San Diego Finishing School Update

Today I'm getting ready to start a new series of jobs onsite after some time devoted just to Heather and Hunter and our house. One of the things I love about my business model is that every week is different (unless the job is very large).

Frequent change is good for me on many levels. Today I was able to appreciate a wider perspective on things (one I have to put on hold when doing specific tasks), which let me know that in the face of growing demand for my services, I've spread myself a little thin.

So I've decided, despite a very successful first six months that saw 6 new students study at the School and built two new partnerships with local painting contractors, in fact, due to overwhelming demand for my services, that I will not be accepting any more students until this fall.

There are a few reasons for this.

One is business growth: when I began booking contract mural and faux finish job two months (and more) in advance, it occurred to me that splitting the studio into two functions (both teaching and contracting) might be tough. After doing a couple of refinishing projects in the studio as well, I decided it was almost impossible.

Along the same lines, I have had some exciting developments with my fine art recently, which I hope to announce "officially" by this month's ArtWalk event in San Diego's Little Italy, Booth #786.

The other big thing that happened is that I learned a lot: about what people are really looking for in a learning experience, about what people need to succeed in the business of faux finishing and mural painting, and how I can improve the design of my offerings at the San Diego Finishing School to be able to help people even more effectively

So of course I want to make all these improvments now, and if you've been checking in on the Finishing School web site recently, you'll have noticed I got started on the upgrade and then stalled; there is just too much going on right now. The new ideas for class organization and collaboration services for contractors will have to wait to develop until the summer, as will the planned scheduled workshops in trompe l'oeil drawing and mural painting at the heart of a third local business partnership I look forward to announcing soon as well.

I posted a condensed version of these thoughts on the site today and want to repeat here the most important part of the message: THANK YOU to everyone who made the first six months of the San Diego Finishing School such a success and such an exciting time. (and please stay in touch through this blog for most current updates!)