Decluttering As A Working Artist....

[SiouzQ.]

What to do with boxes and boxes of finished art work, large scale color photos, black & white photos, notebooks of negatives (from back in the day), large found-object art pieces, fabricated metal jewelry and beaded projects ...it is all dear to me in some sense, but hidden away because I'd have to have my own personal museum to show everything I have done. My favorite pieces I have displayed on my walls, but there is only so many walls in my house. And I don't want to scare off my new housemate either! I have de-cluttered this part of my life before, gotten rid of the mistakes and embarrassments, but there is still quite a lot of work. I have a peculiar style, kind of edgy and weird, so it is not the typical "this would look nice over the sofa" style art. Maybe I should hold a retrospective somewhere, a place to show how my creations have evolved over the decades. I have worked in many mediums - I have a BFA in metal smithing and jewelry design, with minors in photography and sculpture. Then I went on to get an MFA in photography, and now I am back doing the jewelry, but had a decade or so when I was mainly doing found object collages. So to the people who say to take a picture of it before you let it go, the problem is in addition to the actual objects I have created, I also have LOTS of photographic evidence of my existence here on earth as a creative human being....

So, who else has this dilemma and what have you done about it?

[mschrisgo2]

Wow! You sound a lot like an artist who lives near here, many years of work collected in a huge house... He had a show in a light industrial area- think huge warehouse type space- and it was a tremendous success. It was catered and there was a huge barrel for monetary donations for a local animal rescue organization. Thousands of people attended, they raised many thousands for the rescue, he sold pieces totaling into the many thousands of dollars, AND best of all, I think, just the right agent showed up- who is now representing his work worldwide. Such talent needs a broad market, and he now has it.

[SiouzQ.]

I have had a half-formed idea brewing of doing something like having a "moving" party (someday I am going to relocate out west) and invite all my friends and people I know from the music scene. What I would do is display all the work I would like to send out in the world and people could pay what they want for whatever they want, with the idea of that the funds would be going to help finance the said moving project. That way my friends could get a little piece of SiouzQ. to remember me by, and I could reduce the amount of stuff I would have to move. Anything left over that I managed not to take back (!) could go to our local consignment shop...

[Float On]

After 27 years in working in glass, yes, we still have a lot. We use to host studio parties and everyone took something home if they wanted. We've got a lot stored that the boys can have for their future homes. We've talked about it and when DH passes, the funeral party will be another opportunity to let people take home some glass if they want.


FYI for supplies only there is a great group on Facebook, The Artist Garage Group. You can list supplies only - no finished products. I've sold a lot of supplies on there and getting ready to list some more.

[SiouzQ.]

Per usual in March, I get this hell-bent idea that I HAVE to purge THE CLUTTER! And in keeping up with this thread's title I started a while ago, I finally got down to brass tacks and started posting pictures on my FB page about my Studio De-Clutter and De-Stash project. Lo and behold, last night my ex-BIL said he wanted a found art collage piece that has actually been on my living room wall (why I started with that piece I do not know; I have plenty of finished pieces wrapped up down in the basement for lack of wall space upstairs)! He offered a reasonable amount of money and as I was e-mailing back my response I had that sudden feeling of "I simply CAN'T let this art piece go after all." I tried to work through it and asked myself would I regret it later (I decided maybe I would). So I didn't respond to him last night, as it was late. I decided to sleep on it and think about it in the morning ~ so here is what I came up with.

PROS: I earn some money from the sale. It stays in the family. He really loves it and wants to pay money for it. It clears space on my living room wall. By clearing space it allows me to consider a new work to create. The piece of art gets seen by a wider audience as it be going to North Carolina. I have pictures of it.

CONS: It has been hanging on my wall for at least 20 years...I am used to seeing it everyday. Part of it (a vintage Barbie doll) represents my childhood and there is a lot of nostalgia attached to that. The whole idea of this art piece is rather clever (I think). It almost feels like I would be cutting off a piece of myself and sharing it out in the world (though I know that feeling does NOT last).

So this is what I've done this morning ~ I took it off the wall and set it aside so I could get used to the idea of it not being there. I e-mailed my ex-BIL and told him my initial reaction to his query (mind you, I DID post it for sale yesterday) but that after thinking about it, I was okay with letting it go now, and did he still want it? I am waiting for his response. If he decides not to buy it after all, then it wasn't meant to be.

What I've learned is that I have to be careful and REALLY think about my motives and make sure that is what I really want to do. I have a whole bunch of found object collages that have been packed away since the last time I had a show and I really would like to send them out into the light of day and not have them sitting in the corner of my basement anymore. Again, it's this need to move things along so I can open myself up to creating more and perhaps a different type of work. If I think of it that way, it's a lot easier to let the old work go....but then I unwrapped some stuff last night to take some photos and realized how neat they all were....ARGGHHHHH! This is HARD!

[Chicken lady]

You need an agent. Someone to take pictures and list for you so that you don't get re-attached.

I tend to have the opposite problem with my pottery - I like it when I make it, and then after it's been around for a while I hate it and think it isn't even worth giving to anybody. I know I'm not actually bad - a long time ago I actually sold stuff, it's just that I get better, and I rethink pieces after they're done "Oh, if only I had..." Then I keep it to remind me of the other thing I wanted to do, but there are so many other things and so little time....

[JaneV2.0]

I'm glad you're taking pictures of everything.
High quality ones? Almost as good as the real, tangible art work.

[SiouzQ.]

Last night I posted another found object art collage on my Facebook page, and a friend of mine (who has about a gazillion followers) re-posted it to her page, and lo and behold, it looks like I got another sale for later today! The lady wants to buy one of my "Barbie Chronicles" pieces, plus a necklace that I had posted last week. Then a different friend out in New Mexico told me about a gallery in Silver City that she thought might be a good fit for this older work of mine, so I sent them an introductory message last night and am now waiting for a response.

However, I haven't heard back from my ex-BIL about the prior pieces he said he wanted to buy...I'll give him a few more days before I make a query about it.

Then last night I whilst wiling away time in the studio finishing some stuff, I glanced over at the dusty, not-in-the-greatest condition-anymore Eames dining chair that I have stored down there and have decided to clean it up and see if I can sell that. I only have two left of the set that my parents had when I was growing up ~ authentic mid- century modern from Herman Miller. I had sold four of the better ones (out of six originally) many years ago on Craigslist to a young woman who was really into collecting Herman Miller. I will keep one of them, as it is the chair I use in my music room to sit and play guitar.

I'm kinda on a roll here!

[SiouzQ.]

Rats, part of the sale fell through. She did buy one necklace though.