January Full Moon by George Ault 1941

A couple weeks ago I visited an exhibition titled “To Make a World, George Ault and 1940′s America.”  Unfortunately, I brought my 9 year old sidekick and she was not too keen on letting me look at every artwork and/or take any decent notes on what I saw. What I remember enjoying most was getting to see more work by an artist whose painting above is one I’ve seen a zillion times at the same museum where I work from time to time.  It seemed so stark, too cold, precise, quiet. Turns out that’s exactly what George Ault is known for and he does it beautifully. One painting I enjoyed a lot was one he did of his small studio space.

Studio Interior by George Ault 1938

In the caption it told that he made a habit of cleaning up everything in his studio so that it would be just as pristine as the artwork he was painting. Kind of makes me wonder if that’s why my artwork is what one of my professors called “over decorated.” My studio is over-decorated to say the least with quite a bit of clutter. And that’s sometimes why I don’t get around to painting. Too much junk around. So, I will thank George Ault and now begin my studio clean up. After all…I am coming up on a long winter break from school and will need the breathing room to get some artwork done.

What about you? Is your work space a mess like mine?