I'm not sad to say goodbye

Why I'm not sad about leaving our beautiful home studio behind as we move from Birmingham to Cornwall.

Well we are not saying goodbye, not really.

Let me clarify: Yes, the studio will be staying with our house and is being sold intact, but here’s why it feels different. We have been in our home for the past 7 years. We’ve grown so much as people in that time and our lives really are very different to how they started off. We’ve lost important people, we’ve lived through a pandemic, we’ve started and ended dreams.

Knowing we were ready to say goodbye to our home was quite a different feeling to knowing we would have to leave our studio. We (mostly Winston to be honest) built our studio over a few years. It’s been a safe haven, a place to keep our most precious things and a retreat for each of us to go to. It is however, so completely us that I have absolute faith that we are not really saying goodbye. Just pausing where and how it exists.

When we were looking for a house to rent, finding a space that we could have a studio in wasn’t a luxury we could afford. Renting as a resident in Cornwall is so difficult. You are battling landlords who know they could rent their properties out in the summer to tourists for a few weeks over the summer and earn 2,3,4 times as much as they could having long term tenants. There are 10-20 applicants for every property and being miles away put off some landlords from even considering us. We had limited time, limited money and limited properties to chose from. Luckily, we found a property that is bigger than our current house, has two extra bedrooms and we will probably be able to make some kind of studio/home office space in once we are settled - a privilege we are very thankful for.

But that’s a temporary fix. Sometimes I think Artists and Athletes have a similar way of thinking. Our way of living is so deeply engrained in us that there is no possible other alternative. I know I will always draw, make, create. I know it like I know I will wake up tomorrow. I know I will do it if we have a dedicated ‘studio’ or if we don’t. So I know that the indulgence of building a studio is one both Winston and I will absolutely give into as soon as we can possibly afford to. Whilst I know this is a huge privilege, its also one of my motivations for succeeding.

It's a bit like when people sometimes ask me, if I wasn’t creative, what would I have done instead? Well I have thought about this a lot because (believe it or not) I am actually quite academic as well being Dyslexic and ‘arty’. Sometimes I think I might have been a Dentist because I like the idea of poking about and cleaning plaque, the engineering of moving teeth about and straightening up lines and..oh look, I’m being creative again! In all honesty, not being creative would mean I was someone else and I really don’t know who she is.

So, just as long distance lovers know they will find each other again at some point, I know we will find (and build) another studio. And this time, we won’t be moving for at least another 7 years!