"Tidiness"

Do we ever stop learning about ourselves?  Does discovery somehow disappear when we turn a certain age?  I am of an age where I'd better 'figure' myself out, if I'm ever going to do so.  And so the subject of 'tidiness' has entered my thoughts.

Moving from mice (who were quite tidy in their pattern and design) back to punchneedle, my first thought was that I would like to  be a little 'looser' with some new-to-me designs. Perhaps more mixed media.

My second thought was: 'where will I put whatever I make after its finished'? And that meant that it 'had' to stand since I have little to no wall space. Without much thought at all I gave myself a framed 5"x7" space for each piece.

 My original idea was to use both regular punchneedle and reverse punchneedle.  As mentioned before I wanted to incorporate some trinket that I already had on hand.  Of course the colors I used had to be appropriate to the trinket(s).  Can you see my limitations growing?

 Now that it is finished, and sitting neatly on the shelf, I feel as if I have trapped myself in 'tidiness'. While I had an 'earth' story in mind, my finished piece told me no story. I ended up with something boxed in, very tidy in design and pretty boring, even to me.  I think its time to let go of limitations and rules.

"Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties." - Gail Sheehy

Order out of Chaos

I recently looked around my studio and especially over at the hanging shelves just next to my desk.  It looked like hoarder lives here (at least to my eyes).  Boxes stuffed with "I might this sometime" things,  and more stuff stuffed here and there for lack of space in existing boxes.

What's a girl to do but get in and start sorting, and sorting and sorting. I don't have a lot compared to others but this took all day long.  There was the taking out and putting back or setting aside for donations and trash -- and then the putting saved items into proper boxes.  Of course there was a run to JoAnn's for newer, bigger boxes to replace the smaller, now scruffy ones I had been using.

Today I can look at these shelves and see nothing but neatly stacked boxes, each holding things I just know I need to have!

"One way to organize your thoughts is to tidy up, even if it's in places where it makes no sense at all." - Ursus Wehrli

The Never Ending Task

It began so well.  Tidy and neat like a blank slate.

Organization with this and that all in its place.  No hunting around saying the mantra "I know its here somewhere".

Oops, getting a little'busy' here.  Where oh where did I put this or that - probably buried somewhere here.

Oh well, there will be plenty of time for clean up later on.

"It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details." - Henri Poincare

Making a Mess

Recently, I was going through a 'what should I make next' quandry.  It became visual as I started taking out this and that - going through 'stuff', laying things down for consideration.  I finally noticed that the messier I got and the more cluttered my work table became the same thing was happening in my mind.

My thoughts were messy, unformed, full of detritus that was getting in the way of what I might really want to do.

 Realizing that nothing I might make would take each and every scrap of cloth or carefully saved trinket that I had on hand.  A day was spent sorting, processing and stashing stash for another day/project.

Amazingly, as things got tidier and tidier so did my brain.  My concept was becoming clearer.  And with a more orderly studio existence I'm having fun once again -- uh-oh here comes another mess. 

"In the scope of a happy life, a messy desk or an overstuffed coat closet is a trivial thing, yet I find - and hear from other people that they agree - that getting rid of clutter gives a disproportionate boost to happiness." - Gretchen Rubin

Messy Me!

Over the past few weeks I've been bringing the Ladies of Lickety-Split alive and in the process my studio has pretty much been trashed!

Fabric stuffed willy-nilly into the wire baskets - no rhyme nor reason.  

Supplies jammed in pretty much wherever they will fit.

Paper rolled but not neatly and ending up with 'stuff' on top of it.

Who knows what lurks in this mess of paper stacked in every which way.

I promised myself that before the next "Lady" appears on the scene I would clean up, straighten up and pretty much get things in order (at least for a couple of days time - before it starts all over again).

After a fun morning of weeding through fabric, moving some into closed storage boxes and organizing by colors and patterns.  I had this.

My 'stuff' shelves became actually usable with a reordering and some things being carted off to the local thrift shop for donation.

 Now I can see what paper I have and it won't get more crinkled than it already has.

And how do you like this organization?  

I'd never take bets on how long this will last, but for now, I'll just enjoy it and enjoy the fact that now I can actually find what I know I already have.

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos." - Stephen Sondheim

Absence vs. Fulfillment

Walking into my studio one morning recently -- looking at the most tidy of work tables.  Everything was 'put away', everything was neat.

A feeling of the blah's came over me.  Instead of being happy with this neat and tidy area I felt like something was missing.  It was not a feeling of satisfaction about having cleaned up a mess but a feeling that I most definitely needed to make a 'new' mess.

And so I proceeded to do just that.  I put 'stuff' here and there, I played with colors and images and thoughts of what I wanted to do next.  I made a joyful mess.

The next time you chastise yourself about not being 'tidy' or 'organized', pat yourself on the back and let your imagination take over. Each piece to be 'put away' may inspire you to start something new.  It worked for me...

"The happiness of  a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ms Clean!

A couple of postings ago I showed you my desk corner.  Shall we call it the 'corner of shame'? Recently I spent a good afternoon going through each and every little bit that was piled there and here is the result.  I know now exactly what I have and of course the fun part what I might need for future projects.

In the last posting I didn't show you these hanging shelves - I mean a person can embarass themselves just so much.  But take my word for it they were 'piled' high with papers of all sorts.  Quite a hodgepodge and a terrible mishmash considering that everything was all mixed up.  That was then, this is now...

Yes, joy can be found in a bit of organization.

"Find joy in everything you choose to do.  Every job, relationship, home...it's your responsibility to love it, or change it." - Chuck Palahniuk