One of the recommended activities of The Artist’s Way is that you make an art date part of your weekly schedule. For two hours, you fill your creative well with something just for you. It may mean visiting your favourite stationery shop, attending a concert or going to an art gallery. Whatever you do, you do it alone and give it your full attention. Selfish? Perhaps. Unnecessary? Hardly. Because if we want to have any hope of fulfilling our artistic yearnings, we must absorb as much creativity as possible from others, both to inspire and nourish ourselves.
Getting started
The hardest part of this assignment is getting started. Who has two hours to dawdle in a museum, watch a favourite film or wander a flea market looking for curiosities? Our instinctive response is no-one. Yet, the answer is actually everyone.
Like most people, I struggled to ‘find the time’. I’d manage one week and be tired and miss the next. My Puritan work ethic frowned at the frivolity. My sense of the rather hopeless endeavour of making any money from my work made we wonder if it were just a waste of time. My lack of any sense of being worthy of spoiling myself for a whole two hours each week was perhaps the most damning of all. So my attendance was erratic at best.
Except that sometimes I did manage to go. And each two hour session was like a mini holiday from life. After, I returned home refreshed and energised. Any tasks that had been set aside to allow me this break were soon accomplished.
Making the commitment
Luckily for me, I live very close to an award winning modern art gallery with a superb building, a library and a cafe. So I have committed to go every Tuesday when it is quiet and recharge my depleted creative batteries. I’ve become a museum member out of gratitude for the wonderful service they offer and to be more informed about up-coming exhibitions and events. It was £50 well spent.
I’ve also worked out a way to give my visits a sense of purpose. Though the exhibitions do revolve fairly often, they certainly do not do so every week. So how was I best to use the time I was there?
Primarily, I decided to see all the exhibition and then review a few of the paintings in more detail: thinking about the choices the artist made, the mediums used, looking for tiny details. Still, I had quite a lot of time left.
A beautiful library
While wandering about the Ravilious room for the umpteenth time, I glanced at the well-stocked library there. Hmm, I thought to myself. I have always loved art, but am entirely ignorant of so much art history. Perhaps I could use this time to become better informed.
My first forays were random. I’d select a book I liked the look of, make some notes and a sketch and then head for the cafe. Then it struck me that I might want to be a little more coordinated. What if I began at A and worked my way through to Z? I didn’t need to pick up everything, but I would be guaranteed to learn a lot. My art teacher’s daughter rather grandly calls it my self-directed art study; I call it stimulating play.
Making the most of books
I seldom have time to read the entire book, but I do have time to skim and jot down any key ideas. These gorgeous volumes are filled with high quality images and I try each time to select one, or part of one, to sketch. In doing so, I imprint the artist far more clearly in my mind than mere notes would do. Even though I have only coloured pencils to work with, it is enough.
Sources of inspiration
How do you know what you like if you haven’t been exposed to all the possibilities? The oft quoted, ‘I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like’ encapsulates this attitude, because ‘what we like’ is more often than not what we are familiar with rather than any aesthetic choice.
Writing this, I realise that I must put aside my prejudice against photography books. Next week, I shall have to pick one up!
Yet, as I work through these publications, I realise that I am drawn to certain styles. Not because one is ‘better’ but rather fits my interests. I love nature studies, print making and images combined with text. These may well guide me in my own art adventures.
Carry Akroyd uses exquisite nature prints overlaid with poetry by John Clare to express her concern over the diminishment of the English countryside (which was Clare’s concern too). The text weaves through the image, illuminating it. History and the present fuse and we are left, hopefully, encouraged to act to protect this precious Earth.
A little reward
When I am finished with my viewing, my reading and my sketching, I retire to the modern cafe for my refreshment. Of course, I could go home and have a cup of tea, but there is something deliciously decadent about having one made for you. And making this experience one of self-love and self-care is part of its charm.
At an art museum, it is quite fine to sit by oneself and ponder. I often do a little doodle or start on a poem, because such moments of absolute tranquillity are rare. They are also, very precious.
What is stopping you?
Art dates are considerably more fulfilling than the usual activities we fill our days with. Finding two hours to yourself may feel like an indulgence, but it is really no longer than episode or two on Netflix and a fraction of the time the average person spends on social media.
Valuing ourselves and our creative journeys is paramount if we are to live our best lives. So go ahead. Plan a trip, make a date and remember that you really are worth it!
