I was looking at my new website at FASO (Fine Art Studio Online) website that I started last year and trying to learn how to do some things and I came across a discussion about blogs and why it is important for artists these days to have a blog. That discussion in the forums led me to checking out blogs of some of the other artists using FASO and came across this one by Susan Kablak who is an amazing pastel painter.

In this post, she talks about cleaning the pastels themselves. Mine are a mess. This is what they looked like yesterday right after I finished painting “Peaceful Thoughts”.

I have a workshop coming up with Elizabeth Haywood-Sullivan hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Pastel Society and I really need to get my box in order.

My studio is also a mess. There is not a clear flat (or even semi flat) surface in the room not covered in stuff. Even the floor has piles of stuff on it.

So, in addition to working on one or two paintings a day and weaving a little bit every day, I’m also going to commit to tidying a bit every day.

Part of that is going to involve removing more of my mother’s stash of things like her multiple boxes of slides that she used for reference photos. These are taking up a good bit of storage space that I could use for things I am currently storing on the floor. She says she doesn’t want them. But she has said she didn’t want a lot of things that later she asked for…. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want to store them in the attic as that is not a good place to keep slides. I’m also fearful of just tossing them out. It’s been over a year since she moved and she hasn’t asked for them. I’m going to ask her one more time if she wants them and if she says no, out they will go.

I also need to get my sewing machine working again and stop using it as a resting spot for fabric. And I currently have three sewing machines. I think at least one could be donated somewhere.

And while it would appear I have plenty of cabinet/storage stuff, there is a real lack of useable storage. So I need to put the closet under the attic stairs to better use and install more shelving up and around the sink area, I think. All in good time. One day at a time.