Fun and Games with Space

It’s been a while since I did an update on our new home renovation projects. Near the end of May we stopped making time to work on the house as we turned our focus on our businesses.

I exhibited my work at the New Zealand Art Show and kiwi guy took on a new project that required a lot of focus. And then it was vacation time – 5 amazing weeks, not working, enjoying visiting the US.

After a 3 month break – it was time to get back to the house. Top of the list for me is getting my art storage Closet completed.

It is the first domino in getting the rest of my spaces sorted out. Or maybe it’s musical chairs. Or one of those tile puzzles you have to rearrange the squares into the right order to make a pattern.

Everything depends on something else and I’m a bit frustrated with my current set up.

We did get started on the storage closet. It’s insulated! And we are working on the walls.

Not Waiting

And then last week I decided I didn’t want to wait the months it will take to finish that project. I needed a table NOW for painting the stretch canvas.

It was time to turn the annex into a temporary work space.

Not an easy task as this room has become the “oh just put it in the annex” room. It was a bit of a disaster.

Fortunately a few weeks back we had removed the unused second hot water heater out of the closet.

With that closet sitting empty (ready to be painted), I realized I could put my artwork in that closet temporarily. And I could put all my art books on the shelf. Underneath the fans in the photo below are 7 boxes of books.

This big mound of – er – stuff also needed to find a home. Underneath the pinkness is artwork. But above it – Empty Boxes and other random things that every artist needs.

And then the junk – much of it Kiwi Guy’s spill over from his too small office space. And all the stuff that belongs in my office closet once artwork is removed.

Bin-Packing Magic

Fortunately I’m really good at tetris. I used to have to bribe my kids to play games with me that involved spatial awareness – like blockus – because I always win.

(My new favorite spatial awareness type game is Azul – Kiwi Guy and I play a game every night after dinner. It’s great fun. And I don’t always win. Yet.)

I think the type of artwork I do – stitching together blocks of color – is very much related to how my brain thinks. I like sorting out complex spatial problems. Its a perfect match for improvisational piecing together of fabric.

So – as you can see from the above photos – I had my work cut out for me this weekend, turning that mess into a space I could use.

And yahoo – I managed to make it work. The books are on the shelves. The art is all in the closet.

And all the empty boxes and misc stuff? Why does this room look so much more empty?

Behind the door on the right is our second bathroom. There are 3 big boxes of dyeing supplies hiding in there along with a bunch of empty boxes. Who needs a second shower.

And now – at least for now – I have a table I can walk all the way around to work with my large stretched canvases. It’s not quite big enough and for now – that’s fine.

It feels like progress.

PS – September always feels like a time for new beginnings – back to school time! If you are ready for a fresh start and some learning (and great community) I’d love to have you join us in one of the makebigart programs.