Monday, March 16, 2009

My artistic equivalent of a welcome mat...


I love the look of a well-used, (well-loved) art space. It makes me smile and welcomes me to kick off my shoes, turn on my music and get my hands (and sometimes feet) dirty. Yes, my feet. I noticed this morning that I had black gesso on my big toe from dropping a paintbrush last night. Better black gesso than gangrene! And an obvious hazard of painting barefoot - if you tend to drop things as I do.

Although I like some neatness and organization, I have discovered that if my art space is too neat, it discourages me a bit from creating because I know that I will be making it messy. So I usually exist in a happy medium of somewhat organized chaos, like this picture suggests, with just enough space in the middle for a canvas.

And as a footnote, I have decided to include a note of gratitude at the end of each blog post,(until I forget to do so, which is bound to happen) in addition to my gratitude journal...

I am grateful for: a welcoming place to make art every day!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay! For paint from head to toe (or at least on the toe, heh-heh)!

Anonymous said...

Maybe you could paint your toe nails with black gesso and be creative and fashionable. My daughter once substituted a day at my work as the receptionist and she painted her fingernails with white liquid paper. How creative of her. :-) Of course I was horrified that she was so "unprofessional" at my work. I have since learned to relax and enjoy the moments of "thinking outside the box".
I can't wait to see the artistic creation made from your black gesso.

ArtPropelled said...

Aah that is a welcoming sight! It's so wonderful to see you working again and wallowing in it. I love what you are doing and well done DJ for landing the loot!

Patti G. said...

Kerri, ohhhh your picture is not showing for me! I wondered if it was a picture of your TOE! :0)
Thinking of you.....and your black gesso! I am glad your toe caught it before it got to your carpet! Hehehehe! Good toe!
Hope all is well with you sweetie!
Love your mixed media piece below too for the winner DJ! Lucky girl!
Hugs,Patti

fran pascazio said...

Kerri, Looks like I could feel at home in your art space!!! It is my opinion that the words "neatness" and "creativity" should never be used in the same sentence. Congratulations to the lucky winners of your artwork!!! I am extremely jealous ;-). . . Love to see you at it again, Kerri....

ineedatruck said...

I am so happy to see that even well recognized artists are physical disasters in their space!!! I have an amazing studio, but it is always trashed and when I look at the studios in Where Women Create I can't imagine how they get anything done and keep things looking so precious!!! I tried. . .I wanted my space to be unique and express "me". . .but it's just a pig stye!!! My floor is a creation that my boys and I painted and now it just looks like something exploded!!!! Kudos to you for keeping it REAL!!!