Thank you…I needed to read this. My “studio” is a disaster…boxes full of stuff, piles of fabric, trolleys of art supplies, two cabinets of yearn, baskets of ephemera, two bookcases of knitting magazines and books that I haven’t looked at in years (because day job).
I struggle when I try to clean and organize. I’m attached to the *potential* of the object. “It’s still good (or useful or whatever)!” And then I set it aside to be used later, which never seems to come.
Ahh the sort and purge, it’s my heat retreat also. We hope our house will sell this summer and getting ahead of moving out day is good. Books to sort through and see what I can pay forward and yes the spring clean of work that has sat and sat, words to be revisited and still gathering cobwebs in corners. Purge and release - to shed, to let go and make room for something new. Thanks Anna- hope you’re staying in PNW
Just took a break from trying to make room and organize my small creative space and opened up Substack and found your essay. I struggle with paper hoarding…books, torn out magazine clippings, misc art and journals I made. I just went on a buying binge of Japanese papers for a class and need to find room for the new stuff. It all stimulates so many ideas, but then it also overwhelms at the same time. I love finding old things I created, but sometimes a picture of said item is enough. Thank you for this today…i needed the perspective and like the idea to get rid of the old to make room for the new ideas.
Yes! All that pressure of what might be useful or worthy weighs on the mind. In the last few years I've let go of lots of things - prompted by the concept of Swedish Death Cleaning - writing notebooks, paintings, inspiration references. Recently I dug into the bins so many of us have full of a century of family photos and keepsakes. Half of it is now in burn or recycle boxes. And some of it is in a box for collage making. It's quite a relief!
I needed your musings today. Good motivation to get a recycle pile going! (Also that Morning Routine from ‘The New Yorker’ you linked is hilarious!) (And thanks for introducing me to Fumi Imamura’s work - stunning!)
I occasionally sort paintings and drawings into yes/no/maybe. No prizes for guessing that the biggest pile is always the maybe one, even after going through it again.
Fabulous post! Amazingly I’ve been in the midst of a clearing out myself this week and all your words feel perfect. A couple of sentences that stand out: “What if our own work takes up so much space that it blocks us, holds us back?” And “ There will be no retrospective.” Oh the relief of it!
And yes, no burning here either but tomorrow is curbside recycling pick-up day (what a luxury) and the bin’s not quite full…
I’m also in the midst of a studio purge that is starting to include the rest of my house. Donating books, an old lamp, and other household items. I’m donating canvases to a teacher. I’m no longer painting in acrylics so someone else can gesso over them and reuse. My life and space need new energy and a new abundance
This came to me just in time. I’ve been reorganizing my studio and having the exact same thoughts. I went previously (couple of years ago) in a Marie Kondo sprint and got rid of a lot of things that now I wish I hadn’t, but I still have lot of more stuff. This time I decided to keep them, since I found marvels in all of that, but I get what you mean, sometimes it’s just A LOT to keep. I thought I was crazy for having all the thoughts you wrote in this piece, but I’m glad I’m not the only one. Thank you for writing this.
I get such deep satisfaction out of burning my private journals. Indeed, there is nothing like flame. And yet I keep letters and all the notebooks I draft essays in ...
Glad you brought up the cost of cloud storage. I do get tired of hearing how much more environmentally friendly it is. Tell that to the salmon when the hydroelectric dam that Google's data center runs on has ruined their habitat!
And Louise Bourgeois ... I have an unholy fascination with some of her work. Wow.
I so enjoyed burning my journals as well. However...there is a way to make them live on in the modern world- scan them first! I now have scans of them all, locked up digitally so I can always find them (but nobody else can)
What a great piece! I never really made the connection before b/t that uncluttered morning feeling and wanting a clean work space—but agree that it’s a similar goal. (Oh, that elusive mental clarity!) I feel lucky that writing doesn’t generate nearly as much physical stuff as visual art-making… and yet I too am always battling against piles of drafts, notes, research files, books, unread magazines, and on and on.
Thank you…I needed to read this. My “studio” is a disaster…boxes full of stuff, piles of fabric, trolleys of art supplies, two cabinets of yearn, baskets of ephemera, two bookcases of knitting magazines and books that I haven’t looked at in years (because day job).
