What is an Artist Date?
This is a basic tool to use to keep the creative 'juices' flowing. It's not a diversion or a way to waste time. It is a method of allowing the creative genius within you to be free to enjoy itself, to be inspired.
I plan to have at least one Artist Date per week. Mine will be for a minimum of two hours. During this time I will concentrate solely on the activity. I will not answer my phones, email or do housework or anything else that diverts my creative genius from having the fun it deserves.
So when planning your Artist Date, please make sure you can block out sufficient time. Don't expect to get anything else done in this time and don't schedule it when you know you are likely to be interrupted. For example, don't start your date if you know that in half an hour your kids are going to arrive home from school!
Think of this date as quality time spent on yourself. In just the same way as you would devote quality time with your children or family or life partner.
Be warned ... you will experience resistance to taking your Artist Dates, be prepared for it and don't let it steer you off course. The most likely source of your resistance will be from within yourself. It will come up in the form of that party pooper voice "I've just got to clean the bathroom", "that email needs to be answered now" etc. I am sure you can think of 101 other diversions! All I'm advising, is be ready for the excuses and recognise them not as the voice of sense but of a mean old party pooper. Remember you have planned this time, you made it during a quiet/free time and it's yours!
I hope that makes it clear what an Artist Date is ... if not ... get hold of Julia Cameron's The Artist Way, a brilliant book for anyone wanting to get creative or recover their creativity.
So ... here goes ...
My first date - 30th April 2012
I spent 2 hours creating my first patchwork pieces. I am planning to use them on a bag I want to make. I might have to leave that for another artist date!
They don't really follow a pattern as they should, one is slightly different from the other and I did have fun cutting the material - it is upholstery fabric, so doesn't behave in the same way cotton fabric would and making inch wide strips when you have only got metric rulers was fun too.
But that's the point ... I had fun ... I got my sewing machine out, my metric ruler and my scissors and I cut and stitched for 2 hours. I had the radio on and I sang along. At the end of the 2 hours I had something I was pleased with and that as far as I am concerned is time well spent!
Watch this space for my next Artist Date ... it's a History weekend!
Artist Date No.2 – History Weekend 4th/5th/6th May
Ok, so I did get a little greedy here and as a result I didn’t take an artist date last week. History is another passion of mine and it has been a while since I immersed myself in its study.
I spent Friday evening through to late Sunday afternoon learning about country houses in Suffolk during the period c1750 to c1850. It covered aspects such as the reasons the rich and powerful built such huge estates and landscape parks and their true cost, how they generated income from the landscape and how they were managed and staffed. The weekend also incorporated a field trip to Heveningham park and gardens and the house and gardens at Little Glemham.
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| The grand house at Heveningham |
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| The modern garden at the rear of Heveningham Hall |
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| The rear of Glemham Hall - far more interesting than the plain Georgian front. |
I am sure you are asking how that could possibly help me with my crafting inspiration. For me it ticked a number of boxes from meeting likeminded people and getting lots of fresh air and walking, to drawing inspiration from the houses and parks that we visited. Seeing how architects and gardeners translated their flat plans and drawings into live homes and gardens that had beauty and function. Great for broadening the mind.
My next artist date is a little closer to ‘home’. I am off to a local craft sale at Ipswich Library not just to shop but to talk to some of the stall holders on where they find their inspiration.
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