Until Death Do Us Part

Piles.  Were you surprised at what was lurking underneath all that cool stuff?   More cool stuff!   Was it 6’ under?   Isn’t it hard to part with?  Because someday, you know it will come in handy and you know that the minute you part with it, you’ll wish you hadn’t.   Did you bite the bullet and make some major evaluations of your stuff?   If you didn’t get to the “part with” stage yet, that’s okay.  Make a “maybe part with” pile but definitely part with the “until death do us part” pile.  You’ll be surprised once you get everything out at what you decide is worth keeping and what isn’t and all those wonderful treasures that were hidden and tucked away for a rainy day will still be there if you move it to the someday pile. 

Okay, let’s start at the beginning.  Hopefully you gave this endeavor some thought.  I’m assuming you did a quick check and now you know if you are just reorganizing within your space or if you will need storage bins and/or more.  Have you considered a budget if you need one?

Whether you spend time reading, drawing, coloring, beading, writing,  pasting, or listening to music, flexible storage solutions are a major factor to organizing a practical space.  Now that you have your piles and before you start buying stock in your local container store, consider your space and where you will store your stuff.  If it is on hand (closest) be aware of your surroundings and don’t get too big.  If it is temporary (tomorrow) will it fit under the bed, if it is an inactive but not yet extinct hobby (someday) will it fit in your garage or attic.  Are you going to need to put up shelving to house your bins in your studio or in your garage or attic?   Yes, you may ask your really cool neighbor if she will store some of your stuff, but have an alternative method in mind just in case she says "no."  Think it through.

Let’s take the weekend to finish up “saying farewell and thank you for coming” to our dried up paints, stiff brushes, a gooey stuff.   If you’ve decided to purge, take the weekend to donate to a charitable cause; if you need bins or trays, evaluate your space and decide on your décor.  It is much easier to start or add to something you love and doesn’t make much sense to add to something you are already having a difficult time living with.  And if you’re ready, by all means happy shopping.  If you are buying storage containers or bins color coordinating with your decor, always buy a few more than you think you will need because the new colors today may not be available next season. 

So how did you sort?  Was it by close, closer, closest or was it by color?   Or both?  Your choice.   Don’t forget to take before and after photos to keep track of your progress. 

Dale G. shares her before and after photo of her studio.

 

Before

Rick agreed to build me a work counter, desk and shelves if I cleared this room out.  Before that I had a bunch of 6' tables.  What a jumbled mess this room was. 












Now it is my super duper art studio.  It is amazing what a little

shelving and containers can do to help organize a space. 

After

My biggest tip: have a home for everything and label that

home whether it be a binder, file, drawer, etc

Only put same types of objects in one home. For example,

Keep  rubber bands in one container, paper clips in another.

Mixing the two makes things into a mess.

Quote:

"There it was, hidden, in alphabetical order."

Rita Holt

We're moving on.  Meet me here Monday.

Where is "Away?"

Where is away?  You know – “I’ll put it away.”  But, where is away for you?  To some of us it’s out of  sight-out of mind, or maybe it’s “in there,” hiding, competing with the dust bunnies.  There is a difference between, clean and unorganized and neat and organized.   Know the difference.   Are you up for it?  Stick with me as we’ll go a little at a time to give you time to contemplate, evaluate, and perhaps try a tip or two that you think may help you get your studio in order.   Although these tips will help your general organization, commit to one area at a time.  Start small.  Let go.

We’ve spent a couple of weeks exploring and enjoying different kinds of eye candy for our artistic souls.  I hope I didn’t intimidate or scare you away, but instead inspired you.     

Sorting Piles of Paper By Color

Before you go ahead with a major reorganization, run a quick check.  Divide everything into essential items for accessible and non-essential items (this is not the time to go through those favorite Life magazines or re-read old love letters to jilted lovers).

Nancy P. tip:

I have a stack of in/out trays stacked in a closet for whole sheets of colored paper (sorted by color). Then I have those small plastic drawers that hold an 8 ½ x 11 paper for the smaller-than-full-sheet scraps. Those are what I use all the time. They are sorted by color, too.  I also sort pictures or “stuff” by type or season.

Remember the rule:  what you need today, what you need tomorrow, and what you may need someday.  Part with duplicates or extinct hobby items.  Be realistic and be brave.  Set a budget if you’re investing a monetary value. This should keep you busy for a while.  Get going and get your piles in order because we're moving on.


Fran J.'s tip:  She keeps her storage desk with stamps and various stamp making equipment in drawers.

