Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Moths and rust...and ceramic dust...

We interrupt the Minimalism 30-day purging for a nostalgic roller coaster ride!

That's what I get for venturing into the attic to nonchalantly find something to get rid of!  Papers.  Pictures. Grade cards.  Newspaper clippings.  Letters to Santa...apparently I wanted a basketball?

As I dug through a box in the stuffy, 105 degree attic, I could feel the life being sucked out of me.  The heat got to my brain and with decision fatigue setting in, I became overwhelmed and started ripping things to shreds.  When it got too hot to breath, I brought as much as I could carry to the first floor where I continued the task.

As I mindlessly and ruthlessly tore up a paper I wrote in a college class called, "The Human Experience"...I saw the words, "Kim...you are a true romantic!"  Oh, darn.  (slump over)  Do romantics destroy any part of their own history?  Maybe I'm just tired of feeling buried under the weight of physical things. 

This is where the nostalgia gets "really old".  These are my grandmother's sea sponges that she used for her pottery.  One was full of clay, the other with glaze.  (Lord knows what sort of toxins they contained seeing as most of the compounds they used back in the late 60's are now considered poisonous and not used anymore).  

They seemed old and crusty at first and I was about to toss them, but as I washed them out I realized they were fine...just full of material from the very last time my grandmother made pottery back in 1971 before she died from an aneurysm.

It occurred to me that even though I never met her, never got to see her make pottery or enjoy her company...I just got to do a chore for her by cleaning her sponges.

Even though I'm disposing of some of my own "now forgotten" past, I will keep her sponges and use them in my own art making.   The best part of nostalgia is the part that lives inside of you that moths and rust can't destroy and thieves cannot steal.  I believe that does make me a true romantic.


Sunday, June 26, 2016

Purging in the studio...


Come and get it!!! (Actually, it's gone...things don't last long on the curb in our hood!)

Sometimes I just can't wait for Saturday to take donations to the thrift store...I open my own little shop right on the sidewalk.  Everything on that curb was either given to me, or purchased at a thrift store.  Easy come, easy go. 

What hasn't been so easy is purging my art studio(s).  There are 3.5 rooms in our house dedicated to my love of art...metals on the back porch, a sun room and adjoining "kitchen" are my main studio and supply "dump"...and then half of the bathroom we had slotted to be a huge walk-in shower, well....that's my sewing room!  

As I go through things in these areas I've realized that where I once thought of myself as "multi-talented" (and I still may be...but...) I now see myself as scattered.  I've never been able to decide on one or two genres of art, and my tools and supplies reflect that wildly.  

I have, however, recently decided that I'm done with two departments....tiny beads...and magazine collage.  I've spilled more beads than I've ever used, and although I will one day face the daunting task of sorting and deciding which beads to keep and which to hock, the tower of beads stands erect and abandoned in my studio beckoning my 2 year old to open each drawer and fish for treasure!

And magazine collage?  I've decided to ONLY keep my grandmother's American Home magazines from the 40's and 50's...the rest of the paper bits waiting to be collaged are, well...a fire hazard at best!  I'm over it...and the recyclers will get their arm workout on Monday because 90% of it is going curbside.

My studio might just hover off the ground this weekend from the unburdening! The downside I'm experiencing is...even though I've been purging like mad, it doesn't seem to make a huge dent?  

Drastic deeds are in order...I might just have to...MAKE ART!!!  That's really what I want to be doing with my time and materials. 

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

So many books...


I'm still purging like crazy for the Minimalism Game, as well as the Joshua Becker "Uncluttered" course.  June 16-20, I discarded 90 items...37 of them were books from my studio about art forms I'm not really interested in anymore, or that I know well enough to NOT require a whole book on the subject...like glass bead making, bead weaving and dough craft?  Not an appropriate genre for a gluten-free household!

I purged 15 blank reward certificates from when I taught 4th grade back in 2007.  They were as old as the kids were in my class at the time....those same kids graduated from High School this year.  What a spiral.

Indeed, I've been "spiraling into the location" of minimalism.  It's not a straight line by any means...the clutter moves and I chase it around the house, but I'm slowly getting down to essentials. Today I heard an echo in my dining room!

The other challenge is avoiding garage sales, thrift stores...dumpsters.  I'm discovering that "free" items often come with unseen costs.  They require a manager and a cleaning lady too!

More purging has included blank journals with 4-5 pages used in the front of each.  I've tossed at least 10, shredding those old pages or tearing them out and inserting them inside of a different journal.   I need a program called "unScattered" for my artsy brain...something to help me gather thoughts and ideas into ONE journal instead of 4.


