Recycling center, not my basement
in my basement. . . both the studio area and the other storage areas. . . and my closets. . . and the storage unit we rent. Oh, the stuff we own, or that owns us. I guess I'm a packrat by nature. . . I hate to get rid of things. I feel sure that there will come a time that I will absolutely need whatever I'm throwing away. It's happened before (but, honestly, not very often.) The basement is daunting. There are still unpacked boxes down there from when we moved into this house. That's when we got the storage unit, too. You would think that after six years, whatever is in those boxes is not necessary. But then again, just a week ago my mother-in-law gave me a beautiful child-size Chinese black silk embroidered pajama set that someone had given to her when she was a child. It had to be 75 years old. What do I want to hand down to Betsy and Joe? What will be meaningful, if not valuable, to them. Okay, it probably won't be the stuff in the basement or in the storage unit.
At one time, I thought maybe I would like to be an assemblage artist, so at garage sales, estate sales, and on ebay, I bought amazing old stuff. I admit, I've never even tried an assemblage. But I sure have some good stuff down there. Then, along the same line, I was briefly intrigued by making jewelry a la Susan Lenart Kazmer. So tons of stuff for that, too. I actually did make some pretty cool stuff that I gave away. But I don't think I'll go back to that ever again (but then again, maybe I will.) I have been a seamstress when it was necessary or expedient, and so I have a major stash of fabrics. I will never use it all. No one could in a lifetime. And then there are the power tools -- love, love, love them. But don't use them much any more. And of all the stupid things to keep, under my art/ping pong table I have two boxes of antique acrylic paint -- really, it's very old, dried up -- bought from an estate sale of an artist.
Time to let go, I think. Simplify. Identify. Discard. Donate. Sell. Recycle. Get rid of the stuff.
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4 comments:
i just got rid of so much Stuff this weekend with a yard sale. I advertised too that i had art Stuff. I felt much lighter once my piles were gone. I'm the same way, I collect and think that I will need it for a really cool creation down the road. But if I hadn't touched it in 2 years, then I let it go.
I was happy seeing artists and kids go through my art stash knowing that my Stuff was finally going to get used.
Bridgette, after I posted my blog, I read yours about the garage sale. I had a garage sale once. It was a lot of work, as I remember. I admire your resolve. I wish I could have come to your garage sale, because I know I would have come home with even more stuff. I have always wanted a daylab.
I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff in anticipation of an upcoming move. Still haven't made a visible dent in it. Sigh.
Just before we actually do get ready to move, I've promised all my local artist friends I'll invite them over to go through the art stuff that I don't want to take with me.
Martha, I remember that you had blogged that you were going to move. I can't even imagine packing up all my stuff and moving it. I wish I lived in Florida so I could come to your house get even more stuff.
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