Studio Cleaning: Before

A Second Pair of Eyes
Map came over to help clear out the studio for two full days. Having the second pair of well-informed eyes was invaluable.

Best: I told him that it felt like a plug has been pulled on a tub of dirty bathwater. He knows all of my secrets, in fact, he gave most of them to me.

He cleared out the space behind the door. Not only does the door now open, I can walk in, it feels like a room, the sound quality has changed from over-stuffed closet to that of an actual chamber.

He was able to corral and contain my categories: something that would have taken me weeks. I just couldn’t see them any more. Now things are labeled and it feels really good.

No grocery store bags. They cannot be used to organize my stuff. I need clear containers and these containers must be labeled.

Fabric, even the recycled/upcycled, needs to be cut up if necessary and stored by color.

Do not keep art reference books, music cds or completed art projects in the studio. They belong somewhere else.

He kept me focused and did a ton of stuff and had lots of cool suggestions.

Worst: I felt rushed.

I kept hiding crap from him that I didn’t want him to toss or re-purpose or give to somewhere/somebody else.

While I’d just geared up, he was over and done. I can clean for hours and hours. He has about a 2-3 hour window, and then must move on to sitting in coffee shops, talking and reading: endeavors which are fun, but not nearly as productive for me. Know when to call it quits.

He’s afraid that I’m just going to gum up my space again.



Best Insight: That by having so very much stuff around me, the sifting, turning, sorting and re-stacking turns into the enjoyable, creative endeavor for me, rather than the actual production of something useful and/or beautiful. (In the field of clutter control this is called “churning”.) The cleaning becomes the creative endeavor in and of itself. The bottom line is: do I want to paint, collage and sew corsets, dolls, clothing and bags or do I just want to root around in the dust with 4 year old Vogue magazines? It was tough.

Second Best Insight: I’m carrying my past, my family, my wishes for my long-past future, my lost friends, my dreams and conditions in all of my stuff. I’ve avoided cleaning because to clean is to admit that certain times, eras, ideas and possibilities for my life are over.

Third: That most of my books are completely obsolete and should have been gone from my life years ago. This also shakes me to my core.