Studio clean out

I know it might not look like much but above is where we started, and here is where we ended the other day as our studio clean out continues....

Can you see our progress? It is slow and steady, as with most of the work we stop to photograph it, or reminisce about what was happening when we made each piece. It is hard to decide to throw pieces away, but I know in my heart when I am ready to let go of something, and I feel light as a feather when I surrender to that.

With Frank's help I was able to let go of some of the work that I created before I applied to Grad School 11 years ago,

I saved my favorites from each bunch along with the stretcher bars, so that I can go on to reuse them when I am able to work large again, I loved working so large! I was also able to go through and review more recent work, figuring out what I want to add to my shop. There are some great pieces including the large butterfly one here,

With a lot of my older work I found that there are passages within the paintings that still speak to me, colors and patterns with a lyrical flow like poems,

You can see that back then I was using actual pressed petals within the paintings and including sewn elements like beads and stencils and stitches in the canvas.

In an old box during the clean out we discovered a treasure, Frank's grandfather was an artist and we found his old sets of pastels,

A riot of color that I know the kids will appreciate in a few years, we carefully packed those away.

All of this sorting is getting us ready for a big art show/sale/goodbye fiesta that we are planning as a last blow out here in NYC before we move. We are planning the party for the night of May 7th, I'll be posting full details once we have made all of the plans. It will be at our studio space, with drinks and small bites, so if you are in New York we'd love for you to join us!