(no subject)

[pensnest]

ephemera asked me about the joy of creating things and the joy of decluttering.

It's interesting to be asked to talk about these two things together, because I have a nebulous feeling that although they are opposite things in many way, they are somehow also connected. I wonder if I shall figure it out as I write.

Creating things has always been a joy, and it has always been a Thing I Do. I will mostly leave aside writing, although I've been doing that since not long after I started reading, because there are plenty of other places where I discuss writing. I'll stick with the more physical creations.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that I come from an artistic family. My mother's mother never bought a card in her life—she painted them all. She painted birds. I wish, now, that I'd kept my Nana's painted birthday and Christmas cards, it would have made a fine collection, but I didn't appreciate them at the time. :-( Anyway, my mother's eldest brother was a cabinet maker. Next brother was a sign writer. Next one had his own… pottery? I think what was mostly produced there was little ceramic cottages, but you get the idea. My mother was actually a librarian by profession, but I have various works of art and craft that she produced. My aunt, youngest of the bunch, didn't have a profession or trade that I know of, but she was capable of merging two wedding dress patterns and making a dress to fit her new daughter-in-law, so I think she had the creative gene. And of the next generation, one cousin took over the cabinet-making business, two took over the ceramics business, and another is a carpet designer.

So it comes naturally to me to make stuff. I've never had training, though, which is a shame—sometimes I wish I'd gone to art school instead of university. Never mind. So I knit, and I make cards, and I've had phases of salt dough creations, tapestry (ie half cross stitch pictures), Photoshopping, embroidery (of a most basic kind) and probably a bunch of others I have forgotten. I still have a yen to try out those acrylic paints—watercolour is *not* my medium—and have plenty of ideas that have not yet manifested themselves in my card-making.

There's something so satisfying about sitting down for an afternoon, putting on a story on tape or a podfic on phone, and just making cards. I couldn't do it for a living, I'm much more interested in 'seeing what happens' than in regularising the process and keeping track of what it all costs. I figure, we all spend money on our hobbies, and the purchases of card stock, shiny things, tools, glitter, glue, peel-off designs and so forth are My Hobby. And I sell them for Oxfam, once in a while, which is soul-satisfying in a different way.

It's… seeing something turn from a pile of scrap into something pretty, I suppose. It's the feeling of satisfaction when I get the perfect match of background and design, or find the unexpected colour combination that really works, or just put half a dozen pieces of paper together in a way that looks right.

Something very similar happens with knitting. The process is satisfying, as there is a comfort to sitting with needles and yarn knowing that something is growing into existence, and there's the immense satisfaction of having completed a—whatever it may be. A combination of colours, textures and effort that is not exactly the same as *anyone* else, ever, has made (I don't copy patterns exactly), and is also useful and will give me and someone else pleasure when it is used.

Now, decluttering is the process of turning things into space instead of into other, ideally better, things. I don't do it often, though there have been wardrobe purges now and again during which I throw out the mistakes and the don'tfits. A purge of this kind… well, let's say I get rid of four shapeless black T-shirts. There is then a black T-shirt-shaped hole in my wardrobe, so….

Never mind. We have been decluttering a fair bit in preparation for moving house, and I must admit, it's pleasing. There is something liberating about having my stuff in an wherein I can find what I want without wading through heaps of stuff I don't in fact need. There is something satisfying about surveying orderly boxes instead of an array of magazines, sketches and what not that I won't ever need again. It's a good feeling to grasp that nettle and throw out the DVD I won't re-watch and the book I won't re-read as well as the clothes I won't re-wear.

I do find that when I finally admit that I have never used this craft book for anything, or that this impulse-bought tool is not at all helpful, or that these particular scraps of paper are not going to be useful for anything, it is a whole lot easier to get to the things I will actually use. Possibly I should prune my yarn stash.

In conclusion: a realisation. There is a kind of security in having lots of Stuff, but after a clearout I actually feel stronger and more grown-up.

Comments

[ephemera]

Interesting - thank you ;) I don't think I knew that your mother was a librarian as well as an artist.

I sometimes think of de-cluttering as creating space to breathe in, so to me they do feel related ;)

[pensnest]

After decluttering, it's possible to do everything else more efficiently. I don't tend to regret the stuff that I've squirreled away in my craft stock, once I've taken the plunge and got rid of it!

[rikes]

It's so cool that you've found a way to donate your crafts to charity. I've found myself doing less crafts (certain kinds, at least) because I absolutely cannot stand clutter and wouldn't really know what to do with all the final products. There are only so many cards and earrings I can use, not to mention any bigger projects that actually take up room! I have a friend who paints glass and ceramics and while they're very skilfully made, there's barely anything else in her house.

[pensnest]

Cards are the easiest to deal with, I find, because there are lots of occasions for actually using them, plus being unusual, they tend to go when I put them on sale. The suncatchers hang around a lot longer, which is annoying, because it's quite fun creating them. I shall have to be disciplined and stick to making small ones only! And it's better to create a mug for a specific person who asked for it, rather than creating them because I can... I have a set of Avengers mugs in my cupboard which may be there for some time. :-(

[turps]

I never realised you haven't had any training at all for your various art and craft projects. That's not obvious at all.

Thank you, btw, for the beautiful and very warm scarf. It's been used a lot the last few days. You'll be getting an actual email later but thunderbird is still a bit messed up atm.

[pensnest]

Yeah, I wish I could really draw It's frustrating not to be able to produce things that way.

Glad you like the scarf. :-) I imagine it's been a bit chilly in the last few days!

[turlough]

That's a very interesting conclusion and also one that resonates with my own experiences of clearing up and organising. (Not so much decluttering as there wasn't much I didn't need/use :-) It's so much easier for me to be creative when I have a clear view of my resources. And it also makes me feel more purposeful and yes, grownup.