Someone recently asked me what kind of art I have on my walls and I told them that I have exclusively my own art (+ my mother's) on my walls. It is a matter of great pride to me that I'm "wall worthy" by my own standards and I change the prints every few weeks to keep it fresh.
That's a cool concept! We are moving into a new apartment in October and my plan is to use mostly my own art for the walls. I am also using this as an opportunity + motivation to go bigger with my paintings!
I have a shelf of all our trip books. I make little(usually postcard sized) handmade books for each trip. So there’s Tokyo, Paris Seattle, NYC, Hong Kong/Shanghai, The South, Boston, Niagara Falls just to name some. So it’s not really and ego shelf. But I can look at them and remember all our adventures.
Your bookshelves look fantastic, and what a symbol of your accomplishments! I have an entire bookshelf (nearly ceiling high) of my 13 years of sketchbooks... and now the books are starting to overflow! I love seeing them all lined up... but now I gotta rearrange stuff to make them fit. Thanks for the reminder... time to take an ego photo!
Hmmm....this is definitely something to think about. Almost every room in my house has things that are special to me--someplace I've lived, someone I've loved, some things I love....but I'm not so sure that I can call them and "ego shelf"., but they definitely tell my life story. I'll have to think some more.
I'm in a temporary house for longer than expected and am finally getting around to creating my workspace. This idea inspired me to take the leap of using the bits I have carried with me and created during my journey. What will it look like? No clue! But this weekend is the perfect time to find out. Thank you,!
Years ago, my husband had to submit a "tenure packet" to a university evaluation committee. He had worked for several years as a professor by then, and the binder included various representations of the work he had done. At the time, I was writing, making a lot of art, and taking care of our two young daughters. I was working all the time! Lovely as that all was, it was hard to point to many concrete successes (okay, that's a whole separate discussion, just not where I'm trying to go right now...).
Since there was no committee interested in looking at a binder of my accomplishments, I made one for myself. It's just a simple black binder, squirreled away on a bookshelf in my personal space, labeled "Lisa's Tenure Packet." Over the years it has grown quite plump with reminders of my interactions with and contributions to the world, and every once in a while I pull it out and flip through the pages. It helps keep me chugging away for a little longer.
Thanks for sharing your story, Amy (and now others!), and for reminding me of mine.
I love this! My ego book shelf is a mounted shelf on the wall of my office with each of my picture books displayed face out. I also have my own art in frames and hung on walls throughout the house. I never thought about it as an “ego shelf” but I also have a shelf with many of my sketchbooks and journals from the years.
This is such a good idea. It's been a rough year for me and I think I could use something like an ego shelf to make me feel a little better. My collection would include copies of both of my books, a binder full of my short stories and some old (okay, very old) acrylic paintings propped up nearby. I already have a doll I made out of a half-doll that used to act as a toaster cozy sitting on one of my bookshelves, so I guess I could move her to the ego shelf as well. I really want to do this, so thanks!
My classroom has a wall of photos of every kid who's ever won our Student of the Month award (dating back to when we started it, 11 years back). That feels similar, and it's a nice little history of our school; plus, every day, I get to feel like some of my favorite people in the world are saying hello over my shoulder as I work with the new crop of students (many of whom will get their turn on the wall, and themselves move on someday).
I love your ego bookshelf, by the way - and I am even more enamored of your display of the old notebooks. In my home, the closest we've got is a shelf of all 11 of my mom's mystery novels (which look great all squeezed together like that).
Yes, I think I'll start an ego notebook. I'm hauling books to the library for their fund-raising sales. These are books that have gathered dust for decades and that I now acknowledge that I'll never read. Or if I want to I'll see if the library has it. And this will leave room on at least one shelf for that nice personal bookshelf.
Someone recently asked me what kind of art I have on my walls and I told them that I have exclusively my own art (+ my mother's) on my walls. It is a matter of great pride to me that I'm "wall worthy" by my own standards and I change the prints every few weeks to keep it fresh.
