Along for the ride:

Saturday, September 4, 2010

A Moving Experience


"Lucy" the Humanobile metal sculpture in front of some French limestone column shafts and clay pots from Morocco.
Slabs and palettes of stone and terra-cottas, in front of a 3 part bronze fountain (French circa 1910). The fountain has horses, lions, dolphins and a cherub. 18 ft tall over-all x 15 ft wide. This is a consignment piece. It belongs to a well known American Football player (name begins with M and is the name of a State with a large sky) who purchased it by phone-bid at a French auction and was never able to make it work into his landscape plan on his 600 acre estate.
The early stages of a bas-relief carving that will fit above the front door of a spec. house nearby. This is about 20 ft wide. There is a smaller section in the works to top the garage doors.

Our big table saw has cut miles and miles of stone since we first got it. It has been letting us down a bit this past few weeks. We can usually get advice from the people who custom made it for us. Unfortunately, it being August and them being at the beach, with every other self-respecting Frenchman, we have been waiting until work resumed. Today's advice was to put a fan in the electrical cabinet in case it was over-heating. My office in a corrugated metal building, mid afternoon on a 97 degree-in-the-shade day swiftly became unpleasant 'cos they took my fan!

A few days have zoomed by since I began this post. August has turned into September. The days are speeding up since we were told, earlier this week, that the property housing our business has been sold and we must vacate by the end of the month.

We've been working like demons to finish as many orders as possible. Once we start moving it will be at least a couple of weeks before we can gear up again. We've barely had time to look at a couple of alternative spaces. Tomorrow will be spent driving around different areas to see where we might find a part indoor, part outdoor, properly zoned and customer friendly spot that won't break the bank and is available right now. Of course, we will have to wait until Tuesday to contact anyone because of the holiday weekend.

So why are we not panicked and distraught? Because we've started from scratch before, I guess. We know we can get through this. Change almost always turns out to be good. In this case we are talking about structuring things differently to free up The Artistic One from supervision of all things work-shop. We'll have other people make some custom orders in France and ship them rather than doing it all ourselves. The designs and customers will still be ours. I might even get a cleaner, more presentable showroom-like environment. It must still be bohemian and interesting but the leaky roof and indoor pigeon-infestation were hard to spin into charming accessories. I've always had to watch that The Artistic One didn't run over any clients as he stormed around on his Formula One fork-lift.

We are not bored! We are no longer stuck in a rut! "Why the Heck Not?" is our watchword for now. (Of course any chance of time with a horse just galloped away into the distance for a while. "Equus-Interruptus" that's me. (Take that, spell-check!)

17 comments:

  1. Think I just closed the window without doing the word verification, but said something like...

    Wow, looks like a big challenge to move all that accumulated stuff, including french fountains for football players... so how long has Mr Big Sky State been using your storage area ??? Hope you have some big trucks lined up, and a good place not too far to move too, with no pigeon bombs on your work and customers there... BON COURAGE !!!

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  2. Somehow, as I was picturing your business in my head, I had no idea of the size and scope of your stonework. All I can say is, "Wow. Impressive stuff." Clearly, my little NJ home would have no place for such decor...I am not in the McMansion sector, although there are a number of huge homes nearby...but I can picture that door lintel on some elegant abode.

    I do love Lucy, though. Clever, quirky and a bit "art noveau."

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  3. Sometimes starting from scratch is, as you say, the best thing. Time to reassess, reorganize and reprioritize. It's damn hard wprk but I bet you'll feel great once it's all done.

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  4. Wonderful attitude. All things are possible. And you are not afraid of change. Or hard work it seems. You both are so talented.

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  5. I love Lucy ;-)
    Impressive stonework, but it seems like a huge undertaking to move all that to another place. I'm sure you'll find something wonderful and eclectic looking. As you say; change often turns out to be good. Good luck!

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  6. FYI Lucy moves in the wind, hence the "mobile" part of Humanobile. For a while, I had her in my garden with black-eyed-susan vines growing through her. She always makes me smile and I introduce her to everyone who comes in. The artist is Magni, he paints also, although I prefer his sculptures. Google him to see more.

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  7. Owen, Big Sky gave us a lot of work and some great referrals. I like him and his family's values. Through him I worked for Sugar Ray Leonard (boxer) and his wife. ( A separate room for shoes!) I was down in their So.Cal neighborhood when the news helicopters were circling above O.J. Simpson's place nearby. The fountain is a big ticket item so it's been with us for years. There's prestige attached.

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  8. Jean, we don't have a "Big" business, we have a "Takes up a lot of room" business:) I enjoy the small jobs too. Something about matching someone up with something just right that makes them happy is a feel-good experience for me too. Of course then there's the admin. and book-keeping etc. yuk!

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  9. Steve, It's one of those "Going through Hell" moments but we never stop and we always reach the other side before the Devil catches up with us.

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  10. TechnoBabe, Thanks for the support. I've been reading at your place without time to comment recently. Keep up the good work. I enjoy your writings.

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  11. Carolina, necessity will spur us on. Lucy thanks you for the kind words:)

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  12. "Big Sky" was into horses for awhile. I don't know if he still is. (Roping?) Ever haver any horsey conversations?

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  13. Silliyak, They had three dozen horses for a while. They were all into "cutting" and were pretty good. That's part of why they moved to Napa/Sonoma. Then the girls grew up and went to college and the boys got into basketball. Everyone moved to Thousand Oaks. I caught up with them this week on cell and found out they'd moved out of California entirely. I think they said they were in Idaho, but I might be wrong. Those years do go by so fast it's scary.

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  14. Best of luck to you in your search for a new spot. Your determined attitude is remarkable, admirable, and probably going to be what makes it all work out in the end for you. I am impressed.

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  15. Deborah,Thanks for the positive words. There's always someone having a harder time than us,as evidenced by a whole nearby neighborhood going up in flames yesterday, after a natural gas explosion. The new watchword is "at least we don't live in San Bruno". Horrors!
    I restrained myself from phoning and offering to foster any pets or taking in extra people. I really can't do that right now and it was evident they would be taken care of.

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  16. I would have previously said that NOTHING ever happens in San Bruno, just goes to show. If it had happened in Colma it might have been a sign of the End Times.

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