The Creative Space Lie

It is said that if you tell a lie, you have to 20 more in order to cover it up, then it just becomes a mess?

Well, my basement studio is in a similar boat.

In the last 8 + years it since we have been in our house the basement that I have claimed for my business has gone from clay bead production area to jewelry making supplies hoarding area with a side of holiday decoration storage.

And I've been moving and patching things up down there for years

and it was time that I finally said ENOUGH!

I cannot function even in a tunnel vision mentality to only look at my desk space

because there was just not enough room to do even the simplest things.

The lie has to stop!

And by lie, I really mean, those little patches of sorting and organizing.

It just was no longer working and my creativity is suffering greatly!

So it all got cleared.

ALL OF IT!

I have been snapping pictures of the clearing and rearranging as I remember.

Luckily with my small clean-ups and organizing through the years, most of my supplies are in smaller containers - or in areas where I can put them into a small container then sort later.

And I have a lot of shelving that I have purchased for storing so many things.

But is is all just patched into the space as it was bought.

What a lie to build upon!!!

Not only to myself, my space, but to anyone that has had to walk down there to find anything!

Just embarrassing.

All of the holiday supplies are now in the back and up high where we have quick access.

The shelves are put back in the back corners to function as shelves and not catch alls.

Good scrap carpet is put down where I will design and "work".

The planned torching area is in the clay studio space where there is no carpet.

With experience and frustration, everything is finding its place now.

Crafting items are no longer separated into small "one day I want to use them" spaces

but rather into "I need to use that and I know exactly where it is" spaces.

And yes - it looks horrible during the in-between stages - extra tables set up to catch all.

Shelves in weird spaces to act as a holding place.

But it is SO worth it.

And a huge benefit to this purging and rearranging?

We may actually get to use the designated 1/4 of the basement for our family wreck room area.

Since the older cat is no longer with us (and all that smelly stuff that goes with caring for older cats) we will be able to get that room finished.

I can have my foam floor pads for the studio again.

They are serving as temporary flooring in between ripping out the old cat used carpet and a new one.

And we can have bean bag chairs, a small couch, and the family games and kid toys can go in there.

We can put out the really nice gaming card table I got my husband years ago (functions for "poker" related games, table top games or for a beading night!).

So far it has been 4 very long and tiring days working on this move

and there are more days to go.

It feels great to have the space, and all the resources here with me. 

No extra money has been spent at all because it is all here.

And I appreciate my Aunt Julie coming down to the studio space on Christmas Day and taking a look at my area and giving me some insight about how to arrange it to get rid of the clutter.

And to my good friend Jenny Davies-Reazor who will be coming over and helping me with the layout and flow of the functioning areas for torches, enameling, jewelry bench, etc.

I was just so overwhelmed I could not even function.

It was creeping into my everything - slowly like a virus just taking over…

Are you organizing, cleaning or purging your studio space?

Would you be interested in a blog hop for sharing your progress?

I'm fiddling with ideas for a blog hop here through LMAJ…

And no worries about your space not looking like a magazine spread.

I know mine will never be at that point in this house where we are now and I am ok with that.

It's about functionality and flow for me.

Ceramic Studio Progress

I feel like I am now entering the final portion of my current studio overhaul.

I have gotten to the point where my studio space is organized how I want it to be, I have purged the space of crap I don't use or need, and now I need to recycle: mix and pug all of the scrap clay sitting in buckets from the last 6 years of making pendants and beads.

Storage of dry ceramic clay scraps.

All of these buckets are filled with about 30 pounds of dry clay scrap.

And I have a de-airing Bailey Pugmill in my garage where I get to recycle all of that scrap into beautiful smooth usable clay (this was a huge investment purchase before the economy crashed).

Garage space for recycling clay.

With this much clay to recycle, it becomes a bit of a chore that lasts days on end.

I will not let it go this long again (famous last words).

So I've set up a comfy chair to be able to sit and rest a few moments in between the clay mixture moisture babysitting.

I've blogged about the details over on my Marsha Neal Studio Blog if you are interested in the step by step details.

Happy ceramic pugger.

This is definitely one of those tasks that are more fun with clay friends around since it takes hours to mix up so many batches.

My friend and fellow ceramic clay artist Jenny Davies-Reazor stopped by the other day for lunch and to bring me this fabulous piece below (I love giving her lots of parts to see what she comes up with!).

Jenny Davies-Reazor surprise for Marsha

And getting little bonus surprises like that makes me think about how much I cannot wait to get this part of the "studio work" done so I can get back into my creative mode.

Basement studio view at the mid-purge point.

I even have my kick wheel (it has a motor attachment) set up in my clay studio now - so that means even more potential is here for being creative and maybe making some garden planters, sculptures, and components.

This new furniture and storage arrangement is really going to work for my current body of work - not the production work I was set up for previously!

I have recycled clay that should be perfect for throwing or making beads all ready to go,

my glazes are stocked, and my three kilns are repaired.

Breaking out the Art Supplies

And I even have a kid creative nook set up.

I adore having my kids work with me as they are a constant reminder to go with feeling and try new things!

For the few minutes they have to stay in one place...

Now just to finish up some loose ends with the purging of not needed stuff in the studio.

Then it's time to jump in and get back to work!

