Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Urm...Yeah

My camera is recharging so put your imagination to work. A small 8 x 8 ft room, jam packed with fabrics, trims, bins of lace,
shelves of trinkets for accessorising and bases, paints - and more paint, several cabinets with drawers packed full of mohair and other supplies, baskets full of woodland type 'stuff', assorted trays of vintage beads....this is just what immediately comes to mind.


When this room is organized and tidy, I usually step through the door, plunk myself down in my chair (on wheels) and with a few pushes of my feet, can reach any surface in my room. For that I really enjoy having a small studio. When I start a piece, I like organization - organization tends to diminish the vast amount of clutter that lives in this room.


I just finished three commission pieces, and unfortunately, when I work, I also create chaos. Scraps of lace, mohair, fabric, don't just litter the floor, they cover it. Open bins stack precariously on top of one and other (also on the floor) from me pawing through the contents looking for that perfect little tidbit to use, small bits of clay are ground into the floor tiles, and the surface of my work table is almost invisible from the paint tubes, bottles and brushes and tools that are happily co-mingling in some weird and nonartistic arrangement. I know I will find at least one brush (usually a new one) that I forgot to clean.


So guess what I'll be doing for the reminder of the day. Please tell me that there are some of you out there that also work like me. You know - misery loves company! haha


14 comments:

Judy C said...

If I could do work like you do I would welcome chaos. Now I have chaos but not the work.

Kims Art said...

You have just described my studio. I have three tables and I can not see the tabletop on any of them. I also like to have a clean area to start a new project, but right now I just look at those tables and get a headache. It all great while I am pulling out stuff, but when the project is finished I am so mad at myself and wondering why I can't just put things away as I go along. I was reading a article about doll artist Barbra Chapman ( another favorite) and she said she just throws everything in large baskets, so I've been picking up every large basket I can find. Maybe that will work. lol

Tristan Robin said...

I have to admit - I can't work in chaos. I need things fairly orderly. Not that I put away absolutely every item after using it - but I can't stand the table to be so cluttered I can't find what I'm looking for. And I definitely have to straighten everything up and put all supplies away when each project is completed. If I'm not working, the studio is always fairly neat and presentable - unless I've been glittering ribbons or something and they're strung around drying LOL.

I envy people who just don't see - or can ignore - the mess while they're working!

Jdee said...

Sue at least you have a room where you can shut the door on the mess! LOL... It just surrounds me and I live in it! Don't you just love it!

xoxox
Joanna

Zan Asha said...

Hehee, Sue, I have a feeling that you are describing most of us! I hate working in chaos, and yet inevitably, there it is...and I have a TEEEEEEEENY studio, so then the mess migrates into the living room!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely can relate. I pull out everything I might need and leave it all lying about for easy access which actually leads to me tiptoeing around trying to avoid stepping on everything. I need to get more organization.

Marie Patterson Studio said...

Yep! I confess....I'm an organizer-aholic!!! I'm happy in my OCD! But when I'm in the zone and working everything is all over the place as i pick and pull at all my neat and tidiness.......then it's back to the organizing once again. Sometimes I feel like that hamster in the cage....round and round I go! LOL!!!

julie said...

Sue, you are my soul mate...! You described my studio as it is at this moment...the art bomb explosion has gone off and now I must clean up in preparation for the next one. The worst for me is when I do go on a, "I'm going to be neat and organized..." binge it inevitably backfires because I can't find the things I decided to organize! I find a "better" place for things and then I can't find them...it's like those Christmas gifts I hide and then don't find the until Easter.
I have a friend whose studio is sooooo organized at all times, that if you asked her for a red bead with yellow polka dots she would be able to tell you the exact spot, in the exact drawer it's located....!

Anonymous said...

Yep that's exactly like how I work!
I love to have organized clutter... everything in it's place...
I try hard to keep it that way when I work but it just doesn't happen... plus I start leaking into other parts of the house~
Pattee

Sue said...

Wow...I'm loving all the responses - I feel like I'm in such good company! LOL

I spent several hours this afternoon and am still nowhere near done. I get abit obsessive when I cleanup/organize, and also tend to discover items that I have forgotten about. One thing leads to another and I end up with more to sort and put away then what I started with.

Denise said...

i have to clean my studio weekly! when i m working on a piece everything is everywhere, it is almost a little stressful but i dont disturb it until im done with that particular piece. then i clean up to prepare for my next project!

3rdEyeMuse said...

there are even more of us than I ever imagined. great minds & even better company!

Nun of a Kind! said...

Oh, my goodness, I thought that you had a spy cam watching me work in my workshop with this description! I am going to say that this method is the sign of a creative mind....although yours is more creative than mine!...(but I bet I make a bigger mess!)

The Studio at Crow Haven Farm, LLC said...

Sue, she is adorable! Honey, a tornado would be swirling around and your work would be just as stunning as it always is!!!! Talent, a creative mind....is what you got Sue...now hand some of that over!!! LOL Have a beautiful and creative week!
Cheers!