Storage for stamps

Storage for stamp equipment

                          Quote:

"Don't worry spider,

I keep house 

casually."

Haiku by Kobayashi Issa

Meet me here Thursday to find options for all your sorting.

Meat and Potatoes

Are you more of a meat and potatoes kind of person?  Just cut to the chase type of gal?  Well then, today’s for you.  Today is recap day.

I suppose if your studio is already in tip top condition the way you like it, then the first rule of thumb is simple for you:

Don’t forget to put it back where you got it from.  This may sound easy for most of you but when I’m working, I keep pulling out so much stuff that before I know it, I’m left with this little space on my desk to work around in.   So this one is for me.

Square Clear Containers

I like to use clear containers so I can tell right away what I’m looking for. 

Also, in my glass holders for my pens and pencils, I keep my eraser guard.  I always know where it’s at and since it is so thin, it’s protected from getting all bent out of shape.  I also like, square containers because they’re easier to stack and butt up against.

 

Use lots of photos and file them by subject matter.   This tip came from Kathy G., acrylic painter, and also from Robin S., general contractor.  Robin says although they aren’t artists (but I think they are) they deal with many clients and have to keep the clients and their projects sorted, identified, and ready to go.

Rolling drawers or bins for ready access.  Take your bin (anything you love) that you can store supplies on,or in, and you can add your own wheels if it doesn’t already come with castors.

            Here’s how:   

                        Use two boards, cardboard, or chipboard cut or shape of bin bottom

                        Glue one board to the underside of bin and one to the inside of bin,

                        You can use a book for weight until the glue dries, then

                        Secure the new base by drilling two holes through both of the boards

                                    And through the bottom of the bin

                        Secure base by inserting two nuts and bolts, nuts on the outside

                        Mount castors on the outside of firmly attached  board only

                     

You can also use castors on a wooden platform to utilize under the bed  low storage for easy access.  Use 2 or 3 platforms accessible from different sides of the bed for easy pull out.  Use lids to protect items from dust.

 

If you don’t need your computer for your type of work, consider keeping computer work in an office separate from your studio.

Step away from your work and evaluate it at different light settings.

Wire basket with wheels for rolled paper

Learn to discern what is worthy of keeping.

The rule:  Keep Close-What I need someday   -   Closer – tomorrow    -    Closest – today

Waste paper baskets and laundry baskets are good bins for storing paper rolls.

 My tip for today:

And, as always, love your space.  If clear doesn’t work for you, then by all means pick something that goes with your décor.    Start small.  A few simple adjustments at a time can make a big difference in day to day efficiency.

Quote:

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambitions."

 -Abraham Lincoln-

Meet me back here Monday, where we will continue on our slow steps to reorganizing our studios.

And, don't forget to share.

 

The New Frontier

Did I tell you that I was a newbie to this blogging thing?  It is a lot of work. And, my mind is easily stimulated.  My husband recognizes the symptoms of my syndrome, just like in the old days when I tried so hard to reorganize the world.  My insomniatic state of being is filled by tossing and retossing anything that gets in my way until it’s well churned.

I limp out of bed looking like I had spent the night in an old Maytag.  My body aches,
and my muscles ache, and my brain feels like scrambled eggs.  All my valid thoughts
have been whipped together.

  

I haven’t hit the swimming pool in three weeks and it shows.  My muscles are tightening up. 

My shoulders are scrunched up to my earlobes. I feel like if I stood out on the porch and 

flashed everyone the peace sign, they’d mistake me for Richard Nixon.  

But, instead of embarrassing myself in public, I waddle into the kitchen in my pink bathing
suit and my goggles sucked up to my eyeballs like they were trying to hold them in, and
my short crop standing on end like I was trying to channel something from beyond.

“What’s all the noise?  And why didn’t you go to work today?”  I said.

My husband is so understanding about all my new self-inflicted plights and never
says “don’t.”   He just listens and smiles.

“Because it’s Sunday.  What are you doing?”  He said.

“It’s Sunday!  You mean we’re going to church and not swimming?”

“Yep.  You’ve got on the wrong outfit.” 

Have you ever woken up so disoriented that you thought you were a different person?  

 That was me today, all day.  I couldn’t be trusted to watch the beans. 

No, it is not my brain, but is it trash or treasure?

