I managed to turn my creative world in-side-out on Monday. It’s a good thing to do at the end of a year, especially if you’ve recently completed a large project.

Writing the memoir, “Looking for Connection,” took three years, actually about four years from when I hand-wrote the first few chapters. And this last year getting it edited and ready to publish filled many days.

My art making this year included one basket early in the year after a wind storm littered my yard with palm fronds. I enjoyed two days of classes with Finnibar in April. I painted silk prayer flags and made Gelli prints with my three granddaughters on the weekend June met July. I designed the cover for my book and a small card I could hand to people when I mentioned my book.

My garden became a jungle and my studio space gathered dust, piles of paper, and ephemera I couldn’t throw away. With the lovely weather in the last month, the yard is pretty much cleaned up and ready for winter, which I hope will be rainy.

Some months ago, I noticed a number of lose screws on the old counter-balance loom which fills a quarter of my art making space. A week ago, the idea flashed through my mind that instead of putting new screws into the loom, why not break it down and store it for awhile since I’m not planning to weave in the near future.

Catching that idea by the tail, I began to think about where I might have room to store it. The first idea was under my bed, but as the week progressed I started measuring my back yard storage space. After a donation to the local thrift store of suitcases and pillows I no longer use, I had space cleared out for it.

So when the younger woman who cleans for me once a month arrived Monday morning, I told her we were going to take apart the loom. I had disassembled it and stored it in the 1990’s when I was going to graduate school. But now there are parts of it that are too heavy for me to lift by myself.

Once the loom pieces were carefully stored, the studio floor got a much needed cleaning. And all the boxes, bags, and containers that were scattered everywhere under tables and in corners are now on top of every available surface, while I play with how to arrange that space with an intention to work in collage and mixed media in the coming year.

It’s like Christmas as I open containers and discover things I had forgotten about or couldn’t recall where I’d put them. I expect it will take me a month or so to thoughtfully reorganize my studio space and get my thoughts on where I hope to go with my art, instead of where I have been already.