New Year, New Studio

Greetings from my new studio! After nearly a month offline, I’m finally set up in my new workspace and it’s a dream come true. This dream has been many years in the making. For the last 9 years I’ve had my workspace spread out over 4.5 rooms and a storage unit, and while it certainly worked fine for a long time and allowed my business to grow from a hobby to a near-full time gig, it wasn’t ideal for my workflow.

My husband and I closed on a house this fall, started renovating it immediately, but I left my studio untouched because it was my busy season - the holiday rush is not the time to shut down! Once my Christmas cutoff date passed, I started packing up my supplies and implementing my plans for the new space.

One of the big reasons we chose this house was the studio space, which is a one bedroom apartment over the garage. It’s attached to the house, so I can still come up in my slippers and start working while I finish my morning Earl Gray, but it’s separate enough that I can “leave” work at the end of the day and I don’t have to see shipping supplies or inventory bins while going about the rest of my life.

The 800 square foot apartment needed some work, and there’s many things I’ll update / change out in the future once my bank account recovers from the initial renovations, but as of this week, I’m officially moved in and open for business once again. It feels so good! The natural light is amazing, the view of the cows and chickens across the road is still very exciting and novel to me, I’m thrilled to have heating and air (and running water!) in my laser room for the first time, and I love love love having ALL of my workspaces in one space. It’s so efficient! I’m now able to laser cut, paint, assemble jewelry, do computer stuff, store inventory, photograph things, pack and ship all in my studio apartment. I feel so grown up.

Before moving in, we had the popcorn ceiling scraped, textured walls sanded and painted, new carpet installed, got new sub panel and outlets for my equipment, and put up new light fixtures. I was able to reuse almost all of my existing studio furniture and only had to replace one desk since it wasn’t the right size.

In the future I plan to replace the green tile floors in the shipping area and bathroom, replace the doors to the deck, get new countertops, and add a few can lights, plus little odds and ends like dividers for my wall of wool and yarn.

Here’s a peek at what the space looked like before we started renovations:

Year in Review: 2020

My studio is closed, I’m in the middle of moving, but I wanted to share my year in review for Once Again Sam as I’ve done in past years. This was a hard year for all of us, for so many different reasons, and I’m just thankful my small business was able to survive. Just about everything I had lined up and was looking forward to got canceled, and I certainly made far less than I was expecting to since in-person events were canceled and all of the shops that carry my work were closed for awhile, I’m so grateful I was able to lean on my website to keep me going. Having several income streams and ways of working with customers really saved the day/year!

Thank you to all who supported Once Again Sam this year, whether you liked & commented, worked with me on a commission, took one of my virtual workshops, or shopped online. You are greatly appreciated!

Working with Insects

This spring, while everyone was stuck at home, everything was canceled, and most things were closed due to the pandemic, I found myself learning all sorts of new things. Trying out new mediums & hobbies gave me something to look forward to when there wasn’t much else going on. I learned to make gourmet popsicles, got into ice dying on my back porch, and my favorite new thing: insect art.

I had been needle felting insects for years and launched several handmade bug collections in the spring and summer, and I suppose all that research, finding images of beautiful bugs to inspire my felted ones, led me to work with real specimens for the first time.

There’s a lot more to insect art than I expected. First off, you’d think you can just walk around outside and find specimens easily enough, but that wasn’t the case for me. I did find many (already dead) specimens on hikes and walks, but they were rarely in good condition. I did get lucky a few times and was able to find and preserve a found beetle, bee, or butterfly, but I quickly realized I would need to find another source for insects if I wanted to create the large display piece I had in my head.

I was pleasantly surprised to find several reputable bug websites online and the colors, shapes and sizes of insects available was far more interesting than what I would be able to get by happenstance. The bugs can be ordered mounted or unmounted, and so I opted for the unmounted version and learned to do the rehydration and positioning of the specimen myself. It’s definitely an art! I broke off my fair share of legs and antenna on some of my earlier attempts, but I eventually got the hang of things.

This short video shows the process of working with real insect specimens. Although I read my fair share of how-to articles on preserving and mounting insects and there are so many different tips and tricks out there if you’re interested in working with bugs. BIcsBugs.com is a great resource for buying specimens and InsectArt on Etsy is as well.

Artist in Residence: Devil's Fork State Park

I just spent a week staring at the most beautiful green lake. I hiked, I paddled, and I made lots of art! This was my third artist residency through South Carolina State Parks and this year I was assigned to Devil’s Fork State Park in the northwest part of the state, where I’m starting to think there are more waterfalls than people. The landscape was gorgeous and there was so much to explore. Although I had a very full week, I feel like I could have spent a year there!

Every day I got up before sunrise and headed out for a hike in a new place. I averaged 4-7 miles each day, usually on a trail that lead to a waterfall or two, and soaked up as much inspiration as I could. In the afternoons, I enjoyed the panoramic view of Lake Jocassee from my cabin porch, making needle felted landscapes and painted pendants inspired by my surroundings. It was so easy to find inspiration. Not only does Devil’s Fork boast a lake so clear and green it looks like pool water, but there’s the majestic Blueridge mountains at the horizon, and of course acres and acres of magical woodlands full of creatures and flowers. This place has it all.

I am so thankful to have the opportunity to get to know another State Park in this intimate way and it’s even more special this time because this residency is the one and only thing on the calendar for 2020 that didn’t get canceled. It was the one thing I got to keep, I got to look forward to almost a full year, and the experience did not disappoint in any way.

I hope you enjoy this short video recap of my time at the park! All needle felted wool paintings are available here, the one mixed media fiber art piece at the beginning of this post is available here, the painted landscape pendants can be purchased here, and the laser engraved pendants are here. Use coupon code JOCASSEE now through 10/15 to get 20% off your order of $50 or more at www.onceagainsam.com

Once Again Sam’s Nature Report:

• 6 Bald Eagles

• Countless monarch butterflies (on their way to Mexico)

• 1 Otter

• 4 Great blue herons

• Many fishies-a-swimmin’

• 5 Belted king fishers

• 1 Bear (possibly)

• 2 Deer

• Several chipmunks

• All the squirrels

• 17 Waterfalls

• 0 Snakes (hooray!)

The 50 States Project

I’ve been working on a big series of tiny art! The 50 States Project has been on my to-make list for several months and I just finished up the series. I really enjoyed researching different locations for each state, and it’s always a challenge to needle felt at this tiny scale. Each 3”x3” needle felted landscape features a landmark or representational scene from each of the 50 States, and the collection is available on my website.

Be sure to enter the giveaway on Instagram and Facebook! The winner will get their choice of any of the mini landscapes from the series. All you have to do is answer the following question on either of my social media feeds: What is your favorite state and why? Good luck! Winner will be announced 9/19 at 6pm EST (must be US resident to win).