Sunday 5/12/24
On Sundays I reflect.
I didn’t drink alcohol this week. I haven’t had a drink since Joel’s wedding and it feels good. I’ve been so busy I haven’t even really had time to think about drinking.
Today’s blog is going to be about our content queen Grace. We are all so sad to see Grace leave the valley and our studio, but so excited for her to embark on the next part of her journey.
It must have been last winter in 2022 or early 2023 when Ty introduced me to Grace at The George. Ty was one of our first models before moving back to New Orleans. On a visit to Vail she told me to meet her in town where we bumped into Skinny and Grace. Maybe I had seen Grace around town but we didn’t know each other. It was a long time ago but I remember giving her a ride home and telling her we should plan a shoot.
At some point after some postponing a few times we shot around the village one afternoon with Skinny who by then was only available for fill in work as his schedule became too busy. Grace was a real fun one to shoot with and expressed interest in developing her skills behind the camera as well.
I don’t remember exactly how things transpired but eventually Grace became our social media manager, spending five days or more every week at the studio or in the field creating content.
It was a learning experience for both Grace and me, but we worked together to develop the content you have been enjoying over the last year. Grace brought a creative energy and new perspective that had all of us at the studio thrilled to have her presence.
Grace loves when I text her at 8 am to see if she’s awake yet and ready for me to pick her up to go to the studio.
Not really, but usually I waited until 9 am to text her. It probably didn’t make a difference, almost every morning for the last year I have sent Grace a good morning text.
In the last year I have spent more time with Grace than almost anyone else. We worked tirelessly on creating content and keeping the website up to date with fresh inventory.
Sometimes all we could do was laugh when we started working on to do lists that would stretch into eternity. There was never a dull moment.
Grace joined me for our shows in Denver and at the studio in Minturn. She came to Philadelphia and Miami for our shows last year. She came to Glass Vegas with us a few months ago. She became a part of our community.
Thank you to all of the artists and friends and collectors that showed Grace kindness and supported her along the way. We all know how difficult it can be to deal with me, and after Marta moved on Grace became my support at Bat Country Studios.
I think I cooked breakfast for Grace about 3 times at the studio. If you know anything about me you know I don’t even cook breakfast for myself or my girlfriends. I’m basically incompetent in the kitchen.
Somehow we were able to keep each other alive and fed. This was the real feat, as sometimes we would go for hours before realizing neither of us had anything to eat all day.
Grace is one of the many people who put in countless hours to make Drinking Vessels what it is. I’m eternally grateful to her and those before her for not only supporting my vision, but also for believing in it enough to sacrifice almost everything else to help bring the vision to life.
It was a real privilege to spend the time I spent with Grace. She made us laugh, sometimes so hard I couldn’t stop. She is adored by everyone who met her while she worked at Bat Country Studios.
On rare and special occasions we got to snowboard together and sometimes I would even go the whole time without talking about work. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I tried.
The photographs and videos Grace captured will last forever. I usually don’t like how I look in pictures and think my smile looks forced. Grace captured some of the most special moments of my life on film and in a few of them you can see my pure and unencumbered happiness. I cherish those moments.
I could go on and on, and I will for a bit.
On a personal level and unrelated to work, Grace was almost always down to attend any art show or event I would invite her to. She loves art and has a great eye for it, so we would talk for hours about what we saw together.
She is also a great listener and was very supportive through my last relationship and breakup. That was a painful one for me, and I so appreciate that she was there to hear about it and give me her advice.
Life is going to be a lot different without Grace around. We’re all going to miss her tremendously. Once again, I am so grateful that we got to share the time we did together.
Thank you Grace for being a part of this and supporting not only myself but our entire team and all of the artists that we work with. I feel so blessed to be providing this service to so many artists, and allowing them to focus on their creative process and personal lives. I couldn’t do it alone, and Grace helped us take it to the next level.
Wishing all the best for you and always here for you, Gracie. I hope you can always call Bat Country Studios home and please come back to visit. You know the code, just let yourself in.
BB
PS: Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and all the moms out there. I have had a strenuous relationship with my mom since childhood but we’re making progress and had a nice time together in Miami a few weeks ago even though it was quick and I was semi-sick. Love you mom.
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