Bev's tip:

I was thinking of you today and realizing that part of being 
organized must involve the ability to judge what is worthy of saving 
because "it might be used someday" and what is not worth the effort.  
My husband was dismantling a defunct leaf blower to see if it could 
be fixed.  Inside were two "great" coils of copper wire.  I thought 
"there must be a use for that."   As i was sitting at my desk 
rescuing it, i began to wonder......So now i have a great supply of 
copper wire that must find a home in my recently cleaned and 
organized studio!  So the ability to let go and discern what is 
worthy of taking up valuable room is definitely an asset!  I am not 
sure i have that skill yet!
I love the book mark...after i find a spot for the "great" wire, i 
plan to try making some.  bev

My tip:

                  Close/Someday  -  Closer/Tomorrow  -  Closest/Today

• Keep items/supplies that you want/need today - closest
• Keep items/supplies that you want/need tomorrow - closer
• Keep items/supplies that you want/need someday - close

  

This tip has helped me from organizing my studio to helping me pack my belongings when I moved from state to state or country to country.

 Quote:

    “If you have any notion of where you are going, you’ll never get anywhere.”
                                                                 Miro

Meet me back here on Wednesday (change of plans), how about Thursday.

What is art?

Quote:

"Anything can be art, all you have to do is change your mind."

  John Cage

A Room With A View

I woke up to a dead mouse in my studio today.   A heart stopping experience.  Not like the kind when my 20 lb. tabby, J.D., pounced on the teeny tiny field mouse he found and knocked the air out of him.  The poor little guy lay flatlined and I was sure he was dead.  Then I saw him twitch.  “Ah.”  I shouted like a damsel in distress but there was no one to come to my rescue.  I ran out the door wildly waving my arms in the air as I saw my neighbor pulling out of her driveway. 

“Stop,” I shouted.

She slams on her brakes and looks at me wondering what dreadful thing could have happened to me so early in the morning.  “What’s the matter,” she cries. 

“Help, help.”

“What on earth?” She said.

“I need you." 

She pulls back in her driveway and scurries over to see what is holding me breathless.  “A mouse.”  I said.

“Oh, for pete’s sake.” She said.

We cautiously step into the living room because we have no clue if the little guy had the courage to try to escape again or maybe we would be stepping into the crime scene.  “Where is it?”  she says bravely. 

I’m tip-toeing behind her like Elmer Fudd and my hand is on her shoulder for moral support.  “Over there.” 

“Ah.”  We both scream in unison when he twitches again.  The other two cats are not even in the least bit interested in all the action taking place right before their beaddie eyes. 

No, today was different. 

“Oh no, not today,”  I cried.   Technology is a great thing, when it’s working.  But when these little machines just quit on you for no apparent reason and they go off track like some runaway train, the anxiety can cause lasting damage to one’s heart. 

I’m not like an author who sits solemnly in her little cave pounding away poetic prose, editing and reediting with a deadline down the road so I can sit in front of some publisher begging someone to please read the first five pages.  No, this is live.  I have an audience and we had a meeting this morning.  

"Where do you keep your mice?"  I ask the young man at the computer store.

One thing I learned in my previous life as a pack-mule, was that you need to be attracted to your space in order for it to entice you in so you can bask in its’ glory.  Whatever your space may be.   Kathy’s space is a room with a view.

The View

I knew it wouldn’t disappoint.  Isn’t it glorious?   On my drive to her studio, I had no idea how high up I was climbing.  She merely said, “go up the hill, away from the river.  Take the long drive-way down.”   Good thing I didn’t see the view from the front entrance or I may have kept on going and ended up right where I came from. 

Bird's Eye View of Studio

Kathy uses the space under the long narrow tall table to store canvases in use.  No leg room needed here.

Work in Progress

She likes to step away from her work in progress, away from her studio,  for a few days to live with it and evaluate it at different light settings.  

Wall Gallery

Her tall ceilings throughout her home are bursting with decades of work.

Kathy's tips:

                       She likes to live with her work away from her studio for a few days in different light

                       She uses photos for her inspiration and files under subject matter

                       She like using rolling drawers for the supplies she is working 

                       Prefers her computer work in her office

Her marketing tip:  Pass out your business cards

Quote for the day:   

                         “...keeping awake the sense of wonder in the world.”  - 

 Marc Chagall

Meet me here on Monday to see how stress affects us (or maybe just me).

                                

Tricks of the Trade

Every artist’s dream, I suppose, would be to land on Carol’s Eye Candy pad.  But it didn’t start out that way for me.

In my previous life, while I was aimlessly fluttering out in the real world trying to make a living, I was a pack mule.  I lugged around samples.  Too many of them for too long.  You could find me decorated with the glorious stuff, (yup, more stuff) you see in those to die for home decorating magazines.  I might as well have worn the lamp shade on my head and draped the oriental rug around my shoulders because I needed my hands to drive the get-away car that was overflowing with all the other stuff I couldn’t wear.

