I guess I should start by telling a little about myself and the journey I've just begun. I was always a little artist when I was a kid... constantly drawing and making things... I grew up and even went to university for a degree in painting and art history. After I graduated though, I got a job managing a salon. And for the first time in my life, stopped creating. I was making great money and the benefits were nice, I even loved my team... I just felt so empty. I stayed there for a couple more years before I knew it was time to be myself again. I'm a true believer in fate. The universe gives you exactly what you need when the time is right. It puts you in just the right places and with the right people. Always trust the universe. So when I got a call one day with a job offer to paint murals... I knew it was fate. I put in my notice, picked up my paintbrush and began my life as an artist.

It wasn't long before I started imagining having my own place... I started to miss throwing ceramics, sewing, making paper, book binding, photography, and all the other things I had learned over the years. As happy as I was painting, I had a yearning for a place I could do and make anything I felt like. A place for learning and teaching and creating. My boyfriend and I (we met in art school... and accidentally fell in love...) got invited to be a part of a group painting show at the beginning of December. I was too busy to participate, but he hung a new piece with them- and that weekend we went to the space for the opening. It was the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. Huge windows and skylights...white brick walls... light concrete floors... 20 foot wooden ceilings... a glass wall leading out into an enclosed patio covered in a mossy green patina.... I commented to my friend hosting the show how fabulous the building was and she said, "I know, it's for rent too... I hope whoever takes it keeps it an artistic space, it's just too perfect." I knew it was fate. I signed the lease in less than a month, and began the journey that is boxwood brake.

I opened the shop in 28 days. It was an overwhelming 28 days. Overwhelmingly hectic and stressful, but also especially exciting and so much fun too! My mother and I refinished 15 pieces of furniture, made a collection of jewelry, a collection of pillow covers, my grandmother helped to make a line of women's shirts and wraps, I assembled a selection of oils for custom perfumes and body scrubs, and we styled the shop to absolute perfection. It was exactly as I had envisioned from the moment I first heard the words "for rent." My boyfriend, Woods, has always supported himself with his art. He makes incredible paintings, he designs logos and art work for different companies and events, he even welds together dinosaur skeletons for museums. He's pretty amazing. I was always jealous of his life as an artist and he had always encouraged me to believe in myself and my abilities. The shop was the perfect way for us to have a life supported by our own hands. He helps me teach painting classes and works for me when I'm at a market or pop-up shop. My mother and grandmother still make a lot of the clothes and bags. It really is a family affair- and that's my favorite part! Opening the shop has brought us together and given us a unique outlet to be creative and collaborative.

As a creative space, we use the shop as a studio, a gallery for various shows, and a classroom where we teach and host different tutorials and special creative events. I book private parties for crafts and cocktails, and I host bridal and baby showers too! It's such a neat thing that I'm getting to live and work as an artist- and to share my skills and my beautiful space with others! I decided that writing was another one of those arts I missed... and maybe I should start a blog. I would love to share all the neat things that I come across in my daily research for new techniques, inspiration and my incessant quest to learn everything I can. So, here's to boxwood brake.... hope to have you on the journey with me.

the journey begins...