New Year - New Me! De-cluttering My Art Studio And My Mind

Trying to see into the future is hard. Living in the past is even harder. I've been cleaning and sorting the art studio and working on de-cluttering my life in other ways lately. Cleaning my working space has lead to reflection and looking back over my past artwork and deciding how I want to move into the future - What skills to keep perfecting, what skills to add, and what to set aside for now, and what to just let go of altogether. This is not an easy task!

2020 is going to be a great year to de-clutter and de-stress

After 4+ decades of being 'an artist', I can see now that most of the best work I did in the past, even commissioned work, was not forced or done on a schedule. The older I get the less I want to even try to make art on a schedule, and the more I feel I should spend time with it, sometimes just sitting with it and even sometimes to just walk away from it for a day, or a week, and check back on it occasionally while I wait for it to 'feel right' and 'just happen'.

4x4" acrylic dog portrait

As an artist, inspiration often just pops into my head (literally, I can see things I want to make in 3-D in my head) but manifesting the actual art it in a physical form is not always easy or straightforward, and I often get frustrated and blame myself when things don't turn out as planned. My head and my art studio are full of abandoned or just unmade art projects. If I had only realized, many years ago, that I needed to do more meditation and less flailing about, and that I should spend more time looking and feeling, and waste less energy pushing and 'making it work no matter what', how much better would my art be now? Ah well, live and learn I suppose.

One of my latest needlefelted dog portraits

So, moving into the future, I want to learn some new skills to add to and improve my artwork. I need to make my art more of an 'expression of myself' and less of what others expect me to 'produce'. There are more layers of me than what most people ever see.

Looking forward to putting more of the 'real' me into my work!

2020 is time to finally get REAL!

Now I'm going to get back to work de-cluttering my studio and my head.

Time to Move On Down the Road?

I have been trying to sell my house for several years now, but as you all know, the economy is bad... If I asked less $ for it, I could probably sell it quickly... and move on with my life... but then I would be effectively homeless and would have less money to re-locate with... and I am not 100% sure where I want to settle when I leave here... but I would be debt free and free to go wherever I want.... so it's a two edged sword...

I used to think I wanted to live on a barge in France... I still would do that, if I could, but I can't manage it, so here I am... and now I find myself pondering the thought of selling my house and living in a converted school bus while traveling around the country making and selling art at least 1/2 of the year and parking it somewhere suitable the rest of the year... Others have done it... why not me?

Sure, it would be a bit cramped... but that can be dealt with by downsizing and  the views and adventure might just more than make up for the tight quarters... and at least we could make it the way we want and go where we pleased... It's a BIG country and I haven't seen it all yet!

I know... you're picturing this....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023532/True-story-Magic-Bus-trip-launched-hippy-era.html

But just look at some of these amazing #Skoolies as they call them...

From School Bus to Fabulous. Don’t Miss This Must-See Mobile Tiny Home. 

(Converted by Chris and Kelly Ross)

"If you could comfortably live with a mistake like gap in your wall or crooked doorway then leave it. If you know it will bother you forever, then take the time to go back and fix it and sleep peacefully at night. The beauty of building your own home is these are your decisions to make." http://www.snugshack.com/school-bus-fabulous-dont-miss-must-see-mobile-tiny-home/

That is cozy but this one is amazing!

Hank Bought a Bus
http://www.hankboughtabus.com/a-tour-of-the-bus/
"In August of 2013 we embarked on a 5,000 mile journey and documented our travels. You can read about and see photos of our experiences by checking out our Travel Posts."

and there are countless other examples out there....

 http://mentalfloss.com/article/52933/15-creative-converted-school-buses

 http://tinyhouselistings.com/tag/bus/

and there are lots of videos! Here's one...

For now it's just a thought... but I'll let you know what happens ;-)