People like me who work with all kinds of mixed media tend to be hoarders, and since I am in what my friend Mary calls my "twilight years" I decided this year to begin seriously de-stashing and it's amazing how much more efficiently the items I do work with can be stored.
When I moved here five years ago, things just got tossed into storage bins here and there, with no real thought to saving space. I have kept (and accumulated more) things since then, and the chaos has contributed to my already stressful existence. I am feeling really good now about the changes I made in the studio and the choices I am making about what to keep.
Do I really need a hundred baby food jars for paint? Why not just a half dozen? And those coffee cans for washing brushes, why not just one or two? It's hard to let go of things I "might want to make something with some day," but now I'm either using them for sure, or tossing them. Or sharing them with other artists.
In the process, I have found things I forgot about and am having fun creating a bit differently. I'm finally enjoying monoprinting. I'm making greeting cards, and prepping card fronts from these results.
Change is good. Aging, not so much. I'm slow, I'm getting a third as much done as I plan, but ideas still abound and I'm having a good time.
I will try to confine my comments about the complications of aging in my other blog, Klothospin.
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