Broken vases and other things

Today I cleaned and organized my apartment. Again. All the while lamenting how much stuff I have. I've made a vow that I will not acquire more just because I have a larger space. So I packed up some pillows, paintings, purses and vases and took them to the Salvation Army. I love pretty things, but I also love the look of an uncluttered, sparse home.

As I was organizing my closets, one of my favorite vases sacrificed itself to the greater good and leaped off the shelf. As I cleaned up the mess, I thought this would make a great mosaic, or wouldn't this be interesting in an installation piece? I'd love to do an entire installation of ugly, amateur and broken vases (see previous post here). Perhaps I should save this for this purpose. Wait a minute, the rational side of my brain said. There's a stereotype that artists are packrats. It is difficult to fight this tendency. Afterall, I see beauty in the ordinary and I don't want to waste things. However, it's also true many things we save don't get used and just add to the clutter. Since I was lamenting how much stuff I have, I decided to put it in the trash, but not before thanking it for serving me.

As you know, I've been thinking about the color gray a lot. Fortunately, my landlord won't let me paint. I say fortunately, because that's one less thing for me to obsess about. I'd go crazy painting this apartment and exhaust myself, there's so much trim, hallways and strange walls. Better to just let it go. I decided to satisfy my urge to experiment with gray by putting it on a canvas. I love this color. This is a Behr high gloss custom color match. I took one of my gray pillows to Home Depot. The paint specialist was a dear, and we had a great conversation about gray, we agreed we love it in modern decor. Now I'm wondering if I should paint my hot pink bookcase this color.

I worked on a decal project in my kitchen. I found these decals at the dollar store. There are a million combinations! I had to let go of my perfectionist tendencies while working on this project. I tried not to worry if they were straight and to remind myself that this was FUN. I think the key is balance. I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out. Now I need an orange, glass vase for my table.... oh it never ends. I think I'm ill. In a few days I will reveal my apartment's new incarnation. Yes, it has only been a month and I've already moved things around. And it's no surprise that I added gray. Stay tuned.