Leftovers in Art

using it up, or throwing it out

A good friend of mine does something that has inspired me to follow in her steps, as we both have the same tendency. We both buy food that looks interesting, but lack the time to cook it right away - or buy more than a meal’s worth - and wind up with many open jars in the fridge, or random packs of foodstuff in the pantry along with the staples. Her goal in cooking tends to be ‘how many jars can I empty and reduce the clutter?’ which has inspired me similarly.

This post, as you can see from the title, isn’t about food. As life is settling down, coming out of the storm, so I have some peace, I’m feeling the creative urges rising. I spent some time working indoors, as it was ugly hot and humid outside in the evening, and part of the work was in my art room. I moved a bookcase out, into the dining room as my cookbooks have badly overflowed their space. I have enough storage, in theory, for the art supplies. Would have loads of space, except… see below.

Part of the storage space in the art room. And Toast.

Once I persuaded Toast that her cat shelves were more comfortable than my art desk, I sat there for a long time staring at a postcard. I didn’t have a lot of time, but I really wanted to actually make art, on paper, and I had no ideas. Finally, I swung around and looked at the shelves. I had inks. I had dip pens - well, I have several, but I found one. I had paintbrushes, and alcohol for cleaning, and a moment later, a cup of water for rinsing as well. I stopped trying to ‘make art’ and just made marks. One of my goals is going to be to make physical art every day, again. I miss that.

Another goal is to sort through all of my supplies, figure out what I actually want to use, what I should pass on to someone else, and what just flat needs to be tossed. I have years of accumulations, some of it moved more than once, and never used. I had to toss a bottle of ink that had started to dry and go chunky. I suspect there are other things (paints… alcohol markers!) which will have gone bad through neglect and disuse.

I was thinking I needed some art prompts for June, to get me started when I’m staring at a blank page (no matter how small, which is why I’d grabbed the blank postcard). Which I kind of still do. However, I think I will focus a few days? A week? At a time on a certain medium, and use it up or make a decision to get rid of it. I want to be able to find things, and I want to walk into that room feeling calm and inspired, not overwhelmed and guilty.

And of course, I have to persuade Toast the desk isn’t hers.

Which probably means starting with the alcohol markers, since I’ve never been able to get the hang of them. And… I don’t know. I may ask for simple prompts the way I do in October.

My goal is, by the end of June, to have the art room become a true studio. And then I don’t know. But first, get it tidy and ready for use.