For those of you who have no other area for creativity, this is likely a common scenario...but for me...I have three other areas designated as work areas...my office with a small table, my workshop studio where I hold classes and my basement studio space. Other than the fact that my workshop studio has no heat (and thus a little chilly during the winter) I really have no excuse to be commandeering the dining room table for my projects.
I seem to be in a perpetual state of cleaning up my spaces...but never seem to make much progress...this time I decided to dig in deep and vowed that I will get my basement studio space into a manageable condition...
I've started with the west wall of the studio, lined with shelves...I pulled out everything and cast a critical eye...
I'm assuming that I had some project in mind...but really...this many vintage graters...
You know I have a soft spot for well loved metal...but its time to let it go...the flat graters have been slated for a future art party project (and put into a bin designated appropriately), the others into the box for giveaway.
More scrounging abounds...I find a horde of drawing circle compasses...yes, one is insignificant, more than one makes a statement...but this many is overkill...and this doesn't include the three I found after I took this photo...
True, one of these would be a lovely addition to a future mixed media collage...a couple of them are rather unique...but its exactly that kind of rationalization that has led to this overpopulation.
Which leads me to my word for the year...rather than a list of resolutions, I have found it helpful to have a word on which to focus...to guide my actions throughout the year...some years, its been difficult for me to pinpoint the exact word to describe what I want to achieve...this year, it hit me square in the face about a month ago...
I am overwhelmed...not just with a physical amount of extraneous stuff...but also with overly involved art techniques...and for that matter, complicated procedures in many areas of my life...
I want to take this tangled mess of materials, methods and madness and pare it down...
Now, believe me, this doesn't mean that I'll be living in a naked house with white walls decorated with one single feather...but I'm hoping...no, I am confident...that by the end of the year (if not sooner) I'll be able to work peacefully on my art...and eat at my dining room table any time I want...
Do you have a word for the year? I'd love to hear what it is...
and if you have a compelling story behind your word, maybe I'll send you one of my compasses...