That's me

So I gave it up.  It was for the birds.  There has to be more to life than moving stuff.  Although there are many kinds of birds, and when you’re used to flying, you may just need a different flock to fly with.  As so typical with me, I needed a project.   And a new landing pad.  I resorted to the all too familiar art world again.  But this time, I was going to be sensible and pick something simple.   At this stage in my life, simplicity is where it’s at.  You would think I’d fall back to something where I could use my short-handled brushes, but I’m not dead – just simple. 

My friend, April said “this summer I’m taking a class on brush calligraphy.  Why don’t you come with me, it sounds like fun.”  My brainpan kicks into gear and I’m in.  Hey, a hobby with virtually no supplies needed.  Right?  Brush (and I already had some) no problem, and all I have to invest in is ink.  Long story short, I was wrong.  I could fast-forward and bring you back to Carol’s Eye Candy Studio, but that is the end result and that would deprive you of most of the fun. 

To me, everything links up.  Like life I suppose.  Supplies we need in everyday life, we need in art too.  I can’t have one without the other.  My computer, for instance, and I have a long-lasting love/hate relationship.  When we’re on, we’re on.  But every now and then, it acts like a cranky lover and I feel that headache coming on.   And without my computer, life seems to come to a halt.  You’re there too, aren’t you?  

Not my kind of cool stuff

 

I’m degraded to begging and pleading to anyone that will listen.  My first and last place I always go to is my son.  He knows everything (when he wants to), but I’m still just his mother and not high on his priority list of “must do today.” 

My life’s on pause or more like stuck like an old rerun that’s run its' course.  I try bribing my only beloved with food.  “Thanks mom, I’ll be by tomorrow.”  So I’m left to my own devices which are always dangerous.  Next time around, “mom, quit deleting stuff (more stuff) you’re making things worse.”  Kim sits patiently waiting petting the cats that are vying for her attention and mutters under her breath “user-error.  That’s what he always tells me.” 

I don’t care, I’m just so excited that it’s going to be up and running.  Maybe.  “It’ll do for now.  I’ll be back to check the other stuff next week” he says.  Next week to him doesn’t necessarily mean 7 days.  My heart sinks and I have this huge lump in my throat like I had swallowed a jaw breaker and it had gone down the wrong pipe.  I wanted to run after him and grab his pant leg as he’s leaving crying “no, please don’t go.”  Just like I did when he went off to college. 

So that’s how it is in my studio.  In the meantime, surrounded by the innards of my computer, parts strewn about like it was a science lab and we were onto a breakthrough for a cure of something dreadful like computer failure or in my case heart failure, I’m back in business, sort of, limping along. 

Remember way back when I thought all I needed to write that beautiful sensual letter “S” was one of my sawed-off brushes and a piece of paper and  when I thought calligraphy would be a  simple and uncomplicated hobby?  Oh no!  No, no, no.  How about a coke can? 

My husband finds me rummaging through the recycle bin in his garage “What are you doing?”  He looks at me as if he’s afraid I’ve resorted to collecting cans for a living.  He has this panic stricken look on his face as he surveys my new collection of the “tools of the trade” for my new hobby.  And you know what happens next. . . because if you need to cut up a coke-can, you need tin snipes, and if you’re going to use tin-snipes, you need gloves, and if you’ve cut up tin with your gloves, you’re going to need duct tape to tape the handle, and you’ll need a dowel rod to make the handle,  and if you’re lucky you may have a forbidden table-saw, and if you sneak in to use the table-saw you better use eye-protection or you’ll be in double trouble, or as the  5 year old  neighbor says ”you’ll be in deep serious.”    Who knew?

This?  For calligraphy!!

After - Coke Can Pens

 So the Home Depot stuff stays in the Home Depot section, right in between the forbidden table saw and everything else I’m not allowed to touch, in my husband’s garage.  My coke can pens move in to their place of honor in my studio.  Charm was not a prerequisite for any of my artistic hobbies but I soon learned that it worked wonders, not only for my marriage but for weaseling my way into my husband’s space. 

Kathy shares her husband’s garage to store the over-run of her supplies too.  She is an amazing acrylic artist. 

Kathy's over-run supplies in her garage - sorted of course

My personal tip for the day:  Keep essentials close at hand and within reach.  Find a place for the stuff you need sometimes.  

