Author Archives: Jacqueline Ashby

Exploring the intersection between person and place.

Point

Alexander Calder’s Workspace. Image via Buzzfeed.

A close friend sent me this image and article on creative workspaces of the famous. I like how the boxes underneath the table appear to be holding it up! What I find so fascinating though is that Calder’s structures exemplify this beautifully balanced minimalism and yet his space appears to be the antithesis of his art.

Big Red. Artist: Alexander Calder.

But I am not that bad!! Or am I? I think in piles. Layers upon layers. Void of logic, chronology, or subject matter. I sort of intuitively know where things are or I play the game of “let’s guess what stack it’s under!” which is actually quite fun because I usually find something I was looking for last week and then become entirely distracted by it and forget what I was initially hunting. Baha! What I need is a huge paper vacuum cleaner that sucks and sorts everything into files. In regards to these spaces and those that inhabit them, we’re a difficult lot to love if you’re a minimalist. #dreamer #creativespaces

Furnish

rogue
Image via Rogue Habits

I think one of the challenges in designing a creative workspace is that the creativity expressed has to be accepted by all within the shared space. Some disciplines are more open to the random quotes posted, mementos, toys, messiness, and mind maps reflecting one’s thought process and other professions prefer the walls to be sterile. It’s a fine balance for sure. More on 13 ways to make your workspace more creative and Feng Shui for creative workspaces.

Declutter

Thoreau discovered that in order to create space in the mind for seeing ‘the new’, we best immerse ourselves in living environments. He found when people are surrounded by ‘man-made’ things, in ‘man-made’ environments, it seemingly inhibited their ability to see, and respond to, what could be meaningful and different in our world. ~ Ash Buchanan

More on the Psychology of Living Environments