Oh no it won’t! I’ve started a clear-out in the studio in preparation for the arrival of another plan chest. This has been the signal for a rather wider tidying and ordering session than I originally anticipated. All kinds of things are emerging from drawers and boxes and corners, and in many cases the story behind them is the same. “It will come in useful some day.” The fact is, however, that when things have been cluttering up the place for ten years it really is quite highly probable that they will never come in useful.
The daftest advice I was ever given, when I started on this art business, was “Never throw things away.” The solemn tones in which I was told this indicated that there would be circumstances as yet unforeseen when some sketch I had put aside to be developed later would suddenly turn out to be just the inspiration or reference piece I really needed. Now I look back instead to my university statistics course and ask myself just what are the probabilities of that being the case, and how do they compare with the probability that I need the space now.
Now just where did I put that new broom? I’m sure it’s in there somewhere ….