It’s been far, far too long since I’ve cleaned up my desk and my office, and it’s interfering with my art.
I work at home, and my office space is about 15 feet across and 10 feet deep. It’s divided between business and art. The paperwork piles up and spills onto the artwork; the art supplies get scattered and disorganized and I can’t find what I need.
Plus, I need open space to be creative. I grew up, professionally, in a newsroom, so I can work amidst all sorts of chaos, noise, and clutter. But for art, I need open space to breathe and let things flow.
Once I started on the paperwork pile, I was shocked at how many pieces of paper should have been trashed the minute they arrived in the mail or got dumped there after a conference. I was really glad that we had recently bought a shredder. I ran that thing hard.
It feels great to shred. All that paper gets chewed up into something that looks like quilt stuffing. It’s much more satisfying than just upending a bag into the recycling bin.
It cleared my mind. And my desk. But I’m only halfway through; now I have to do the art side of the room.
I’ve got a penny for that: The Half-Done. It’s covered in paper on the Lincoln head side; nothing at all is discernible, and I couldn’t get it cleaned off.
The reverse isn’t pretty either, but at least you can see some of the main parts of it. Like my office.
