Monday, November 5, 2012

Ritual Reset

The beauty of having a dedicated work space is that all of your supplies can be out, within arms reach at any time.  You can throw scraps of fabric on the floor, leave your easel set up, leave brushes and paints out, so you don't have to spend an hour prepping for work the next day.  But when the project is complete, things tend to look a little.... chaotic.  I find that this state of disorder makes it nigh on impossible to start a new project.  I get distracted by the mess, or the old thoughts.  To solve this, I have a little ritual I call "resetting."

By reset, I mean clean.  I don't like it, but it helps.  See, I really do like when things are tidy.  The process is not enjoyable, but the result sure is!  So things look nice and fresh and inviting when I go into the studio.  It also clears the residue of the last project, physically and mentally.  Taking a break from the creative process lets my brain rest, or start planning the next project.  And in those difficult starting phases of a new project, there are fewer distractions.

In my last reset, I found some missing nail polish, a box of Redbull, and a couple of missing sketchbooks.  It's like finding treasure!

What sort of rituals have you found in your work?

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