Appetizers & Clutter

Sunday was July 1st - Canada Day. There were the usual festivities only this year I had no interest in attending Art In The Park. It's mostly the same year to year with things to buy and busy crowds and that's NOT where I'm at right now. After our holiday, I'm tired of endless stuff and peopled out. Still. Because...

... Howard is still on holiday. With the long weekend, he doesn't go back to work until Wednesday except that Kyle works late that day. He'll be heading off to work just as Howard is coming home. Thursday may be my first day at home completely alone in three weeks which I am more than ready for however I have a feeling it's not going to happen. Kyle has been working a lot of night shifts. It could be Friday... or Saturday... or even next week. I do know they're leaving on their guys only yearly vacation mid July so that's the longest I'll have to wait - VBG.  Can you tell I'm looking forward to it?

While I'm not totally back in the flow, I have sewn another Kwik Sew 3300 bra using some of the scraps left over from the birthday dress. There's lots left. I could sew bras for an entire girls school out of that fabric. Bras are like appetizers. Easy and fun, especially once you have your pattern pre-fitted. They're great for transitioning from periods of non-sewing to being back in the flow of the studio again. 

Having so much time between the workshop and re-establishing my regular routine has turned out to be a good thing. It's given me a chance to process what Marcy and Diane had to say and to personalize it. All of us have a way of creating that works for us but it doesn't necessarily work for everyone. I believe it's important to identify our best way and to create an environment that nurtures our creative growth. I have a whole bunch of ideas I want to share with you but it's too much for one posting so I'll slip it in here and there as is appropriate.

As soon as I got home, I unpacked and put away everything from my trip so the studio was ready to work in again. Having a place for everything and having everything in its place is an approach that maximizes my creativity. I know what I have. I know where it is. I can easily access it. I have clean spaces in which to create. I'm not overwhelmed by stuff.

One of the concepts often discussed in workshops is the need to put our studio work first and house work second. I absolutely and totally agree that women need to give themselves a higher priority. Far too many are spending their lives endlessly cleaning or caring for and investing in others without giving themselves the same - or any - degree of attention. We take our children to endless lessons but don't take any ourselves. Things like that. It is IMHO wrong. We are far more effective caring for others when we care for ourselves first. It gives us the energy to go on.

To me, that means knowing yourself and knowing what works for you. I function far better in the studio if I take the time to straighten the house and do the dishes and get dressed first. I'm organized and neat so we're not talking about more than an hour to have a cup of coffee, do the dishes, make the bed, put away anything that's lying around, have a bath, and get dressed. That hour invested up front allows me to relax. There's nothing niggling at the back of my mind and the rest of the day is completely free for creativity. It works for me. Other people are able to just leave those things until later. That works for them. Neither is wrong. What works for us is the routine to embrace. It's our choice not something mandated by society or creativity.

Several years ago, I hired Liz Berg to teach a private workshop in my studio. I was studying design and "one" item on the supply list was ten gradations of a twenty-four step color wheel or 240 fabrics. We then worked with those fabrics and other supplies to create the assignments which were timed to encourage spontaneity and to prevent overthinking. When you're working in a hurry, stuff goes everywhere. One thirty minute assignment creates a major mess. It was a three day workshop.

For me, as soon as there is a lot of visible clutter, and especially when I find myself dropping things on the floor and pushing them aside with my foot, I've reached a point where both visible clutter and mind clutter are interrupting my creative flow. Taking a few minutes to put things away restores balance and allows me to return to optimum creativity.

Over the thirty plus years that I've been working in the studio, I've learned my limits and have what I call clutter control points throughout a project where I tidy and when a project is finished I give the studio a good cleaning. I timed it once. Tidying takes less than five minutes and a total clean takes less than ten. In return, I'm exponentially more productive. That's worth it to me.

At one point, Liz encouraged me to be less organized and to let go of the need to tidy up my studio mid project or each night. She felt that straightening the cushions and putting everything away was unnecessary and implied I was too uptight about it and should just go with the flow more. Because it was not her way of working, she didn't understand that my flow was being interrupted by - as opposed to enhanced by - the chaos. My actions were taken to encourage creativity. Do you know what works for you?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - walking in warm sunshine