The Artist's Way: Chicago

We're baaaaack!

2008-08-27T18:48:00.004-05:00

Yes, it has been a long time and we've been very quiet around here. Lots of activity at the studio but not much on the Artist's Way front -- perhaps because core folks at the studio are decidedly UN-stuck!

Therefore, time to gather up a new crop of folks who are interested in working through the Artist's Way exercises, re-connect with their creative forces and form new creativity circles of support, encouragement and accountability!

So:

Our next meeting is on Monday, September 8 at 7pm at the Studio.

Please RSVP by phone or email if you can attend. Info is on the menu bar on the right.

We look forward to seeing both new and old colleagues! Fall is a great time to begin anew!

6 minute pencil portraits

2007-10-02T10:14:00.000-05:00

Watch this fella draw!

http://www.youtube.com/user/lonhaverly

Interesting links from tonight's meeting

2007-09-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

Institute of Children's Literature (fiixed the link!)
http://http://www.theinstituteofchildrensliterature.com/F9624/shortstory.htm

Jack White, artist, writer and extrordinary salesman
http://www.jackwhiteartist.com/pages/books.htm

Booksquare, a blog on the state of the modern publishing industry
http://www.booksquare.com/

The Four Hour Work Week, book about delegation
http://tinyurl.com/28jelu

National Novel Writing Month -- November!
http://www.nanowrimo.org/

September meeting, at last!

2007-09-17T14:53:00.000-05:00

This evening we'll only focus on one chapter of Walking in this World, Four: A Sense of Adventure

We'll check in on the basics, as always:
Morning pages
Weekly Artist Date
NEW! Weekly production
Daily walk
Weekly Yahoo group check-in

Then:

Reorientation: ABC introductions (see previous entries about ABC)

Chapter Four touchpoints:
Working from Strengths
Working at all
Innovator/Conserver worksheet
Goals roadmap revisited (breaking a big idea into workable parts)

ABC introductions revisited: "act as if"

Finally, is your "workspace" in an easily reachable place and in plain sight? Why not?

Failing on a Grand Scale!

2007-08-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

I invite you to read this wonderful article in this weekend's NY Times about non-musician people who are extremely accomplished in their individual fields playing in an orchestra, in public, very badly.

Click here to read the article.

About the Yahoo Group . . .

2007-07-27T12:40:00.000-05:00

Just to be clear, the Artists Way Yahoo Group is open to people who have attended at least one meeting. Once you have attended, you will then receive an email invitation to join the Yahoo Group.

Recently, someone had applied to join the Yahoo Group, and I declined their application. I sent an email reply explaining why, but perhaps spam filters stopped my message. But that's why!

So, come to a meeting an become part of our Creative Circle!

Seaside for the Summer

2007-07-19T17:56:00.001-05:00

and

Next Meeting: Monday, September 10 at 7pm

2007-07-11T16:11:00.000-05:00

Wow! That is a loooooong time between gatherings!

If you are an active member, try extra hard to post weekly to the Yahoo Group.

We'll be working on ideas from Chapters 4 and 5 of Walking in this World. I'll summarize them later for those of you who like to think ahead.

Meanwhile, enjoy your July and August, and I'll see you in person in September.

Diane

Fashion Sketchbook

2007-07-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

This the the tome we spoke of last evening. I have already ordered an older edition off Amazon Marketplace, which I think will serve our purposes. I'll add it to the library.

Women in Film

2007-07-11T15:57:00.001-05:00

For those of you continuing your study of female faces, here is another morph philm from Eggman on Youtube.

Enjoy!

Try to name each face as it goes by!

A New Book for Summer!

2007-06-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

We began our study of the most recent book by Julia Cameron, Walking in This World (see link below).

We discussed the first two chapters of the book, in advance of using them as springboards for independent work in the coming weeks. You can download some of these worksheets in pdf by clicking.

One: A Sense of Origin
Setting Out
A list of small creative actions
A Commitment
A list of positive personal attributes

Two: Proportion
Identity
A Wishlist
A list of small creative actions towards a particular goal

Next month: Perspective

And an open studio collage session. Please begin to gather collage resources from your daily life to use in your creation. Put a paper bag in your office and toss things in as you go about your work/play.

