Artist Date Updates: Weeks 1, 2, & 3

In addition to reading and journaling, there are TWO commitments we make each week to the Artist's Way.

One, the morning pages (I've written about a little already and although we're technically supposed to avoid the temptation to judge ourselves by avoiding going back into them and reading them, I will be publishing excerpts as examples of what my stream-of-consciousness pages look like, since I think it could be helpful for readers who are considering the Artist's Way. Or, seeing as how I have no readers yet, it will be interesting for there to be a record of the progression).

And two, the less tedious and more enjoyable Artist Date. An artist date is a totally self-indulgent commitment you make to yourself that is intended to replenish your creative well, so it should connect in some way with your artistic interests. NO INTERLOPERS ALLOWED!

WEEK ONE-
** Emily went to a cafe she really loves and did some writing...
** I got a haircut, and because I had put it off for so long, it felt more like an errand or chore than an artist date.

WEEK TWO-
**Emily went online and planned her dream menu for a New Orleans tea party (we were having one that week). Oh man, the recipes she had planned were absolutely divine! I was positively drooling over her descriptions of creole inspired shrimp/crab biscuits and sweet potato tarts! I can't wait until her dream of owning a teahouse comes to fruition!
**I got my patio garden started by planting 12 pots of seeds, then I planned to sit outside with a gardening magazine and had tea with a snack. I was right to be concerned that gardening would feel too much like work to be an effective artist date for me. My heart was in the right place, but I literally had not planted a seed since kindergarten! It was difficult to embrace beginner mind and just be okay with the fact that I was challenged simply by getting dirty. Also, I underestimated how long the work would take and ended up not being able to enjoy my magazine. I had to rush off to a class without even a shower!

WEEK THREE
** Emily treated herself to some fabulously inspiring videos: this one, this one, and she spent a lot of time admiring the imagery of this artist. Why not take yourself on an artist date and check them out!
** I went to a Vogue Pattern Trunk Show at a yarn shop in Walnut Creek. I'm trying to keep my expenditures low, but I was REALLY looking forward to to seeing the pieces in person. I'm always knitting gifts and I had promised myself that I could buy one skein of anything I wanted, as long as I made something for myself! Normally I really like this shop, but the trunk show turned out to be hugely anticlimactic... as Dave put it, "there wasn't even a trunk!" Not about to be disappointed by my third artist date in a row, I made my way to Big Sky for the first time, where I was thrilled to discover their sample knits were on clearance. I was elated to find & buy an electric blue shawl that was originally $70... for $10!

Now that I'm finally catching up, I'll be posting about our artist dates in more detail as the weeks progress! This week, I bought myself a copy of Found magazine (I've always wanted one), and I'm going to read it on the patio while I eat fabulous snacks!