Creative Minds Are Rarely Tidy

The Un-Tidy Truth About My Studio!

I have a poster that says this above my work table.  I love it, because there is nothing tidy about the way I work…or play.  I am the painter who loves to do abstracts with pallette knives so I can smear paint around.  I am the beader whose table is strewn with beads and treasures of all sorts.  I am the student whose desk is piled high with books, binders, bills and laptop all mixed together.  I am the mom who has saved every scrap and photo of my children’s lives…in boxes, but not in books (this is a goal before I die). 

I love the magazine “Studios,” a special issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine (clothpaperscissors.com) by Interweave Press.  I love to look through them over and over and covet other artists workspaces.  I love the organization!  Look at all the stacked bins and trays and cubbies.  Look at how it makes a statement about the artist…mine just says I’m a creative slob!

I want to be more organized – I really do.  I just don’t create that way.  Maybe instead of trying to change myself, I should embrace my slobbish ways and glory in the creative process, messy though it may be.  I should just celebrate that I can make beautiful things out of all that chaos!

So, in an effort to celebrate this epiphany with you, I am showing you a photo of my work area.  This is like standing naked on Main Street, let me tell you.  But I am going to risk it because I am trying to accept myself more for who I am.  And who I am is an artist.  And my mind is rarely tidy!

My Worktable Looking Tidier Than Usual

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