2020: Another year of big change
I can’t believe my work anniversary came and went as it did. I usually create a little fan fair. This year was different. I thought about it as I usually think about how Earth and Images has evolved and grown since 2007, but I just didn’t have time to even make a post, so now I’m making up for it with a big blog, even though I still have deadlines to meet.
We are incredibly and thankfully busy, even during these uncertain times. Our hearts go out to everyone navigating the changes and collective trauma we are experiencing. We are so thankful to our clients for maintaining the visions they have for their dream homes, and to our vendors who have all been going the extra mile to make sure we have the materials and samples we need to keep things moving along quickly. I am especially grateful to my husband as he has the most positive perspective of anyone I have ever met. I appreciate him now more than ever.
August 1st 2020 was the first day of my 14th year owning Earth and Images. As many other small business owners have also experienced, navigating this year has had many challenges. Mark and I could see the writing on the wall regarding COVID-19 after we got back from our travels the first week of March. My team and I moved quickly to get our server set up so that we could all work from our homes beginning March 13th.
I am so grateful we continue to do well and keep busy, so much so that we are moving to a larger office in September. We outgrew our 1000 square foot space in Old Town quite a while ago. Truthfully, my desk has been wherever I could land and I have been carrying everything around in a roller bag. Just as we were going back to work in the office more and more in May, the riots happened in Scottsdale. That Sunday after the bad Saturday night, the team moved everything we needed for our projects to our garage. Now we just can’t fit back in there. Our office is like a pair of pants that we can’t get back into after a Mark Candelaria cooking weekend.
We are still using the space as needed, but with the spikes in COVID-19 we continue to be careful and primarily do video meetings. Our team has grown to 6 and we are interviewing many talented prospects for another Lead Designer, so more space is definitely necessary, especially with social distancing. The timing is good as our lease is up in Old Town in October anyway so it is all working out just fine.
We are moving to a 2500 square foot office and will announce the location as soon as the ink is dry. Our team is so excited, and we are all finding it so fun to be anticipating the move. We are all ready for a change, to be together, and to have everything in one place.
Now I must reminisce. So many incredible things happened my 13th year. We had a few features in Phoenix Home & Garden magazine, which always gives us a big boost. It is so gratifying to see our work on those glossy pages. It is an added bonus that makes the long hours, the problem solving, the creative bursts of design, and millions of decisions we keep track of worth it. In November 2019, a 63,000 square foot property Schultz Development built and Candelaria Design designed, was published. This was a horse property that had 2 barns, a main house, a guest house with an indoor swimming pool, racquetball court, shooting range, exercise room and sauna, hair salon, massage room, and bowling alley was featured. As a designer I think it’s exciting if a project gets to have even one of these things, so to do all of them in one project was really a thrill. That was a 4 year project for us and one that we are very proud of. Kudos to Nikka Bochniak, Lead Designer E&I who managed this project and Vivian Ayala, Lead Architect, CDA for their attention to detail and commitment to seeing this one over the finish line.
Also, last November, a transitional Santa Barbara style home we did with Candelaria Design that was built by True Performance was also featured on their annual PHG VIP Home Tour. That was an incredible day and so satisfying to share our work with so many people. It seems all the sweeter now that we are all having to stay in. My husband, Mark Candelaria, recorded a podcast there during the event. If you would like to hear what some of the tour participants, our clients, and John Roark, the editor of PHG had to say, here is the link to his Inspiring Living podcast Season 1 Episode 12
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2019-phoenix-home-and-garden-vip-home-tour/id1478902328?i=1000456478183
If you would like to see the home, it was featured in January 2020 PHG issue here (https://www.earthandimages.com/phxhg0120 ) .
In March of this year, I was named Master of the Southwest by PHG, which still seems a little surreal. It is amazing that the daily tasks we complete, the processes we continue to improve, the dreams we never give up on, the daily vision we focus on having for our life- physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally, and the faith it takes sometimes to continue moving forward add up to. In this case for me, it was my team and my clients who entrusted me to create such an incredible body of work (we have completed over 50 projects in 7 years and 2 of those years I was fighting Stage IV cancer so don’t mess with me lol) with me at the podium that night as I accepted the award. You can see the intense portrait Jesse Rieser took of me as well as our French inspired project in the March 2020 issue of PHG magazine.
It doesn’t stop there. A gorgeous 23,000 square foot estate we completed in Silverleaf was also featured, also in PHG in the May 2020 issue. Check out our press page for the entire story. Nikka Bochniak, lead designer on this project did a stellar job bringing this one to completion, and Tim Mathewson, project manager of the project from Candelaria Design. This one was also built by Schultz Development.
This spring we were also a part of the Iconic Haus benefitting Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and we went from #5 to #2 on Ranking Arizona’s list of Best Design firms. We are about to start work on the second Iconic Haus (Instagram: @youriconiclife), we are in the design process for the Monument to Compassion Bat Cave (#buildthecave https://www.coltencowellfoundation.org/crime-fighting-cave), completing a refresher at Gigi’s Playhouse (https://gigisplayhouse.org/phoenix/), and did a team building day with Habitat for Humanity this past spring (https://habitatcaz.org/). It is so great to be in a position to be able to give back to the community, and to stay involved as much as we can to see the lives that are empowered and changed by these organizations.
On a personal level, my health is fully restored, praise the Lord! I am more creative than ever which is so energizing. We will hand over the specs on a stunning PV remodel to John Sebald of Santorini Custom Homes this week that I am over the moon about. Here is a little sneak peek. There are just too many other projects to mention as I’ve got to get back to my project tasks now, but thank you all for letting me share some of these good things with you. I am as excited as ever about everything.
