From here I started and worked my way around the bottom floor of the building. In the process, which has had my full attention for a full 6 days now, I have had to "be here now" and ask each object where it should rest so I can find it again. This meant labeling all containers and their contents. I believe that we built this studio in 2004, ever since, I have just been acquiring things and furniture and stuff and stuffing them into this side of the studio. I never stopped to assess or cull or direct. I had this INCREDIBLE table sitting in the middle of the room, usually piled high.
It is enormous, a high school science table that has storage below...and is on wheels! I am so excited for it to be usable and out of the middle of the room. Those totes on the shelves, notice, PODS, labeled and covered...as I had left them uncovered and piled on these shelves...guess what the mice have been eating! Approximately 2 years ago I was going through stuff, an exercise that pales in thoroughness by comparison, I found the mouse food source. I had purchased a 5 POUND bag of white silk cocoons, they had lived through that winter setting up quite a community and moving those cocoons all around the studio but all of these little stash areas were lacking in the color and comfort of the stuck closed door that I finally forced open and found where they had been nesting.
Ribbons and yarn and cocoons. Gone now. 5 traps set, they hadn't yielded culprits as of yesterday morning.
At the close of yesterdays light we had had a neighbor working on our property~ as we have access to his well, a pipe had broken so they needed to track the source which meant Darrell and his backhoe were working here late afternoons for a week or so. They found the problem and had fixed it. As it was time to bring the tractor out of the woods we asked if he would be willing to see if he could move this problematic rock that has been erupting for awhile now. It was amusing. At one point, as the rock was finally out of the ground and in the bucket, the smaller wheels on the tractor were totally off of the ground~ clearly moving this a great distance was out of the question so I suggested that he push it over to the end of the studio and possibly I could have a thinking spot, possibly the spot where I might pick up a cell signal instead of spinning around the yard in circles, usually fruitlessly?
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As I look at these pictures the big rock is dwarfed but it has a nice flat side and will be better out of the ground rather than in it...and hopefully will be a place for me to sit and gather signal enough to let me communicate while in the region of the studio. Notice the detritus propped up outside the building, so many things, and multiples too. One of the challenges of an artist's life, STUFF. I not only need materials for me to do the work but I am usually supplying students with materials as well which results in multiples. The blue rolls outside to the right, you ask? These are swimming pool solar covers, in 2002 I bought an entire pool cover and proceeded to cut it up in order to roll felt. The 3 here are open to takers, I still have 3 more inside. I will take a picture later of the huge pile of destash that will need to be gone through and packaged for sale at the Northern Virginia Bead Bazaar in November, I have taken a second table to pile high with $2 and $3 dollar bags.
Some of the more special destash items will be traveling with me to Allegory Gallery in Ligonier, PA where I will be teaching 4 classes in a first weekend long intensive at Andrew's relatively new venture. We are offering a variety of classes, from enameling to tryptych construction...and would love to see you there. Andrew is the king of networking and has been working tirelessly at the promotion for these classes including sponsors who are donating things to the attendees, surprises abounding. Each student will receive SWAG, but only if you enroll! The time is swiftly passing with a few more spots in each class, let's fill Andrews corner of the world with a warm and somewhat boisterous celebration~ yay to fall, to new beginnings, to new friendships, to sharing what we know and love, and fill these classes to the brim!
Andrew is planning for an excursion on the Friday before class begins to go to Falling Water, who's game?
Tomorrow brings us to the start of our youngest daughter Lily's first day at Bennington College, I guess that I will just have to settle for a vicarious education~ lucky girl, we wish you great things as you 'speak no evil'.
Whew, enough on the words, I need to go bruise myself some more. I am LOVING the space in my heart that has opened due to this relentless exercise but I would love to be finished. I suspect it would take at least a full month to go through my whole history of belongings, maybe one handed in December after hand surgery #2?
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