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Speed Artists Way.

 

A few weeks ago, I bought myself a copy of The Artists Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. I had a copy many years ago and remembered that it helped me to start making art again in my mid-twenties. I got a portfolio together and went to university.

I re-read the book in two days but oddly, I didn’t remember any of it. I thought that I had better go back through it and do the tasks at the end of each section. It’s meant to be a twelve-step program done over twelve weeks, but I did speed Artists Way in a week.

I had been feeling blocked. I just didn’t feel like making any art, so I came across the book at the right time. The two main tasks in The Artists Way are morning pages and artists dates. The morning pages consist of three pages of stream of consciousness writing done in the morning. I’ve adopted this but mine are afternoon or evening pages. I have enough trouble trying to get body and soul together in the morning without adding morning pages and making myself late for work.

The artists date consists of taking your inner artist on a date to replenish the image well. No third parties allowed. My first artists date consisted of playing with water colours. I have always used oil paints but have been curious about watercolours. I did three imaginary landscapes inspired by Norman Ackroyd’s Shetland Notebook which were rubbish, but I enjoyed myself.

Playing around led to the realisation that Arches HP watercolour paper washed with a mixture of mica, gum Arabic and water produces a nice ground with plenty of tooth for silverpoint drawing. I also did a drawing/watercolour using Daniel Smith Primatek Hematite, pencil and mica in gum Arabic solution that I was happy with so I will probably experiment a bit more.



My second artists date was a trip to the local antique shop where I saw a lot of nice things I couldn’t afford. It has inspired me to create my own little Cabinet of Curiosities that I can use to create other works (drawings, photographs, installations).

My main issue with The Artists Way is the emphasis on positive affirmations. I have found that when I do affirmations everything starts to go wrong. My affirmations resulted in my printer going into a deep sleep and refusing to wake up and my kettle dying on me. Maybe the universe can provide me with a new kettle and printer. I have a friend who has the same experience when doing positive affirmations, what are we doing wrong? Having said that I think the book helps improve many aspects of your life, not only creativity.

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