Slipping

This week I took on the sad task of dismantling my studio space and moving it from the dining room back into the basement, where it first started about 12 years ago. I still have the show to finish pieces for, but fear that the basement will see me even less than the dining room space did. It feels like another step backward: from “real” studio, to dining room back to basement. And though I know where art is made is not as important as the making, it is hard to feel inspired in a basement. But, we are going to have new flooring put in as we prepare to sell, and it was a good time to start getting ready. Next April will be here so quickly, and why move things out, back and then to the cellar only to have to pack it up another time. The fact that the dining room will look like one, is nice and necessary, but not likely to inspire me to create. I’ll see how it goes.

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Stretching away

Time is a funny thing, it seems possible for it to move both quickly and slowly at the same time. Spring has come, though there is more snow on the ground now than in this photo taken in January. I am trying to stretch to accomplish more in several directions, which seems to be working at the moment whereas a few months back it just slowed me to a stop. Now time seems to be working in my favor and I am seizing this chance to get as much done or in the works as I can. I have workshops booked, a show to prepare for, a talk to get ready to present, a house to get prepped to put on the market and many more regular life details to attend to. Knowing how this energy will ebb and flow, the fact that some of these events are months out doesn’t mean I can slack off. The ebb will come and whatever I haven’t gotten underway will loom large as undone items and drive me nuts. So these longer days and the extra energy need to be put to good use now. Much like spring cleaning bursts of energy need to be acted on to tackle that chore list.

Awaited

For some time now I have awaited the right moment to dive into this new project. The moment arrived just days ago, spurred in part by a feeling of never getting to create and a feeling of make it happen. It felt good to get back to my work table and pull out supplies, to cut the phrases I had marked from Never Coming Back, and to sort through the box of flea market photos I got many years ago. I do not understand my compulsion to do an series of Alzheimer’s based pieces, but as soon as I read Alison’s book I knew I had to. Time is precious to me, I struggle to make a spot in my schedule to pursue what calls me. Yet not to, to let everything else take over is not the best use of my time after all.

The narrow view

I sometimes find myself taking a narrow view, focusing on the task at hand with an earnestness to keep me on track. Painting is my current narrow view, wall painting not creative painting. So there has been wallpaper stripping, spackling and sanding, plus all the taping and cleanup that bookend such projects. Meanwhile my worktable continues to gather dust, as does my camera. I am hyperfocused on getting these DIY projects done so that they are off my list and will help us in a couple years when we plan to sell. There are so many projects I simply cannot do (ie- pave the driveway), that any I can do give me a sense of moving forward. Yet in spite of the feeling of accomplishment I am missing the creative time to work on projects and explore new ideas. It is a toss up, as most things in life tend to be.

I have been remiss

The last couple of weeks I have been busy selling and shipping my calendars, and prepping for booked workshops. As a result, blogging fell by the wayside. I would mean to get to it, and poof the day would be over. With the change of months and seasons I will need to get back to my proven routine so as to keep up with the blogs I follow and keep on keeping on with all my creative and DIY projects. Should make for a busy fall!

When July closes

It is the final days of July, once again the month has sped passed. The cicadas are thrumming in the treetops to let me know the season is entering a new phase. It seems like the more I tackle (and even complete), the less I seem to get done! For each task completed, another must remain undone. That is the paradox of making choices. However, getting the garage all cleaned out, stuff to the dump, overgrowth in on section of the yard cut back and more items sorted out is progress. It is just that it is coming at the cost of art time, both mixed media and photography. A fine layer of dust coats my worktable as proof of this. Summer is so fleeting, even the longer days only allow so much to get squeezed in. I say “next week. next week”, and then they pass. I need to get back at the worktable and out with the camera again, even if it means weeds creep back into the lawn.