Neatness and Creativity?

Studio Work Space with Handmade Table

I devoted some of my time yesterday to unearthing my work table. I have this tendency to get all my brushes out and all my jars of watercolor and mixing trays and spread them all about even though there is a pull-out flat file to the right where all of this stuff is suppose to live. I made the desk this spring to my own specifications. Working in water media requires flat surfaces.

I have finally committed myself to an "open studio" party this coming Saturday to show off my studio to my friends. I have made myself a hermit while finishing the studio following the firing of the contractor a year ago July. The studio is now open informally but in May it will become part of the 3T's Art Tour here in northern New Mexico and I will have to keep minimal regular hours. I am rather looking forward to that next summer.

However, I am not sure I am looking forward to the neatness it will require. I spent blocks of time yesterday cleaning up after a spate of painting and the making of Sailing on Solar Winds. Today I need to clean up my desks from designing and printing invitations and making Christmas ornaments for the tree. I am not a neat person. One flat surface gets too crowded and I just move to another. And the new studio offers tons of flat surfaces. Some even are on rollers and slide out for my convenience.

And artists (well, at least this one) seem to seldom toss anything out. Never know when you will need that colored pen or that jar or that single earring of a pair you used to love or the great piece of drift wood. For projects like my mobile this treasure trove of shells, branches, charms and crystals was invaluable. I am sure it is all about just storing them correctly so they can be easily found and accessed. Like I stored the rice paper I still cannot find. I seem to lose things when I put them away. It is not like you can file them under "C" for collectibles in a file cabinet.

Any suggestions from other creative people out there?

Solar Winds Sets Sail

Sailing on Solar Winds

I hung my first ever mobile yesterday at the apex of my studio. This "dreamcatcher" is a "charm" for my studio and my work. Its hull contains "offerings" to spirits on the Solar Winds. That is the uniquely personal part of the project.

But on a totally artistic level this mobile was an interesting venture. Making a mobile is not easy nor is photographing one. They move. They are designed to move. And there are all sorts of balance issues to be considered. It is not just a matter of equal weights but of pivot points and counter-balance.

I really think I want to make more mobiles. I certainly have the ceiling to display them on. And I have always enjoyed ventures into 3-D art. I may even make some mobiles to sell but this one is mine. I made it for me from the cutting of the willow to the tying on of the crystal given to me by my mother. I made it rather like a wizard makes their staff.