Somehow the schedule of writing these letters got delayed more than I originally intended, so I’m going to catch y’all up. It has turned into a bit of a task to remember what was going on 4 weeks ago, and the original intention of these letters was to reflect on recent happenings! So here we are: 4 weeks in 1 letter.

Portland → Seattle

Last letter we left off in Portland where my partner and I spent a few days visiting with friends and family. After a short visit, we finished the drive to our final destination: Seattle. Why? A wedding! The first of my friends to get married (well, one of my childhood best friend’s sister — and my next door neighbor — so I’d place her under the friend adjacent category but a sentimental wedding none-the-less)!

My sister flew in all the way from the UK for the wedding, and we had such an incredible time visiting with old friends, laughing, dancing, and yes — crying (happy tears).

After the wedding, my partner had to leave Seattle for Portland because Bruce had an oil leak (hi, Ford). But I stayed in town for some spring skiing, a makers market and more visiting with loved ones!

Behind the scenes work also got done while in town, such as photography and listing creation for the Arizona + California collection (since released!), restocking and polishing the pieces stocked at Venue in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, and a branding photoshoot with my photographer Camille!

I just got some of the photos from the shoot back and they are so so gorgeous —

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Branding photos from shoot with Camille Docena Photo

Seattle → Oregon Coast

After two weeks in Seattle, I hopped on the train to Portland, Oregon where my parter picked me up in a fixed Bruce and we drove straight to the Oregon Coast. The coast is one of our home-bases — the first being Seattle (our official place of residence), and the second being the coast (where all our stuff is stored). So anytime we need to make upgrades or fixes, the coast is where we go!

The reason this time? Drop off the things we didn’t use in our first three months on the road, make space for new toys (hello, paddle board!), and make some upgrades to the camper.

Things we originally (+ some embarrassingly) brought that were not used:

10 boxes of covid tests (turns out we don’t see a lot of people)

Heating pad
Crock pot (why originally? A good question I don’t really know the answer to)
A million (an exaggeration) packaging boxes
Generator

Upgrades we made:

Outdoor cooktop
Studio drawer + table top
Better tool organization
Solar panel install
Rails for the truck bed (so the camper can’t slide around)

Let’s get into the details though cause two of those upgrades are going to be life changers:

Outdoor Cooktop

You know when you cook indoors and it’s hot outside you feel like you’re going to die of heat stroke? Yeah. It’s worse when you’re cooking in a small space.

Long story short, we were in need of an outdoor cooktop — badly. But we didn’t have a spot to put one until we determined the generator was unnecessary and therefore a compartment became available! It’s the perfect spot too because it’s spacious enough for a cooktop and a propane connection was already there. So my partner removed the generator and built a slide out table, then put a griddle on it — and voila! Outdoor cooktop!

This is going to save us on hot days entering summertime —

Studio drawer + table top

My favorite upgrade so far ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)

The biggest struggles I’ve had with working on the road is the set up and tear down of my studio. It was getting faster, but having to pull out and put away a table and every tool I needed multiple times a day was still a motivation buzz kill. So my partner and I came up with a design to help streamline studio set up and tear down and remove this mental barrier.

Enter: my studio drawer + table top, now built into the truck bed out of a side compartment that locks is a two tiered table that slides in and out. And the extra best part? The tables are built with enough clearance that I can leave tools on them while they’re put away. So now I can:

set up once, work, slide everything into the compartment and lock it overnight or take a break midday
& when I’m ready to come back to it, I can just unlock and slide out the tables to pick up right where I left off 🤯

What I found previously was that after I set up I’d feel a pressure to create because of the (albeit minimal) energy required to get everything ready. So I’m really hoping this new system will help me maintain my creative energy through set up & tear down!

While on the coast Sadie also got a DIY haircut by yours truly, and she didn’t turn out looking like an uneven rat so I call that a win. I also launched the Arizona + California collection — the first body of work made entirely on the road!

check out the collection

With markets being mostly cut out as an income source, I’ve been reaching out to more galleries and high end retail stores to stock my work. Unfortunately that means cold-emailing lots of shops (my favorite task), but with being in the coastal area I focused my outreach and offered in-person viewing and… success!! A gallery I have been recommended by several people (and my favorite gallery in Cannon Beach), will be representing Meghan Elisabeth Art starting this summer. 🎉 I’ll be creating a coastal inspired collection for White Bird gallery over the next month or two, and I am so beyond proud, honored, and excited!

All-in-all our time on the Oregon Coast has been incredibly productive, but my partner and I are both ready to be back on the road. The dogs are as well — Sadie has been a menace being stuck inside a house and Sacha lost a toe nail so she hasn’t even been allowed on walks while it heals. We’re all excited for sniff-around walkies and bird watching to be a daily occurrence again 🐦