Artistic Home Paint & Glass StudioWeekly Logs:
Week 1 (5 hours): Before working at the Artistic Home Studio and Boutique, I had never done any sort of furniture painting. That was the first thing I needed to learn how to do on my first day. In a way my timing was good on when I started the internship, because I had come in for my first day of work on the same day that the studio had been changing the brand of paint they stock and sell. Making my first duty to clean and repaint the chairs in the studio with the new paint. I believe there’s about twenty chairs in the studio, so I definitely had plenty to do. Though at first I really had no clue what I was doing. I found myself looking at what my co-worker was doing, and figured out what to do from there. In retrospect, I probably would have benefited from asking more questions on the things that I was confused about. Week 2 (5 hours): When I came in to work on this day, I found myself a little worried. I work for the two owners of this studio. One of which is the glass master, the other is the paint master. I work mainly for the paint master, because I am a painter and that is where the studio needed the most help. But on this day the paint master and her daughter who had helped me the week before weren’t in. I was a bit nervous, but I was given the rest of the studio chairs and asked to paint them with a any color paint I liked that was close to the color that the chair was. I found the work easy on my own. Week 3 (5 hours): I know that at some point during today I had thought that maybe it would be a good idea to take up lifting weights to help me with lifting and moving a lot of the furniture I have to work with in the studio. Since the studio is a bit small things need to be moved around a lot in order to find space to work in. At least that won’t be in the way. Week 4 (5 hours): There was not a lot of painting that had to be done today, so instead of my usual duties I was asked to re-organize some of the displays in the front of the studio. I was also taught how to ring up purchases in order to help with how busy the studio was while there were parties being held. I was really worried about it at first, that I might make a mistake or a customer would get angry at me for taking too long to ring them up while I was still new to it. Though it wound up not to be so bad after all. Week 5 (5 hours): There still was not much painting to be done today. The few things I did have to paint had needed long dry times so I had to work the register most of the day. During a slow spot I was taught how to cut glass so I could help instruct people who came in to make fused glass. If I didn’t have to work the register I would have experimented more with the glass so I could get a better feel for it. Except I had to watch the front due to my bosses laptop being stolen from the shop just a couple days before. I was asked to keep my eyes open. |
Closing Statement:
Every day that I had been working in the studio, I found myself learning something new. Whether it had been about painting, working with glass, or just how to work with people in retail. I already had known a lot about painting, because I am an artist and that is what I like to do in my spare time. Except before starting my internship I had never done any sort of furniture painting. On my first day I more or less needed to learn how to clean the furniture properly and paint it on my own. It was kind of like here is my sponge, brush, and paints, now go get it done. I figured it out most of the basics on my own as well as I picked up a few things by watching what my co-worker had been doing, and following her lead. Though further along I had picked up techniques like antiquing or stencil work for a couple of examples. Later on I had learned how to cut glass in order to help instruct for fused glass. As well as I had been taught how to use the register to help with purchases while either parties were being held in the studio or just the studio was really busy. Each day I had to help in order to set up for classes, help run the shop while classes were in session, work on any pieces that needed to be done, work the register and answer questions for anyone curious that had come into the studio. Some days I would just be working on pieces and commissions throughout the whole day, which was really tiring. Some pieces were much harder than others to paint. For example I had to paint a set of three chairs, each were to be a different color. I took them out back to get them cleaned as I do with every piece. While I was cleaning I noticed a really sticky substance was being lifted from the chairs, and I couldn’t seem to get the entirety of it off. I had asked my boss if there was something wrong with the chairs, and she had told me that there must have been an old wood finish on the chairs that was coming off as I was cleaning them. She said to rinse them off and let them dry, and see what happens when I paint them. When I did paint the chairs, the paint had cracked everywhere when it had dried. I was shocked and had no clue what was going on. I was told that was actually a common reaction when you paint over an old wood finish, my boss asked me to sand the cracking spots on the chairs, then to shellac them, sand them again very lightly, and to try painting over that to see if that helps to solve the problem. All of which had been done, and though two of the chairs were fixed after that, one still had cracking. I got really frustrated that it was continuing to happen, and I did not know how to fix it. My boss wound up calling the company that makes the paint we use in the studio to ask for tips on how to deal wit this. We found that cleaning furniture with alcohol works just fine, and the problem was solved. I find that I learned a lot about communication working in the studio. I get asked a lot of questions by curious people about the paint we stock, what classes we offer and how to sign up, or even what store they had just walked in to. At first not only did I not really know how to answer any of these questions I was terrified to. I learned to change that quickly by listening to how my bosses answered their questions and spoke to them. The more I had worked with the products we sell in the studio, the easier it was for me to answer questions about the products. I found I learned so much about painting, glass, and working retail in my time working in the studio, and I loved every bit of it. |