All Over the Place

Yesterday I was all over the place. Concentrating on just one thing seemed almost impossible. I was able to finish the painting portion of my diptych. Now it just needs to be waxed. I worked on the older lady that I started the other day. All of the underpainting is done and waiting to dry.

So while I was also working on these pieces, I decided that I needed to hang up my old "Nature" series in the studio gallery. Open studios is coming up next weekend and most artists are assigned a wall in the studio gallery to show work. We also have our studio spaces to show our work so the extra wall is kind of a bonus space. Once that wall was hung, I decided that I didn't like the way the wall looked in my studio so I spackled and painted that. I also rearranged some pieces and cleaned a bit around my space. All of these things needed to be done before next Friday but suddenly I felt the need to get them all done yesterday. I couldn't stand the way my studio looked one moment longer. I felt kind of guilty that I wasn't painting, but with the underpainting still wet, there was little for me to do. I wanted to start a new piece but I left all the reference photos of the new paintings at home. "House cleaning" was the only thing left to do. I'd like to think that cleaning my area and getting things in order will help me in the long run. I'll be able to thing better, and well, actually move around in my studio better. My space isn't very big so it gets cluttered pretty easily.

Even though very little time was spent actually painting yesterday, I still feel like I was being productive. Things got done and my space looks and feels better. I have to remind myself that all that I did yesterday is part of my job and it's not just about constantly painting and producing work. Having a good work environment is important too.