Kate Drew-Wilkinson was, I believe, the lampworker who popularized end of the day beads, that opportunity to simultaneously tidy up your bench & cut loose with something unexpected: in effect, giving yourself permission to make something failed or ugly, but with the possibility of new or cool; loosening up, a bit, to play and explore.
the table behind the computer desk; that's not so bad, right?
I loved the idea, but honestly? it works best if you're willing to let crap pile up. (My “glass daughter” once reported a boro worker's posting a photo of their bench 4 inches [100 mm] deep in trash, though she was, unfortunately, not able to find it again to send on. Boro lampworkers tend to generate a lot more scraps because of discarding points and the like,) but I've never been able to really let stuff pile up, because it drives me bananas: I much prefer to walk into the tidy work space.
the black desk, ostensibly my art creating space...
Also, to be brutally honest here, lampworking mess is somewhat limited by the need to keep the assorted COEs separated,[1] ideally to keep dust off the glass, especially the frits, powders and shards, to make the space available for others, and, honestly, to avoid putting one's hand down on something sharp.
These constraints are not nearly as critical for most of my other media: especially for paper or beadstringing based projects, I end spreading stuff everywhere. It inevitably fills all available space.
my computer desk, which it turns out is my actual creating space, because I've gotten into the habit of watching youtube videos while I work.
These pictures were taken during the time I was attempting to complete my various Japan-trip journals from the last two years; I now have other, pressing-enough obligations that I (mostly) finished tidying up (the bulk of) this mess yesterday; nevertheless, there was still enough leftover to easily assemble this little bookmark last night:
mixed media bookmark; paper, including discarded envelopes, washi tape, foiled teabag liners; pva glue, ink (including the granulating pelican 6000), watercolours; A7c, sony 90mm macro; f/2.8, 1/640s, ISO100, WB: cloudy ev 0; rotated, cropped and scaled in gimp
For something made as the equivalent of a mindless doodle because I was too tired to do anything requiring actual mental discipline, I'm pretty happy with the way it came out. And perhaps someday I'll manage the ‘tidy-studio’ version of this room, though at this point just being able to see most of the floor is a victory.
[1]Though in practice I haven't done anything but 104 in years
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
