Friday, July 02, 2010

Organization versus Chaos


Which one are you?

After visiting a good friend and fellow artist this month...Ms. Cynthia of The Fairies Nest, She took me see her studio. Not only was it a beautiful space, but compared to my studio we could all agree that it was immaculate. The floor was clean, the work space was organized, the fabrics were all labeled, books were on shelves.....and the most awesome part.....there was clean space to work. Hmmmmmmm.....imagine that.....a clean table to work on without having to clear a space.....this is an artists dream. I have written about this before. My need to work in chaos. I don't enjoy it. I crave order. But it is just not to be. I will say this though.....at least i haven't gone this far.....Francis Bacon's Studio.....yet.

In the book Encounters with Great Painters Bacon states, "My personality has several facets. For example, I like perfection. I even like perfection on a grand scale. In a sense, I'd like to live in a very grand house; but since one makes such a mess when one paints, I prefer to live in clutter, on a pile of broken objects and memories. I think all of us have these two sides. One side craves order, the other craves chaos. We have to fight to impose order."
Well said Mr. Bacon. If you substitute clay in there for painting you have my studio in a nutshell.
There is a part of me that wants to clean it all up and start over organized and clutter free. Then there is a part of me that wants to, like Bacon, surrender to the madness and let it all become a frenzy of clay.
So which one are you?

3 comments:

ohheyitsnic said...

i have an organized chaos :)

Undaunted said...

Oh chaos. Definitely chaos. When I take photos of my pieces I worry that everyone will see the mess in the background!

Undaunted said...

"I had no idea that the bits and bobs Bacon was about to throw away might one day be worth a fortune."

No one keeps someone elses junk for 30 years unless they think it's going to be worth something one day!!