Anyone else have a seemingly giant undertaking that's been looming over your head for years? I have an embarrassing confession: Wednesday's January Cure assignment, Choose a Piece of Artwork and Get Going on Framing It, prompted a mountain of guilt, and then… action. You see, my walls are mostly blank, and I'm finally endeavoring to do something about it.
For five years since my older daughter was born, I have been buried under family photos, almost all of which are still on my computer. I'm an artist, but I cannot decide what I want to live with on a daily basis. I have a hoard of prints, posters, and postcards I've been collecting since I was a teenager, most of which remains unframed. Why has it been so hard? I have two theories: 1) I am so close to the subjects of the photos (my children) that I love each and every image, making for an emotionally fraught editing process. 2) I am so visual that making a decision can be paralyzing, and picking one image to frame seems to preclude countless other, equally good options. Enough of the paralysis.
Spurred on by this community, I pledge in the next couple of weeks to cover my walls, print those photos, frame that art, and hang it! I'll check in periodically with my findings, and do a big wall "reveal" at the end. Motivate, motivate, motivate…
I'm curious: has one seemingly "simple" daily assignment from the January Cure set off an avalanche of to-do's for you?
(Images: Elisabeth Wilborn)
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I was really looking forward to doing The Cure in January, but scheduled someone to come in and tile my whole living area starting Monday and have a million small things and a little bit of demolition to get done before that happens. Pumped to go through and do The Cure in February!
God bless you. It's a hard choice and I share your angst. I'm actually finishing painting the vaulted ceiling and loft space in my nearly 2-year-owned house. It is a special brand of Hell I wish on no one, but it's nearly finished.
Personally, I'd rather see what your art consists of; not your kids who are right there. If you spend all that time/$ putting up all those family pics, after awhile, you'll be oblivious to them. Ditto your kids with them. Part of the fun of looking at old family photos is the passage of time since you/others have seen them. The past, the old is new and fresh.
If by 'edit' you mean delete on the computer, unless you really need the space and not all are honestly keepers. Pick a few for the public areas of the house & save more for your bedroom/private space...or the kid's room(s). You may enjoy them more & FWIW, frames eventually have to be dusted, glass cleaned. My 1¢
I wish I had time to do a lot of projects, first I will paint my concrete pathway red on Sunday.
I am in the exact same situation. An artist with bare walls and mountains of photos. For awhile my solution was scrap booking, but now that I'm in a new, bigger house I need wall art. It's very overwhelming to sit down and figure out what will go where. But the January Cure is helping with all of this. :)