nanke's stuff

Well, I've been back from Nashville for over a week now, and I've started a project that has needed to be done for a long time, but I always found a reason to avoid doing it. The "it" is reorganizing my studio. Some of my pals have seen it. I took over a small bedroom in our house and made it mine. It was fun to do, and it's grown over the years .... well, the room hasn't, but the stuff in it has. When I first set it up 10 years ago, I was working almost exclusively in watercolor and ink. I also did some work in fabric (dolls, quilts, and Christmas ornaments, mainly), which required a small amount of rearranging.

Next, I decided to dabble in mixed media. Holy smokes! That's when the accumulation of stuff really took off. I couldn't throw away Anything. I'm sure those of you who work in mixed media can totally relate. My room got smaller and smaller, as did the available space on my drawing table. Every now and again I would sort of beat back the clutter, but it didn't take very long before it was just too much to contemplate doing anything major about it.

That changed when my sweetie announced that we were going to get a new computer. Our current one lives in his "at-home" office, along with the scanner and fax machine. My ears perked up. I want the old one for my studio (along with the scanner, of course). But, there was no place at all to put it. Nope, not one teensy empty inch. My friend Vicki volunteered to help me. I tried to warn her, but she insisted (let's all hear it for Vicki)! I've been working on it every day since last Sunday, and it's still a total disaster, but I can see progress. I'm beginning to feel hopeful that one day it will all work out.

Just in case any of you think you have a messy studio, here are some pictures to convince you otherwise. Oh, and I didn't tell you that the mess has over-flowed into the guest bedroom as well as the hall and guest bathroom!

I'll post pictures when it's all finished!