by Susan Lobb Porter | Clutter challenge, Life, Studio |
Do you remember a couple months ago when I was bitten by the Tidy Fairy right on my tidy bum? Bit so hard I actually blogged about it throughout the month, showed photos of the resulting spartan simplicity of my-life-as-tidy. 
Do you remember that?
I kept up my little tidy spree until one day…LIFE happened. The Tidy Fairy was kicked in the corner with some errant dust bunnies when the it’s-not-the-flu-but-it’ll-knock-you-on-your-ass-for-a-month bug came a callin’. And as I slowly recovered from not-the-flu I found my tidy motivation was belly up under a pile of crumpled tissues.
I. Did. Not. Care. The rooms I dealt while drunk on the elixir of cleanliness have maintained–to a certain degree–their new found sense of order. But the long abandoned kids’ rooms upstairs along with my studio out back, those places the tidy fairy never made it to, remained magnets for clutter.
In fact the studio became positively frightful. Things mysteriously appeared where there was no space for them to appear. Except for things I needed, those disappeared who knows where. And then the walls closed in. Overnight. Poof! Just like that. My once spacious studio took on the proportions and feel of a gnome hole in the side of a hill. I was ready to shut the door and walk away. Seriously. Take up knitting or something. But when I heard Alyson Stanfield was running her Organize Your Art Biz class again, I took it as a sign from the Universe.
Universe: Don’t quit painting. Clean your studio. Organize your art biz.
Me: Umm…okaaaaay!
After just a few days I can honestly say this class is where I need to be right now. Not only is my desk–including drawers–organized–they even close now!!!— I had a major AHA! about the studio and how it functions…and how it can function MUCH BETTER!
Universe (via Alyson): Studio and office should be separate.
Me (thinking of the empty kids’ rooms upstairs): Riiiiiiight!
So in the next few days I’ll be moving all the non-painting, non-art making stuff out of the studio. Shipping supplies, matts, prints, books. Canvasses–yes, all those blank canvasses I buy by the case, especially those huge suckers that take up so much room. And the finished ones that aren’t sold or hanging anywhere else–all that will go to Firstborn’s room, my soon-to-be new office. Which means I have to organize that room first.
But envisioning the studio as a fully functioning work space is all the incentive I need. Room to move around. Throw paint. Teach classes. Shoot video. Ohhhhh, I am positively swooning! Come back next week to see how this goes. There will be photos. Maybe even a swoon selfie…. As always my sweetums, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this in the comments below. And by the way, has anyone told you this yet today— 
Well, you are! 
by Susan Lobb Porter | Clutter challenge, Life |
He was supposed to swoon.
He was supposed to walk through the door, drop his flight bag and positively swoon at the sight of the house. The (newly) clutter free house. The one he’s lived in, along with the clutter, going on 20 years.
And then he was supposed to lovingly run his long fingers over the bare clutter free freshly oiled soapstone countertops and say, in a Cary Grant-ish sort of way, “Dah-ling, (Thirty-two years of marriage and he’s never called me Dah-ling, never, not once, but he would for this because it’s THAT special) Dah-ling, WHAT have you done to the house??? It’s simply mah-valous!”
That’s what he was supposed to do. That was the scene I envisioned.
Mwa-ha-ha-ha!!! Silly me. Because this is how it went down:
He walks through the door after being gone nearly two weeks, the first two weeks of my self-imposed Clearing Space Challenge, the one I didn’t tell him about other than to warn him not to bring more crap home. He walks through the door and is attacked by two yappy little dogs who adore their dad. They throw themselves on him, then just as quickly run into the kitchen where I’m dismembering a rotisserie chicken. Because as much as they love their dad, MOM HAS CHICKEN!!!
I wasn’t expecting him for dinner so I’m just standing there at the counter going all primal on crispy bird parts right out of the carton, no plate or utensils involved. But unlike the dogs I know where my priorities are. So I dash into the hall, drumstick still in hand, and greet him with a nice greasy chicken lips kiss.
