Working on a new piece

I am spending a lot of time in my new amazing studio. It is a pleasure to work in it and I am starting on a new, larger piece, while also finishing a few small pieces I started on in the summer.

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Kitchen cabinets and curtains done!

I have been very focused and have completed the kitchen cabinets. In any case, it is a pretty unique kitchen, like it or not.

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So today I focused totally on making curtains for the guest room/office. It took a long day, but I got it done!

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Outside it is pretty much done, at least for now. We have planted some more trees and in the spring we will seed desert grass, probably plant some cholla cactus, etc.

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Certificate of Occupancy

Yesterday we had our last inspection and got our CO! Very nice. A few things remain to be done, though. I am working hard painting the doors for the kitchen, I am almost done. Pictures will come soon.

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What a joy and pleasure to work in the studio! My loudspeakers are great, the acoustics as well, the day swiftly passes by! Here I am painting the last doors for the kitchen.

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Swedish Santa Fe based artist Thomas Roth and his love Carol Coates came by a few weeks ago with a nice bouquet of flowers, they survived until yesterday!

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My friend Ben Wheelan, business owner of a landscaping company, has a great team of Mexican workers. They are always happy, always doing a good job. Great guys!

Slowly getting done… but slowly now

It is a bit frustrating to get the last little things finished and to get the final inspections. But we are making progress. Last Friday we got the driveway finished. We have planted some trees and a few more will be planted soon. Meanwhile I am painting and working on the crazy cabinet doors. The door and drawer pulls are delayed but will hopefully arrive soon. I am starting to really enjoy working in the studio!

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One thing I would like to mention here is that I seriously doubt it would have been possible to build this beautiful and well built house without our Mexican workers! They have been diligent, humble, thankful for the work, and they have done really good work. Some American workers have been good, some ok and a few not so ok…

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Working in the studio!

After almost four years of dreaming, sketching, drawing, planning, and building… I am working in the new studio! Although I am a bit rusty and inefficient, as I am mostly just sitting and looking, in awe of this beautiful building. Overwhelmed, tired, thrilled, thankful. I am going to miss all my dedicated builders, many of them Mexicans who have become my friends and co-workers. A few more days of fine tuning, inspections, landscaping… but today I have been working in the studio! Wow!

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Clean!

A massive week has come to an end and I am really tired. Starting to relax after an intense two months. It has been a lot of fun and the results are great!

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Today we graded and cleaned up around the entire house! Some planting and landscaping remain.

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Now it looks clean and nice. Some aspen trees will be planted behind the house.

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The concrete floor was cleaned on Wednesday, sealed on Thursday, and waxed twice on Friday. Now it is hardening and tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) we can move in some furniture!

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The floor is amazing! The building is very good! I am pleased.

Solar Power to the People

Finally! Now our solar panels are producing electricity! It has been a very slow process, don’t ask me why, but mostly because of our electricians Allied Electric. Positive Energy Solar have done the installation and they have been good to work with. PNM in Santa Fe have also been ok. This town is probably one of the best places on Earth to have solar panels in. There are more than 300 sun days per year, we are at a high elevation, which makes the air thin and it never gets really hot and that helps the efficiency of the solar panels. On top of that the pueblo style houses are perfect because the roofs are flat and the parapets hide the panels so they can’t be seen from the ground!

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Let there be light… at least LED

This week a lot has happened, not everything so visible, som some things are:

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Now there is light in the studio.

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The stone countertop was mounted and the sink, plumbing, etc. as well as some of the appliances, etc.

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The guest room is almost done. Sealing of the floor remains and a few minor details.

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You can never have too many clamps. While building a shelf I found myself lacking long clamps, good thing I have a sturdy concrete roof! In the background the converters for the solar panels can be seen. Hopefully next week we will start producing our own electricity!

Huge difference

Sorry, it has been a while since I updated! Lots and lots of things are happening!

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Rest after a productive week

A good week it has been, indeed! Photos taken today:

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The outside stucco scratch coat is completed, including waterproofing of the parapets, etc. The vigas and portal wood works have been stained. Now the outside will cure and harden for a few weeks.

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Exciting to have come this far!

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The outside wall had been “insulated” on the inside and then stuccoed and it looked wrong, so we tore off the stucco and insulation and re-did it and now everyone is happy! We will build a hearth for the outside fireplace. When the walls are completed with color, we will pave the portal with bricks.

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While the new concrete floor is curing I have been able to install the kitchen cabinets, which have been stored in one of our guest rooms. It was tricky and time consuming, but it worked out very well.

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Ready for the stone countertop! On Monday the tile guy is going to start in the bathroom! And Oscar, Daniel and Rodrigo will start doing plaster on all the inside walls. Exciting times!

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