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The Morning Cuppa: Atelier 9.0

Posted on November 30, 2025

November 28th 2025

It’s the morning after Thanksgiving and I’m posting for the first time from the new atelier in Florida.

This is the blog post I’ve been wanting to write for years and years.

Be it for good or bad I’ve had numerous moves over the decades and with each an atelier. The one I most miss was fitted into a maid’s quarters by California Closets in a house I lived in from 2002 until 2006 in Sherman Oaks, California. Reluctantly I gave up the house when relocating to the beach, regretting it almost immediately. It was the perfect atelier. Nevermind it was before iPhones and Instagram and before AppleTV gave us worldwide views from our flatscreens we depended on something called TiVo.

For years I attempted to replicate the layout, but never was able to quite find the right space in Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, London, and later the Costa Brava, Spain, having always made the best of of it with existent spaces. I came close with my last atelier in the Costa Brava, but I couldn’t forgot I was in an O Level. What it lacked was the very thing I could not replicate in a basement, no matter how many windows and French Doors I installed — elevation and light. And perhaps that inability to be totally rid of that damp odour.

When my family and I adjusted from being seasonal residents to permanent in Florida we decided to build an addition to the existing house. I finally had my opportunity. When working with an architect on the blueprints I sketched out a space off the main foyer into the second floor master-suite. Set on the side of the house, hidden amongst Florida oaks and palmeras I designed a space exact to my needs. It had two large windows along a single wall and a sliding door to a terrace where I could take in the fresh air and view both a tropic forest and golf course from my desk. Although not possible to lay out the countertops to match exactly the space I had in Sherman Oaks it was possible to lay out the original floor plan near to what it was. When the builder completed construction and I was able to walk around the new space I realized only then I had exceeded my own expectations. Not only was I able to match the principle workbench I had not had since 2006 I was also able to integrate the home office space I so fancied in Spain if not exactly then its mirrored equivlient. 

Most miniature artists don’t prefer bright sunshine entering their workspace. For me it’s necessity. Natural light effects my mood positively. And as a writer I need that sunrise. Although the the trees outside the windows do provide more shade than expected it offers relief from the oppressive  afternoon sun. 

As mentioned, my writing corner is the mirror image of Spain, right down to the placement of the flatscreen and framed memories of miniature concorsos past. High on the wall sits my old Spain clock. Old clock on a new wall. The very clock informing me it was due time to push off for Euro Militaire and SMC from 2012 to 2024.

My principle modelling bench is precisely positioned as it was in Sherman Oaks. It’s a match right down to the drawer set up. In fact, many a time I find myself instinctively reaching into a drawer where I kept my television remotes from 2002-2006. In the 2002 comparison photo of my Sherman Oaks atelier —and me in an earlier incarnation —you’ll notice I couldn’t quite align the Gerstner tool chests due to the location of the windows. And have a go at the shirt I am wearing in both the 2002 and 2025 photos. It’s the same shirt. A survivor from my twenty odd years living in LA. My modelling shirt purchased from Brooks Brothers in the Century City mall has travelled the world through numerous incarnations of ateliers over the past 22 years and I do dearly hope it continues for years and years to come as does the return to my traditional atelier. 

As always. The journey is everything…

…even when the journey takes us back to where we begun.

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