Uncreative Space & My Creative Process

Today I received an email asking me if I would like to be featured on another bloggers page.  WewHOO I high five to myself, this is COOL.  Abso-freakin-lutely I would LOVE to be featured.  What a great opportunity, I think.  I proceed to read through the questions. 

What/who inspires you? Check.
Why did you choose your shop/company name? Check
What are your goals (personal and/or business)?  A little more thought, but I have been intending to write something meaningful about my shop anyway, so I can handle this too. Check.
What do you do when you are not creating?  Easy peasy, take care of my three kids! Check.
But oh no, what is this? The nail in the coffin?

Where do you create?  Uh, I start to panic.  This could single handedly unravel my entire brand image of having it all together!  No.  Seriously.

I don't know about the rest of you, but for me, the reason I have a board on pinterest for scrapbooking organization and dream rooms is, well, because I NEED ONE! I dream of those rooms and feel like even if I had one, it would never look like the pictures.  

I see these lovely amazing crafters and artists with immaculate high design rooms dedicated to their craft.  It is indeed inspiring.  It is just not me.  I chose my name for a reason.  There is a famous artist who is reported to have left such a mess of paint on his floor that the paint got so heavy it collapsed the floor onto the apartment below.  Now, I am not THAT bad, but for me personally if I am in a creative frenzy, the last thing am thinking about is cleaning.  

 

I saw one Artist/Illustrator that had her work/supplies organized in....*** wait for it, wait for it...*** BINDERS.  I try to imagine why in the heck would I put a dremmel or a hammer or a screw driver and wire cutters in a binder? Where would my Cricut cartridges go? Okay paper maybe could fit in there, but then I couldn't see my stash and I would literally have to tear down each and every binder to find the right piece of paper for a project.  Designers would hate me - It would look like world war III once I finished a project.  I've got mad skills like Martha Stewart, but just not that level of organization and tidyness. 

I know I can not possibly be alone here.  I feel empowered admitting I am not concerned by appearances.  That freedom is what I think makes my art great!  Are there anymore of you out there with me?  If you are a super immaculate, that is okay too.  I still love you!  I respect everyone has their own unique way of creating.

Here is a quick story to help me make my point:  I was buying some supplies at a local craft store and offered my email to get future coupons.  When the woman behind the counter heard my information, she shook her head at me and said, "I hope you aren't selling anything with a name like that."  Aside from the mean and nasty things I wanted to tell her, I thought how narrow minded she was not to understand that "MessyCreator" is my process, not my product.  I intend for it not to be an end result.  My process of creating is all encompassing and anything but organized, straight forward or, well, neat.  But that doesn't mean my work is messy, or unkempt or that I am inattentive to it in some way.  Quite the contrary, I am meticulous about the final outcomes!  I want my customers to be happy and I take great care to make sure my work is well crafted. 

So, with that, when you eventually see pictures of my creative space, be forewarned - They won't be photos of super cool loft spaces in manhattan with high ceilings and contemporary chic art design.  The pictures will not show well lit, beautifully organized rooms full of Art binder systems.  My space will not include built in or storage drawers for each and every item I use in my processes. Nor will I have my award winning items displayed on the walls as if the room itself is my very own art gallery.  In fact, I should call my creative area my UNCREATIVE space.  Because, A.) I have more than one area depending on what is happening in my house, or B.) It is not technically a designated creative space when it is the dinner table, coffee table, living room floor, bedroom floor, bathtub. (Just joking about that bath tub one to see if you were paying attention!)

I can't help but dream though.  Pinterest has taught me so much and I wonder sometimes, if I had a fantasy room like that, would I change my ways? Oh to be able to have a place for everything! (SIGH as paint brushes float themselves back into the drawers after they clean themselves, tables wipe themselves off, paper scraps march single file back into their neatly alphabetized binders that nothing ever spills from.)  As you can see, I am not short on imagination and dreaming is not a category I ever failed.  I guess I better get back to organizing my piles so I can take some less embarrassing photos of my UNCREATIVE space.