Window

First Friday, and I have done the house work and my mind starts wandering to studio stuff. I have had an idea in the back of my mind for some time and today seems like a good one to kick the project off.

Here is the problem: my studio does not have much in the way of natural light, there is a small window in the second studio with some tasteful iron bars crossing it (it's not that rough an area honest) and not much light comes through it anyway due to the direction it faces. In the past, we have dressed it up but it really does not cut the mustard as they say. My cunning plan is to build my own window!

One or two slight problems spring to mind, not least the mountain of paperwork and regulations for smashing a hole in the side of the building that we only lease. First, there is the fact that smashing a hole one way would give a beautiful view of the toilet behind the studio and still have no natural light. Second, smashing a hole the other way would make the neighbours pretty unhappy I would imagine.

Flushed with success, I return to the home improvement store. I was not going to risk going all out straight away so it is now time to buy some more wood and complete the next stage. Besides, I did not even know if I could get the lengths of wood into the car the first time around and may have had to carry them home.

I get some 30mm timber and some beading, screws, and wood caulking. I don't need one of the fancy sealant guns to apply the caulking, I have one at home already.

I get home and complete stage 2. I make a frame with the 30mm timber, screw it all together and see how bad my joins are through not using a mitre block to cut the angles. It's OK, I have the wood caulking and a ..... where is the sealant gun?

The project stops until Sunday when I buy a sealant gun to replace the one that has apparently gone AWOL. Final stages for this weekend, a splash of paint.

I'm into the third week of the project now and I have a shoot at the weekend. Ideally I would like to have the window ready for it, so I go straight to the studio after work, stopping off to pick up some brackets. I have been laying awake at night wondering how I am going to hold the wall in place. Using a heavy duty c-stand and a grip or two is not the way to go - the bump on my head from the previous week is testament to that. The wall is now secured to the edge of the cove with brackets but can easily be unscrewed and moved out the way if need be.

Third Friday, and I am delighted to be working with a new model, Emily, on a make up shoot with my friend Kerry-ann. We have some plans for a stylised shoot but we will have some time at the end for me to try out the new set. Was it worth the effort? Yes, I think so!