
So many great memories on that old studio! I am sad as well that I never got to visit it. Possibly your new studio will be even better. Smaller but wiser. With all the lessons learned from those many years of being an inspiration to so many. Maybe this is the studio I will get to see live! And that will for sure be a moment to remember! Cheers to you my friend and all the best in these troublesome times.
ReplyDelete