Purge or Splurge

When I teach workshops, I can often be heard saying that more is more when it comes to mixed media. For me it is all about the layers, all about the dimension, all about the details. Even if a layer is almost completely hidden, in the end it is an important component to the final piece. Building a history in my work is important to me.

But is there a time when more is not more? When maybe less is more? I have been contemplating that recently when it comes to my studio space.


When I work, I have always loved being surrounded by things that inspire me - whether that is art supplies, bottles of paints lined up in neat rows, piles upon piles of painted paper, walls filled with stuff that I have acquired from other artists and on my travels, cases with little drawers that are filled with little treasures, surfaces covered with found objects... Well, you get the point.


Recently I have been noticing a shift. A desire to minimize. To clear. To have more space in my space. I do not think this is just a spring cleaning thing. It really hasn't happened before. And I also do not think that this is about needing more room to create. I have always longed for an endless amount of surface to work on. But I know that no matter how much table space I clear, I always end up working in a space that is about 18 x 18 inches.


This seems to be an evolution. Perhaps connected to getting older and an increasing desire to simply be surrounded by the things that are truly meaningful to me. Maybe I am coming to the time where my studio is more about making art and less about making decor.


To be clear, this is not a revolution. I haven't purged my studio and I cannot imagine ever experiencing the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (although maybe if I actually read that book I would). But I have begun to move, store, clear and give away things. Only time will tell where this will take me.

How about all of you out there in blogville? These days, are your feeling the purge or the splurge?