My Secret for Cleaning an Art Studio

'Violet Ranch View'        10x10   pastel     ©Karen Margulis  sold

My studio is in need of a good overhaul.  It gets that way after a year of painting. Things don't get put back in their place. Books and magazines get piled up. Papers, pastels and paints are overflowing their allotted shelves. It's a mess!

When I was a teenager my mom gave me a sign which said "Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy".  And I am not so tidy even though I do try.  But the disorganized piles of supplies and paintings build up and it gets to a point where something has to be done. The mess starts to sap the creative energy from me.  I go into the studio and want to paint....but feel as though I should be cleaning instead. Not good! I know I just have to do it but it is hard to get motivated. Here is my secret.....

Go out and buy something for the studio!  It could be something big you have been needing like a new easel. Or it could be something as simple as some nice baskets for the shelves or a fun area rug.  If you don't want to buy anything then find something to repurpose. Paint that old chest of drawers and fill it with supplies. Move furniture around. The idea is to bring something new and fresh into your space.  It works for me because It motivates me to incorporate the new so I have to organize and spruce up the old.  Silly, I know but it really works.

Before shot of my messy and disorganized studio

 So I am taking the morning to go find some baskets for my shelves and tomorrow I will stay home and clean the studio!  In tomorrow's post I will share some ideas for getting through and organizing the clutter.

Today's painting is one I discovered in a pile of unfinished work. It is a view from Moulton Ranch in the Grand Teton National Park. I used Diane Townsend pastels on black toned Uart paper.