That's a cool concept! We are moving into a new apartment in October and my plan is to use mostly my own art for the walls. I am also using this as an opportunity + motivation to go bigger with my paintings!
Awesome. I'm also painting bigger this winter in my new studio. ❤️
Wow can’t wait to see it!!
I have a shelf of all our trip books. I make little(usually postcard sized) handmade books for each trip. So there’s Tokyo, Paris Seattle, NYC, Hong Kong/Shanghai, The South, Boston, Niagara Falls just to name some. So it’s not really and ego shelf. But I can look at them and remember all our adventures.
Your bookshelves look fantastic, and what a symbol of your accomplishments! I have an entire bookshelf (nearly ceiling high) of my 13 years of sketchbooks... and now the books are starting to overflow! I love seeing them all lined up... but now I gotta rearrange stuff to make them fit. Thanks for the reminder... time to take an ego photo!
Hmmm....this is definitely something to think about. Almost every room in my house has things that are special to me--someplace I've lived, someone I've loved, some things I love....but I'm not so sure that I can call them and "ego shelf"., but they definitely tell my life story. I'll have to think some more.
Amy, You of all people deserve an Ego Bookshelf. Thanks for all the insights you put out into the world. I'm grateful!
I'm in a temporary house for longer than expected and am finally getting around to creating my workspace. This idea inspired me to take the leap of using the bits I have carried with me and created during my journey. What will it look like? No clue! But this weekend is the perfect time to find out. Thank you,!
Wowwww I love your staircase wall!! 💛💛💛💛💛
Just came across your work and instantly became a super fan!! 💯💯💯
Years ago, my husband had to submit a "tenure packet" to a university evaluation committee. He had worked for several years as a professor by then, and the binder included various representations of the work he had done. At the time, I was writing, making a lot of art, and taking care of our two young daughters. I was working all the time! Lovely as that all was, it was hard to point to many concrete successes (okay, that's a whole separate discussion, just not where I'm trying to go right now...).
Since there was no committee interested in looking at a binder of my accomplishments, I made one for myself. It's just a simple black binder, squirreled away on a bookshelf in my personal space, labeled "Lisa's Tenure Packet." Over the years it has grown quite plump with reminders of my interactions with and contributions to the world, and every once in a while I pull it out and flip through the pages. It helps keep me chugging away for a little longer.
Thanks for sharing your story, Amy (and now others!), and for reminding me of mine.
I love this! My ego book shelf is a mounted shelf on the wall of my office with each of my picture books displayed face out. I also have my own art in frames and hung on walls throughout the house. I never thought about it as an “ego shelf” but I also have a shelf with many of my sketchbooks and journals from the years.
This is such a good idea. It's been a rough year for me and I think I could use something like an ego shelf to make me feel a little better. My collection would include copies of both of my books, a binder full of my short stories and some old (okay, very old) acrylic paintings propped up nearby. I already have a doll I made out of a half-doll that used to act as a toaster cozy sitting on one of my bookshelves, so I guess I could move her to the ego shelf as well. I really want to do this, so thanks!
My classroom has a wall of photos of every kid who's ever won our Student of the Month award (dating back to when we started it, 11 years back). That feels similar, and it's a nice little history of our school; plus, every day, I get to feel like some of my favorite people in the world are saying hello over my shoulder as I work with the new crop of students (many of whom will get their turn on the wall, and themselves move on someday).
I love your ego bookshelf, by the way - and I am even more enamored of your display of the old notebooks. In my home, the closest we've got is a shelf of all 11 of my mom's mystery novels (which look great all squeezed together like that).
Yes, I think I'll start an ego notebook. I'm hauling books to the library for their fund-raising sales. These are books that have gathered dust for decades and that I now acknowledge that I'll never read. Or if I want to I'll see if the library has it. And this will leave room on at least one shelf for that nice personal bookshelf.