It's like a huge weight being lifted off of me getting all of this done in a big way instead of just little steps. Although - going through all those little steps is really what made this big reorganization come into being. And with having young kids (3 & 5 years old) - you take whatever time you get and try to focus on what can be accomplished in little windows.

Have you done any studio purging and remodeling recently?

Post a link to your blog post in the comments below!

The Studio Order of Things

I don't know about you, but I am pretty darn good at procrastination some days which sometimes gets into weeks or months and in the case of my ceramics studio - Years!!!

Cluttered but Workable Studio Space

Ceramic clay is a pretty heavy medium to work in. The clay itself (bags of clay are usually 25 pound bags) which make up about 1500 to 2000 pounds total is a lot of stuff to move - and where do you put it if you are going to move it for a "make over"? And the equipment, tables, kilns are all bulky and heavy too - and some things are set up because of where there are power outlets, lights, sinks, etc. No wonder why I have learned to work around this stuff for years.

But just the other day, I was making some beads for an order, and I realized acknowledged that I was getting down to the end of my stash of good "plastic feeling" ceramic clay. I have plenty of clay - it's just not in a useable state (I'm estimating 1500 pounds of hardening, short, non-plastic feeling ceramic clay!).

And that I need to get that clay reconstituted. That means I have to break it down into small pieces - by slicing with a pottery wire cutter tool, take it in buckets into my garage where I have a pug mill (thank goodness for cats and those empty kitty litter buckets). I will work in small batches adding clay, some water for moisture and some beer to get some bacteria to grow (bacteria makes it more plastic - I've heard of people using yogurt too). It will mix, then the pug mill will de-air it and extrude it into 3 inch coils - ready for use in the studio.

So just that intro to what I have to do to get useable clay again - and that I have to do it NOW - before we start to get freezing temperatures, means I also have a studio space mostly free of all of that clay and buckets storing the dry scraps and I can move things around and get it organized how I always envisioned a basement home studio would be. And I am beyond excited!

It's great to be able to do a studio purge and reorganization!
Heck - I'm even finally getting my kick wheel set up now that I've got room so I can once again throw on the pottery wheel!

I'll be updating my blog on the progress and will post a bit next Sunday too.
It really makes me look forward to the winter months where I can spend hours down here in an organized space with lots of clay and hopefully "creativity" filling the air...

Artist Zen

by Staci L. Smith

 

I have always been an artist, even before I knew what that was.  I was happiest making things, or with a pencil or pen in my hand drawing something.  I used to doodle on everything.  everything.  Nothing was left uncovered.  I drew all over my notebooks, my friends notebooks and when we got older, I drew on my friends with sharpies to make fake tattoos. 

 

 

Bead and jewelry making is something I LOVE, but I do miss drawing and painting.  I love having a brush in my hand, feeling the paint smooth on, layer after layer, stroke after stroke.  I especially like when I can work big.  There is something released when I can use my entire arm, and body to create giant movements that turn to art in front of me. 

 

If you read my personal blog, you will know I am in the middle of a studio re-vamp.  It kinda came out of nowhere, since the hubs was around this week.  So we dove right in.

 

We ripped up the carpet and he built me strong workbenches around two walls.  Due to lack of funds and time, we just left the sub floor as is.  I didn't mind, since I'd be ruining it most likely anyway (I am not a tidy artist).

 

Here it was with the sub floor left as is.

 

 

I am not big into decorating and making things matchy and such things, but it just didn't feel right to me.  So I went to get some black paint to cover the ugly 2x4's we used on the frame of my tables. 

 

I had been thinking of painting the floor.  Wasn't sure how it would work or anything, but thought I'd try it out- I mean, I was surrounded by paint in Lowes, how could I not want to paint more stuff?

 

So I got a nice brown grey, and painted a layer on the sub floor.  But it looked sooooo blah, it was too thin, it still showed all the imperfections.

 

So I doodled it.  I took the leftover black paint and just went to town.  The experience, which I want to share, was wonderful.

 

 

I put on some really good singer songwriter music, and got my paintbrush and paint, and just started doodling.  I loved being able to paint so large, to just go free form, with endless room to  take each new idea and design.  I could have done this endlessly (if my body co-operated more- sitting on the floor hunched over that long took its toll on me). 

 

 

I loved going over the strokes again and again, since the floor is rough, I had to make sure each line was really coated.

 

 

As the floor filled with swirls and squiggles, designs and dots, I felt such a smile inside, no other way to explain it, just happy. 

 

I took time with some area's, letting them design themselves. 

 

 

Others area's got deliberate designs, or symbols, as I thought of people I cared for, or situations that I am going through.

 

 

It was so meditative.  No thought required, no work,.  Unlike with jewelry, there are mechanics to figure out.  This was mind freeing.  It was simple, and pure and I enjoyed it with every ounce of my body and soul.

 

 

I know that there is zentangle now, but they just finally put a name to what so many have been doing forever.  If you like zentangle, I recommend trying it with paint.  It just flows, the brush engages your whole body. 

 

 

Now I hope the floor is not too distracting.  I want to just stare at it.  I hope looking at it proves as meditative as creating it.

 

I also hope it holds up.  I put no finish on it, and it is only latex paint.  But the floor is bumpy, so I hope that helps it to stick.  I didn't want to use any kind of finish in the house- (we have birds and frogs and kids with asthma.)

 

I will let you know in 6 months how it held up. 

 

So there you have it, I did NOT expect to find zen in a studio remodel.