Keep, Store or Bin?

Since I have more artwork to store at the moment than I am ready for, I am doing the arduous task of deciding what to keep, store, or bin. I know - its hard - but I've created a system that is working for me and I've even made a messy little flow chart of the questions I ask for each piece and an action required for each answer to those questions. It is helping me through that feeling that everything needs to be kept and everything has merit because I made it, which is much too emotional.

So I start with the top question and work my way down. 

Does this piece support my brand? Which I think means a few things. First, if it supports my brand it is a good representation of my skill. If it was a bad day or an old piece that isn't up to par - the answer is No.
Fitting in my brand also means that the subject fits into the image I am trying to portray. That might mean it fits into a series I am working on at the moment or it might mean a general idea of subject. For example I have decided that my very traditional work that doesn't have much "me" in it doesn't fit in my brand anymore even if it is a skilled drawing. So for a recap: right now I am definitely keeping things that are well done and that have a Nicole twist on them like my 6x 18's and my kitsch or box series. I am not keeping things that I made to look like classical or dutch still-life with classical arrangements and drooping lemon peels. To those I will answer "no" because I think they no longer fit in the Nicole Caulfield brand. 

If the answer was yes, I'll wrap it and keep it in the easily accessible ready for shows pile. 

If the answer was no - next question

Will this piece fit in a theme or brand of the future? This is a judgement call. I may have done one piece that is different from the rest... like maybe my eighties piece. I can look at that and ask if it might fit in in the future even though at the moment it doesn't fit in my brand. & yep, I think I may want to do some more montage or collage pieces so I'll keep that one.

If the answer was yes, I'll wrap it and keep it not too far away so I don't forget it. Maybe I'll hang it up for a while.  

If the answer was no - next question

Is this piece sentimental? A piece can be sentimental for various reasons. One that often comes up for me is that it shows some skill development.  Things that I just plain old like but have no place to hang goes in this category too. 

If the answer was yes, I'll take it out of the frame and store it in one of my portfolios. 

If the answer was no - next question.

Would a friend or family member love it? Some people think you should never do this, but I see no harm in it if it would make them happy and I don't need it. 

If the answer was yes, I'll wrap it and ship it off.  If they want the frame, I ask they give me the cost of the frame. 

If the answer was no - then it's time to Bin IT! If it hurts too much then I should have answered it was sentimental above... and I reserve the right to change my mind. 

Little Boxes WIP

Work in Progress
16" x 20"

We had a lot of fun last week over the kids winter break. The weather was faithful to the school break aptly named "winter break" and dumped a lot of snow on us, allowing the kids and I to perfect out sledding techniques. I also was able to hang new art both in Vaughan Gallery in Portsmouth, NH and Sharon Art Center Gallery in Peterborough, NH.

Even with the busy week I had to start a new drawing. I don't know about all of you, but if I don't have a piece in progress I get grumpy and disconnected. :-) That's why I made sure to start a piece at the beginning of last week. This one will go with my new box series, although the box isn't a traditional box like the other one. This is a box of drawers I picked up from the local Fairgrounds Antiques in Keene, NH (well I wrestled it out of the hands of my friend/fellow artist Luann Udell to be honest). I plan on working on it today now that everything is back to normal and will post an update soon.

I started a new storage technique for my colored pencils that I thought I would share with you. Previously I had my bulk of colored pencils separated into color families and tucked into drawers of my card catalog, which I would pull out and set across the table when working. Then when I was working on a piece, the pencils I used would go in my rotating pencil holder (actually a utensil lazy susan from pampered chef). This was not the best way to store them because it was hard to see in the amazing pile of pencils in each drawer to find the pencil I needed or to correctly know the inventory of my pencils when I ordered more. What happened was I ended up with way too many pencils from guessing which colors I needed to buy. Now that I've been happy using other pencil brands more than those in those drawers, I knew i needed a better way to keep track of my inventory.

Wow that was a long story to get to this point!

So this is what I'm doing. Using a sharpie I labeled each pencil name on the pencil tray they came in and also put the corresponding lightfast rating for easy reference. When I am working on my drawing, I still arrange all my pencils into my lazy susan, but when I am finished with my drawing I arrange the pencils back in the box and asses which pencils I need to replace. Sorry for the blurry picture!