One of Martha’s Vineyard’s most treasured residents is artist Margot Datz. I decided to interview Ms. Datz because she is a professional who works her craft in many ways such as book illustrator, muralist and fine art painter. There is no end to her talents…giving her good reason to commit to staying organized. You can view her delightfully beautiful and fun artwork at her website listed below.
CQ(Clutter Queen): When did you learn that organizing would benefit your work? Ms. Datz: I have always known it. Being a right hemisphere person, it never came naturally for me. I can make a big mess real fast, which makes me miserable real fast. I always knew I needed help, but was not sure how to go about it. I am a lover of stuff. Everything is interesting to me, so I had to edit.
CQ: Do you have a “must be organized” area of your studio? Ms. Datz: I find that what I need most of all is an organized office in order to be free to paint. I learned that I was unable to get the paperwork organized by myself, so I hired a bookkeeper to set up my monthly paperwork file. Essentially a file that was organized monthly, year to year so I could turn myself into a bookkeeper each month.
CQ: Any particular organizing tools? Ms. Datz: List making… for the day, month, year. They lead me back to more directed behavior.
CQ: How do you organize your paints? Ms. Datz: Because I am a muralist, I use liquid acrylics. I have a lot of bottles of paint. I separate them in groups of colors…light blue, dark blue, flesh tones. It makes for faster painting.
Datz Mural Oak Bluffs Library
CQ: What have you learned about yourself in the process of editing and getting organized? Ms. Datz: In getting to know myself, what I realized was that I could be sweeping the whole day but never getting the dust into the dustpan. Never finishing the ultimate goal. You just cannot do everything. If you are going to pay your bills, pay them all. If you cannot, hire someone else. Sometimes we think we cannot hire someone, I thought I could not afford a bookkeeper. I do what I can to get it organized then give it to the bookkeeper…suddenly I have an affordable bookkeeper and I can be accountable for what my piece is.
Datz Mural Oak Bluffs Library
CQ: How do you organize a painting? Ms. Datz: I usually draw it out first. Thumbnail sketch. Then I draw it on the panel with a chalk pencil because it is easy to lift off the chalk to make changes.
CQ: Does your studio space work well for you? It is nice to enjoy a neat and tidy studio. It brings serenity. It streamlines me to the most productive. I use the studio for just the fine art business. I need power tools for when I am doing big installations. I utilize a tool area, general painting area and a separate area for fine painting and organize things by their uses.
Margot Datz’s work lends itself perfectly to the written word. She delights in illuminating thoughts, and has enjoyed many very pleasurable collaborations with singer Carly Simon, on four children’s books. Now Margot is head over fishtail excited to announce her very own book that she has written and illustrated with Beyond Words Publishing for Simon and Schuster titled “A Survival Guide for Landlocked Mermaids“.
To learn more about Margot Datz and her work, please visit: http://www.margotdatz.com
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Word Press offers lots of options and is easy to use.