making and doing in March

Happy March! The first Monday of the month. It's a sunny morning and although it's still very wintry outside, I'm finally getting a feeling of the coming of spring. I think it's the position of the sun and these longer days. It feels good.

Embarking on a new month with a new focus feels good, too.

I'm not really even sure if I can still call this month's focus a "creative challenge", but I'm going to keep going with it. Last month I wrote that I was craving focus, simplicity and serenity. I still am. I still feel I need a bit of single-mindedness. But I've also come to the realization that I need to clear the way in order to be creative and productive. As I worked in my studio last month (not just painting, but I'll share more about that later), I kept getting frustrated by clutter and disorganization. Sitting here at my desk I look around at its various shelves and surfaces and I'm embarrassed to admit that it's a bit of a disaster. Actually, and this is a bit scary for me, I'll take a photo right now so I can be completely honest and share just how bad it is.

I usually take my photos to avoid sharing chaos like this because no one wants to look at it. We want to see pretty pictures of beautiful work spaces. How realistic is that? Well... by the end of the month I'm hoping that it will be realistic for me because for March getting organized will be my creative challenge.

I meant to declutter and organize and purge back in January when I was repainting and reorganizing my studio, but I was impatient to get back to work after the painting took me away from it for so long. My biggest organization problem is the "out of sight, out of mind" phenomenon. My desk closes up and the clutter is contained and hidden. Closets, drawers... those places can get a little scary while the visible places seem nice and organized. Any time I work at my computer, I'm reminded of how disorganized things really are. Any time I'm looking for a specific supply (that isn't painting-related), I'm frustrated. It's hard to work when you can't find what you're looking for. Additionally, as I let go of some of my creative to-dos, I can let go of the "stuff" that accompanies them. Supplies that I'll never use. Tools I no longer need. I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder, but I do have a tendency to hold on to anything art and craft related. When I first started out on my creative adventure I had no "stash". I couldn't create the way I wanted to create because I had none of the tools or supplies. Collage? With what? I had no papers. Sew? With what? I had no fabric. Crochet a sweater or a blanket? I'd have to go out and buy the yarn first. I would look at a magazine like Where Women Create and yearn to have enough "stuff" that I would need beautiful storage solutions to organize it all. I yearned for possibilities, for choices. Quite a few years later, I have oodles of both. But now I'm yearning for some clarity. The pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction.

And so March... March will be a month of spring cleaning for me. Of winnowing down my collections of supplies and of ideas. Really, it's all about my continued desire to focus. And, to go back to my word of the year, focus and clarity, simplicity... all of those things will help me to flourish.

What about you? What are you planning for March? Is there a certain creative challenge calling you?