Finding new ways to use old stash

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.

Busy busy busy

This month I have been working on paintings. There are so many festivals coming up, but I have decided to lay out for a year, maybe, and work on painting skills. This is not set in stone however. But this week I am working with glazes. I have all the Golden mediums and airbrush colors to work with, but am mixing colors and creating more glazes as I work out difficulties I have with colors and design principles. I am a "learn by doing" person, so no matter how many books I read on the subject, it matters not until I try it for myself. I am still doing art journaling with the Meetup group, but with my jillions of stencils that I have either purchased or made myself with various cutters and cardstock or plastic, I tend to just get lost doing that instead of what I REALLY want to do, which is paint paintings. (It's hell to have ADD!) Other new products I have yet to try are some metal for embossing, and some instant mold stuff to create yet more things for collage (that I don't need.) My website has a couple of de-stash sections for collage elements because I have created boxes and boxes of stuff that I have set prices for, depending on the size of the Priority Mail box. I work now with two creativity categories: painting and cutting projects are done in the studio, then at night, around 8 pm I go to my room, where the art journal is, or my sewing machine and crochet projects. I am going to make a new neck pillow for myself because the old one is worn out, and since I plan to spend a couple hours in oral surgery this week, I want my OWN pillow. So that's on my to-do list. My daughter and her girls have been out of town this weekend, so I assumed I would get tons of things done this weekend but for some reason, I get less done than I would like before I just poop out! But for this afternoon, I am going back to my painting. Right after I put another load of laundry in.

A Hoarder's Key to Organizing

I really have been working overtime for the past week and a half, trying to clear out surfaces, old drawers I haven't touched in months, boxes I've stored some things in haphazardly, all the "gonna use someday" stuff... and finally I got down to the project I am working on presently, which is gessoing lots of pages for about five art journals that I have going on.

So today, with the last of the detritus, little stuff... I made myself a promise: if I haven't found a place to put it in a journal by the end of the day, OUT IT GOES!  So I will be busy all day, actually creating collage art.

And the funny thing is, that's when my art is at its best.  I am very pleased with what is happening so far with these pages. 

Clutter doesn't help me, mentally (or physically either, as it turns out, as I exacerbated an old herniated disk this week lifting big containers to high shelves) so I know I will have some great art to show off as a result of this resolution!

Consolidation has its virtues...

I find that I am a very visual creature.  With ADD.  So, if I have two or three blogs and three websites, this is becoming a problem!  So look for me to try to narrow these all down to one or two.  Maybe just one.  So, I have chosen Blogger, since it seems to be the one that Google prefers and keeps sending my videos to. 

I will be developing the Etsy shop (Collage Art Emporium) more this summer, so you can see and order if you want, my hand-made albums.  I am having a wonderful time learning them and incorporating my mixed-media techniques, acrylic painting and sewing all into one project at a time.

Please follow me by email and I promise not to bore you!  It will be much more fun than Twitter.

Creating another art journal