Betwixt and Between

 

 Having made several pockets I decided that I might get back to doll making.  There's been much going on here and my head and heart haven't really be into creating dolls.  It has been a lot easier just to stitch as I can on fabric and make simple little pockets.

As I made a bit of progress I noticed this 'project' sitting longer and longer between my
bursts of creativity.  One morning I came into my studio and carefully packed this whole project into a box of 'undones'.  I'm trying to let myself be an empty book, ready for words but at this point, I'm not sure how the words will read.  I shall attempt patience and see what happens.

"You never know what's around the corner.  It could be everything or it could be nothing.
You put one foot in front of the other, and one day you look back and you've climbed the mountain." - Tom Hiddleston

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

Chaos or Not?

[Michelle of "With Heart and Hands" has won Whisper number 3]

It starts out pretty organized.  This and that laid out on my work table -- each one with a potential purpose.

It continues with fabric pieces laid out -- matching colors and patterns.  What will go with what?

It ends up like this. Almost total chaos.  Trim mixed in with thread and needles and pins.  Bits and pieces of this and that scattered hither and yon.  All with the hope that something recognizable, perhaps even magic will come out of what looks like the leftovers of a mini tornado.  

"We adore chaos because we love to produce order." - M. C. Escher

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

What A Mess!

I have boxes designated for 'things and stuff'.  I have jars which show the 'things and stuff'. I have drawers in which to store the 'things and stuff'.  I have shelves which actually hold 'things and stuff'.

But there is a corner of my desk that defies any organization that I might practice. Underneath it all is a metal basket which I put there to hold the items that I might be working with at any given time.

But then there is this.  I can hardly see the basket, and like a tidal wave the 'things and stuff' are spilling out over the edges.  They are piling up on top of each other.  And of course anything I might need is buried deep within this pile.

As I 'glean and gather' it all gets put in this same spot.  Oh well, its spring and perhaps the spring cleaning bug will bite me and I'll get it all nice and organized - or not!

"Exactness and neatness in moderation is a virtue, but carried to extremes it narrows the mind." - Francois Fenelon

Messy Me!

Remember my great 'organization' of a few postings ago?  Looking at what is before me right now 'organization' seems to have fallen by the way!

I have to have 'every' possible/probable color of floss out on my table.  Mixing and matching and making a mess.

 

I have to have the exact threads I'm working with in my work space - along with the used up pieces of thread sitting in a small pottery bowl.

Time for clean up will come one day soon.  In the meantime I wonder 'how can one person be having so much fun'?

"I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun." - Katherine Hepburn

A Clean Work Table

How long do you think this will last?  For weeks I've worked in a small space of this table. While all manner of paint and paper, glue and clay filled the rest of the space.  I doubt if this order and emptiness will last long -- but then I don't want it to -- mess is the small price I pay to do what I love.

"To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now." - Samuel Beckett