There is a myth that artists are disorganized. This connects with another misconception: to be any good at the arts you must have a little “crazy” in you. Not only are we messy, we are starving and we can’t keep it (whatever “it” is) together.
Time and time again when people meet me, come to my home or studio, they comment incredulously: “Wow, you are so organized.” I remember other teachers coming into my classroom assuming everything would be a mess. They made the same surprised comments about “having it all together” for administrative work and expectations. It was as if I’m an anomaly to the art world. Initially I took it as a complement until I realized what they were saying about artists in general.
The word messy has negative connotations. What if we found another word to convey creative process and artistic discovery?
At both schools I worked at I was expected to adhere to staff dress code. I did try once or twice talking to my administration about appropriate dress for art teachers, but no one budged. So I bought my nice clothes, wore them, and in 9 years of teaching, got paint on myself less than 5 times. No joke.
I’ve met two kinds of artists in my life: the creative who jumps head first into water and the creative who dips her toes in the well. My most recent colleague would sometimes wonder out loud how I could wear my dresses and slacks and never get covered in paint, chalk, clay, you name it. I laughed, because we were opposite this way. By the end of a school day she was covered in paint, fingers coated like wax in a bevvy of art colors. We must have been quite a visual contrast!
Some artists are tactile and want to touch and play with their hands in paint like this to discover their art. Others like to stick to artist tools or think a lot about their process before experimenting.
When she worked on something, she jumped into the creative pool, enjoying the tactile experience of working with material. Her paint covered hands and clothes are a reflection of this choice. I am less tactile than my aforementioned colleague. I am interested in planning and discovery of process via concept, not material. I’m sure that’s part of why I don’t have paint all over me; it’s a reflection of how I work as a creative.
In my first teaching job I shared a classroom. The first teacher was a person who lasted only a year. She incited such animosity from students that they would destroy “her side” of the room and apologize to me about it later. She made no effort to stay organized for her students. Her lack of genuine interest in them pushed them away and they returned the quality of affection. It reflected in our classroom and in student performance. It wasn’t her lack of organization that hurt students. What created disorder was her disinterest in maintaining a caring and loving space for student learning.
What does your workspace look like? Is it “messy?” Or is there a hidden system and structure to help you work?
Then I met my most favorite art teacher colleague. Let’s call her Ruth. I always had a perception that I was organized but this woman took it to another level. I’ve shared this story before on Artist Strong, but I can still remember coming into the classroom one day after a study hall to find her with a Sharpee marker labeling all of the boxes. She sat there, humming along as she wrote labels. As I got closer to her I observed several of the boxes had no supplies in them. I asked her, “What are you going to do with those?”
“Why label them of course!” That’s when I first discovered I wasn’t the only organized art teacher and artist: when I had a classroom full of empty boxes labeled “empty boxes.”
It tickled me so much that when I’d find an unlabeled empty box I’d sneak around and label them nonsensical things like “childrens’ eyeballs.” I have this lovely visual in my head of Ruth going to our storage closet and standing there quietly curious for a minute. Her head was slightly tilted as she observed the tools and her nicely labeled boxes when she burst into laughter.
She took meticulous notes about students and her gradebook was an astounding, organized system for collecting information. (She insisted on writing it by hand). I learned so much about preconceived notions of artists and art teachers from my first two colleagues.
What bothers me most is how many creatives feel ashamed when they say they are “messy.” Different media and different approaches to creative techniques can often determine how “messy” or “neat” our studio is. A studio is a work space, it is meant to be used.
The painting studio and printmaking studio were two contrasting examples of this while I was attending college. The painting studio had large easels, marked up with paint. The floor had paint on it. The tables had paint on it. Guess what happened in this space? The interesting part is some people might label this messy. The irony is there was no clutter, we had minimal furniture and organized storage space for our art. It was a systemized place that just happened to have a whole lot of creative love all over it.
The printmaking studio, on the other hand, was a pristine white space. Printing presses were all over the studio. I don’t remember where the supplies were but I remember everything having a space. We had to leave the studio as we found it: a blank slate for the next students coming in. This meant wiping up all the wet materials we used, disposing of scraps and keeping it clean of paint. If you came in when we were working, however, it was as if all hullabaloo took place. Tools and paint supplies were strewn everywhere, we were covered in paint. It was like an art bomb went off in the studio.
A studio is “messy” if it has the tools and objects an artist needs to create. Then what is an organized or clean studio? A space void of creativity!
Neither studio was messy, they were being used according to the nature of the creative process. Both were organized, with clear systems that encouraged us to create. They were efficient and effective. Sounds like disorganized artists to me!
Take some time today to reflect on the words you use about your art, creative process, and space. Do you describe yourself as messy or disorganized? These words are pejorative; that negativity may impact your creative process. Your word choices could contribute to a negative mindset about your creative interest. And we all deserve to see what you create.
