New Year's neatening

Got lots of organizing done in the studio this morning! I've been in Making Mode for many months, which is great, but sooner or later, you HAVE to pay attention to some of the unfun but necessary stuff: labeling paintings (at least with "top," if not titles), wrapping them, and storing them.

You see, I have a tendency to fling paint, long distances, when I work, so any finished piece that's left sitting out without a plastic wrapping (I call them "raincoats") is liable to get an unintentional touch-up from a flying blob of color. So today I managed to wrap all the new works I've made since September and find a safe place for them.

Also I was getting frustrated that I had my "not for sale" works mixed in with the works I have available for sale. So I cleared off a whole area of shelving to make a separate space for work that I want to keep.

Everything is much easier to find now! I labeled each piece with its name on the side, too, so I can tell at a glance what's where. Going through all my work also gives me an idea of which directions I want to follow, to create new series, into 2010.

Before you get too impressed, though, let me note that I haven't included a picture of the table that's piled high with all the teaching supplies I pulled off the shelf to make room for the not-for-sale works. Sorting through them and finding a place for them is a project for another day. But for now, my paintings are all labeled, wrapped and rarin' to go ... off to gallery walls for shows and/or collectors' and corporation walls for good homes.