In March I started a year-long Master Studio Series with Lisa Call. I haven’t written about it, because it’s something I’m doing for myself and my art. My partner Mike isn’t even aware I’m involved in it. (You can see he doesn’t read my blog). There are a lot of moving parts to the program revolving around building a healthy art practice. For example, each week participants make commitments to three things for which they would like accountability and each month we set monthly goals. At the end of the week and the month, we post our successes and key takeaways from our experiences on a private Facebook page. Another example: participants have private, monthly one-on-one coaching calls with Lisa and a group call during which we review the results of a monthly challenge which Lisa sets.
In April, our challenge concerned sketchbooks. I can’t say I failed, but I did explain I don’t use one and never have felt compelled to do so. I know the sketchbook craze has become very popular over the past number of years, with the sketchbook becoming a form of art unto itself, but I feel the same way about sketchbooks as journals. I’m a writer who has never kept a journal. Right after I completed London City and Guilds in 1998, I spent six months writing the three pages recommended in The Artist’s Way. I was disciplined, never missing a day, during that time, but I stopped because I didn’t find it was helping me in any way. Everything doesn’t work for each of us.
Our monthly challenge for June was to purge and organize our studio. A painter named Mark has moved from a messy garage to a spare room with good lighting. I should mention this course is not limited to fiber artists. We have members who do mixed media, painting, weaving, and surface design. For me, this challenge could not have come at a better time. I’m readying my home to put it on the market in a quest for something smaller with a low-maintenance yard. I’m so over weeding and pruning a double city lot. I start on one side of the property, make my way around to the other, then have to start all over, just like housework. So here are my before and after photos. Things are not perfect, but I don’t want to make any changes to my studio since the big plan is to move. That’s of course, if I find a buyer–then if I find a house I want to buy. “The domino effect.”
Kathie’s messy before
Solids and felts–You can see the doughnut my cats like to sleep in while I’m working.
Yikes–fabrics for Zigzag Pizzazz projects in a jumbled pile.
Shipping tubes going every which way. Art hanging from the ceiling.
Solid fabrics and felt squares–design wall in back. Sewing table in front.
Work table–fairly neat.
Ta dah! Now for the after.
Shelving neatly organized. I boxed some things up and put them in a storage room.
Solid and felt shelves and design wall. I sticky “rollered” all of the threads off.
Tool table all cleared off.
Shipping tubes purged and corralled.
Fusibles, tracing paper, etc. organized in tubs. I would like to find a way to display these materials in a drawer or on a shelf so I could easily see what I have, but that is waiting for the anticipated new space.
Magazines and patterns. I forgot to take a before photo, so you will have to take my word that I purged this plenty. I gave two dozen copies of Inspirations magazines to Scrap, a recycling shop for artists and crafters.
Pristine Design Wall. Still got the cat doughnut. Can’t get rid of everything.
Bulletin board–sorry I forgot the before photo. The board was a mess. Papers are organized now.
Work table ready to go for next project. You can see it on the right-hand side in an Ikea magazine box I got in Montréal, which shows how old it is. I lived there between 1992 and 1995.
Thread and more fabric storage looking pretty.
Are you inspired? I can’t express how good it feels to look at my work space. I’m planning to start something new this weekend. I’m on vacation the first two months of July, so whatever our challenge is for next month, I’ll have to get on it when I return.
