In urgent need of some antidote to the urgent and fearful things going on, still being politically active as I can, on what I see as the right side, I still need some sort of mental resting place, who doesn't.
I came across this a couple of days ago. It's a rapid read, maybe an hour, which I did on the sofa, hand-knitted blanket over my legs. Very welcome.
And it led me to my current plunge-in reading, The Cazalet Chronicles.
Instant access as ebook, and it's become my go-to. Very readable and well wrought. Elizabeth Jane Howard knew what she was doing.
After a few trips up two flights to collect crates to bring down one flight and stow in the guest room closet, I get the reward of reading while my legs recover, ready for the next trips.
On the Great Winnowing, I've winnowed down to where I'm putting the art materials a floor down, in the guest room, very accessible, surprisingly compact.
All the clothes I had in the guest room closet are now moved to the bedroom closet. I never put clothes in there during Duncan and Marigold's life, because their boxes were there. This has freed up space for art materials.
I loaded the car yesterday for the next thriftie run, between snow showers.
And offloaded frames, matboard, and nice wood boxes to a friend who's a contractor, woodworker, artist, who can use them. Some of the frames will go to his daughter.
I say, lightly, frames. In fact framed artwork I have no further investment in, and he can use them for other artwork. They're metal sections, so getting ready-framed work means all the wire, screws and clips are there, easy to reuse. We're both happy.
I'm not a curator or conservator of my art. To me the opposite of curating is creating. Once the work has been out there, I'm done. It's like letting children go off to their own lives. So exhibiting, selling or eventually donating is all fine.
I don't really miss earlier work, because I'm usually engrossed in the next studio adventure. That makes it easier to part with them. Just ripping off the band-aid.
And now for a bowl of homemade veggie soup, with homemade whole-wheat/oat bread with caraway seeds, and Cazalet Chronicles.
I love imagining you stopping to rest and read a bit between trips up and down the stairs in your Great Winnowing. I love that you call it the Great Winnowing. You make all this decluttering/downsizing seem like an elegant exercise. I'm going to try to take lessons from you. Only my restorative read is Too Big To Miss - an Odelia Grey mystery. Nothing elegant, but so far I'm finding it captivating in a scrappy modern way.
ReplyDeleteI'm nearly through Too Big to Miss. It's great fun, and I see there are more Odelia Grey mysteries to go, yay.
DeleteI find that giving it a fancy name makes it more of a production and less of a tiring slog! And it's good to build in rewards as you go. I must check out your current reading, too, thank you.
ReplyDeleteToo big to miss is on its way to my Kindle, thank you. It's charging now and will download in its own good time.
ReplyDeleteI'm in complete agreement - for me the joy in my art is in the creating, not the actual finished project. Once I'm done creating it, I am more than happy to pass it on. Would be nice if the passing on part of it involved money changing hands a bit more often than it does though!
ReplyDeleteMy friend who came to collect the rest of the framed art, is in total agreement. He lives to make things then let them go. He and I think people who cling to their work are stopping themselves from continuing to get more ideas.
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