Monday, April 13, 2015

Crossover Lesson from Art

I decided to take a break from painting for a little while and try to do some spring cleaning since it is getting warmer. I thought I should start in the attic since that is where we store things and the downstairs is getting cluttered with things that should be stored somewhere else. I read somewhere that you should start in your storage areas and get rid of unwanted items so you can clean up the main areas of the house.  The attic has stairs and is sort of finished in an over 100 year old house. (There are nails above the window frames where they strung clothes lines to hang clothes to dry in the winter or when it was rainy.) But it hasn't been cleaned out for a while (40 years?) I have old magazines, fabric, sewing supplies, quilting supplies and a whole bunch of unfinished projects or projects that never actually got started. My husband is also a "collector." We have "antiques" passed down from relatives and mementoes from our college years. Not to mention stuff from the boys that they haven't retrieved yet.  I hardly had room to turn around in the one corner that I decided to start on. I almost gave up, but I am starting to see progress in getting rid of things. The lesson learned from painting is, "don't give up." Sometimes I would think that a painting wasn't worth finishing, but if I kept going it turned out OK. I also need a place to work on framing and a place to store some art supplies. That's another corner.

4 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post! You'll probably feel like a new person when this is over, and you might even find some real gems!! It's good to be reminded not to give up. Love the post!! Hope to hear more about your adventures in the attic.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed this post Chris. I do sometimes get off track when I should be painting. I still have to try doing the Moon Over the Ocean ACEO on watercolor paper. I should be able to squeeze that in while cleaning the attic. I don't plan to do the whole attic right now, that would take too long. I just need to clean a couple areas for some of my sewing projects and painting supplies. I have to move things out of one room so we can rewire and re-plaster it. My mother in law tried to warn us about buying an old house. It's never finished.

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  2. I really like that as a painting lesson, especially when I am working in new mediums and a new genre (landscape). That last 15% is where the real learning happens. Especially on the ones that aren't working!

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    1. I agree Melle. Even if you don't want to post the painting you have learned something from trying to finish it anyway. You can always just file the mistakes for reference.

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