Saturday, January 30, 2010

Art and Inspiration

This picture has nothing at all to do with this post... except that it is me. And I'm the one typing. ;)

This post is about inspiration.

Inspiration is a funny thing. Rarely, as a homeschooling mom of three kiddos, do I have the time to really craft. And for some reason, when I DO have the time right now, inspiration runs screaming from my head the second I get a moment in the studio. I find myself hiding in the computer... hoping that all the inspiration I get from all of your genius posts will somehow stick. As if the only way I can have good, productive thoughts right now is via osmosis.

I feel that in today's world people rarely grasp how overwhelmed they are by the things they have. I recognised just how overwhelmed I was when I found myself with an entire evening to spare. The kids were in bed, Don was working, the dishes were done and I had vacuumed the bedrooms and changed the sheets. There was nothing to do but craft. Whoohoo! But when I looked at the boxes upon boxes of fabric, paper, old calendars, scraps, pens, pencils, scissors, zippers, ribbon, lace, etc that I have everywhere in this room (and elsewhere) I thought "I can't do anything with this crap" and I went on to watch a video online... when I could have been creating something.

Recently I went through and really looked at the things I had in my art space. I spent an hour going through all the pieces of paper with the recycle bin in hand, waiting for my heart to say "I LOVE this". The things I loved went into a small box, the rest... well, didn't. I did the same with the ribbon, the zippers (really, who is going to use a huge plastic hot pink zipper?), and the other art supplies we had. I got rid of all of the crayons. We don't use them. Why are they taking up space? I sharpened all the pencils and got rid of more than 3 of one color. I got the coloring books that the kids haven't used in forever. I took out some pictures from each, put them in a three ring binder (once again, my undying love of binders shows through!) and put them on our 'rainy day' shelf in the closet. I got rid of UFO's (UnFinished Objects) and anything else that seemed to be yelling, rather loudly, that all I did was waste my time.

It felt so good I can not tell you. Now when I look at my space, I am surrounded by things that inspire me. There is no clutter although I still have plenty for whatever project that catches my fancy. Now granted, this doesn't mean I have any new amazing projects to post right this second. In fact, I am off to catch my weekly dose of Desperate Housewives online... but it does mean that the next time I find a evening where I feel wonderfully free of my 'to do' list, that I may just come up with something brilliant.

What inspires your crafty side?

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6 comments

Anonymous said...

I've done this recently. I've been on a simplifying spree. "Stuff" clutters my mind as well as my dwelling (though I know few people who would call my home cluttered).
I recently went through and removed all but one set of colored pencils and crayons, left three sharpened pencils per child, one set of glue, paper, etc. Not only is there less eye sore, but there's less to clean up when the crafting mess is done.
I've done the same with toys, books (!!) and clothing.

Anna said...

Good for you! Clutter seems to just sap energy, doesn't it? My craft projects are usually mulled around in my head until I absolutely have to get them done. I procrastinate even creatively.

Lise said...

I so desperately need to do this myself. It always feels so good to pare down and tidy up; definitely re-inspires me.

Good to put a face to the name! (And to know I'm not the only one with the Desperate Housewives addiction!)

Jenny said...

It's hard to craft when you can't find what you're looking for. I also have taken the time to just cut out or put together supplies for a project so that when I find the time, I can dig right in!

Brie said...

I've been simplifying again...it always amazes me how many bags can leave the house and we never miss them...and we don't have a cluttered house to begin with!

Lisa said...

It must be in the air. We did this last weekend. Craft closet, game closet and my husband even went through the basement. It feels almost "freeing" to walk downstairs and see the clean space, or open a closet and not be afraid of falling objects!

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