Cleaning the studio

Pam in New York
acrylic on canvas
36 x 48 inches
Barbara Muir © 2010
(Tomorrow I'll talk to you about the
process of getting this painting
done, and show you some
pictures I took along the way.)

There are so many parts to an artist's life, but for this
artist cleaning the studio is a rare event. Pity the
poor cleaners who have to do the job. Alas...today
was the day. We hired some wonderful cleaners
to clean our house last week. We thought it was
extreme that two people came instead of one, but
no -- knowing I was an artist, four people came.

I had vacuumed my studio and washed the floor,
a rare event last weekend before my client came,
but even so, I worked downstairs on my husband's
desk, and heard a lot of thumping, vacuuming and
discussion going on. They couldn't even touch my
painting table -- still in the throes of big work. But
everything else was rearranged in patterns that would
never occur to me. I stood in the clean space and
laughed.

The studio -- pillows arranged in a diamond pattern
(I liked the satin throw along the back of the couch,
and the red and flowered pillows against it.)

Now it may happen every two weeks if we can
afford it, and that may send this artist's happy
heart into shock. Beautiful shock.

On the coffee table, the books
notes and the silver tray I usually
have flowers on are arranged in diamonds.
Cool! This will all change tomorrow,
but for now it's an art piece. (The tape on
the floor is to mark where people
sit and stand to have their portraits painted.)

Have a liking-an-orderly-studio day.