quietly recovering

I love doing exhibits. I really do. Although there are healthy doses of freak out time, exhaustion and just plain angst, I've really missed it.

I really pulled back from exhibiting several years ago. It got to a point that I couldn't really afford sending things out of state anymore. Took me a while to realize that I could still show if I focused on my local area (and those within a reasonable driving distance) and so I started getting back into it that way. (For the record? There are still several shows that I would gladly ship to, I've just had to limit the list.)

The current show, Ragged Layers, with work from Jackie and I is the first duo show I've ever done. Which meant instead of one or two pieces, I had to make 15. And it has left my studio in a heap. I looked at it yesterday and thought, "Well, I can clean it or just move." In the end I decided cleaning was cheaper.

I have so many other things that I need / want to do that its time to give it a good whipping back into shape.

It calms me down and gives me time to recoup from big projects to just clean and organize. I've also finally come to peace with the fact that much of what is lingering in my stash needs to find a new home. I will most likely never use most of it so I'm starting piles to sort into sell and donate. Will take me time to get through it all but its a relief.

In my usual delusional way of thinking, I look at it and think I can get everything done in one day. Nope. Not happening. The purging will also help to serve an end goal that's been on my mind for a while. I'd like to empty the room, have it patched and painted and set up in a new configuration. That means needing less things in it and also having a place to put things (which will also drive cleaning the other room that I affectionately refer to as the "warehouse"). So lots of work that will be done in slow stages. Hopefully by the end of this year I'll be ready for that.

In the meantime, I've tidied a few areas. Behold how beautifully organized the thermofax screen collection is:

I found screens lingering in areas of the house that gave me serious pause. (Still not sure how the tiny one of the chickadee ended up in the pantry in the kitchen.) Its clear evidence that thermofax screen printing has become a way of life for me. :)

I cleared off most of my design wall and finished up a sample for a class proposal:

Will let you know if it ends up being a go, am pretty excited about the possibility. :)


And I also unpacked and put out my most recent art acquisition from Linda Marcille:

Its a print of her piece "Signs & Omens". As soon as I saw it, I fell madly in love. The colors, the imagery, the layers...*sigh*. Gorgeous, right? Linda is super talented, be sure to check out her website. I still need to get it a proper frame but couldn't wait to put it out.

The rest of the studio consists of piles. Neat piles, but still piles. I've cleaned/purged/organized so many times that I know I need to do this in small stages or I will render the room useless. And that would be a big problem.

But for now I will tidy and sort and let myself recharge for the next round of work. I have a small solo show coming up in a couple of months and while I anticipate getting work back from my current show, I'd like to make a few new pieces for it.

How about you? How do you like to recover after a big project is done?