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Click photos for larger pictures and detail.
OUR STUDIO
This photo shows about two-thirds of our space, the only 8,000-sqaure-foot labyrinth studio in the world. There are two rows of clerestory roof windows plus tall double-hung windows with transoms on the east and south sides. Yes, it would be better if the windows were on the north side. Nevertheless, we are thrilled with the plentiful natural light. While the pillars lean a bit, the beams don't bend as they appear in the photo, which is caused by the wide-angle lens.
The building was built in 1885 as a facility to work on horse-drawn streetcars. For tht reason it is called the Carriage Works Building. (Someone recently suggested that they maynot have been streetcars but cargo wagons for Anheuser Busch, which is located nearby.) There was once a ramp that led up to this space (on the second floor). The owner, an architect, occupies the ground level. He has spent a considerable effort to restore the building to its original look. When he bought the building it was in sad shape. The roof is new, the clerestory rebuilt, and the glass brick replaced by windows that are reproductions of ones shown in photographs of the building long ago. In fact, he spent more on our space than we will pay for our entire five-year lease. That's a good deal for us, and we are ideal tenants for him. He has applied to have the building added to the national registry of historic places. St. Louis has more buildings on the list than any other city in the country. .
To give you a perspective of the size of our studio, the labyrinth on the lower right (partially folded) is 36 feet in diameter, which means it is slightly over 1,000 square feet. My house is around 1,000 square feet. It's hard to imagine, isn't it? The labyrinth is made of three sections, each 12 feet wide and 36 feet long. My living room (17' x 25' ), which is 40% of my home, is smaller in square feet than one of the three sections of the labyrinth. As a whole, the studio is almost eight times the size of my modest bungalow.
With all of this space, we can work on four labyrinths at the same time. On the lower left is a Petite Chartres painted by Judy Hopen, our studio manager, production supervisor, and vice president of Labyrinth Enterprises,LLC. She has painted more labyrinths than anyone, ever, in all of history (see Judy). On the upper left is a Santa Rosa being painted by our painter-in-training, Barbara Doctorman. On the upper right is also a Santa Rosa, being painted by Judy. On the lower right is a full Chartres labyrinth being completed by Jim McNamee. Our other painter, John Bielik, was on the road with his own art work (paper marbling and bookbinding) when this photo was taken.
We need the room because we still make labyrinths the old-fashioned way, drawing and painting them by hand. One other highly visible labyrinth company prints their labyrinths on machines. Be sure to ask whether your labyrinth is a print or an original work of art (for the same price). The appearance is considerably different, not to mention the energy. When it comes to personally creating labyrinths, our 1,000 plus personally completed labyrinths certainly must set a record. (One reason for our certainty is that we find no record of portable labyrinths until the last two decades. It seems to be an American phenomenon.)
Our studio is located at 2725 S. Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis (zip: 63118). While not open to the general public (we're on the second floor -- the downstairs door stays locked), visitors are welcomed by advance appointment. The phone number at the studio is 314-865-1988.
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Click on photos for more information.
Click on this link to see some of our EARLY PHOTOS in 2005.