Quote for today:

"A man's work is nothing but the slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."               Albert Camus  

Meet me back here Wednesday to see why Kathy just uses her studio for the cool stuff.

 

 

Who moved the bed?

Look at all those toys.  No, they are not mine.  It's  Carol's studio.

 “You used the saw?” 

See, the trouble with spreading your wings and trying new things is where you land.   I flew off the artist world landed on the writing world and now he knows too.

I don’t think it ever occurred to my husband to ask where all those supplies that now occupy more than my fair share of our loft keep coming from.  It never occurred to him that organizing meant he would find out things he hadn’t bothered to want to know.  It never occurred to him to ask where those fresh cuts on my brush handles came from either.  But now he knows.   He just thought that organizing was a good thing.   It’s a seasonal thing for many, but for me, it’s an ongoing thing, like a symptom or maybe even a syndrome.  He claims his first clue to this syndrome of mine was when he got lost on his way back to bed in the middle of the night after I moved the furniture around again.  He just can’t ever be sure what I will do next.

Where does Carol get her ideas?

In between dreams, I find some sort of creative way of seeing the world and making it a better place in my head.  I can’t wait ‘til morning so I can try out my new idea. 

One of the most organized persons in the art world that I know is our calligraphy teacher, Carol.   She is the most prepared and organized teacher that I have had the privilege of learning from.  You need something, she has it and you want it.  You just know that if you had "that", you, too, could letter like she does.  All this time, these past thirty plus years dabbling in the art world, my husband thought I owned every paint, stamp, nib, ruler, marker, pen, and ink in every color available to man and woman, but he was wrong.  I don't.  Carol does.  Her organized studio is eye candy for the artist.  

Carol's eye candy

Her personal tip for the day:  I suppose is to put it back where you got it from.

Quote for the day: 

 “Because of my willingness to play on the surface, the work underneath can then take place.”  

                                                          Joseph Chilton Pearce

Meet me back here Monday and don't forget to share your favorite quote too.

Where has all the stuff gone?

Maybe I was just meant to fly. I fly from project to project and from art to craft and back again. Evidence of varied artistic interests over the course of thirty years lay tucked safely somewhere in my studio. But where? Oh, in that pretty avocado green box (the color of the year) jammed in the hard to get corner of the closet sits long forgotten dried up oil paints, a discarded technique since I was introduced to those fast drying acrylics. I embrace those lost long-handled brushes like they were my favorite childhood toy. I stare lovingly at them thinking of a new life for them. Yes, let’s just cut those handles off, just like I used to cut the hair off my dolls. I know my husband won’t mind if I use the forbidden table saw just this once, after all it isn’t an apple, and it’ll be just once. I am excited to resurrect something that served me well and bring them back to life to join the new fold of stuff on my desk. More stuff. Just can’t have enough.

I jostle my way out to the garage sidestepping the three cats that think they are going to be fed again. To the left, more evidence of hobbies now extinct. To the right, garden tools and more power tools. And somewhere in between - Home Depot – a passion or necessity? Maybe for my next blog! My heart pounds. I worry about my fingers. I’ve been preached to time and time again. I can hear his voice as if he was my conscience. “Don’t use these power tools unless I’m here.” Should I or shouldn’t I? Thoughts and voices rattle in my brain. “You cut their hair!!” “You used the saw!!”

The supplies in my studio must multiply throughout the night. In the morning, I am always surprised at all the stuff that found their way out of their hiding places. Don’t get me wrong. I love my hobbies. They come and they go, they overlap, and they merge. I especially love certain parts of them. The purchasing of all the newest and latest stuff knowing deep down that this will be exactly what I need to produce something over the top. I bring home all my new supplies to add to the already existing stuff. Now I’m ready to begin.

I have all my supplies ready, but where did I file my exemplar and where did I put the file? Did I file it under the artist or under the subject matter? I don’t know about you, but by the time I flutter through my files and piles of paper my great idea has lapsed and I’m ready for a snack.

I’m looking for your ideas and queries on organization for a variety of artists. Are you a stamper, collager, bookbinder, calligrapher, beader, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, oil painter, etc. I’m interested in hearing from you. I’d like this to be a “Share and Tell” so we can learn and glean ideas from each other.

My personal tip for the day: I resist using all those beautiful colored containers and stick to clear see through. If I can somewhat see what’s in the container, I don’t have to open it to refresh my memory and it saves me time.

I love quotes. My quote for the day:

“…I learn by going where I have to go…”

Theodore Roethke.

Meet me here again tomorrow.