In terms of getting my “house” in order, I have a lot to do, digitally and physically. I’ve not been the best digital archiver of my own work, partially through lack of follow through, but also through technological catastrophes - the external hard drive I was using at one point for a back up of my entire computer just… died, and a lot was lost. I also have too many mediums, and finding the tools and supplies I need for each one would be more efficient if those items were stored together instead of haphazardly here and there.
One of the roles I’ve taken on in the last two years at my job at the Yearbook Place has been Digital Asset Manager for our department, and I’ve learned a lot about the importance of a good archive, how to keep it, and how to reference it, which has also got me in a mind to put together a proper archive for my won work - not only so I can find files when i need to , say, upload hi-res versions to print sites so I can have a shop; but also in the eventually that I want to dive back into the gallery world - it’s important to have an easy to reference database with images to the work, the size, the medium, descriptions, etc. for faster response time should someone have questions about something, or if i want to submit a piece to a show. Do I think any of my current pieces qualify for such - not necessarily, but the point it to get into a good practice of file management and data archiving.
Today while running errands I made sure to pick up two extra storage containers - one for silversmithing, and another for leather working, because apparently these are both things I’m dabbling in now. And another to host my piles of gel pens, assuming I can manage to put them back when I’m done with them, but at least they have a box. And plastic totes are easier to store in closets than what’s going on in my studio closet right now.
I used to get so frustrated with “Art Totes” because they never fit the things that I was being told to store in them, and they inevitably ended up empty or filled with junk. Now, finally in middle age, I’ve figured out what does go in them, and what would be better to store elsewhere. My markers are in a bin. My ink pens are in a lunch box. My pencils are in an old Star Wars tin. The Art Totes are full of my watercolor tubes. The beautiful old water color wood box will be used for something else, possibly all of my exactos and whetstones. My acrylics are in a milk crate. We don’t have to accept the containers things come in, sometimes they fit better elsewhere. How a thing is organized is less important than the system working for the individual using it.
And now I need to start working on my reading list…
