As Good As It Gets

I am satisfied with how the studio looks right now. I have seen some really amazing rooms done with walls of tools and everything so very neat. Mine is not like that. There are four big mirrored closet doors that conceal what is behind them when they are closed, and reflect what is in the room. 

Thomas Merton once said that "Perhaps I am stronger than I think." And in the case of being a housekeeper, this applies to me as I do this work. "Perhaps I am more organized than I think!" The desk and work station are both cleared and cleaned, as is the floor, all the bins and the ironing board. I am ready to start my 2017 projects with comfort and ease.

One of the meaningful projects I learned through Swap-bot was to create Art Journals-my way. My way is not through drawing or painting but through writing. One easy gift I have received are those journals or date books. I used to gift them onward and even tossed some away. Not any more. There is a term called 'ephemera' which means items that exist, are used or enjoyed for a short time.

As I cleaned, some of that short-term stuff would surface usually headed for the trash. Well, in the Art Journals-my way, I am gluing them on one side of the journal as a form of art. I simply am not a painter nor do I draw. I can glue and I love quotes. So that is on the left side of each page in the journal. On the right side is a letter I am writing to someone who can still read my handwriting. The entire journal is a piece of EPHEMERA, and is meant to be read and tossed. As a journal, it is a scant picture of my day or a couple of my days.

Now, of course, the recipient has to decide if they will keep it or toss it but that is their business, not mine. I am recycling and repurposing things that gather around me. I plan to do this whenever someone from Swap-bot sends me a blank journal or datebook.

It has been a productive weekend, and this room is as good as it gets. I am happy with how it looks and feels. I can go forward into the future of my projects and complete things that have been unfinished.