“How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun.” –Vincent Van Gogh
I’m not really a yellow girl. {except for where it sets off blue…} But it seems that there was more yellow in my September and October than I realized.
“Stop counting crayons, just draw pictures.” ~Mark Scharenbroich
The new wild thyme studio space is slowly coming together. I’m combining what used to be three different small work spaces into one large one, which is simultaneously exciting and overwhelming. I know how I worked in the old spaces, but I find myself just staring at things and trying to decide how I’ll work in the new space. One thing is certain, I like my space to be more than just functional. I like {actually, need} for it to be inspirational too.
It’s not that things have to be pristine, but sometimes the creative explosions get out of hand and I can’t dig through the resulting clutter to create the next thing. I’ve come to realize that, as I recently told a friend,
I create chaos, but require order.
Thus, I find myself in a constant dance between keeping the space tidy and actually using it to make art. One of the ways that I keep my balance is to create vignettes. I dedicate specific areas that stay “fixed up”. Whether it’s a magnetic poetry board or a pretty stack of books, these little pockets of beauty give me peace - a place to put my eyes.
Because ultimately, the work has to get done. Period. I have also figured out that one of my avoidance behaviors is to stay in tidy mode for too long. So, in order to shift from overwhelmed-by-clutter to get-in-there-and-DO-IT. I practice the following short sequence:
1. put my eyes on the pretty thing, vignette or board
2. take a deep breathe
3. then turn into the chaos and DO the THING.
The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.
Pablo Picasso
While I’m getting better at storing and classifying the piles of ephemera that I collect “for art’s sake”, I still manage to annoy my husband at least once a week with my bits and pieces of paper, labels, tickets and packaging. The latest “incident” was over a pink paper bag from an art gallery purchase. {A hand-thrown dragonfly platter and a Southern cookbook – in case you’re wondering what was INside the bag.} The paper bag in question was rescued from the trash bin on several occasions and eventually got used for beautiful paper hearts. When the paper hearts ended up spending a couple of days on the kitchen counter, I again had to answer the question:
What are you going to do with those/this/it?
Usually, the answer is one of the following:
* Uh, I don’t know…YET.
* Something.
or his favorite
* It/they haven’t told me… you know the art talks, right?
It’s really not that bad. As a creative himself, R is extremely understanding and supportive of my “collections” and process. Except that as a sound designer and super-stream-lined dude, he wishes our world was paperless. {Which is tough when my main art form involves lots of paper.} I thought I’d share the list that I started for him. I said a couple of them out loud and then got so excited that I kept adding to the list. The list currently contains 15 items – all from a quick brainstorm, but I suspect I’ll be expanding it {and creating matching images} will be ongoing.
15 things to do with a paper heart
1. Have a photoshoot. {This was 1st on my list. I went out with The Girl & the fabulous Katie Holley.}
2. Write a note on it and tuck it into someone’s pocket.
3. Glue it in your journal.
4. Leave it {at a bookstore, in a coffee shop, on a swing} for someone to find.
5. Write your Self an encouraging note.
6. Fill it with doodles.
7. Tear it in half and make a list of all the things that have broken your heart.
8. Write a list of all the people and things you love around the edge of the heart. {You may need more than one paper heart.}
9. Write down your three “safe people” in the very middle of the heart. {You probably only need one paper heart for this as the number should stay small.}
9. Hang it in a window with a beautiful piece of ribbon.
10. Add sticks and make a heart bouquet
11. Decorate it with lace and glitter.
12. Frame it and hang it on the wall.
13. Tape it to the outside of your next letter. {Even if it’s a bill.}
14. Use it as a bookmark.
15. Don’t be afraid; give your heart away.
