I’ve been promising myself for some time that I would sort the racks on which I store my pictures. After more than twenty years of painting there is quite a lot of stuff to store. (I have two racks in the studio, two in the spare bedroom and another in the cellar This leaves out of the reckoning the two plan-chests in which I keep unframed material. Oh, yes! I shouldn’t forget stuff which is under beds.) You will not be surprised to learn that there has always been something more urgent or interesting getting in the way of that project. This week, however, I realised that the degree of frustration I have been experiencing, and the time I’ve been wasting looking for specific items, is nobody’s idea of an efficient use of time.
At the moment I am sorting out some pieces to put into an exhibition in a couple of weeks’ time. I had clearly in my mind exactly which pieces I should send. The only trouble was that for the life of me I couldn’t find one of them. After blundering about for several hours I realised that if pieces were labelled clearly so that they could be identified without removing them from the racks, life would be so much easier. The root of the problem is that in order to protect pictures they are wrapped in bubble-wrap, which is a good means of preserving them from damage, but it can make it very difficult to identify what is inside any particular package. So today I decided that a solution had to be found.
The job is far from complete, but already I am realising the advantages of a labelling system. (Within half an hour I had located the missing picture.) Items that belong in sets are all together (such as the Creation series, or the Set Apart group) and every piece is identifiable by a label which is stuck to the open edge of the wrapped picture. It will take me at least another day to complete the task, but I’m really quite exhilarated by the discovery of how easy it is going to make life.*
I’m reminded of the old “Wobblies” song”, “Now we’re gettin’ organized we’re livin’ much more civilized!”**
*Provided, of course, that I have the discipline to keep it up, and in particular that I re-label items after they have been shown.
** “Wobblies” …. International Workers of the World, an early American labour movement, encountered during my year in Canada.