It’s Official and Found Digital Collage
Digital Collage © 2005 Cynthia Guajardo
I have started the arduous process of cleaning, packing and sorting my studio yesterday. At first glance upon entering my studio (see photos of the disaster here) I wanted to run away, grab some comfort food and nest in front of the tube – but time is of the essence so I resisted the temptation with every strand of will power in my possession (I confess I’m very weak) and got to work. With official lease and deposit check in hand, we have to be out of our house on August 14th so that our tenants can move in August 15th.
My studio is a bit of a time capsule – stray bits and pieces have found their way into the space including the digital collage above, along with other 2d art work from years past. There are more digital collages – and I happen to like this one and a few others enough to possibly frame and hang in the new house for a bit of abstract eye candy for the walls. I hope I can find the digital file because I’d like to print it on better quality paper. This is from a series that I created for a graphic arts class that I took my first semester of landscape architecture – very apropos to find it now that I am about 3 weeks from starting the program again. I could totally see myself moving more towards 2d art or at the very least envision some of my L/A work influencing my 3d work. We’ll see where this goes.
Meanwhile, as I began organizing and packing my pottery tools yesterday I had the urge to make something out of clay. Funny how that happens – I haven’t felt like being in the studio until now when it’s time to pack up my stuff and I most likely won’t be making any clay work for at least a month now. Absence does sometimes make the heart grow fonder….
Cynthia
Moving…
It looks like we will be moving out of our current home August 14th thanks to a newly signed rental application and that’s almost exactly 2 weeks from now in case you’re wondering whether I’ve done the math correctly or not. I’m not really too worried about moving our household contents since we’ve been purging on and off for the past few months and have even started packing and bringing stuff over to the new house.
Side one of garagio with wheel and "stuff" everywhere
I am worried about my “garagio” though…. One quick look at the photos and I can only exclaim in French (because it’s so much more dramatique), “Quelle horreur! Mon Dieu – q’est quon peut faire avec cette spectacle?”
Side 2 where I normally hand build
I had visions of cranking out a bit more work before the move, but alas, it is not to be so. Most likely I won’t return to the clay studio until September at the earliest. It’s a relief to have the house rented, but now comes the unglamorous part of serious packing, moving, cleaning etc. We are moving to a larger space which includes a oversized 2 car garagio – which translates to a more spacious area for me. I am also going to be selling an old make that ancient Paragon electric kiln (the same as this ebay listing) that still fires to cone 6 before the move – better write that Craigslist ad. My firings will be less frequent since it will take more time for me to fill the Skutt 1027, but it makes sense to downsize since I am no longer teaching and anticipate less studio time since I’m going back to school. First day of school for me is the 17th of August. Sometimes when it rains, it pours….
I have canceled my commitment to participate in the Farmer’s Market this coming weekend – I think my husband has visions of cleaning out the garage instead.
Meanwhile, we’ve picked out tile, bath fixtures for the bathroom and carpeting for the basement in the last couple of days. This was fairly easy since I already knew exactly what I envisioned for the house. It’s a 1911 vintage home and I’m going all white with subway tile for the shower surround and a octagon mosaic like style for the floor. Pretty traditional and a neutral backdrop for a vintage home.
I’m so trying not to stress right now,
Cynthia
Remodel – Kitchen
Kitchen before
In case you are just happened upon my blog, my family and I are moving into a home that needs a little TLC in Denver that we have rented out since 1998. The home was built in 1911 and was owned by one family before we purchased it in 1997. Sometime in the 1950′s the previous owner thought that the home needed a face lift and added some interesting design touches that were popular back then such as metal cabinets, boxing in the upper cabinets which blocked nearly a 1/3 of the windows and used a very fashionable (at the time) pink color scheme.
Our remodel budget is pretty small and encompasses updating electrical, plumbing, bath and kitchen without breaking the bank. As far as the kitchen and our budget is concerned, we have elected to keep the white metal cabinets – they are pretty cool. Even our contractor said that they were high end for the time and well made. They are Geneva Steel Cabinets similar to the ones in this NY Times article. At one time the cabinets were pink, but at the height of my pink exasperation, I painted them white. In some ways I regret painting the cabinets, and other times I think to myself, “Yeah, they’re cool and retro, but not really my style.” C’est la vie, if you know what I mean.
Kitchen after ripping out boxed in soffit – the unsightly metal vent above the cabinets will be removed as well
One of the things on my list for our contractor to do was to rip out the boxy soffit above the cabinets. Even though it’s not much to look at right now, I’m incredibly pleased with the decision! Pretend that the teal and gold paint isn’t there and it really opens the room up visually. And, having the extra light from the newly revealed full sized windows is incredible!
