Artist Sabbatical
"Sabbatical" is a word I like to use a lot because it seems like such a nice set up for artists that tattooers don't really exploit. We have been offering the shop for some time as a place like this, taking a set of tattooers during the summer who can work as much or as little as they like for a minimal, cost-covering daily rent. This summer was the first attempt, I feel like it was a big success.
I tried pretty hard to find a nice location for my shop and actually got my dream spot: Harbord street is a quiet street surrounded by suburbs -- the catch is that only a block north is Bloor, a busy/hip/main street in the downtown, and a block north of College, which has tons of good restaurants and sushi places, all the bank branches, a theatre, and a grocery store. It was nice to have vegan options to suggest or be able to show Nikki where to go to work out. And having one of the city's best espresso cafes next door makes that base easily covered. The community is just very self-contained.
I do find myself sometimes disappointed in Toronto for the hustle bustle and the cold winters, but honestly if that's all we can moan about, big whoop. Snow is pretty and it's pretty comfortable to draw in a heated room with huge windows and 3 foot snow bails at the window.
Being that this is a "blog" I thought I'd just ramble about how much I love the little nook of a shop that every visiting artist and my staff has helped to personalize in our first year of business.
If anyone wants to comment... I'm wondering if there's shops that other members feel so fondly of, even if it is their own. Haha.
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