We’ve come so far but have so far to go

My dream for Sunnyshore Studio began in 1999 and I have never wavered from it. Slowly and inexorably we pressed forward, tearing down an old house, clearing the ground, taking it step by step over the years.

Now we are 28 days, 4 weeks, from opening our doors for the first time for the Camano Island Mother’s Day Studio tour.

Even though it’s just a “soft launch” and the Grand Opening will be in December, there’s still a lot of work to do.

Thankfully, lots of things are in place. Mom’s paintings are ready to go.

And Jed’s paintings arrived all the way from Indianapolis.

But there are still many big things that need to come together including Jim Spane’s team completing the Studio’s (1) exterior siding, (2) completing the plumbing, (3) pouring the concrete floor, (4) wiring, and (5) drywall.

There is, furthermore, a whole myriad of details that have to come together in the next four weeks:

1. Complete 2,000 invitations to Sunnyshore Studio’s Grand Opening in December. My friend Rebekah Kreiger of Verdigris Studios is providing the design elements as a gift.
2. Purchase a guest book for all our guests to sign so that we can begin to develop a Friends of Sunnyshore Studio contact list.
3. Work out all the roles for hosting guests including (1) manning the welcome table, (2) facilitating parking, (3) selling art and wrapping it for transport, etc.
4. Finish framing the 32 illustrations from I Remember Fishing with Dad.
5.  Send out press releases, communicate via social media, and continue to work out promotion plan.
6. Mow the grass and do any landscaping we can.
7. Hang the Sunnyshore Studio sign.
8. Get from our printer 400 Copies of I Remember Fishing with Dad (they are projected to be done just a week before Mother’s Day.
9. Hang the art.
10. Bake 100’s of cookies, and invite friends who are coming to visit, to bring some cookies to share with our guests.

We’ve come so far, but have so far to go!

Yet, I’m confident that on Friday, May 6th, at 10:00am when our doors open that we’ll welcome our first guest with open arms and big smiles.