A Transforming Sunday

Since my word for 2014 is "transformation", I thought it only fitting to spend some time today doing exactly that.

That cleared off art table I posted a picture of yesterday was an easy transformation. What I didn't show you was that most of the stuff that was on the table simply got moved to the kitchen counters. Temporarily, of course! Today's project was to clear the stuff off the counters and if possible, find a home for most of it.  I am pleased to report that this task was about 90% accomplished, just a few more bits and pieces to sort out before I can call it done.

I also spent a quick half hour transforming this shelf in my linen closet from a jumbled mess:

to an organized space.  I have no idea how it became a jumbled mess in the first place, why I get in the habit of just opening the door and randomly throwing things in there in a haphazard fashion.  I do know that it has taken a good two years for the process to happen, since I took photos the last time I decluttered the linen closet.  It just feels so much better when it's tidy!

My third transformation of the day was to change the bird on this canvas I created in November 2012 when Nathalie Kalback came to teach at Bizzy B (she's coming back the first weekend of February, if you're interested in taking a class with her.  She's a great teacher and we always have a lot of fun when she's here).  The size of the bird on the branch had always bothered me, it always seemed too large for the tree and the picture as a whole.

When I found out that Donna Downey also made a similar bird stamp in a smaller size, I had to get one.  Of course, that was months ago.  Today, I finally got around to removing the old bird and replacing it with a new, smaller one.  I simply tore off the original bird and cut out a new shape from the same piece of painted paper, stuck it back on.  It just feels so much better to me with a smaller bird on that canvas, as well as the fact that it is looking to the left instead of the right now.

(The theme of the canvas, in case you were wondering, is to remind me to believe that even in the depths of winter, spring is coming.  I'm planning to stamp the words from the last verse of the Janis Joplin/Bette Midler song, "The Rose", around the edge of the canvas as the final step - "Just remember in the winter, Far beneath the bitter snows, Lies the seed that with the sun's love In the spring becomes the rose.")

Yes, it was a good day for transformation around here today!