The Studio Challenge

Jessie and I snapped about 300 pictures today. LOVE digital. We deleted out the ugh ones and have a full and over-flowing 100+ left. HA! Nope, I'm not putting them all up here. Not hardly. But in the middle of all that snapping away, Jess went into my studio space and began taking pictures of the little bits of beauty. Here and there and...

:: baskets containing the parts for a couple quilts ::

:: a big jar full of tarnished SILVERware ::

(came with this house)

:: a little pillow that Jessica made for years ago ::

:: part of my brass collection ::

:: apricot-pineapple, blueberry and strawberry jams ::

:: part of my collection of "sticks" ::

:: never enough colored pencils ::

:: wooden thread spools ::

:: art books ::

:: a wee felt bear that Jessie made years ago ::

:: Jessie's pincushion ::

I came in and noticed that she was going around being VERY selective. Now there's nothing wrong with being selective. I mean, discretion is a GOOD thing, right? Well... that got me thinking. And here's what came out of that!!;)

We decided to take big pictures. Really-truly pictures of what the studio REALLY looks like. It's my studio, the place where everything that I could ever need to make anything I'd ever want to make. All the supplies are there. And there's a bit of Jessie's stuff. And there are cardboard boxes, empty containers purchased to help contain stuff, yarn, books, patterns, canning supplies... We don't have a garage or anywhere to store stuff that's not in use. No attic, no unused space in the basement. AURGH! So, everything that doesn't have a place finds it's place there, in the studio. All that makes it nearly impossible to move through the room, let alone be creative. Hate it.

So, here's the deal. We took pictures. These are the before pictures. When Jessica gets home from her mission trip to Peru on March 24th, ten days from tomorrow, I will have it clean or nearly. Organized, orderly and things thrown away, given away, donated... whatever. 10 days. How much can a motivated artist/mom get done in that amount of time? I guess we'll see, huh?

Here's the UGLY truth. ;)

:: Come on in, I'll show you around ::

:: standing in the doorway, looking right ::

:: Still in the doorway, looking straight ahead ::

:: looking a bit to the left ::

:: inside the room turned fully to the left ::

Okay, that's enough torture. :) I won't make you walk that narrow path. Can be dangerous! Anyway, you get the picture. What I'll do is post daily before and after shots. This has to happen and now is the time. Let "The Studio Challenge" begin!

ONWARD!!!!