I struggle when I try to clean and organize. I’m attached to the *potential* of the object. “It’s still good (or useful or whatever)!” And then I set it aside to be used later, which never seems to come.
Oh yes the promise of potential is no joke! I know that feeling very well :)
Ahh the sort and purge, it’s my heat retreat also. We hope our house will sell this summer and getting ahead of moving out day is good. Books to sort through and see what I can pay forward and yes the spring clean of work that has sat and sat, words to be revisited and still gathering cobwebs in corners. Purge and release - to shed, to let go and make room for something new. Thanks Anna- hope you’re staying in PNW
Just took a break from trying to make room and organize my small creative space and opened up Substack and found your essay. I struggle with paper hoarding…books, torn out magazine clippings, misc art and journals I made. I just went on a buying binge of Japanese papers for a class and need to find room for the new stuff. It all stimulates so many ideas, but then it also overwhelms at the same time. I love finding old things I created, but sometimes a picture of said item is enough. Thank you for this today…i needed the perspective and like the idea to get rid of the old to make room for the new ideas.
So happy to hear that it resonated. And yes: that balance between inspiration and overwhelm is an ongoing struggle I think.
Yes! All that pressure of what might be useful or worthy weighs on the mind. In the last few years I've let go of lots of things - prompted by the concept of Swedish Death Cleaning - writing notebooks, paintings, inspiration references. Recently I dug into the bins so many of us have full of a century of family photos and keepsakes. Half of it is now in burn or recycle boxes. And some of it is in a box for collage making. It's quite a relief!
I needed your musings today. Good motivation to get a recycle pile going! (Also that Morning Routine from ‘The New Yorker’ you linked is hilarious!) (And thanks for introducing me to Fumi Imamura’s work - stunning!)
I occasionally sort paintings and drawings into yes/no/maybe. No prizes for guessing that the biggest pile is always the maybe one, even after going through it again.
Ha! I know that feeling.
Fabulous post! Amazingly I’ve been in the midst of a clearing out myself this week and all your words feel perfect. A couple of sentences that stand out: “What if our own work takes up so much space that it blocks us, holds us back?” And “ There will be no retrospective.” Oh the relief of it!
And yes, no burning here either but tomorrow is curbside recycling pick-up day (what a luxury) and the bin’s not quite full…
Thanks!
I’m also in the midst of a studio purge that is starting to include the rest of my house. Donating books, an old lamp, and other household items. I’m donating canvases to a teacher. I’m no longer painting in acrylics so someone else can gesso over them and reuse. My life and space need new energy and a new abundance
This came to me just in time. I’ve been reorganizing my studio and having the exact same thoughts. I went previously (couple of years ago) in a Marie Kondo sprint and got rid of a lot of things that now I wish I hadn’t, but I still have lot of more stuff. This time I decided to keep them, since I found marvels in all of that, but I get what you mean, sometimes it’s just A LOT to keep. I thought I was crazy for having all the thoughts you wrote in this piece, but I’m glad I’m not the only one. Thank you for writing this.
Ok. I just threw away a cut out newspaper article I once thought was important.
Then I cut up an old calendar to make a card.
You’ve expressed well what many struggle with. Thank you for putting things in perspective. I’m going to step back and try to see the big picture.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I read this just when I needed it.
I swear we’re always in synch! 😄
I love it!!
I get such deep satisfaction out of burning my private journals. Indeed, there is nothing like flame. And yet I keep letters and all the notebooks I draft essays in ...
Glad you brought up the cost of cloud storage. I do get tired of hearing how much more environmentally friendly it is. Tell that to the salmon when the hydroelectric dam that Google's data center runs on has ruined their habitat!
And Louise Bourgeois ... I have an unholy fascination with some of her work. Wow.
I so enjoyed burning my journals as well. However...there is a way to make them live on in the modern world- scan them first! I now have scans of them all, locked up digitally so I can always find them (but nobody else can)
What a great piece! I never really made the connection before b/t that uncluttered morning feeling and wanting a clean work space—but agree that it’s a similar goal. (Oh, that elusive mental clarity!) I feel lucky that writing doesn’t generate nearly as much physical stuff as visual art-making… and yet I too am always battling against piles of drafts, notes, research files, books, unread magazines, and on and on.