First Workshop - Workshop

What do you see when you look at this picture? You may think you see a derelict kip of a place but to me, I see potential. Space to work and create. Finding such a place in the city of Dublin is nigh on impossible.

Being an ephemeral sculptor who mostly worked on location I never had much use for a workshop. I did have my little shed at home but it was so full of junk I could never really use it unless I spent a couple of days cleaning it out beforehand. If I did have a big project that require a space I would have to work outside hoping it didn't rain, which in Ireland is like hoping for... Well, like hoping for a very rare occurrence?

Looking to start a new

So begins my tale of finding a place to work. I had decided that I would be home more now that I had a wife and son at home to tend to. This travelling the world making sculptures lark was great and all but getting many phone calls from my distressed wife about the latest sniffle I never felt at ease. The money was good, yes and the friends I had made abroad were my closest friends ever. But I wanted to be home more and be more selective in the projects I did. My new life was going to be a maker and content creator. I now need a place to do said making and most important was that it was close to my house. I rang around and searched the classifieds. Everything on offer was way out of my price range and a hovel. Around 1000 Euros a month would find you a box with no windows or toilet facilities.

Just putting it out there

In those days I was still on The Facebook so, I put out a call for a garage that I could use. I thought a little one-car garage would at least get me started and allow me to make small things. I figured I was pissing in the wind but put it out there for the gods to smile.

Suddenly I got a private message from a girl I had met just once on a film set. We had talked a bit during the lots of waiting around you do on set and she said she was a ceramic artist. Her work is amazing with art pieces inspired by nature that show a lot of meticulous skill. She told me she had a garage and I could use it for the projects I had coming up. Best of all it was 5 minutes from my house.

We arranged to meet for coffee and then she would show me the garage. In my head, I imagined a garage connected to someone's house with enough space for a normal car and a bike or two.

Diamond in the rough

She told me the garage was bought by her sister and developer husband with the idea of knocking it down to build a house in the city for their mother and Sarah. That was her name, Sarah Mooney-Wiegersma. While waiting on development ideas to be put into action Sarah used it as an art studio and liked the idea of having someone to share it with. I was intrigued and honored.

Down a lane, we walked. it was beside the canal, We came to a big gate. Behind it a place to park a car and then a big nondescript solid metal gate with a smaller door cut into it. I was very unimpressed.

She opened the door and it was like walking through the cupboard door into Narnia. What looked tiny on the outside opened out to a massive space of 100 square meters. Empty except for one corner where Sarah had her workshop huddled around a wood-burning stove.

It was a garage but an unused mechanics garage. Oil stains on the ground and not much else to show its history except for a sign that said Barry Whelan motors sitting by the door. It seemed to be a small operation that did custom mods for cars.

I was gobsmacked. This place was high, amazing and instantly my imagination went crazy. Sarah showed me around. Toilet lots of space and that was about it. There was another door that led to an outdoor area with a roof covering, spanning another 100 square meters.

She said she would be happy to have me use the place as she wasn't around too much at the moment to use it herself due to health reasons.

Let's get this party started

I was so excited and couldn't wait to get started making stuff. The rent would be 25 Euros a week. Just enough to cover electricity and rates on the building. She would pay the same to her sister. Everyone seemed happy. They had someone to keep an eye on the place and I had found my first Workshop. This was really amazing. Pretty much rent free. Wow.... Just wow!

I decided to post about this so you would not be in the dark when I start showing the projects I made there but also because this was an amazing experience for me. Sarah was so nice and a great studio buddy. We helped each other where we could, making it a more comfortable working environment for both of us.

My first job was to bring some tools and make myself a bench to work on. I also found a stereo system in a bin and started to make it feel like home. It all still looked like crap but bred creativity. To have a space to work, where you didn't have to tidy away every evening was amazing and once I had the bare necessities I got straight to making.

I have lots of fond memories of this workshop and Sarah. To have this luck nearly seems like a dream but I made sure to make the best of it and not sleep while the opportunity was there.