Three Sheets 2 the Wind Blog

My birthday is on Friday. It’s a big one… At least for me. I’m turning 35. I’ve been telling friends that I have to be more serious now for more reasons than just my age. I remember quitting my job back in Chicago and moving to Cincinnati right before my 30th birthday. That was a huge mile marker for me because I had challenged myself to start a business by the time I turned 30. Now, looking back at five years of hard work (plus an extra for conceptual brainstorming) I am amazed at how far I’ve come, but I still have so far to go.

I’ve read so many similar stories of ambitious designers doing exactly what I did, struggling along the way, and I feel a strong kinship to them. It’s painful to go through the highs and lows of being an independent designer alone. There aren’t many mentors out there to help us along. I have a slogan that a very good friend said to me and it gets repeated in conversations often, along with a good laugh. Slow and steady wins the race!

When I was in my 20’s, I didn’t think living out in the country would be cool at all. I had worked in NYC for a year during college and loved the energy there. I didn’t end up moving to New York City, but I still loved the idea of living in a big city, and so eventually I landed in Chicago. It had everything I wanted, except I hated the traffic and cost to live there was too much for a new entrepreneur when it came time to start the business. Once I moved back to Cincinnati, my lifestyle changed completely. I had little to no cash and all of a sudden, a more simple life looked very appealing, even cool (dare I say it). I decided I could give up all the shopping and travel I did in my previous life to have more control over my work and my output. I realized it was possible to use less, need less. Flipping through countless pages of Dwell magazine, I noticed other creative types had stepped out of big cities to move to smaller towns so that they could have the space they needed to imagine their dreams. So then I began to imagine my own “glass box” studio/home sitting atop an open field somewhere. The idea of building that ideal live/work situation where I could just roll out of bed and get to work in 2 seconds flat sounded wonderful me.

I started my business in a very small apartment where my studio took up every inch of a 10×15 foot bedroom. It was quite a challenge to be efficient in such a cramped space. Next, I moved into a 1,500 sq ft apartment where my business took up 70% of the space. A hallway became a closet at one point. I had an assistant come help me print twice a week and I sent out my sewing to local sewers. Then the big change came this summer when my fiance and I bought a house in Kentucky. My new studio is almost 1,500 sq ft (no shared living space…ha ha) and is a work in progress. (remember slow and steady…) It’s not quite the modern glass box of our dreams, but it will do just fine for now.

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This is what the studio space looked like when we moved in this summer. My new stainless steel sink is sitting on the right side of the frame.

I am looking forward to hanging conceptual work up on the walls. This weekend we are putting up large pieces of sheet metal (3ft x 5ft each) to make a gigantic magnet board. We also plan on making a new printing table this winter with guides for larger screen production. I am so excited!

Our amazing wedding photographer deserves a mention today. Amy Campbell of Angela Anderson Studios captured some amazing images of the day. Jeanie Gorrell did the flowers for us. She understood our aesthetic and created the most unique arrangements. I’ve included both studio links below.

http://www.angela-photo.com/

http://www.jeaniegorrell.com/index_content.html

Let’s get personal, shall we?

When I asked my web designer to help me set up a blog, I knew then that I would have a hard time updating it. Don’t get me wrong, I love connecting with people, but I am more of a face-to-face kind of person. So… I thought the least I could do was explain to my customers what has been happening in my life lately.

Almost seventeen months ago, the most amazing guy in the world asked me to marry him on a windy cliff overlook in Red River Gorge, Kentucky. We had a lot to do in those seventeen months… sell his house in Lexington, buy a new house, move my business, plan a wedding, and so on. Whoever said “patience is a virtue” knew exactly what they were talking about! My own patience has been tested many many times in the past year, but it has all been worth it. In July, we moved into our new home and the studio moved into a more generous space as well. Now Georgetown, Kentucky is our home. We are just 20 minutes north of Lexington, the Horse Capital of the World.

There is plenty of inspiration to be found in my new environment. The serene and peaceful country side is full of rolling green hills, hand-laid stone fences, wildflowers of all kinds and the most well kept farms I’ve ever seen! When we drive around, all I can think about is how pretty everything looks. The one strange thing about central Kentucky is the trees. I think I need to design a new print called Crooked Tree!

In just six days, we will be getting married outside at a winery in Lexington. We designed every last bit of our wedding. It was a huge collaborative project for us. I did bring part of my business into the planning. I screen printed our wedding invites, which was a lot of fun. That inspired me to try something new and print a few three sheets 2 the wind prints on paper! more about that later…

Cheers! Jenny