ARTIST STRONG ACTION: Be mindful of the words you choose to describe your creative life. You are exactly as you need to be – it’s the only way to create the unique artwork only you can create! Tell me in the comments below: have you described yourself as messy and disorganized? Are you truly? What words can you choose today instead?
I am an organized creative. I can’t tell you how many times people have told me the two don’t mix. I sometimes think it’s that persons excuse for being disorganized. Messy is one thing, searching for something for an hour on a regular basis is a totally different level as far as I am concerned. It takes time away from what I enjoy doing…creating.
AMEN Sandy! You are, of course, preaching to the choir here 😉 but I totally relate. I don’t want my environment to impede my ability to create.
I’ve just read this at a time when I’ve fallen out with my husband because I don’t put things away. I read about the messy and ‘uncaring’ teacher you worked with and it was a real slap upside the head. Thank you for it. It is selfish to not care about the person / people you share a space with enough to keep it organised for them whether it’s studio or house. thank you.
Hi Lorna, I’m always curious and often surprised at the takeaways people can get from different articles I write. That experience was really hard for me, because I felt helpless to keep my space in a way that supported students. They literally would take paint and splash it against the walls and leave it dripping and wet, which I would have to clean up. My colleague told me she could find no compassion or interest in her kids, and she constantly lied to them about her life, too. Any of the mess we had in that room was more a reflection of how she was treating the students than about being neat.
Partnerships are always a challenge: what is clean enough for one partner, or put away, isn’t always the same for another. And I think that is a very different conversation than someone who is actively sabotaging relationships with people in his/her life.
I hope your “aha” here was helpful and not hurtful <3
lots of different perspectives going on here
Which hopefully showcases the actually variety of creative that exist!
I am an organised person and I like things to be in their proper places. Ive just realised that maybe I have difficulty viewing myself as an artist BECAUSE I’m not messy! Thanks for setting me straight on that score
Exactly!!! It’s amazing the rules we internalize about what it means to be an artist.
Oh, gosh…..Well, I have oft quoted a prolific writer friend of mine who describes herself as ” a creative slob!” It didn’t quite fit me…at least I do not like the word, slob. I find nothing to appreciate about it. But…I do have unfinished stuff all over the place. Tasks to be completed. I get distracted. The tyranny of the urgent pulls me away from the delight of my heart. Hence, things get left out because they are….unfinished. But…I’ve never been very organized except in my business life…owning and managing guest accommodations. ( http://www.gingerbreadhill.com) In that field I must be organized. so I KNOW I CAN do it. Do I faith that I can apply those principles to my creative life? I’m not sure. I need help!
Things being left out so you can still work on them when you can isn’t messy in my book. An art studio will always have some level of appearing “messy” when we are working because process isn’t clean.
It’s only a problem if you aren’t happy with where you are and you believe organizing would help you get to where you would rather be!
Many thx. U’ve opened these old eyes yet again. New to this world of drawing and painting and different uses of words. I do not have a room in which I can call my own at the moment. However it’s work in progress. Many charity shops etc are no longer accept “too good to bin stuffs”. Many now in garage. I’m creating my own space. Me – mine. I cannot pay for ur class. But you give me enormous encouragement. 👋 👋
You don’t need a room of your own to be an artist – I use my kitchen. I’m happy my free resources here can be of help!
I’m actually a musician which is a different form of art, BUT I’ve always wondered about this topic ever since I worked with different kinds musicians. This topic is barely discussed in my community, but I’m so glad to come across this article. Not to be braggy, but I, myself, am also an organized type; not only in keeping things neat and clean, but also the type to be early for gigs (this drives my wife crazy but she appreciates that quality at the same time). I’ve also organized many musical events thanks to my event planning background, and I always make sure to have plan A all the way to Z just so things go smoothly.
What you said was spot on: “It wasn’t her lack of organization that hurt students. What created disorder was her disinterest in maintaining a caring and loving space for student learning.” SO true! Whether organized or not, the results will reflect if you’ve put a lot of love and care into your work or not.
I know not every artist (specifically musicians) have the same kind of thinking I do; some I previously worked with get turned off by the way I do things, BUT when we DO work together, we manage to overcome obstacles because the one thing we have in common is this: we put aside our pride an instead put a lot of LOVE into the things we are good at, and the end results speak for that! 🙂
I wish all you talented artists out there nothing but great success! Keep doing the best you can, treat your workspace like a sacred ground for your craft, and hope you all achieve the best results!
Ha Ed – I totally relate to the being early and on time thing. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience!
I totally relate to being really messy and just can’t get it right. I tried but the mess comes back again.
Maybe it’s part of your process! Cleaning up my studio periodically does often inspire me and help me try new ideas out. Sometimes, I think we can just be way too hard on ourselves <3