Jill Kerttula
  • Home
    • Fiber art
    • Clay Works
    • 100 day project
  • shop
    • Shop: Fiber Art
    • Shop: Clay Works
  • Process & Videos
  • CONTACT & ARTIST INFO
    • RESUME
    • ARTIST STATEMENT
  • News & Musings

Purging, Pricing, packing.....arghhhhhh

5/18/2014

4 Comments

 
It has been quite the month. We have made it through most of our 35+ years of accumulation, and much of what my mother-in-law left, and a bit of what my mother left. My kids are both grown and gone, but their stuff lingers on. I thought I might share a few of the things I have learned - mostly about myself - through this process.
All that stuff that "might be good for something someday"
isn't and probably won't be.

As an artist, I tend to see potential in most things. As an artist who has done both collage and quilts using non-traditional materials, the percentage of potential usage seems to have risen to about 100%. Things of note: A metal heat duct grill that I think I got out of the trash about 30+ years ago. A rusted metal oil space heater that I am sure could have made a fine table. Scraps of every kind of paper imaginable, and drafting supplies that I have sworn I would never use, now that a computer can draw a circle without a ruling pen. Of course there is also the aproximately 50 sheets of dryer lint lifted carefully from the screen, but those DO have potential and will be carted to Virginia. Did I mention the polyester jump suit in gold from about 1980? (My only solace is knowing that there are those of you out there who are saying "why would you get rid of ANY of that")
Picture
Black, grey, khaki and white; the spectrum of my life!
What I think I will wear and what I wear are not the same!
To start the great closet purge (we are going from two walk-ins to one shared!), I sorted what I wear regularly from what I wear rarely (or if truth be told, never). The results were startling. On my left (wear) was a collection of solid and subtle prints of black, white and a few khaki items. On my right (rarely wear) was a cacophony of color and prints. hmmm. As I thought about this, I realized that one of the best parts of the garments I made for jill2day was the chance to make colorful and statement garments that I would love to wear, and then see the joy they brought to those who actually wear them. I think I have to work on this "when I get old I shall wear purple" thingy.
Picture
The important family heirlooms are not
made of crystal or gold.

The cut glass so carefully protected by prior generations means little to me; The small glass that my grandpa kept his pennies in means a lot, but will probably be meaningless to my children. As I sifted and winnowed through the "good dishes" and the other artifacts of the family, I realized that it is the experience that the object evokes is meaningful to me, not the object.

When I was a kid, we went to a farmer's co-op in my dad's home town of Brantwood, WI. A chunk of brick that I got when visiting the ruins of it with my sister last year, means a lot more to me than the china cups my mother so carefully saved through the years. There are many antiques I appreciate for craftsmanship or history, but the mere fact they were owned by a prior generation does not instill greatness in them for me. The older my children get the more I realize that memories are so relative to the individual, and so are the objects that inspire memories. When the time comes for them to clean out my house, I would expect them to say "why the heck did she save this?" a lot. They will not know that the sand dollar was given to me by a close friend or that the plastic magnet from the "Chapel of Love" at the Mall of America is from a very special day.
Or that chunk of brick still connects me to my dad

More lessons learned, but that will do it for now. Off to get the couch cleaned off for the person who is buying it today.

4 Comments
Sami link
5/18/2014 04:16:10 am

Oh Jill! You are so right about the 'valuables'. My most prized possessions are bird's nests, seashells and a brick from a manufacturing plant in my home town that was being demolished. It's a good brick with the name of the company that made it...but it's still just a brick. I wish you joy in this learning process. ~Sami

Reply
Eileen link
5/18/2014 09:14:38 am

I went through much the same thing cleaning out my house when I sold it a year ago. Like the box of pine cones I had carried from the NC beach to St. Louis to Charlotte, NC, intending to make pine cone wreaths and other decorations. 20 years later they were still in the box. They got pitched.
I still have most of my mother's things boxed up in my garage & in a storage unit. I dread going through all those things.
Good luck in your move! I hope you will be happy in VA.

Reply
jill link
5/18/2014 10:57:40 am

Ahhh. Thank you both. I feel better now! Bricks and pine cones (or in my case rocks and shells!) .... But all and all I have decide I want to live only where one can not "hide" accumulated stuff!

Reply
Gypsy
5/19/2014 01:05:24 pm

The estate sale at my Mom's starts Friday. I'm anxious for it to be over so I can start on my own stuff. I want to have a lot less "stuff" and more time to play.

Can't wait to hear the rest of your journey.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Art: Jill2day Garments
    Art: My Fiber Art
    Art: My Photography
    Art: Shows And Exhibits
    Art: Thoughts And Opinions
    Awards
    Family Time
    Locale: Charlottesville
    Locale: On The Road
    Locale: Smoky Mountain Residency
    Locale: The McGuffey
    Locale: Virginia
    Locale: Washington DC
    Locale: Wisconsin
    Misc: Musings
    Nature: Flora And Fauna
    Nature: Weather

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2022
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    November 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    September 2018
    March 2018
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    If you are really into history, click here for blog posts prior to 2014 !

​© 2022 Jill Kerttula..
​All rights reserved

HOME

SHOP

CONTACT & ARTIST INFO



  • Home
    • Fiber art
    • Clay Works
    • 100 day project
  • shop
    • Shop: Fiber Art
    • Shop: Clay Works
  • Process & Videos
  • CONTACT & ARTIST INFO
    • RESUME
    • ARTIST STATEMENT
  • News & Musings