Shamed into action

October 2010

Not a pretty sight - the studio before its rearrangement. (Have you been documenting your workspace, to see how it changes over the years?)

Nearly four years later, though the layout has changed, the same fundamental problem remains. Although I'm ok once there's a project on the go, I don't look forward to entering the studio. I can ignore the chaotic bits when there's something compelling to focus on, or when the table under the window is clear and invites sitting at it -- but otherwise, it's just too gloomy, both in terms of light level and in terms of Stuff Everywhere.

September 2014

I'm lucky to have amassed "everything I'll ever need", but when the need does arise, I can't find the tool or material. That really does make me wonder if it would be a good idea to get rid of it ALL, and replace the few things I actually do use.

The things I use seem to be getting fewer and fewer, as I find materials and processes that satisfy me, that I enjoy working with and that suit my practice. (Oo, doesn't that sound "artistic", talking about one's Practice - but it's a useful word and includes a lot: what you do, and how, when, where, and why you do it.)

Still, it's good to have the pens and the fabrics and the papers and the threads and the postcards-to-be-painted-over and the boxed-up materials for forgotten projects and the dozen+ bargain fabrics for backs of double-bed sized quilts and the little bag of powdered graphite and the drawerful of gouache watercolour paints and the drawerful of masking tape of various widths and the bag of scrap papers and various sets of coloured pencils and ......... you get the idea. Too much stuff. (Plus, fabrics stored in cupboards upstairs - amid unfinished projects of course!)

"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." After lunch, I put the Archers omnibus on the iplayer - and then another few programmes - and by 6pm much had been relocated and binned, and the worktop was clear, though the table under the window seems rather crowded -

Before

Doubting my painting prowess, painter/decorator son gave the surface an undercoat in a few minutes before dinner -

During

In the morning I did the cutting in [technical term for brush-painting the bits the roller doesn't reach] -

After, though not quite ready yet

It still needs two coats of eggshell - with sanding between times - so it will take all week to finish this properly, during which time I'm motivated to sort through (and toss out) more of the "bits" that are everywhere. The shelves are marvellous for keeping often-used tools to hand, but seem to be crowded with never-used files of old projects ...  having written that, it's obvious that they should be for current or frequent work only. It would be good to have some containers that fit those shelves, which are quite narrow - 21cm (x 69.5cm wide x 32cm high).

Containers! - no sooner said than done - from the pound shop just across the road -

There's a lot of rearrangement and rethinking to be done before those boxes are filled and in place. Rethinking of, eg, where the sketchbooks should go - are they consulted enough [ever?] to be considered "current"? Decisions about, eg, how and where to store the "wobbly book" ... where are the other, similar books, is this "erasure" project (of Morning Pages written more than a decade ago) still alive, or should these books now be burnt?  Making space elsewhere for the dictionaries etc I've been accumulating for eventual repurposing in some arty way [will that ever happen? is that really part of my practice?] ... or maybe just returning them to the charity shop from whence they came - that option is very tempting - close one door and another opens...

Meanwhile I'm stepping into the studio every time I pass the door and marvelling at the lovely white expanse. For the moment, it's a dream come true.