The Wintergarden
contact me
Deborah Gwinn
deb@fromthewintergarden.com
about me
Hi there, I'm Deborah. I live, work, and run my design studio from my Wintergarden in the Seattle area with a wonderful view of my garden, wildlife, and the always unpredictable weather that passes over my glass ceiling each day.
20 years ago I was happily downsized out of my art director position at Arthur Andersen and left my comfy corner office overlooking Elliot Bay after 30 years of various design jobs in Visual Merchandising and Graphic Design. I thought, what a wonderful and freeing experience it was going be to be, starting a family finally and working from home while raising my children. I was delusional. I think back to all of the wonderful coworkers who smiled and patted me on the back when I told them of my glorious plan...I thought I heard you laughing as I left the office.
Not that it hasn't been great to work in my pajamas and slippers if I want, but my “assistants”, that are now 16 and 18, are less than cooperative and much more demanding than I had imagined they would be. When they were small they did not follow orders well, talked incessantly and completely off-topic during client meetings, and threw grapes and other snack foods at me if ignored for too long.
In more recent years the situation has evolved and they have become a little more understanding and less 'snuggle' driven, but the food flinging has been replaced with loud music and a constant stream of friends cutting through my studio to the backyard. I have written them both up on numerous occasions but I don’t think they are grasping the full severity of the situation. Firing them is out of the question, transferring them to a daycare division at this age is not an option, so looking towards an eventual move to a collegiate housing facility is probably the best option for us all.
I now balance my art and design while working for architectural photographer, Nic Lehoux, doing post-production on all of his images that are published worldwide. My office is still a corner office, upstairs in my home, and my studio is a glass room with abundant light even on rainy days. It is a daily challenge to focus when working from home but I am definitely happier than I was in the confines of the corporate world.