The Chaos of Creativity

A few months ago I wrote a blog post about my dreadfully chaotic supply closet. Well, things at The Barn have gotten even more busy, and we are bursting with great classes and events, which means that we have MORE stuff to store and (gasp) organize. Therefore, the supply closet has spilled out into my office (and also the regular ofter-traversed pathway to the back door) and even though I've bought 3 shelves to house the new and improved chaos, I am STILL fighting the never ending battle of stuff versus space. The resulting view (today) looks like this: 

Oh dear... It's a good thing I don't  have a wide angle lens. The panoramic view is really something. I bought curtains and a tension rod to hide the display during parties and such. People always like to wander in there and check things out while I laugh and apologize about how scary it is. Kids also seem to love it back there because the space also houses off-limits toys, puppets, puzzles, and other special non-everyday things. Most of the children who come to The Barn are unaware of the bounty, but some know about it. Usually it's the kids who have come in through the back door with their parents on their first visit. But I digress.

What I was getting to was how the picture of chaos reflected so many great things that we are doing this fall. Check it out! 

1. Air dry clay, spray gloss and micro-fiber cloths. We use these materials at our Mudbugs Clay Play class and create sculptures using the pinch, slab, and coil methods. Because we don't have a kiln (yet!) we use the air dry clay and then use glaze to give our pieces a beautiful shiny finish.  

2. Boxes and boxes of ceramic bisque, also on the shelf below. These bisque items are wonderful, and are great for the kids to paint during birthday parties and art camp. We have mermaids, dragons, princesses, fleur de lis, fish, and lots more awesome stuff.

3. 21 canvases painted with Klimt -inspired golden sunbursts. These are all being stored for our Show & Share Kids' Art Fair, which we offer twice a year during Ponchatoula Trade Days.

4. Boxes and boxes of canvases, bought in bulk. Children enrolled in our Art Explorers classes complete 5-6 canvases over the course of the Fall semester. We also use the canvases for parties and art camps.

5. Random projects.

6. Sewing Machines. We are loving our Sew Sweet Sewing Class! These are two of our four machines, which we furnish for our students. Students are also welcome to bring their own machines.

7. Fun Foam crafts

8. Club Create self portraits. Our Club Create class is offered for ages 10 and up and features a variety of projects that are chosen by the class.

9. Jasper Johns inspired alphabet art. Stored for our Show & Share Kids' Art Fair.

10. Wrapping paper and gift bags