New paintings and regular art updates.
Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
I haven’t lost my marbles, yet!
Or any other thing!
To spring clean or not?
But my stuff is mine
It comforts me
Makes me feel whole.
It’s there on my list
Things to do
Choose books to keep
And to loose.
But I can’t move
I am stuck
In sadness and grief
Unable to change my life.
Artist ‘stuff’, paints, paintings, canvases, brushes, boxes, sketch pads, heaters, all my ornaments on the mantelpiece. Carrier bags. I’ve never been this cluttered. Some of its going to have to go. But it’s cheaper than renting the studio. I not letting many people in till I sort it out! But it’s storage not hoarding (yet!)
Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
I promise myself
To get rid of clutter
But it piles up
More comes through the door
And more and more
Not neat and tidy
Not filed in folders
But piled in boxes
On cupboards
On a chair
On the sofa
In bags.
Oh heavens
Will I ever declutter?
Where can you reduce clutter in your life?
I once counted our books. When I got to 1000 I gave up. Some are precious and I devour them regularly. Others I dust off occasionally, but a few I have never read. Mainly because they were my hubbys and generally are about wars, trains or tractors. I like some of them, but they are generally big and heavy, full of pictures and technical details. I think some of them will go to a charity shop.
I guess they could act as insulation! Some of them are high up on tall shelves. I would have to climb up ladders to get up to them. I’m not sure if anyone will ever read them!
I have these hanging in my window. The top one is Ygdrasil, (not sure of the spelling), the tree of life. I don’t look at it very often but with the blue sky it was more visible. I do seem to collect a lot of stuff. The house is full of clutter. Some of it has got to go. But not these. The bottom one is flowers and a dragonfly. Both made by my talented wire weaving friend D.
What would you do if you lost all your possessions?
Books, ornaments glass, clothes, paintings… Clutter.
In some ways to lose all my possessions would make life simpler as long as I had somewhere to go? Our house has got crowded with ‘stuff’, we have collected things over years and years, and we are trying to get rid of some of it.
But it’s easy to become attached, an object can encompass memories, look at it and you look back in time. Does losing your possessions give you freedom? Or is it oppressive? What if you only have the clothes you stand up in, no credit or debit card…. Knowledge of where you live would be important. Knowing how to light a fire, keep warm, find food and clean drinking water. The inhumanity of men to the homeless is a fear if I went through with disposing of my possessions.
An artist did do it. He crushed all of his belongings I think. It was a very powerful art ‘happening’, but what happened to him? Was he paid to do it, has he replaced things, did he survive? The problem is that in a world of thousands or millions of wonders each day, does anyone even notice.
It would be good to dispose of my belongings, to free up myself, but I’m getting too old to survive such a thing. I will have to keep at least some of my things..
Pictures behind pictures, a wall full of images. The chimney brest is concrete so it took an effort to get the nails in!
It also has a mantlepiece with lots of ornaments, mainly cats. I’m not proud of my clutter, but I’m attached to it. I took a monochrome photo because the colours are a bit riotous!
Are you a clutter nutter? Do you ‘collect’ or ‘hoard’? I’m on the verge, I might slip into hoarding soon, but recently I have been trying to declutter. It’s not a rapid process. But I’m trying.
I have too much stuff (plants, ornaments, paintings, clothes), but I remember how I got every bit of clutter and just find it very hard to let go of them. I have moved things around and chucked some stuff out. But the majority of it remains. I would like to tidy up the place and would start by with living room. That would be my plan if I had to chose a new years resolution, but I can’t suss out how to get rid of more things!
A ‘sort of’ view of my living room, with a tidy floor, no throws on the settee, the gas fire visible, the mantlepiece and chimney breast a bit too narrow. I’ve included some of the books and ornaments, but nowhere near all of them. I was trying to draw by the view from my eyes and it all went a bit fish eye lens. I’m writing this at 3.30am, with sore knees and feet, I walked another 4.4 miles today (yesterday?), anyway day 31 of my #100daywalkingchallenge… Almost a third of it done. I don’t think I will stop now unless I get too much pain. The other reason I can’t sleep? The outdoor cat is sleeping on my side of the bed, and unlike my hubby I try to keep my feet away from him, so I don’t accidentally kick him… He snores (well both of them do!) Night xx
I took these photos within minutes of each other. This is my painting chair where I prop up my canvases while painting at home. I’m between paintings at the moment so the cats often sit on it. The house is full of “stuff” that Mey or may not be used as subject matter. Hence this poem!
Cats and clutter, clutter and cats.
Do the two go together
Like mittens and bats?
Like bread and butter
Like lamb and spring
Grapes and wine
Cheese and bread?
We all live differently
Each to his own
Cats and clutter are in my home!
Mallaband-Brown