Billie Mitchell on sun 23 sep 07
this week i have been cleaning my studio.. i have things in there that i have had since
i very first started pottery over 13 years ago.. really cant remember how long some
of this stuff has been in there..
i found that some of my studio was somewhat organized and other parts was just
downright dirty.. piled high of stuff i just couldnt let go of.. dont know why i kept
some of it so long.. i know that i am a pack rat.. a freind told me that artists tend to
be pack rats. but when you get two packrats into the home everything adds up to
where you have to start purging somewhere. i started doing this and now i find i want
to get rid of even more clutter.. i have thrown so much into the trash this week that
i had to put some in the neighbors trash.. you know you can only put so much out
there that the trash people will pick up.
i havent been able to get hubby to purge yet.. but working on it.. he actually came to
me today and said we need to go through the shed and get rid of stuff that we just
dont use.. you know we kept alot of stuff saying we might need it one day.
im sure im not the only one who has kept things in their studio till the shelves get full
and overflowing. so i finally just started throwing things away. some day i might
regret throwing some of it away.. but i just cant look back now and say should of
could of kept that.
is there anyone else out there that finds they cant work in a completely clean studio?
i just dont know what im gonna do when i get it done and can find a place to put
everything and not have to stack it up on top of each other..
i know i have alot of freinds who studios are spotless and clean. i dont know how
they do it with working with clay..
humm i wonder how long i will be able to keep it this way.. im sure it wont be long
and i will start stacking stuff up again.. saying i might use that one day..
billie mitchell
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livingspiritpottery@comcast.net
Acworth ga.
Jancy Jaslow on mon 24 sep 07
I have a 'Baby Blues' comic strip on the wall, with Zoe the big sister looking at her room or toys, proclaiming,
"Everything in its place, and everything all over the place."
If I can find it, that is what matters.
Of course, I can't always find what I'm looking for, but it is my studio and no one else is in there.
I am a tool-a-holic. I collect leaves and textures ( they are all over my work). There are stacks of stuff everywhere, because if I toss something now, I WILL need it next week. And what about those pottery chards which may someday become a great mosaic ? (next century). Not to mention the chemicals I bought when I was making more glazes, in different temps, than I now use. But maybe I'll change my style someday....
Some people are extraordinarily organized and tidy in their studios. I am always trying to work toward a more efficient, structured studio. Naturally it helps me in my daily life and I accomplish more, with less strife and anxiety. I have multiples of some tools, but it doesn't even help (where is that yellow rib? any rib?)
I think that as my clay work has become more detailed and labor-intensive I have let other aspects of studio and house-work slack off: I just can't be attentive to the same degree about everything. Luckily my husband, overwhelmed by his own job, feels the same way when he comes home late at night. He has stacks of legal papers all over his office and knows what is where, so he can relate. We are now 'empty-nesters' and can live in a different way than we did just a few years ago.
Observation: potters who come from a teaching, med/nursing, engineering background seem really tidy when they work in clay??? Probably their day-work enforced that ethic.
Jancy Jaslow
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Jancy Jaslow
Manor Hill Pottery
Cincinnati, OH 45220
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