Showing posts with label messy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label messy. Show all posts

Organizing an Art Studio : Sisyphus and I Take a Stroll



 You know the story. Sisyphus is punished for his trickery by the gods and has to roll a massive boulder uphill only to have it enchanted by Zeus to roll away from him when he reaches the top. Story of my life. Well, they say the first step is admitting you have a problem.  Here goes-
My name is D. Renée Wilson, and I am a messy person. This messiness is often coupled with a tendency to hold onto art supplies like an autumn squirrel gathering nuts in her chubby cheeks. Notice I said hold not hoard. (Hey, I use them. Mostly.)
I've told myself I just don't have enough space, but there's a part of me that knows if I had a 2000 sq ft studio there would still be clutter. Usually, I don't mind a mess. Things are right where I put them. I know where to find them. No problem. My mother may cringe when she visits me, but that's okay. It's my stuff, and I'm an adult. A very unorganized adult that may not quite feel or even act like an adult at times, but an adult nonetheless.
 Sisyphys (1548-1549) by Titian, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain
When it comes to being tidy, I'm sort of at a loss. Compartmentalizing things makes sense in theory, but in practice and especially my creative processes, I can't hang. Plus, I honestly feel like cleaning is a waste of time. I want to make art, I want to play. Why would I spend valuable time moving things to a specific area when they will shortly make it back to where they started?
 My husband is incredibly tolerant of my disastrous work and living areas and I thank him for this. That's why I spent an entire day last week cleaning and organizing ( shoving things into closets and hiding them in inconspicuous places) our somewhat small condo. Here's the thing, after eight hours of this, the place looked pretty great. Even better, I felt pretty great. There was a palpable sense of free flowing chi. A lightness in the air that set me at ease.
 Now, how would one accomplish this energy flow in a limited studio space without throwing out precious and costly supplies? A mixed media gal has to have a vast cache to birth unique pieces, plus all of my traditional media for portraits and commissions, and the myriad of tools and materials for my plaster paintings.
 Well, I bought this today.

It's a start. I'm exhausted already. Let's go, Sisyphus.
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