If I were to execute merely half of the ideas that actually survive the path from my brain to a piece of paper...I could open my very own curio shop!

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Junk galore...

For the past 5 days, I've been purging like a mad woman.  I've placed a table right outside the back door of my kitchen and I dump items out there if I'm trying to see if I miss them.  So far, nothing has been reclaimed.  I'm so far beyond the 65 items I needed to purge for the Minimalism Game this week, I've completely lost count.

And besides this trash pile above, there really hasn't been anything worth photographing.  I've tossed dried up paint, broken toys, old sheets, dried up markers, crunchy rolls of tape...seriously, JUNK!   As I purge these things, I feel a great lightening of my visual space and my mind as well.

Many items I hold onto likewise hold memories.  Lately, I've started to feel that memories, even good ones, are better when they're NOT attached to a physical item.  5 years painting for the Des Moines Metro Opera isn't upgraded by having a company mug!  A jar of hot green chili sauce that expired in 2010 doesn't make or break our New Mexico honeymoon!  And a heavy ceramic bowl made by a friend...feels too heavy now that that friendship has dissipated completely.

As for my wardrobe, which I'm also purging..I've got a strange problem.  From what I've seen, most people have tons of unworn clothes jammed into closets...or they have a shopping addiction and continually add to their wardrobe.  I have neither of those problems.  What I have instead is...I have about 4 pieces of clothing I like, the rest I tolerate.  

I'm also a clothing "under buyer" according to Gretchen Rubin.  I will stock up on art supplies even though I have plenty, but when it comes to clothes...I'd rather trim the toenails of an angry wolverine than go to a mall or other such place.  

And my kids?  Well...they have holy socks.  I've been taking so much stuff *back* to the thrift store lately, I finally "splurged" and went into the store and replaced some of our holy frocks. It took me an hour to spend $36...meanwhile, the kids happily played with every dirty little toy in the place!  That's cheap fun.



Friday, June 10, 2016

Seven, Eight, Nine...and Ten...

As the June days grow higher in number, it becomes more apparent that I have too much stuff because it's easy to find 8 of something, 9 of something 10 of something!


On the 7th day I did NOT rest.  Instead, I trashed 6 vintage Ice Capades shirts from the 70's.  They've been in a damp steamer trunk and even though they were sealed in plastic, there's mildew and rust stains on them.  I've tried washing that sort of aroma out of clothing, it just doesn't come out, even with sunning.  In the trash they went.  That leaves a 1 item deficit for the 7th.


There's an art genre that I'm just not versed at, clay.  It's in my bloodline, I appreciate the art form...I'm just not a clay person.  We all know if we're "clay or not"!  I'm not.  Time to part with some tools and supplies like this vintage letter press mold.  It's in the future Etsy sale bin.

 

Day 8...it was easy weeding through art books to find 8 "fantasy art self" books to part with.  Beadweaving?  Figure drawing?  Not my usual art adventures nor ones I dream of.  And parted with 1 of 3 papermaking books...I had two of the same book!


Day 9...9 glass supplement bottles I'd cleaned up with intentions of filling them with homemade walnut ink to sell at a Christmas Bazaar last year. Tired of keeping them, easy to replace.  I thought of the Minimalist's "20/20" rule.  If you can get it for $20 or less in 20 minutes, kiss it goodbye. 


Day 10...10 frames.  Old ugly frames at that.  The sheer "what if" supplies in my studio is overwhelming.  It's definitely buried my creativity.  The studio gets lighter and lighter as I purge, and a miracle has also occurred....there's now an AC unit IN my studio!  This will not be my 10th summer of sweating like a pig (suffering for my art) as I try to make jewelry or paint in my hot-as-the-dickens studio.  I can dejunk in comfort now...even though it is symbolic to sweat out toxins as I declutter my life!

Happy 111th birthday to our old house...it may have Google Fiber...but it's never had AC!


Monday, June 6, 2016

Three, Four, Five and Six...

The Minimalism game continues, I'm trying to keep up so I can get my 30-Day decluttering badge of honor! 

Today, I found 6 items in my studio to part with.  It's a high clutter area because I save EVERYTHING.  I parted with; Three journals with a few pages used in each, two mannequins that have been sitting in the window of my studio for years and a strange print that was given to me as a gift and I was told "If you don't like it, you can reuse the frame."  Well, NO...I don't like it...and NO, I can't reuse the frame...it's hot glued together.  BYE.

