Have you ever heard somebody saying: “I just love cleaning up after painting”? Well, it is rare, indeed;)

Today I wanted to talk about cleaning and art. It is a subject I find interesting. (Fun fact: I even had a one-woman show entitled “A Thank You Note to the Cleaning Lady”)

First, there is the basic cleaning of brushes, the palette, and other tools. If you do it regularly, your materials and tools will last longer, serve you better, and you will have more control over your painting (if you keep the colors on the palette organized as well).

And then there is the cleaning up of your studio space. It might happen for different reasons.

My least favorite is that you clean up the space cause you have to (it is your kitchen table, for example). It feels like erasing creative efforts to me. Cause when you clean up everything every time and put all your tools and materials in a drawer, it feels (to me) as if you are putting your inner artist inside. As if you are neglecting her, forgetting about her. You will need more effort to start painting again if your stuff is not somewhere where you can see it. So, if you don’t have the luxury of a dedicated space for your artist studio, try a dedicated table somewhere in your home. Let the table be a place where you can leave all your stuff in plain sight to welcome you to your next painting session. Your inner artist will love it!

When a person replied to one of my emails lately, she wrote: “A little creative mess is nice sometimes.” Well, I would say – yes and no. I think it depends upon the person. When my son was very young, the kindergarten teacher noticed he didn’t like the feeling of having paint on his hands. And to me, this sounded strange cause I always loved being covered with paint. So some people like messy studios, and some don’t. The important thing is your relationship with the mess. Does it overwhelm you? Does it affect how organized you are? Does it affect your inner mental space? Clean up accordingly;)

And before I go, I’d like to share an artwork from the seventies by the performance artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Cleaning the museum. It was an inspiration to me and maybe could resonate with you;)