Hi everyone,
My move is almost finished; I gave the last tower of freshly unpacked & collapsed boxes away on Craigslist yesterday, and I can see the floor in my studio. I still need to tidy up a bit, and then I’ll shoot a video, as requested, to introduce you to this new studio, and compare it to previous work spaces. (The image above was painted from a photo snapped in the 80’s in my “studio”, one of two rooms in my apartment at the time.) In the meantime, this weekend, I’ll be exhibiting at the Thousand Oaks Artwalk on Saturday & Sunday, from 10-5pm in booth #53. (Here’s the flyer I posted with details.) If you’re local to the area, please stop by and say hello.
Thanks to everyone who sent me notes to share experiences of moving, thinning and organizing art supplies. It’s been entertaining and helpful to read fellow artists’ challenges and solutions to laying out a workspace in what is often too-small-a-footprint to handle our erupting galapagos of art supplies.
This is the second time I’ve moved my studio since becoming a full time artist, and the finger-wagging tutorial on accumulations echoed louder than the last move; getting better as an artist does not require more art supplies. Yes, we need good quality paint, brushes, paper, etc. – but I’m realizing [again] that it’s seductive to salve a bad art day with the purchase of a new type of paper, or a random tool, but it isn’t a good habit. I should will stay away from art supply stores, and I’ll think twice decline before accepting freebies, and I’ll curb stop the practice of saving everything I might be able to resuscitate; scraps of paper, broken brushes, dried paint, etc. Who’s with me? Hands up!
My husband is bewildered by how much “stuff” I have in my studio, and you’ll see when I share the video that he has a valid point. “Beyond a brush, a palette and some paper, what else do you need to paint a watercolor?” My goal with this move is to thin the duplication, donate the rarely used, toss the old-and-busted, etc. It’s a daunting task, but I believe more air and open space in the studio will be akin to re-potting a root-bound plant, and my artistic endeavors will perhaps flourish with more room for ocean breezes, and less claustrophobic tangles. 🙂
What I’m listening to this week:
Once you get very clear about the things that are the most important to you in your life, those things that truly give meaning and purpose to your existence, purging and de-cluttering will become a natural process. When you’ve done the work to clarify your thinking it becomes easy to make decisions about what adds to your fulfillment on a daily basis and what is either superfluous or literally detracting from your daily enjoyment, satisfaction and productivity.
Cary David Richards
Congratulations on your new studio space!
Thanks, May! I’m very excited about the possibilities in here! 🙂
I am in the process of editing a teaching studio into a working studio for myself. Forty plus years of hoarding art stuff has finally come home to roost. To add to that, we are retiring and downsizing. So the studio space that I will have will be significantly smaller that what I have now.
In short, I feel your pain. It’s hard to get rid of stuff that you absolutely needed not so long ago. On the other side of that is the pleasure of the purge……and finally, the relief of thinning it out…..keeping just what you want and throwing the rest overboard……..or, in my case, passing it on to the woman who will be opening her own studio after having worked for me for nearly two years. The beat goes on.
I’ve enjoyed your Blog……learned a lot……..thanks.
Wow, Sandy, big changes ahead for you – and a chance to help someone else kick off and get started too! Double bravo on that! Thanks for the kind words and encouragement – and I send you Best wishes for abundant art-making in your new, smaller (cozier) space.
Great post – one we “art stuff hoarders” can really relate to. For us, it’s not OCD, but OCC (Obsessive Compulsive Creativity) – but doubt if that condition has found its way it in the psychology manuals yet. Also enjoyed the Instagram slideshow. All the best in your new decluttered space.
Hah! Thanks for the new OCC moniker for undeterred art supply harvesting. Bad habit! I’ll do my best to keep things spare, and will report in with photos to stay accountable! 🙂