Hoarding a chaotic slew of stuff isn’t in character for me. It would interfere with my congenital need for orderliness, organization and visual harmony. Clutter is a visual assault on my aesthetic senses. My eyeballs hurt when I see it and messes disturb my brain. I can’t help it, don’t apologize for it, but do fully embrace my need for visual rapport. I even have six key words I subscribe to and do my best to live by listed on the front of our refrigerator: Gratitude, Simplicity, Order, Harmony, Beauty, Joy. They serve as my compass. As you might imagine, this list is neatly and creatively displayed.
The list is not one I came up with though, credit for it goes to Susan Ban Breathnach from her book, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. They are the key tenets she prescribes in her book for experiencing a life, as the title states, of simple abundance. I first read Susan’s book, Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self many years ago before I read Simple Abundance. Both books hold a bevy of inspiration for uncovering and living your own authentic, joyful life. I envision them residing on my book shelves among other cherished books, some of which I go back to on occasion, until the day I die. The list of words is on the refrigerator so that I see them daily and because simplicity, order, harmony, et al define how I like to live. I even silently say them to myself before I get out of bed each morning.
Despite all that, it’s not to say I don’t keep some things stocked such as small caches of canned goods, kleenex, note cards and such. Yes, there’s also my art supplies. I am, however, perpetually neat and orderly about the storing of my stuff. Yet there’s no escaping the duality of life or the fact that at times we’re all one big contradiction. Over the span of eons, nature has perfected the art of balance in all things. Since we are all part of nature, no one, I believe, escapes owning some portion of all traits in one way or another. Like it or not. Admittedly or not.
So, truth be known, I do happen to horde painted papers. I have stockpiles of painted papers I’ve made from large and letter sized sheets to cut up and torn remnants and tiny slivers that fall to the bottom of the boxes they’re stored in – slivers even I sometimes wonder why I keep. It’s all creative gold waiting to achieve its stored up artistic potential. The papers are stashed in an array of containers – a plastic bin, a wooden box, a wire basket, a cork laminated box and open woven baskets.
The inside of those containers are a bit of a mess, at least by my standards, just because there are so many various pieces and shapes and they’ve been rummaged around in so often.
There are papers I love and those not so much, but … I never know when a section of even the ones I’m not enamored with will be the perfect accent or background for a card, mixed media piece or inspirational collage. So, I hoard them all.
Being a mostly obedient person is in character for me. The second of the Ten Commandments of Creativity According to Carol (6.8.15 blog post) states:
“Playing and experimentation are mandatory.”
Those many painted papers are the by-product of all my creative playing and experimentation. They’re evidence of the courage to blindly and bravely commit paint, ink, pen and pencil to paper, to use stamps, to smear the paint, to paint over paint and fearlessly explore with unknown outcomes. The coveted papers, the ones I like, are the trophies of happy results. The not-so coveted papers are experiments that disappointed but are, perhaps, still worthy of eventual usefulness. They all co-mingle together in their containers, the good, the bad and the in-between.
It’s from all that painted paper potential that often the impetus for a card design evolves. Shards of remnant papers also give life to an inspirational word collage background, become the final touch complementing a larger collage that needs just one or two more accents, or maybe becomes the background in a frame for a quote or friendly reminder.
I’ve never envisioned myself an archaeologist but in a sense I am just that. I dig deep into my stockpiles of papers, deliberately and carefully whisking aside that which is covering what I’m searching for. The difference is I’m not uncovering a creation that was lost and buried, rather one that is being given life and revealed for the first time through the use of my magnificent hordes of painted paper potential!
I close by showing you even more examples of my creations made using some of those hoarded painted papers with such magical potential …
Sue Robidoux
Hi Carol!
Just read the latest blog and as usual, thoroughly enjoyed your fabulous writing! I found the blog title very intriguing and was quite surprised to read your meaning of “Hoarding Creativity”. At first, I thought that you were going to label yourself as a hoarder of creativity, i.e., keeping your talents all to yourself and not sharing; and of course, I would have had to vehemently disagree.
I was quite entertained by the pictures of your hoarded creative treasures and also inspired by the six key elements that guide your life.
Thank you again for an uplifting, well-written message!
Hugs,
Sue