Just about there

Ok, so in the days since I last posted, we've been awfully busy. Mostly in ways that do not lend themselves to interesting photographs, but which move the ball forward, to use a sports metaphor. We've been working at a feverish pace; I'm sure that Nashua Paint is going to have a separate line item on the taxes entitled "income from Studio Mark Emile." I jest, but just barely.

Here's a view of the studio proper towards the front of the studio taken over the weekend. Yes, lots of junk remains; we're working, dang it!


The bathroom in its new form. Believe me when I tell you it's 200% better.



Yes, we've started moving furniture and equipment in. Here's the front of the store:


Some thoughtful devil arranged for flowers to be delivered on our first day open. Um, well, at least he thought it would be our first day open last friday. Oopsie. Oh, they are sitting on our latest consignment store find. :D

More progress

As time marches relentlessly on, so, too does progress. We are beginning to be able to feel it, that there will indeed be an end to the reconstruction. Top signs of today? The floor is done and the crown molding has been installed.

Crown molding.



The view down the hall into the studio proper where Betsy toils away, painting baseboard.

Edging towards realness

As we move forward on our project, there are certain milestones which make it seem more real. The sign is one of those. Nashua has these rules designed to prevent absurd signs from making a mockery of sense and proportion, and one of those concerns the size of the sign you are allowed to have. Sadly, this has lead to a sign that is dwarfed by the available space, even though it is the maximum size allowed by law. At least it's there now.

Rich, the sign guy, putting up the sign.

The sign in all its glory. LOL



More door bargains. These closet sliders were a steal.



The door to the premier room. Solid wood. Brand new. We have learned where to look. :D

Quantum Leap

Suddenly we are seeing major strides, significant signs of progress. We've all had our heads down, working hard, and now that we are looking up we are seeing evidence that this project will not last indefinitely, that there is an end at least theoretically in sight. Our goal is for a soft opening by the end of the week. There is much left to do to accomplish this, but we can do it.

Betsy cleaning up some of the caulk around the new doorframe to the office.


Hand-D-man Dan. Dan is a jack of all trades with three really good qualities: he is good at what he does, he has a strong work ethic, and he is reasonably priced. If you have projects that you can't attend to, and are looking for an honest, hardworking guy who will do a good job for you without robbing from your children's college education, call 365-6470 and talk to Dan. Tell him I sent you.


We have doors! Woo hoo! This is the view from the studio looking towards the street. On the left is the door to the hallway, on the right to the framing room.

Will it ever end?

We have officially reached the point in this project where it feels like we will never get to an end. And yet in fact it's just over two weeks since we got keys. Painting has gone well. Every room except the bathroom and the accent wall in the studio has received at least one coat of paint.

As you can see, we are now installing the flooring. This is the view of the office from the front door.


Here is a closeup of the tile in the entryway and the floor.


The studio space is chock full of stuff as we have about 5 projects going on at once.


The view out the back windows.


A chance visit by Nashie, the Loch Ness style denizen of the Nashua River. The other day there was a cormorant sitting on the tail of this beast. It had "Living Dangerously" written all over it. :)

a splash of color

The last couple of days have seen major strides forward in the studio. My wife, my daughter, and my parents have been working like crazy to move things along. Lots of painting is getting done. The entire shooting area has taken a couple of coats of paint, plus the hallway, the office, the front. It's really starting to look like a place and not a potential place. Much remains to be done, but the tile installer is coming tomorrow to do the area in front of the front door and the bathroom. I took a couple of quick ones today after finishing painting the hallway.

This is the front end of the actual shooting area.


Having your child work for you means there's going to be some fooling around. Kat decided to make handprints on the paper covering the front door, and engaged in other artistic endeavors. LOL. But I have to admit, she's apparently inherited the hard worker gene, and we are proud of that.


The view from the front door of the office and waiting area.

100F session

The Smith family had their session tonight, in the 100 degree heat. The oppressive heat did not pose too much of an obstacle, as they were troopers through the entire session.



The heat finally became too much for Dakota, but he looked good cooling off! Ok, I lied. We asked him to do this. Getting down to the river was much more of an issue than getting into it, I'm sure he'll agree.

Rock on!

What a difference it makes when the wallboard is installed. All of a sudden it looks like a studio! The drywallers made great progress today, getting all the rock hung. Tomorrow, tape and mud. The painter also came by and painted the ceiling. It is really starting to come together, as you can see.

Our spokesmodel Caroline's outdoor session

We're taking a break today from updates on the new studio to show you a little bit about why we're building the studio in the first place: and that is to create images. Today's heat did not prove to be a problem for our spokesmodel Caroline; she was a real trooper and decided to have her session anyway despite the 90+ degree temperatures. She was very relaxed and we had a very nice session, as you can see. These images are straight out of the camera, with no photoshop work done to them. When they are fully worked, they will look even better. And before I forget, Beat LA! Beat LA! Go Celtics!

Hard at it

Progress continues apace. The walls are up and tight. The electrical work is moving right along. Sheetrock has been delivered. It's really moving right along. I am about to go back for a little more work, then home to collapse.


Here's Walter Miller pulling cable...

Early signs of progress

Emphasis on early. At 6 am, I was at the studio this morning, meeting up with Jeff Dachowski to build walls. I had never worked with steel studs before, but Jeff is an old pro at it and we made quite a bit of progress today. You really can't say enough about Jeff. He brings both experience and a strong work ethic, and you just crank. We have a couple more hours worth in the morning and we'll be done with the walls, and the electrician can then do his thing. This is going great!

Tonight we attended the Taste of Downtown Nashua and after having spent 14 hours on my feet today, I am tired and feeling my age. But we had a fun time sampling the various bits of food from the local restaurants and checking out the boutiques of my new neighbors.

Raw Potential

We got the keys to our new studio today! We are so incredibly excited! Studio Mark Emile is relocating to 69 Main St in Nashua, NH. We will be located directly adjacent to Darrell's Music Hall. Here are a few shots of the new space, inside and out, before the removal of the old carpet.

Jensine and Shallyne

Our spokesmodel Jensine had her outdoor session this afternoon. She brought along her friend Shallyne, who joined in on the fun now and then. We had a good time with the girls, and we think they had a little fun, too.