Mmmmmmmmmm….
I ask if he wants dinner and he says that would be nice but first he’s got to pee. He bolts off to the the potty, the one in the bedroom and I’m so excited because I’m figuring he may not have noticed that the living room, dining room and kitchen are all nice and tidy but he’s bound to notice the bedroom. And when he hits the bathroom, the one I actually scrubbed down today with the all natural grapefruit-lemongrass cleanser that smells so good, he will discover that we have white sinks–WHITE, not beige like they’ve been forever. And when he realizes he can actually SEE his reflection in the mirror (imagine that!!!) he will fall on his knees in appreciation.
He will swoon.
So I’m thinking this as I’m tossing a salad together. Humming a little ditty to myself because I’m feeling a bit like I did when the kids were little and I knew what Santa brought them for Christmas. Anticipatory glee, the best kind.
And then he comes out and he’s standing in front of the TOTALLY CLEAR breakfast bar. Well, totally clear except for two dinosaurs, a heart rock and the phone. He’s just standing there watching me make the salad. Making small talk.
But I don’t want no stinkin’ small talk . . . I want recognition!
So I ask casually (with my shiny chicken grease lips) “Notice anything?”
He gets that look on his face that tells me he’s thinking. It’s the same look babies have when they’re pooping their pants. And then he says, “I notice it smells like you’ve been cleaning?” He says this with a question mark at the end, hoping it’s the right answer.
SMELLS like??? Mwa-ha-ha-ha!!! Silly me. Because. This. Is. How. He. Is.
He doesn’t notice the ABSENCE of clutter because he doesn’t SEE the clutter to begin with.
Which only goes to show. . . I’m doing this project for ME. For MYSELF.
Maybe in time he’ll grow to appreciate it. Eventually perhaps it will become his new normal. The new normal. I have hope. More than hope.
Because sometime during the evening, between starting to write this post and getting up for a cup of tea, I couldn’t help but notice the papers that had been in a messy scatter around his computer were in a neat and tidy pile, the corners lined up just so. Or almost just so.
And I had nothing to do with it.
Ahhhhh . . . Exhale.
Okay, so now I KNOW I’m doing this project for myself. And I’m loving my clear space, I surely am. But I could still use some kudos for cleaning in the comments below. Or whatever else that’s on your mind.
xoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Clutter challenge, Digital Art |
Art Alert: Yes, there IS art on this post. Scroll down if words are not your thing. I won’t be offended. Honest.
A long time ago, like last week or something, I declared to the WORLD (or at least the readers of this blog…but then again you guys are the world to me) I declared that I would devote 15 minutes every day (no more, no less) to getting rid of the crap clutter in my life.
And I would blog about it every day. With pictures. Proof and accountability. Really, some people will do anything to get a clean house. Like broadcast their slovenliness on the interwebs for everyone to see.
And thus began the Clearing Space Challenge.
But you know what? Writing those tidy-girl posts every day was a stretch. I mean, how many ways can you list piles of crap and make it sound interesting?
So now I’m switching things up and changing da rulz. I can do that, it’s my game. The 15 minute daily de-clutter practice will continue because the difference it’s made in my house in just 10 days is amazing. I mean you could drop in unannounced (please don’t) and I wouldn’t be embarrassed about the mess…because there is NO MESS, at least in the living room, dining room, kitchen. But bedrooms, closets, drawers…(shrug) well, that’s another story, one I’ll share with you as it unfolds but I won’t blog about it every day…cause I gots me some art to do!
Drumroll–now to the art!
I was watching an interview on a DVD when I was struck by the colors of the set and the clothing. There was a bright yellow sofa involved. Turquoise clothing. Dark walls. Colorful flowers.
So I did a quick little sketch, some arty shorthand to imprint the image on my mind. Then I pulled out the iPad because it was too dark and cold and rainy to work in the studio, not when I had a lovely fire in the woodstove and a couple dogs who wanted to snuggle. I hadn’t gotten far when da Muse popped in and added her two cents.
