Organizers Revisited

Today I discovered how cool a hanger that hangs several pairs of pants, can be for storing rolls of ribbon.  Previously, I had been using a gun rack that I found many years ago at a garage sale; I put dowels where the rifle would go, and hung the ribbons from that.  But the whole contraption took up a lot of wall space. Now I can hang them in the closet, out of the way, and they take up minimal space.  The one by Closet Maid seems best; I saw some others where the dowels were bigger and may not fit the spools.

AND I found some tie racks that are now repurposed for hanging my collaged necklaces in my studio closet.  Also found some small canvas bins at B B & B on clearance for $3 each.   And a 3-tiered spice rack will help me see all my mediums better. Better visibility = more use.

And I picked up some paint samples in various shades of white.  And there are a LOT of shades of white available, which was news to me.  I have always avoided white on the wall, thinking it was too boring.  But in this space, I think I want the walls to "disappear" and the  supplies to stand out.

With all my running around today, I didn't get much work done in the room. But it's all part of the process, and it was fun.

Journey around the Studio continues

All this wonderful sunshine has helped kick this nasty cold, and I'm feeling more energetic now.  So BACK to the studio to continue my quest for a Clean, Organized, Functional Space.  Just threw out a bunch of sticks--bamboo, dowels, etc.  Yes, I may need a stick occasionally, but I highly doubt that I'll need 87 of them!  Also sorted through my stash of buttons.  Again, I find I use an occasional button here & there, but more the way I would use a charm.  So I don't need 4 divided plastic containers of them.  Now I have 4 divided plastic containers that I can use more functionally; perhaps to store my stash of single words cut from texts.  I can now sort them by size or color, which makes them easier to use than sifting through a small bowl or baggie of them.

Still undecided about whether to paint the walls.  I really do feel that a creamy white would make the space much brighter. Currently, it's a medium khaki color.  But I will probably be able to do only one wall at a time.  And there's a wallpaper border that needs to be removed.  So I will continue to think about that as I make my little journey around the room, cleaning and organizing.

It feels very good to let go of so much Stuff.

More Time than Money

Day 3 of my Reorganization Project:  I have gone through about 35 issues of Cloth Paper Scissors and Somerset.  That's a very heavy stack now ready for the recycling bin! And I have new folders of articles, with labels like Techniques, Christmas, Inspiration, Color Palettes.  Yes, color palettes!  I realized as I was looking at some of the art, I was responding to the combination of colors more than anything else.  I do tend to always revert to my favs of aqua/lime green/black & white.  So now I have a handy reference.  Along with what I now know about color theory, I have new options.

Another tip I came across that resonated with me, was design prompts.  When I am putting the finishing touches on something, I tend to do the same things--add dots or circles, or add text.  By selecting a random design prompt (such as add a strong horizontal, or add something sheer), I will be expanding my bag of tricks.

And I've decided to add an Inspiration Board to my studio.  After reading an article on it, and thinking about how that could help jumpstart my art, I am incorporating that into my new scheme.  But for the time being, I have more time than money, so I will continue on the course I have set, adding a list of "things to get when I have some extra $."

Also, I now have 94 colorful, artsy envelopes, made from beautiful pages of these magazines.

This first step was time-consuming, but it has set the stage for the rest of this project, and I'm so glad I started there.  Next step:  Purging--making piles of Throw Out/Recycle/Give Away/Donate.  I feel lighter already

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Nothing to Show

My camera is broken, so I have no pics to show. But that kind of sums up my whole art life lately: nothing to show. Many reasons for this: spending time at the river this summer, things happening with my adult children,the holidays, my studio being a huge mess....So now that I have more time at home, I have been wanting to get back in there. But every time I would walk in, I had this sense of dread. (If you could see it, you would know why!)

And I have been wanting to reorganize, and maybe even paint the walls, for some time now. But it has always seemed OVERWHELMING. Where to even start? Yesterday I sat down at my work table and took a good look around. Hmmm, I don't think I'll ever use those dolls or doll parts again. There's stuff all over the floor--why? Some are "future projects," but most are remnants of past projects that I've never bothered to put away. And if I love to paint, why are my paints not beautifully displayed? Oh, and look at that jumble of mediums up on that shelf. So I started jotting down ideas as I sat there.

One of the ideas was to go through my old art magazines (some as old as 3 years), and glean what I wanted to keep; recycle the rest of it. So since yesterday, this is what I have been doing. And it's the perfect way to begin! It is forcing me to organize my ideas: here are products I want to try, here are some color palettes I like, here are some techniques I want to try, here are some ideas I like....

And after a couple of days of organizing my ideas, I will be ready to tackle the physical re-organization. And to make it even more fun, I'm creating an art journal of this experience. So stay tuned for the outcome. Just like art itself, it will be a process.

50th Anniversary Altered Book

Here is the cover of the altered children's boardbook I made as an anniversary gift. The text says "So Many Years in One Yesterday." The cover is canvas that was texturized with gesso and then painted in a freeform flower shape.
This is my first commissioned book! The theme was to be peonies. I chose a softer color palette than my usual, and spent a lot of time "aging" materials.
I was told that on the day of her wedding, the bride rode on her bicycle down the road and picked peonies for her wedding bouquet. A simple story, and yet it seems so sweet and touching to me. In today's world, brides choose these elegant, expensive bouquets, months before the wedding. But I'm sure the bouquet of peonies was just as elegant and beautiful.
On the left are actual dried peony leaves from my peony bush (which has long since blossomed!)
A 50th wedding anniversary is an accomplishment, indeed. I'm sure there were many ups and downs in a relationship that endures that long. And compromises and growing and sharing.

I hope they enjoy their little book of well wishes. Congratulations Darrell and MaryJean!

whispers--finished piece

Detail showing wood icing and collaged items.
Detail showing tar and a handmade cloth bead.
Detail showing handwritten text on cardboard.
Here are the finished pieces, a diptych titled "whispers." These were practice boards we used to learn various techniques. I am happy with how it turned out, although it was a challenge to unify the whole piece because of all the techniques.

Valley Ridge Inspiration

It's been awhile since I posted. I have been doing art, but every once in a while, I just need to be recharged. This last weekend, I took a class at Valley Ridge Art Studio in Muscode, WI, with Mary Beth Shaw. And am I re-ignited! Learned so, so much, in such a marvelous environment. There is just nothing like an art class in a beautiful environment. Above, is a collograph I made in class (on left), and a print that it made (on right). I will be making many more of these!
Here's a side-ways view of the claybord diptych I am still working on. That black part is tar. Yes, tar. I will have a challenge, incorporating it into the piece, but there was a little chip on the edge, and I thought the tar would conceal that.
Here are two more boards where we practiced several new techniques. I have worked more on it since this photo, and it is just about finished.
And here are the same two boards, early on. Here, it's obvious I used grids. The challenge is to start out with them, to aid composition--then, to move out of them to make the work cohesive.

I had so much fun, and learned much more than I had even hoped.