In addition to removing the soffit above the cabinets we are replacing the sink, faucet, applicances and counter tops with new laminate ones. We have begun shopping for appliances – and are going to go with stainless steel ones. Fitting a fridge into the the current space just isnt’ working for us, so we’re going to move a 30″ slide in range to this area which will make venting the stove easier and will place the fridge where the range and hood used to be. It will just mean removing the upper cabinets at both places – not a big deal. The remainder of the foot print will remain the same. Bonus, there is also a transom window situated above the door to the mud room that I hope to uncover.
Meanwhile, we think we have found renters for our current house – we will know by this evening or tomorrow at latest. The only caveat is that they need to move in by August 15th which is earlier than our contractor thought that he might be finished. Eeeeek – that means that we now have less than 3 weeks to pack everything up (studio included) and move. Needless to say, I don’t anticipate that I will be making any new clay work between now and then. What’s more is that my first day of school is August 19th – where did summer go?
Cynthia
Pesto, Patterns & Problems Destashing
There is nothing better than fresh pesto…
made with basil growing right outside the back door.
sweet Italian basil
Since I knew we were planning to move, I only planted one type of basil this year unlike last summer when I had lemon, sweet, Thai and one other type that I can’t recall off the top of my foggy head since I haven’t yet made a dent in my morning coffee.
There are so many recipes for pesto, but I make a fairly simple version for which I just estimate ingredients:
| 1 handful | Washed and dried fresh basil |
| A few | Cloves of garlic to taste |
| A couple pinches | Kosher salt to taste |
| A handful | Pine nuts |
| A handful | Grated Parmagiano or other hard Italian cheese |
| Pour | Virgin olive oil into mixture until mixture is a smooth consistency |
| Directions | Blend the first 3 ingredients in a Cuisinart or similar blender.
Add the pine nuts and pulse – slowly add the cheese and olive oil. Taste – can be used fresh or frozen on pasta, chicken, sandwiches and more |
1000 Patterns by Drusilla Cole
Last week, I picked up 1000 Patterns by Drusilla Cole from the library to use as a bit of inspiration for both the upcoming home remodel/move and for design ideas for pottery decoration. I had a chance to thumb through the book yesterday and it’s pretty cool – it’s interesting to read about the history of fabric designs and patterns and how classic ones have remained strong throughout the centuries. Personally, I am mostly drawn to the more primitive ones from Polynesia, other parts of Asia and Africa for their simple, often bold graphics and limited use of color. The book itself is well organized – I just wish many of the photos were larger.
Meanwhile, not much happening in the way of clay this week after all. We are showing our home to potential tenants 3 times this weekend and I’ve been cleaning in preparation. Last night, my hubby and I started the task of going through the main floor of the home, looking for items to pack, keep and/or donate. I can see that my desire to purge stuff is going to be more difficult than I imagined. For every 2 items I put in the purge pile, my hubby yanked 1 of them out and exclaimed, “I like this – we can’t get rid of this….” – despite said item sitting neglected in a cupboard for the past 5 years.
After reading Linda’s post yesterday about going minimal and following one of her links to zenhabits about creating a less cluttered home – I tried reasoning with my husband. “If we haven’t touched it in a year baring special or emotional attachments, let’s give it away.” But apparently, my husband has emotional attachments to everything including a growing match-book collection (we don’t smoke and certainly don’t burn enough candles to require so many), pewter mugs (never used), paper beer logo coasters (dime a dozen), misc. tschotskes (many are mine and I say they go), etc. etc. Needless to say, he’s afraid to come home from work now-a-days for fear of what will be missing.
Then I boldly made a new rule, “In the future, whenever we buy anything new – something has to leave the house in its place.” He seemed agreeable since destashing is easier when done on a smaller scale (although the rule is more about maintaining the status quo). We live in a small home and we just don’t have room or the storage space for a lot of stuff – my vice is of course clay stuff, art supplies and books. After we finished boxing up a good 4 boxes of items bound for ARC, I remarked at how easy it would be to move if we truly lived a minimalist existence – imagine just moving furniture?
Of course as human beings, we collect stuff or are we really collecting and preserving memories? Being a sentimental type myself, I keep more than my fair share of stuff including a gallery of my daughter’s art work since birth, cards, photos, art & pottery, family linens, letters, books and more. I am trying get better at editing my stuff, but in the end, who am I keeping this for if I don’t use it on a regular basis? My daughter? Me? If our memories live in our heads anyway, why do we need a physical reminder? I don’t have the answer and am just thinking out loud. Similarly, you may recall that my step mother gave me some of my Dad’s stuff that she had been keeping since he died in 1982 such as his wallet, some photos a letter and some more ephemera. I didn’t miss it before I knew about it, but now I have it in my possession and can’t throw it away either. Ironically, my step-mom now feels comfortable giving his stuff away after all these years – yet it’s one more memory and connection for me to my dead father. Oy vey!
So question – are you a collector or comfortable with memories living only in your head?
Cynthia
Err, um, Mom…are you okay if I get rid of the silver goblets you gave me a few years ago? Or do you want them back – seems I don’t really have use for them after all.
