In about a week, I'll be taking part in an open studio tour for the Sedona-Verde Valley area. In preparation, I've been cleaning and spiffing up my space. Since I'll have my pastels out , and will be doing some pastel demo work, I thought it would be good to give one of my main boxes a cleaning.
Sometimes, I wipe off each with tissue, but today I gave each color section a " bath " in a tub of corn meal. ( Thank you, Maya for reminding me about this method).
Here they are all cleaned up. As you can see, I have several different brands, arranged in color families. This box; the large size all-in-one easel box is what I keep open in my studio, and use it to start most pastel paintings, when I'm not taking it outside. I am familiar with my assortment, and know what each color is. However it is nice to have them clean, so I can more easily SEE each color. As you can imagine, with frequent use, the get pretty dusty.
Funny thing...whenever I do some cleaning in the studio, it is like priming the pump for future work. Although this is a tedious, time consuming task, I found myself thinking about how lucky I am to have all of these beautiful brands at my fingertips. They are mostly Terry Ludwigs, but I have some favorite Giraults, Mt. Visions, Unisons with a few Rembrandts and Sennelliers in the mix. I also found myself oohing over some of the luscious colors.
It is a great way to clear out the cobwebs of a stalled work ( which is what I'm experiencing at the moment) or just to start anew between pieces. It is getting me primed and ready for fresh new work. So, I cleared more than just the dust on my pastels!
