Day 6 of the weeklong photography challenge and I am happy to report that I seem to have hit a groove this evening. This might have happened because today was in essence an all-day Artist Date. (An Artist Date, as discussed in creativity expert Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way, is a weekly date with yourself to spend time alone pursuing whatever might feed your creative spirit.) I do think it is important to indulge your creative self this way as often as you can.
An Artist Date fills the well, or nurtures your soul, or juices you up: it sustains you and renews you so that you can continue to produce. However you like to think of it, the basic idea is that without some form of creative fodder going in, there can be nothing much coming out. You might be able to keep going on your own for a while, but eventually you will pump yourself dry and feel creatively depleted. One way to help yourself keep creating regularly is to regularly seek out quality input.
So today I ate my favorite breakfast — veggie omelette and fruit salad sitting outdoors in the sunshine. Next, a leisurely drive across the city and along the Pacific Coast Highway to the beach where we basked, blinking, on the sand and listened to the surf — today was extra warm here in Los Angeles, so the beach was the perfect place to be. After that, a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up on some necessities and a few favorites — including a plump eggplant and a stash of cherry flavored Twizzlers candy. Then an early evening drive through downtown Los Angeles with all its eye candy and always-something-new-surprises.
We parked in Little Tokyo and walked over to the Geffen Contemporary for the opening of “Art in the Streets” an exhibit of street art and the history of modern graffiti. This was a terrific experience — super loud hip hop music while we stood in the rope line to get in, lots of interesting people watching, and of course, the eye popping graffiti both in photographs and literally on the walls! Last but not least, on the way home, a quick stop at our favorite deli for late evening supper of sandwiches and the ultimate in dill pickles, plus we brought home a loaf of the best caraway rye in town.
Now I don’t know what your idea of a wonderful Artist Date would be, but I had an absolutely fabulous time. And, I feel so restored that I count this as an Artist Date even though I didn’t go alone.
Here is photograph of a street banner in Little Tokyo.
Street decorations in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
Here is an “action shot” from the art museum this evening.
from "Art in the Streets" thru August 2011 at the Geffen Contemporary, MOCA, Los Angeles
What would you do for an Artist Date? Do you take one as part of your weekly routine? If not, maybe you could try one soon?
If you enjoyed this post, it would be great if you would share it! Here’s to Artist Dates for ALL!
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Wonderful sounding day!
Sheila! Thank you!