One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.

A.A. Milne



brushes full of glue from working on some collages.



I LOVE magazines. Nothing makes me happier than going to Barnes and Noble, getting a coffee, and checking out what's new. And I usually end up taking $50 or so in magazines home with me. Which is sort of difficult since I already have about 25 subscriptions. I've always been like this. My mother used to make me clean through the stacks in my room because she was afraid all that paper would start a fire.

One type of magazine that is enormously popular right now is the "artist studios" spread, like Somerset Studios, and Cloth, Paper, Scissors Studios. and there are several magazines just about organizing. I look at these studio pics and wonder, when and where in the world do these people work? Everything is way too clean and, "tidy". Where's the clutter? Where are the clippings and scraps and sketches and spills?  The magazine people need to come see my Working Studio with its paint spilled rug, paper pieces, cups of glue water, old tubes of paint, deserted coffee cups, candy wrappers, stinky paint water. Welcome to MY world! I know there are plenty of creative people out there who like to stay clean and organized, but surely not EVERY studio photographed isn't of this ilk.



My studio--organized really well according to my system, is in a constant state of flux, partly because I work with paper AND paint AND prints AND also teach up there. Plus I always have several projects going at once, so I don't waste my time while waiting for one painting to dry. Below is a shot from December, this stuff is for some paper projects I was working on. Fun, huh?

So now I'm rearranging again, tweaking, finding ways to work more efficiently. I love painting right in front of the windows with natural light coming in. My thing now is to work as much as I can standing up; I heard this really interesting health article on NPR about how much better it is for you (here is the link: http://www.npr.org/2012/05/09/152336802/stand-up-walk-around-even-just-for-20-minutes), and I can't stop thinking about it. After a few weeks of doing this my back wasn't hurting anymore.

Anyway, I welcome visitors! Just don't trip on the glue gun.