Learn more about this special meeting on Monday, July 9.

Our next study guide?

2007-05-29T20:46:00.000-05:00

This book is my current favorite for the upcoming months. While "Artist's Way" was about recovery, this is more for the recovered who are looking to move forward.

See you Monday, June 4, same time and place as always.

Women in Art

2007-05-28T23:08:00.001-05:00

Enjoy!

The Real Reasons You are Not Succeeding at Your Creative Goal

2007-04-16T10:06:00.000-05:00

I am thinking further about the simplistic boor, Larry Winget, and have decided the real list of reasons you are not succeeding at a particular goal are:

1a. inertia, driven by fear
1b. inertia, driven by acual laziness (quite rare, I think, and is really more like #3 below)
2a. shortcomings, due to missing skills
2b. shortcomings, due to personality attributes underdeveloped or overdeveloped
3. you just don't care (at least for now) and your focus is elsewhere

I think at our next meeting we shall focus on "shortcomings", identifying them and figuring out what we can do about them.

We'll come back to the fear thing!

Essential Worksheets

2007-04-08T18:48:00.001-05:00

The last meeting on the first Monday of April was a working meeting. We each re-analyzed a creative goal (some of us have more than one iron in the fire) and gave it length and breadth.

If you are planning to join us at future meetings, consider downloading these worksheets and filling them out. Some spaces you might leave blank for now. I did.

Click here to download the
"A Creative Goal" worksheet in PDF

Perhaps changes in your environment can help you to work toward your creative goal, and often tiny changes are all that is needed.

Click here to download the
the "Little Changes" worksheet in PDF

At the end of our meeting, we took time to write a two or three sentence "creative mission statement", remembering the ABC's:

Affirmative
Brief
Clear

Watch out for the affirmative one, people! No qualifying language!

Weekly Check-In Checklist

2007-04-08T18:42:00.000-05:00

We've upped the ante and added a new item to our weekly check in.

Morning Pages, if applicable
Daily Walk, especially now that weather is not a problem, per se
Weekly Artist Date of the "receptive" variety
Weekly Production Date, in that you make something, create something, paint something, write something, draw something, choreograph something, sing something, play something etc every week, even if the work you produce is complete crap
Weekly Check-In on the Yahoo Group (for people who have attended one or more meetings)

Tough-Love

2007-03-31T14:41:00.000-05:00

I was at the Office Max, and my eye fell upon the cover of this:

And I spent the next 20 minutes leafing through it. What a rude, boorish guy, but certainly has some pearls of wisdom to share.

This was particularly harsh, but struck me as often apt (I paraphrase):

The reason you are not succeeding at a particular thing is that
1. you are stupid, or
2. you are lazy, or
3. you simply don't care.

The stupid and lazy part we can either bristle at, or do something about by motivating ourselves or learning the things we need to know to move on. But the last one essentially takes away all permission to whine. Face it, you really MIGHT not care. Recognizing that in yourself can be revelatory.

My Bob Ross Mania

2007-03-06T22:29:00.000-06:00

Later, I will post a brief essay on the merits of the Bob Ross method of painting.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this video that explains why Bob paints only landscapes.

Next Meeting: Monday, March 5 at 7pm

2007-02-12T13:05:00.000-06:00

As always, we will be checking in with the Basics:

Morning Pages
Daily Walk
Weekly Artist Dates: (both as a "creator" and as an "observer/participant")
NEW! Weekly Check-In on the Yahoo Group: Please remember to add your voice to the conversation!

Topics on the table for the March meeting:

Chapter Seven: Connection
Am I a good listener (to my intuition, and to others)? Am I willing to let my art take me where IT wants to? Am I willing to drop my "perfectionism" if it's unhealthy for me? How willing am I to risk "looking silly" or being honest with someone I like, love, or even dislike? What might my jealousy teach and tell me if I truly listened to it?
Chapter Eight: Abundance
What does strength mean to me? How can I express my strength, creatively? Am I willing to do "strength training" -- exercises to continue to empower my spirit, and my creative life? How can I use my strength to bolster the spirit of others? Of my own self? Of my family? What would I try if I were not too crazy? What would I try if I were not too selfish? Collecting visual images. Synchronicity.

