Saturday, April 3, 2010

A CASCADE OF CLEARING

I want a space in which to place paintings in frames and evaluate them for gallery placement.  A nice-sized wall.  All the walls in the studio get full with paintings that are drying.  All the walls in the house have paintings that live on them (an ever-changing array.)  And the hall by the studio is full of newly finished work.  Where can I possibly do this?
In my office there is a bulletin board covered in thank you letters, postcards, and award ribbons.  It is surrounded by paintings made by my kids when they were small.  Do I need all this stuff?  No.  I put the postcards from friends into a box.  Put the best of the kids' goodies on a small wall by my door where I'll see them when I walk in.  Take a photo of the ribbons and throw them away.  Then pull the bulletin board off the wall.
So now I have my wall.  But the credenza is covered with project boxes and the file cabinet is piled to the ceiling.  Need to find a place to put this stuff away.  I dig into the closet.  This releases piles of stuff for goodwill.  Piles of unorganized office supplies. Stuff I couldn't use because I couldn't find it.  I put things in boxes and label it all.  It turns out to be a full day of sorting.
The next day is staging day.  I reward myself by setting up lots of paintings in my newly cleared space.