Organizing After Open Studios or The Party's Over

il Fuoco dei Fiori (the fire of flowers) Marian Dioguardi 2012

There is great advice on the web on how to organize before an open studios. However the same amount of organization needs to be put in at the end of an open studios. Follow ups and thank yous should go with out having to say anything here. But then there is the rest of it...

Taking the work off the walls - I bring every piece back down into my studio to inspect it. Some paintings are rushed onto the wall before an Open Studio and it's easy to miss signing them. I also check for any inadvertent scratches or missed varnished. I correct it all. Each piece is packed in pristine condition. This year, I have two summer gallery shows and so the paintings are being boxed and assigned with an eye towards shipping.

Re-hanging the works taken from the wall - Strange as it seems, I have very little of my own art work on the walls. We have a collection of pieces done by other artists and periods. We just call it "Art we love".  But all that art has to be re-hung along with our heavy mirrors. Here is a helpful hint: take a photo of where things are before you take them down. That way you can have someone help you put them back on the wall by showing them the photo.

Return furniture and rugs to place - Certain pieces of furniture are set aside during Open Studios to facilitate the flow of foot traffic. I pick up our area rugs because I never know whether it will be a rainy day or not. Floors are more easily mopped up than rugs. Putting down rugs is a two person job.

Return decorative pieces - Like every home, I have a little of this and that laying around. these litle things were put away to clear surfaces for Sidney Hutter's Art Glass. Now I have to find the "safe place" I put them.

Paper work - The accounting of monies spent and added into my records. Deposits. Receipts. Sales tax reporting. Inventory adjustments.Customer lists updated. Going through the mail over the last week. Website updates. Blog update. It takes discipline to be a professional painter. There isn't a painter I know that likes this part of the job but you have to do it.Discipline!

The studio - The end of an open studios is my  time to clean up the studio. while I am painting, I focus on painting. All my tubes of paint are lying around. The pallet is a mess. Materials are strewn about, gesso, varnish, boards, pallet knives, drawings, rags, paper towels , charcoal, pencils,  rulers, masking tape etc, power drill and hanging hardware. You get the idea. It's time to put that all back in place. Everything has a place. Then I'll sweep and vacuum the floor. I may be messy but I am organized.

Getting back to painting - Yes, some artists see an open studio as a disruption to their studio time and it is. It does take two weeks away from painting; the week before and the week after. BUT I use this time both as a culmination of a years hard work and the opportunity to begin again. Where do I go from here? I always have ideas and yes, I'd love to jump into a new series  NOW but I have wonderful commissions to do and the few pieces that I didn't paint for Open Studios...well now I can get to those at a more leisurely pace. And time to start planning a trip to Italy to paint laundry lines again with thanks to a successful Newton Open Studios.