Studio re-organization is underway! The first phase has involved pulling everything out of two large closets, one in the studio and one in the hall close to the studio, and installing shelves in each closet. Mr. Bill was able to transform the studio closet in about two hours. When he was through, I was able to put all my valuable stuff back in so that it did not fall out onto my feet when I opened the doors!
And look how tidy it is with the doors closed:
Mr. Bill worked a similar miracle in the hall closet:
As a book-binder and mixed media artist with a long history of weaving, knitting, spinning, felting, and embroidery, I need a lot of storage room. These large bins are difficult to fit into any storage solution but now, thanks to Mr. Bill,they slip easily underneath the lowest shelf! See all the labels on everything? Every single box and bin in my studio , in the garage, and in all the closets has a label on it. I am a champion labeler. That is because my short term memory is now three nano seconds long. Later today I am going to make a "site map" so I can remember the organizational system I had in my head when I arranged things this way. Then I won't have to run from closet to closet and out to the garage and in again looking for a certain box or bin. (In grade school I wrote things I wanted to remember on the palm of my left hand but I would need many more hands for that now.)
Now we turn to unruly work tables and the disasters therein:
In the center of the studio are two large cafeteria size long tables. It's difficult to tell how big they are from the photo because they always have so much stuff on them! It's a delicate balance with work tables--if they are too neat and tidy, it just doesn't work. There are no odd conjunctions of objects which spark new ideas, and in mixed media it's nice to have lots of stuff within arm's reach. Still, it has been a bit out of control. (You know this when you start knocking over dirty paint water onto your new journal page.) So the work tables needed a "face lift". Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better:
Of course, all this mounting disorder was hard on the dolls and bears. They thought it was an earthquake! Except for the little bear on the far right. He seems to take these things in stride.
Here is the transformation! Ta-Dah!
Even my desk looks better now:
The felt pieces you see on the wall over the desk are the work of Sara Lechner.
"Can you believe it? I think she's actually going to make it this time! The work tables are clean, the closet doors close, and there are aisles around the work tables. Aisles!! That's a first."
After four days of concentrated effort, Mr. Bill and I were able to move an old dollhouse into a designated bear and doll area at one end of my desk. Major accomplishment!!! (We had to move a wall of stuff in the garage just to extricate it from its hidey hole.) And there it sits:
The bears are busy packing and preparing for their big Moving Day. There seems to be some squabbling going on.
"Emmy, why are they all upset? Max just pushed Pommelraie down! Now Pommelraie is growling!"
"Don't worry about it--you know how pushy and growly those guys get. They're just fighting over who gets the middle room."
Fergus, the little fox under the table, looks up at the girls: "When bears get upset with each other, even little bears, it's best for girls and foxes to stay out of the way."
"He's right, Bella--they make a lot of big noise, SCARY NOISE, but they don't hurt each other. They are just being bears."
Good job of getting things organized. Mr. Bill does indeed work miracles. My organizing things isn't on such a large scale but I'm making progress and finding things that I didn't even realize that I had. I'm hoping this year to get the spare bedroom turned into my "playroom".
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Myoriah | 02/03/2013 at 08:16 PM