Please bring a snack or beverage, but only if it is easy!
Please RSVP, seating is very limited in our studio! Either email or phone!

Documenting your work

2007-02-08T21:53:00.000-06:00

A few of us have websites or blogs where we showcase our finished work. I the coming weeks I'll be adding link buttons for our members so you can see theses sites.

Another approach is to document the process of your work.

Here is a blog of one of my favorite artists, Ann Wood. She works in many different media and photographs beautifully. I especially like the birds and the paper mache ships, but the video of the cardboard horses is also amazing. Nice use of YouTube!

Go here:

http://www.annwood.net/blog/

Book Report!

2007-01-31T21:46:00.000-06:00

At the February meeting Megan will be talking about this book:

The title alone is intriguing, and I think it will be an interesting mesh with topics we have discussed before regarding creativity and life.

Thanks, Megan!

About Integrity

2007-01-14T15:42:00.000-06:00

In the chapter on Integrity, Cameron discusses the possiblities contained in modifying your environment to more closely match your ideals. Take a moment and list three small changes you can make in each of the following areas:

Your work space
Your car (or mode of transportation)
Your kitchen
Your wardrobe
Your living room
Your bedroom
Your exercise habits
Your eating habits
Your spiritual/intellectual maintenance

Post this little worksheet in a visible location.

Which ones can you act on?

Click here to download the
this little worksheet in PDF

Next Meeting: Monday, February 5 at 7pm

2007-01-09T14:54:00.000-06:00

The January meeting was, of course, a great success. How could it not be with so many creative people in one room!?

In order to not lose touch with each other during the weeks between meetings, we've added a new item to the Basics list --
Morning Pages
Daily Walk
Weekly Artist Dates: (both as a "creator" and as an "observer/participant")
NEW! Weekly Check-In on the Yahoo Group: Please remember to add your voice to the conversation!

Topics on the table for the February meeting:

Chapter Five: Possibilities
What would I try if I were not too crazy?  What would I try if I were not too selfish?  Collecting visual images. Synchronicity.

Chapter Six: Abundance
Accounting for monetary spending. Appreciating natural abundance that is free! Appreciating communication with friends. Adding to visual images collection. Letting go of ratty clothing

Please bring a snack or beverage, but only if it is easy!
Please RSVP, seating is very limited in our studio! Either email or phone!

Next Meeting: Monday, January 8 at 7pm

2007-01-03T11:35:00.000-06:00

We are meeting a week later than usual, because of the holiday. Be sure to treat yourself to a bit of creativity focusing and join us.

Topics up for discussion:

Chapter Three: Reclaiming Power
Identifying nurturing habits and friends, and habits
and friends that may sabotage.

Chapter Four: Integrity
Modifying your environment to more closely match your
dreams. And the controverial Reading Deprivation.

Please bring a snack or beverage, but only if it is
easy!

The Yahoo Group

2006-12-26T09:27:00.000-06:00

This board best serves for announcements and updates.

Once you have attended one of our meetings, you will be invited to join the Yahoo group, which is more of an ongoing type of conversation. If you are a past attendee, and have NOT yet joined, please email Diane, using the link at the top right of this page.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagoartistsway

The ABCs of Communicating About Your Art

2006-12-12T14:37:00.000-06:00

At the December meeting, we talked about mission statements, as recommended by Steven Covey (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People). Although creating a personal mission statement can be a daunting task, it is easier to create a statement for particular creative goals.

Eric Maisel (see his book on the right?) suggests summarizing your pursuits and goals by remembering the ABCs:

1. State in the affirmative.
"I am only now starting to study painting, and I am quite a novice, but it is fun to play with colors on large canvasses and I have really liked it and have thought maybe I could get much better as I go, while I make these paintings using just two colors."
OR
"I am a painter, working on color studies in acrylic."

2. Be brief.
"This idea for a story has to do with a conversation I once had with a friend, and at the time I told her I'd use her exact words someday in a story, and that had to do with the thing she said that one time when she was trying to rent an apartment with her then-boyfriend, now-husband."
OR
"I am writing a short story that revolves around one very funny joke."

