Making Old New Again

And Other Recycle Stories

One of my goals this year is to take all of the leftover materials I have from various projects and try to create new pieces out of them. I want to deplete my inventory of miscellaneous "stuff" and clear some of my studio clutter. I have found that I really enjoy just creating paintings and drawings rather than making products from the artwork. I've learned to let the art speak for itself and let go of the need to make it become something else.

I've been very busy, sorting, organizing and mostly thinking. I have enough inventory to make limited editions of some new products which will be fun. So far I have decided to make all of my unfinished glass pendants into magnet sets. I also decided to use the bottle caps from my "kidsy" necklaces and turn them into wine charms.

I have a big box filled with every print I ever made that was a dud or a second. I never threw any of them away because that's what I used to use to punch shapes for my jewelry. I think I am going to use what's left of them to create one of a kind patterns and collages. It's an exciting feeling to imagine using up so much collected materials from the last ten years. I have gotten rid of some, but I still have a lot more to let go of. 

Unfortunately, I like to save everything in case I ever need it, but I haven't used some of these supplies in years. Maybe someday I will go looking for a specific wooden shape or jewelry finding etc., and it will be gone, but I think getting rid of the clutter is more important than keeping everything these days. It's not an easy task for me, this "letting go" but I am up for the challenge. 

Too Much Stuff

Why Can’t We Let Go?

I touched upon my obsessiveness of always being prepared with “stuff” in my last post. I feel this post is a similar topic. I have been purging my house little by little for a couple of years now. As the kids grew up I let go of things I didn’t need anymore. (I’ve always been a little bit of a hoarder when it comes to saving things.) I’ve gotten rid of so much but as I look around my house now and It looks like I haven’t made a dent.

Why do we need so much? Why do we save things? Why do we have a hard time letting go? Because we long to hold onto the past? Are we afraid of the future? I guess for everyone it’s a different reason, for me I think it’s nostalgia. It’s not that I long for the past, but I want to remember it, for my kids to remember it years down the road. I love that my mom saved a box of my artwork and school projects as far back as kindergarten. It makes me smile when I rummage through it. 

But even though it’s wonderful boxes full of memories, it’s a box of stuff I don’t really need. I would love to go up to the attic and digitize most of it and then toss it all out. But then I’m torn with not dealing with it because, really, those are hours of my life I won’t get back. It’s going to take hours and hours I could be spending with my family, my friends. So in the end it all sits in my attic, my closets, my drawers etc. until a rainy or snowy day. 

Someday I’ll tackle it, or my kids will end up doing after I’m gone and I don’t want that to be their burden. Otherwise they will wish me back so they can kill me!