Aftermath of the Creative Cycle

I look around the space that is my studio and witness the destructive force of creativity combined with the sense of panic that is commonly referred to as a Deadline. The end result...what a mess!

A glimpse of the painting area of my studio, ready to continue painting.

My painting area contains an easel covered with newly drying paint splats, the table that holds my palette is filled with paint tubes and curling photo references, also covered with paint splats.

My framing area is littered with screws, wire snips, and an assortment of tools, rulers, markers and the like. Paintings that have come back from the gallery are leaning against boxes and walls, waiting for "someone" to return them, either to walls or to the storage stack until needed or sold.

And then there is the office area. Notebooks, papers, sticky notes and all manner of pens, markers, and other office supplies and implements are scattered over what is supposed to be a desk area. I thought I lost my computer mouse, but found it under a pile of notes.

Finally, I have four trash cans in the studio. All full.

And I feel great! I just completed several new paintings and delivered them to Watson Gallery in Atlanta. I also freshened my space at Art of Oconee with new work. It's hard to explain how amazingly good it feels to complete the process of painting for a show. The level of "good" usually depends on how I feel about the work I've just produced, so the more I like the new work, the better I feel. More than just feeling good, however, is a feeling of accomplishment from completing that "full circle" thing.

But now it's a couple days later and I'm confronted with the aftermath. I'm going to spend my day putting everything away and cleaning up the mess! I need to spend some time catching up on things that were put aside (cooking real meals, dusting and vacuuming, all manner of record-keeping, and just stuff.)

Time to get things in order, so I can do it all over again! Yay!!

I'll keep you posted!
-- Cathy