Shredding photos

I keep coming across these same photos every time I sort through the studio area in my dining room and I often wonder what's made me keep them decade after decade other than seeing which of my paintings have been with me a long time and how they've been displayed over the years.
 

What I see when I look at them now is a fondness that I had for my dogs and my very first house and of course I think of who most of this went to because there's only one painting in these photos that I still own.

Now that I've looked at them all again what I'm left with is a good feeling that my work and my skills have improved over the years. There's nothing here to hang on to. Two of the photos will go to people who have some of these paintings, the third will get tossed and I can move on without running into them again. I call that progress, don't you?

Sorting and organizing

I "found" the table, Now what? I'd take a picture but I packed my camera in the bin to take to painting group and that's under 2 other bins right now. Do you ever have days like that?
I often feel that the harder I try yo get things cleaned up, the worse things get. Things would have been finished sooner but I "discovered" 3 letters in different stages that I'd started but lost in the shuffle. A truly organized person would have had a special place to put them but I just sat there and finished them so that I didn't keep people waiting any longer than I had to and they'd go right out in the mail.
In my defense I will remind you that my bins are all current projects and the items in them keep changing as I work..
Everyone has to find what works from them. It's not about buying the perfect system and investing in a lot of things you may never use.
The most important thing to remember is that you need to organize your thoughts before you can organize your house.
It's about knowing what you need and want and being able to get to it.
Don't give up! We're all in this together so feel free to leave comments, questions and tips.

A few surprises

I "found" this old photo while sorting through things in the dining room today. I painted this sewing machine cabinet back in the 1980's or 90's and almost got my design for it published in a magazine.(it got bumped at the last moment for another project).

I also just finished packing some dishes that I promised to a friend and am enjoying the storage area that will be left behind when I mail them.

My main goal in all of this is to open up some more work space here.
I finally had enough free space at the dining room table to sit down and have supper without having to move projects out of the way.

Between Projects Again

I won't be sure about that last painting until I try the image on a few different sorts of products. You never quite know what will work when you resize it or use it in different ways.

As I look around my work area I'm not sure whether to start another painting (maybe acrylics this time) or get back to work on one of my wood projects (dala horses, furniture, boxes).

By the time I do a little sorting and cleaning in my studio area (the dining room table) I'm sure I'll be drawn to one project or another, you never quite know where the ideas will come from.

Rainy Wednesday

I spent the morning designing products with yesterday's watercolor and then made a bit of lunch before heading over to the thrift store to drop off a couple of bags of things I don't need around here. Of course I went into the store as well to see if I could find anything I needed and was pleased to find a full length dress in classic navy with tiny white dots. It was new with the tags still on it, the original price was 29.99 and I got it for 4.00.

Well, that was the excitement in my day. I'm off to the front garden to pick a few more flowers to do some watercolors with.

Easily Distracted on the Way Down

I've been trying to "Downsize", sort things out and get organized for the last 25 years or so and because most of us are so emotionally invested in the things we have there are a lot more decisions than Keep, Toss, Repair, Donate. Sorting things that way helps.Finding the right storage system or containers is a good start but as the old saying goes "the devil is in the details". Everyone has their own approach to what to do at that point.

People without hobbies have a lot less stuff in their way to begin with and the rest of us have materials that could be turned into any number of projects so even if we've decided that we don't need them for one thing, instead of getting rid of them like most people would we keep them because they can be used on something else.

After a quarter century of this the only thing that I've really learned is that sometimes the things that we decide Not to do are as important as the projects that we Do and often there's a fine line between them.

Exit the Knitting Machine, bring on the Holidays

 Don't worry, it's just been packed away a while so that I can focus on other things. It was impossible for company to stop by with that much equipment filling up the room and I was getting a bit lonesome.

 It was nice to have everything out long enough to get it all sorted out again. I sold a few pattern books I didn't need anymore so it helped with my plan for organizing and downsizing around here as well.

 Doesn't this look a bit better? We made some hot, spiced cider and settled in for some holiday movies. Yes, that sofa has seen better days but then again so have we...OK, you can stop laughing now...

Yes, I made the afghan. I'll be drawing and painting the flowers soon. You'll be seeing the new work as soon as I finish each piece.

Progress Report

Knit and Crochet: "They say charity begins at home". I say "been there, done that". I just gave 2 scarves, one hat and 4 pair of slippers to my family and made 1 pair of slippers each for my husband and myself.

Zazzle: Sales are improving and we're still designing lots of things with my artwork on them and just discovered that we can do ceramic tile there that can be put on everything from a trivet or gift box to a bathroom or kitchen. I got SO excited that I designed dozens of them.

My Studio: I'm still working on the dining room table because we couldn't afford to finish the old garage we were converting to studio space but I'm not letting that stop me from planning a series of workshops on color mixing and problem solving for watercolor and acrylic artists. Even if I can't do them here I can do all of the planning so that I'll be ready to go when things get back on track.

Organizing, Recycling and Downsizing: 3 bags of "stuff" went out to charity last week, some bins were emptied and others reorganized. My go to system for things these days is tote bags for each activity or place I need to go to so that everything is always sorted and ready. people say "you're so organized" but they'd be horrified to see what a mess my house is in. Somehow I can always find something more important or interesting than housework...I'm sure that won't surprise you.