3. Be clear.
"The other day I was skating and really enjoyed moving through space at a rapid clip, and even though I wished I had kleenex, becaues the wind makes my eyes tear and sometimes fellow skaters think I am weeping, which is weird, and I think about moving through space very rapidly and wonder about translating that feeling into a dance piece, with some people I have been meeting at my classes up in Andersonville, across from the Starbucks."
OR
"My dance piece uses skating and speed as imagery."

December Meeting Summary

2006-12-05T10:03:00.000-06:00

At the December gathering, we focused primarily on Chapter One: Identifying Creativity Champions in our lives, and also to single out Creativity Underminers.
Click here to download the
"My Creative Champtions" worksheet in PDF

And we discussed Chapter Two: Life Balance, using a worksheet I got from a friend a few years ago.
Click here to download the
"Balanced Life" worksheet in PDF

Lastly we talked about setting goals, both large and small, both creative and otherwise, and used this handy worksheet. Remember, you don't necessarily start at the top or bottom of the time frame. Maybe you can only see the short range for now, and that is fine. Maybe there is no long range on some goals.
Click here to download the
"A Creative Goal" worksheet in PDF

Please see the new book links in the side margin to the right. This week I introduced some comments from Eric Maisel and his book Coaching the Artist Within.

Next meeting: Monday, December 4

2006-11-26T07:46:00.000-06:00

As decided in November, we will be examining the ideas presented in the first two chapters of The Artist's Way:

Chapter One: Safety (Enemies and Champions of Your Creative Self Worth)
People we've known and currently know who hold us back or cheer us on.

Chapter Two: Identity and Balance
Carving out time for personal pleasures.

And of course, we all check in on the Basics:
Three Morning Pages every day
Weekly Artist Date of your choice
Daily Half-Hour Walk and maybe even one One-Hour Walk each week

Please be sure to sign up for the Yahoo Group to post up your weekly check-in so we all can touch base with each other between monthly meetings.

You have an opposable thumb, please use it to make something every day.

Next Meeting: Monday, November 6

2006-10-13T12:51:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars for the next monthly gathering:

Monday, November 6, 7pm

at

Go Get Your Smock! School and Studio
4636 N. Francisco

Please RSVP as space can be limited. Email the studio with the link on the upper right of this page.

Scroll down to see an overview of the four areas of study for October, which we will revisit during the meeting.

And we will prepare to examine the next four topics: Abundance, Connection, Strength

November is National Novel Writing Month!

2006-10-12T10:42:00.000-05:00

Please remember a wonderful kick-in-the-pants writing opportunity is coming in the form of National Novel Writing Month, affectionately knows as NaNoWriMo.

Visit www.nanowrimo.org to learn more.

Remember, quality is not necessarily the goal of NaNoWriMo. (No obsessing!)

More to our purposes, the point is to develop sound creative work habits that will allow you to assign the necessary space in your life to produce written artwork.

Work for the Month of October

2006-09-27T17:07:00.000-05:00

The Basics:
Three Morning Pages every day
Weekly Artist Date of your choice
Daily Half-Hour Walk and maybe even one One-Hour Walk each week

To very briefly summarize, morning pages this month might address the following themes:

Week One: Safety (Enemies and Champions of Your Creative Self Worth)
People we've known and currently know who hold us back or cheer us on.

Week Two: Identity and Balance
Carving out time for personal pleasures.

Week Three: Reclaiming Power
Identifying nurturing habits and friends, and habits and friends that may sabotage.

Week Four: Integrity
Modifying your environment to more closely match your dreams. And the controverial Reading Deprivation.

First Meeting on Monday, October 2 at 7pm

2006-09-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

This fall we are hosting a monthly gathering of creative people who are interested in the work of Julia Cameron, author of "The Artist's Way", "Vein of Gold" and other self-study guides on unlocking creative forces within each person.

Please join us for our first gathering on:

Monday, October 2 at 7pm

at

Go Get Your Smock
4636 N. Francisco

Come connect with other artists of every type -- visual/tactile, performing, written word, crafting artisan, aspiring -- and explore ways of working past barriers and into larger ideas.

Learn how others have used the daily Morning Pages and weekly Artist Dates as a springboard for greater understanding of their own role in the unfolding of the creative process.

We hope that you can join us on October 2.

Please RSVP so we know to expect you. Use the email link on the top right of the page.