Grumbacher Plastic Paint Mixing Tray
A long time ago, in a gallaxy far far away…..wait a minute, wrong tale!
Take two. A long time ago, I tried my hand at painting. One of the items I hung onto from that artistic adventure was this paint mixing tray by Grumbacher. As I was decluttering my studio a while ago, I found this and considered donating it so that someone else might be able to put this to use. However, I did not and it sat in a little box….sort of looking at me. Then I moved it to the top of my soldering bench, next to my pickle pot. I still wasn’t sure why I felt the need to keep this aside from some emotional attachment, but I did.
So why am I posting about a Grumbacher paint mixing tray in my Talkin’ Tools segment? Well, it turns out that it has become a very handy way for me to organize the components for my Ginkgo leaf earrings. Sure, I could have gone out and bought something else, but this works and puts this tray back into use in my studio. Saved a little money too!
Ginkgo parts
You see, when I make my Ginkgo leaf earrings, there are a variety of bits and pieces that go into their assembly. I need to keep them organized by earring style so as I start to put the sections together, I have the right part for the right design. I work on one earring set at a time as I build them. The dividers keep the sets together and I don’t run the risk of getting them mixed up.
Prior to utilizing this tray, I would have the earring sets scattered around in little piles on a table. Speaking from the voice of experience, there were times when my sleeve would brush them and they would fall on the floor or get mixed together. That was FUN, not! These incidents left me with this time consuming and needless task of putting an interesting jig saw puzzle back together. Talk about frustrating!
One day, as I was in this frustrated state, here’s this little tray, sort of smiling and winking at me now and I think, ok, I get it. Put you to use. I did.
Viola! Once I started using the tray, the process was simplified. I can keep track of how many are ready by a glance. I’m assured that the right parts for the earring set are together. Once I fire up my torch, I can work on 8 pairs or more if use the small circles in the tray. Even though I build them one pair at a time, I don’t like to start work on the assembly process until I have a batch. I find it to be more efficient.
There are several key things I’d like to convey with this post:
- Organization in the studio (and other areas of life) is very important. It helps simplify what you are doing, alleviates stress and frustration, along with speeding up what you are doing.
- Be innovative. Look for items you may already have and see if they can be used for another purpose. It may be a good fit and save you a bit of money.
- Consider options. Being open to alternatives that can help you with an immediate solution…it’s good to have options.
Have you found something that you use in your work that is an alternative use from its original purpose?
I hope you find this tip helpful and are motivated to start looking for things that may help you in your work.
Until next time, aspire to be more as an artist and a person.
Kathleen Krucoff 
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