BLOG WATCHERS: take a seat

1. When you are contemplating your work, where and how do you sit or stand? How often do you clean your studio, and does that affect your work?

I usually sit (as of recently) in the red chair in the bottom left and face the wall with all the circles.

I sit and look at my work a lot and usually for a good amount of time.  It just makes sense to look at work because sometimes its easy to get caught up in making the work and seeing it from a particular distance that looking is prevented.  I like to be around my work when I journal about it too.  Seeing everything as a collective can be very informative as well.  While I'm in my studio I like to see current projects surrounded by older works too.  This allows me to see common visual themes and the affects of new or different materials.  As I stated before, I work under "umbrellas" that are related.  Sometimes its important for the work to look visually related, other times the opposite is important.  Having new and old work in close proximity helps me see where I might be going next or whether I need to backtrack.  
If I'm in the final stages of completing a piece or body of work, I take it out of the studio to see it.  Doing this, in opposition from seeing it in the studio, allows me to see whether the work is strong enough to stand without the history of the previous works.  Is the piece a success by itself? What does the series need to help make the work complete?  Am I'm going in a whole new direction- is this exciting to me? Does it look good?  How does it sit with me? Is it finished?

In terms of cleaning my studio- thats always a task, even when its a small task.  I try to clean up after myself as I go and sometimes I'm not very good at that.  I usually know where everything I need is although it may not look that way to an outside point of view.  I always clean up when I'm starting a new project. Or when I'm having a studio visit from someone important.  Sometimes I clean up when I feel really stressed out about the direction I should go with the work (and sometimes my life in general).  I like for the space to make sense to me.  A work area, a drying space (for when my materials are wet), a place to store things that may or may not pop up in the work, an emailing/computer sitting space, and finally a clear wall to place a a piece thats close to completion.  I like to rearrange the furniture and space every 3-4 months too.  This helps me switch gears from project to project.  Even if its something as simple as moving the orientation of the work table(s).  I often throw things in the floor that I don't need, like paper scraps and such, but I try to clean that up soon.  Sometimes I like to bring my dogs to the studio with me on the weekends and I like for the floor and couch to be clear for them.  (Dogs make everything better-even bad studio days.)

Current emailing/computer station on the couch.