From Shop To Studio: Lighting

If you’re still with us on this journey of setting up an aerial studio from scratch, today we tackle the choosing and installation of lighting.

Straight off the bat I will say, do not underestimate how expensive lighting is. I didn’t budget enough for this and I am also aware of how important it can be. The lights that were in the shop space were bright, awful and your worst nightmare spinning upside down staring into them. We decided on track lighting, however lighting a high space can take some planning. Tom, my electrician friend, accompanied me to Gescan to pick out what we wanted, I recommend having someone who knows how many lumens and how much spread the light is going to provide, with you when you’re making these decisions. 

Fortunately with the help of Ron at Gescan, we figured out a more budget-friendly lighting option and when I showed up to pick the order up he was entertained at how I was planning on fitting all of this in my beloved Toyota Echo, Arthur. Arthur has seen it all, I can fit my entire portable rig in there, my lollipop lyra and boxes of silks have been shuttled around in there. There's something really enjoyable about showing up to the Fairmont valet parking to do an unload into an event and popping the boot of Arthurines to pull out all of the equipment. I like to think of him as the car version of a Mary Poppins bag crammed with aerial treasures. The other thing you need to consider is having a genie lift there to install your new lighting, which fortunately the lift was still there from the cross beams. This is something to think about and factor into your budget. 

Having a lift already in the studio for the cross beam installation helped so much to easily install the new lights.

I have to say, electrical work does not receive the full praise it should, it involves a lot of planning and placement, running cables and it’s kind of work that can easily go unnoticed. Can we take a moment to appreciate the black finish on these receptacles? So much classier than white and I didn’t even know they existed in that colour until Tom told me. Huge thanks to Tom for taking on this side job, putting in long hours all while going back to work and having a new baby.

“I have to say, electrical work does not recieve the full praise it should... it’s a kind of work that can easily go unnoticed. ”

I asked Hannah to publish our first blog post because I knew it would make me accountable to seeing the story through to the end. The last thing I want to do after a long day at the studio is come home and start blogging but I have persevered and not done that. Instead I have been catching up writing large sections at a time. While June-uary is that dreaded time of the year in Whistler where your hopes of summer are dashed by relentless rain, instead of complaining like so many others I have relished the ability to be indoors without FOMO and get stuff done, like painting!