Soon the hanging of the art begins.

The rail hanging system was installed this past weekend, and the lighting system goes in this coming weekend. Both provide incredible flexibility and customization potential. Once these two essential elements are in place, a deep, industrial grade cleaning awaits (tentatively next week). Only then will I dare to bring my opening two concurrent shows into the space for hanging and tweaking.

The transformation from the private gallery space from “raw” to “finished” has exceeded my expectations.

This has made the nine-month renovation journey worth it; you know, the delays, the surprises (ka ching, ka ching), the course corrections, the fits of impatience. This private gallery is a warm, welcoming space, one that will invite visitors to get intimate with the art.

Fine Italian craftsmanship is on display.

I have marveled daily at how our team of workers toiled with sweat, precision, and great patience. There’s nothing shoddy about this kind of work, and these guys take enormous pride in not only making things beautiful, but making things that will last.

One of my greatest delights in creating the Jed Smith private gallery was in rescuing original marble stairs that had been sitting under seemingly impenetrable layers of dust and debris. At first, the general contractor was dismissive of these stairs and began discussing constructing newer stairs. I said “No, way. We’re saving these.”

What a great call that was! Whew!

And, shall we talk about the solid wood doors and windows? The production of these works of art tested my patience probably more that anything. I’m so in awe of the final installation that I’m quickly forgetting that I was seething in anger and frustration that they weren’t finished, delivered, and installed three months ago, as originally promised. Good things come to those who wait, right?

Behind everything is an enormous ceramics studio/lab.

This space still blows my mind. In the beginning this was a raw cave space with a crumbling (and fortunately, non-supporting) stone wall bisecting it. The floor was dirt. It was our lead guy doing the heavy work who led me to this jaw-dropping result. There’ll be no feelings of claustrophobia as I dig into my memory banks to excavate my ceramics know-how that I put on the shelf over twenty-five years ago. (Stay tuned for what this space might produce!)

My new kiln arrived three weeks ago, my wheel arrives tomorrow (fingers crossed), and I’ve been building out work tables and shelving. And a huge, industrial-grade sink is ready for action.

I’m aiming for a mid-May opening event of this private gallery.

This will give me two-plus months to do the final curating of two shows that will be hanging concurrently. The headliner event will be the first public viewing of my water series paintings. But my black and white photography exhibition has a strength all its own (at least that is what my gut is telling me). These are photos that began as a simple journaling of the renovation work yet turned into a tribute to this “squadra” (team) of incredible men, giving their all. I’ve yet to publish this grouping of photos in its entirety, but I close this update with a teaser sharing one of my latest and favorites photos from the final twenty-four that will be on display.