She didn’t like the dark walls. So I changed them.
River City 2014 Susan Lobb Porter
As usual, she was right.
This is the piece as it stands now. I’ll be offering it as prints soon. I’m also considering it a study for a larger piece. In fact I’m heading out to the studio to work on it right now. Because today is bright and sunny, a perfect day for all those studio skylights and windows.
I’ll take photos of the process. Come back tomorrow and check them out. And take a minute to say hi in the comments below. I’ll eat some chocolate for you if you do. And maybe some cheese. Happy face emoticon here.
xoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Clutter challenge, Life |
Clearing Space,Day 5
Tonight I came home from work, built a fire, took the dogs out, fed the horses, worked out and thought damn, I want to bail on Clearing Space tonight.
Then a voice inside my head (one of many, I might add) said, ‘Really? You can’t find 15 minutes??? Puh-leeze….’
And she was right. So I cleared the breakfast bar, which we’ve never ever once eaten breakfast at. Cleared it of stuff that belonged in the bathroom, stuff that belonged in a drawer. Stuff that belonged in the garbage. Cleared it of everything except for the phone, a couple of pens, a notepad and those fellas up there. They came from Photojojo by the way. Everything I buy from them comes with a dinosaur. They’re special that way.
And since the dinos are way more interesting than a 5 foot long slab of nothing-on-it-cherry I figure they deserve to be the star of today’s Clearing Space photo.
Any guesses what they’re fighting over? Or are they fighting at all? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
xo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Clutter challenge, Life |
A brief detour before resuming Clearing Space. Very brief. Like, you’re almost there. But first–
Confession: I am a groundhog, ku-ku-ku-ju. In other words, I have my very own minor holiday as my birthday. I am soooooo special!!!
Look what sister Perci gifted me with:
A Goddess Graphite! OMG, is she a pencil? A sculpture? Both??? YES! She will MAKE art and BE art, imagine that! I couldn’t think of a better addition to my studio.
And now back to Clearing Space, my daily 15 minutes (not more, not less) practice of de-cluttering my home and my life. This is day 4, the sideboard.
There wasn’t too much clutter to remove here, a few Christmas things, tree lights, an angel. And a bright orange playground ball I used for some exercise. A couple of dog leashes and chew toys. The tools and left over parts from assembling the treadmill. Leftover parts? Hmmm… And the wheels I took off the over-the-bed-hospital-table I use as a computer desk for the stationary bike and now for the treadmill as well. Four of ’em.
Well, maybe there was more than I thought. Which is a lesson about underestimating the amount of crap we have. But it’s GONE now. The only things that hasn’t found a permanent home are the treadmill leftovers. I’m not sure what to do with them…so they’re on the window seat. Temporarily. Until I look at the assembly instructions again. Oh yeah, they were there too.
After a nice polishing I returned a few of the photos, the handblown glass balls, a heart and the Madonna sculpture I made years ago. BTW, Madonna has an extra boobie, maybe 2 on her hat. Just because I could.
Then I took the photo. Took one that shows the dining room in the distance, just to show you it’s STILL clutter free from two days ago. YAY!!!
That’s a good sign because two days is a lifetime in clutter land. I’m noticing a change in habits already. I don’t walk in and immediately toss things on the table. I’ve been putting things away after I use them. Throwing things out that need to go away. The true test will be when I tackle the one corner of the kitchen counter, the de facto clutter magnet where every day every things pile up.
I’m saving that one for another day. I’ll give you a heads up before I do it so you can send some good mojo my way. I’m going to need it.
So how are you guys doing? Are you clearing vicariously through these posts or have I inspired you to give it a go? Remember, 15 minutes every day. That’s all you need to start making a dent in your stuff.
But please don’t send any of it to me!
As always sweetums–xoxo
