Traveling Light with Watercolor - What do Marie Kondo, Madame Chic, and Swedish Death Cleaning have to do with traveling light?

Over the past month I’ve shared lots of thoughts with you about ‘Traveling Light with Watercolor’. From watercolor in general, techniques in specifics; mindset - how it affects our art, life (and yes, even our weight); to a sense of finding light-heartedness in our work, you can see where art and life are closely related. This week I’m sharing some thoughts about our surroundings.

I love to work in a light filled environment, with neutrals and whites so that the colors of my work stand out. This is from an ‘idea-board’ of images I’ve collected on Pinterest. Try googling ‘images, Pinterest, beautiful art studios’ or similar combinations. You’ll find lots of great ideas that you can save on your own Pinterest board for future reference.

Spending most of my adult life as a military spouse, I’ve realized how ‘traveling light’ can make a difference in your life. It’s always been something that fascinates me, and keeps me intrigued. From the first time I moved house from one state to another, with toddler twins, I began to realize how a well curated life affects everyone in the household. It’s not that I’m a bare-bones minimalist….not even close. And I’d NEVER in my worst nightmare want to be considered for an episode of ‘Hoarders’.

I do love open table space where I can either stand or sit depending on the project. I love having sturdy shelving to contain my collection of art books, class notes for my teaching, and still-life objects. As artists, we are processing the world around us and sharing it again out into the world. Another photo from my Pinterest board of studio ideas.

During our military life of 26 years, we would move every 2 to 4 years. Prepping for those moves forced you to make a decision - is this object coming with us, or staying behind (in the trash, donated, re-homed, etc). Even when you unpacked on the other end of the move, some items you were delighted to see, and others, you wondered why on earth did you bother to bring that with you? You are literally handling every single item in your household….and making a decision on whether to keep it or not.

Now that we are retired from the service, my husband and I have been in the same house for fifteen years this coming month. We also moved my mom into assisted living last year, and have been doing HER paper-work, taxes, etc. Also - at this very moment I’m helping my daughter & family during ‘pack-out week’ for an overseas move. It has made me realize how helpful those fairly frequent assessments of all your belongings can be. Are you at that junction of ‘sandwich generation’ , too? While I don’t claim to have all the answers, I do have forty years of knowledge that has helped me navigate that time.

Both of my daughters and I are all book lovers. We’re so grateful for the local ‘little libraries’ that people have set up in neighborhoods. We can always have a new variety of books to read, and to share again. On moving day, these are the ones that are going with her to their next home.

Back around 1998 (or in my ‘previous life’ as a young Navy wife), I had come across Elaine St. James’ book, “Simplifying Your Life”. It’s the thing that started me on this quest to keep things as simple as possible in a world that continues to grow more complex. It dawned on me that this is not a ‘one and done’ type of thing, but simply the way to maintain some semblance of order, without letting an over-abundance of stuff spin you into chaos.

So of course, many years later I became enthused over Marie Kondo’s book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”…as well as “Spark Joy” - more how-to on this subject. Just the simple thought of ‘does this spark joy’? (or is it necessary?) and releasing those things out into the world that have served me well, and feel guilt free over doing that…are good lessons. Simple, easy, and good. And when I say easy, I do have to admit, that some decisions are easier than others. Especially when our emotions are wrapped up in this. Kondo addresses this in her books. I also think it affects some people differently - depending on what their emotional triggers are. I have no problem going through clothes, and kitchen or bathroom items on a regular basis. I make it a seasonal habit to go through my clothing to see what fits, what I never wear (and consider why), and either take it to my favorite local consignment shop, or Goodwill, or the trash-bin if it has truly lived out it’s full life.

One corner table in my studio with paintings being mounted, notes sorted, and a small wooden shelving unit waiting to be painted.

The thing that I DO find challenging is keeping the clutter at bay within my art studio. Books, paper and making art are a very strong part of my identity. My emotions are totally wrapped around this. There are times when it seems that the ideas are flowing faster than I can make them happen. I also think that I’ve ‘turned that corner’ in life where I’m ‘closer to the exit ramp’ than the on ramp. So I feel this sense of urgency in making things happen. The last forty years really DID go by quickly (can anyone else relate?). I’m sure I’m not alone in this feeling.

Jennifer L. Scott, also know as ‘Madame Chic’ has a YouTube channel, ‘The Daily Connoisseur’ and shares advice on daily living a well curated life. I hope you find the link I’ve added below quite helpful.

So I have to remind myself to pace myself. That I don’t have to try every medium, or even be ‘accomplished’ at everything that I DO try. I just have to suit myself….and I hope to instill a sense of wonder, exploration, and new-found confidence in my students. What I do notice though, is that visual clutter in my studio really DOES stall my creative energy. It begins to feel like nothing moves forward when that happens. If you’ve been painting/creating for a long time, you may have amassed quite a collection of supplies over the years. Perhaps you are creating many things, and not selling them; so you are faced with a decision of whether to store them, destroy them, or gift them. And that is whether you’re a dedicated hobbyist or a professional painter of many years. Clutter of this sort (paper, art supplies, craft materials) as well as any other - ‘isn’t chic’, blocks energy, and can feel like it ‘takes up space in your head’ as well as your physical room. I’m taking time this summer to manage this issue. Like any other area of your house and life, it needs continual/frequent attention. This brings me to the next author in my ‘life studies’ of keeping clutter at bay, Jennifer L. Scott, or ‘Madame Chic’ as she has become known. Her book, “Lessons from Madame Chic” was the next read I devoured about the same time I was reading Marie Kondo and putting that to good use. Over the years, she has developed a YouTube channel that I find quite helpful. I’ve just found a video that I think will help me tackle this paper problem once I get back home from my daughter’s move/pack-out. She calls this one, “No more filing!; The Time-saving short cut I use for paper!” I’m so excited to get back home and give this a try. Not only do I need to conquer my own household of paper, but my mother’s as well. I know many of us in my age bracket (early 60s) are dealing with this as well. It becomes more important to determine what are the most important things to spend our time on - and it’s certainly not filing papers that we are most likely never to need again. Now we can focus on managing those ‘highest priority papers’.

Finally, the last book I had read in this genre was “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning”. It’s not as scary as it sounds. By normalizing talking about death - we remind ourselves in all the ways that we are alive. We learn to be realistic about what serves us in our lives right now. We learn to be kind to the generation that follows (our children) by not leaving them a ton of stuff for them to deal with once we’re gone. As I was researching this article, I found out that there is a new show coming out about this. Here’s an interview with the show’s hosts.

I find all these sources great places to begin as well as conversation starters with your family. As we pass through our various stages of life, holding on to things from the past may hold us back more than we realize. It’s healthy to want our current surroundings to reflect our current selves. This is the over-arching theme of ‘Traveling Light with Watercolor’. I hold no illusions of ‘The Steed Museum’ starting from the holdings in my basement! If you’ve found this topic of ‘surroundings’ as it pertains to “Traveling Light with Watercolor” interesting, let me know in the comments below. Also, let me know if there are topics you’d like to see covered in future blog posts! Thanks for reading along!

Perhaps one set of shelving is all I need in my studio space? I’ll let you know in a future post!