A new week and a newly cleaned and organized studio--big changes and hard work over the weekend. Piles of trash went out the door, and areas of the studio long cluttered and under-used opened up into interesting new work spaces. It's been years since the job was done--and I'm not quite finished yet so I'm holding off on posting photos--but it is quite a transformation. Anyone who knows my studio will be surprised! Though I did not do much with my rather famously messy painting table (because I like it that way!)
In the midst of sweat and grime, there were revelations, questions and discoveries. A tube of figure drawings from 1980-82 (carefully labeled) that were really very nice..why have I never worked more with the figure? A bunch of acrylic paints, stored away in an old ice cream bucket. (I had not used acrylics in about 20 years, until my recent mixed media work, so this was a mystery--but a happy discovery, since most of it seemed still usable.) Then there was the large bag of floor-sweeping compound, which split and spilled as soon as I tried to move it (it finally served its purpose, I guess, since I then had to sweep it up...) I also discovered a roll of very nice drawing paper, an old bathroom scale that will be useful in my new packaging/boxing area when I want to estimate shipping weight, several tools that had gone missing, and on and on.
Slightly repositioning several pieces of studio furniture made a huge difference in the feeling of energy, flow and purpose in the room. I don't know a thing about fung shei, but perhaps this is what it's about--kind of intriguing! And simply clearing out has left a much larger working area. It is a good time to do this, at the start of what will be five months of intensive work to be ready for two exhibits in the fall.
The painting above, Drawing #1, is one that I delivered on my road trip last week to Woodwalk Gallery in Door County, Wisconsin. I titled it Drawing #1 (there is another so far in the series) because it seemed as much about the lines as the paint.
really like "Drawing #1"...apt title ta boot! the lines like old parchment/vellum scribblings of a forgotten old master...
ReplyDeletefeng shui is a bit about that, though you could go headlong into it and have crystals in certain areas and trees in certain corners....have an inlaw very very into it...I'm more a mildly lax wabi sabi thinker....
Reorganizing and tidying any workplace has a stimulating effect - it seems to clear cobwebs from my brain and helps to make goals clearer. Now if I could find some space to move the layers and stacks of stuff, I might be able to tidy up my tiny "studio".
ReplyDeleteI connect with the calligraphy in this new piece. It's beautiful.
thanks to you both for the comments bout the painting (or..drawing..whatever.)
ReplyDeleteAnd I am really enjoying the cleared out studio--
relaxed wabi sabi is definitely my normal mode but it is refreshing to be clear of a lot of unwanted stuff.