On June 5th I parted ways with 5 lbs. of marbles...you can find your marbles and still be out of your mind.

June 4th, we de-owned a giant wok and it's base.   One could throw this over a firepit and make fajitas...for 20 people.   Must go.  It gives me a flashback to the time I was almost kidnapped by gypsies, but hey, hasn't everyone??  We also parted with 2 kid-sized folding chairs that got soaked in the rains last month.  A friend at church happily accepted them, squishy seats and all.

June 3rd, we decided to sell 3 wooden director's chairs that were in the basement collecting dust.  We never use them.  There are 6 chairs and a bench outside to sit on...plenty of seating especially since we aren't party people.
The catch on the chairs was that I washed the fabric parts to "freshen them up" before selling them.  They were red, and I washed them (in hot) with my husband's faded jeans.  Not only are the jeans skin tight now, but they're also PINK.   He's such a good sport to think that it's funny and still be willing to wear them!  <3


Thursday, June 2, 2016

Two things...

Day 2 of the 30-day Minimalism Game, and I've found two lovelies to part with.

Don't ask me why I have SO many dental tools...beyond "they were my dad's"...I don't have a good reason.  Why did my dad have dental tools?  He was a million things EXCEPT a dentist.  Come to think of it, I once saw him file a sharp tooth down with a Dremel tool...his own tooth!

Well, in honor of spending 2.5 hours with a dental hygienist today getting my teeth "deep cleaned", I've decided on day 2 of the game, this just needs to go away.  Where?  I'm not sure!  Recycle it?  Slyly drop it to the bottom of the next thrift store donation box?

Some would say to use it as a clay tool, and I will show them some of the questionable pottery I made in middle school.  I'm not sure how the pottery gene skipped me since there are many talented potters in my lineage. 

Second, I believe this button doesn't "fit" me anymore!  I used to think of myself as super low maintenance.  Despite my INFJness and artistic intensity, my occasional sauciness and tendencies toward "wanderlust"...I think I'm pretty easy to get along with...right?!

Maybe "low maintenance" is how I ended up in the dentist's chair for 2.5 hours...yes?

Anyway,  I plan to leave this someplace as a gift to a stranger...maybe in the bathroom of my chiropractor's office?  Maybe I'll deposit it amongst the books at the library?  Or in the make-up aisle at the grocery store?

Those are my discards for the day.  Tomorrow I find a trio of something or other to go away...I feel like going BIG tomorrow...

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

One thing...

It's been a mighty lonnnnnng time!  Of all the things I could say about what has been going on in  the past "forever" since I've blogged...I'm going to start at the beginning.  Sometimes beginnings double as endings.


One.  Today being June 1st, I've joined a little game instigated by The Minimalists called the 30-day Minimalism Game.  The first day you get rid of one thing, the second day two things, and so on until 30 things go on June 30th.  That will be a total of 465 things.  And yes, I used a calculator to tediously figure that out.

This large white one is a 2 foot tall, 3D 1st birthday prop I made for my kiddos.  They're all past one now!  So, I've symbolically made it my first discard for my "one thing on June 1st" and have posted it for free on the Kansas City freecycle.org.  Tomorrow, I find two things to discard...

In addition to this game, I've been reading Joshua Becker's "The More of Less" and following an online course geared at decluttering your home one room at a time, and most importantly, finding your "WHY" for doing it.

I've been taking loads to the thrift store lately and NOT going inside to shop.  I've been imagining that I'm buying a vintage Airstream (an idea I fantasize about often) and I have to take only what's necessary.

This beginning is an end to having more than I need and being buried alive under things that even if they hold a memory of a special time or person, are weighing down my life.  I've been asking myself hard questions and trying to decide...

Why do I have all this stuff?  What art forms do I love and what materials should I keep or get rid of?  What would it take to have more time with my kids as opposed to standing over the sink doing dishes?  How would we move should we need to?  What do I really want........?


 How do I get here?

Big, deep stuff, you know?!

A short term "WHY" is...I'm decluttering to make room for art making.  I'm clearing surfaces to work on, getting rid of materials I've kept for "just in case" or "maybe I could..." projects.  Most of the stuff is simply recycling!  Paper tubes, tin cans, cardboard...do I really want to work with trash?  Not THAT kind.

I know what I like, I've liked it forever and I keep going back to it.  It calls me from the sidewalk to "pick it up and cherish it".  It catches my eye.  It's here to stay...and sure it's a pretty color, but mostly I love it because it reminds me of how this world and the stuff in it is temporary and will disintegrate....will rust away...