Take yourself on an Artist Date

It has been a goal of mine the past several months to read The Artist's Way, not only to read it, but to experience the artist's way, to work through the exercises in the book which are meant to re-ignite...or even ignite for the 1st time.....creativity. What I love about this book...is that you don't have to be an artist or have been an artist already. Even an accountant/yogi with no professional artistic skills can read this book and walk away after each chapter with new insights. 

"Creativity is like crabgrass, it springs back with the simplest bit of care" ~ xv

One of the key practices in the book is to take yourself on an Artist Date. Initially this might seem wacky, but essentially it's just another spin on the idea of taking some time out for yourself to do something that feeds your soul. 

"Practice the art of creative living" ~ Introduction

I have had a ton of fun with my artist dates over the past few months. Since moving into our new hOMe, many of my artist's dates have been focused on cultivating hOMe decor ideas, perusing ideas to make our house feel like a hOMe...and a few self indulgent moments. 

Yesterday, I took out on a date to a local consignment store I had read about. It was massive! They had over a 100 booths from various sellers with modern day items, vintage and antique pieces, cute keepsake item to big furniture pieces. It was a blast to peruse gathering ideas...and also a few simple pieces that caught my eye. 

"Art is the imagination at play in the field of time. Let yourself play" ~ pg 24

I have been following Elise Blaha, a blogger who brings touches of creativity into the everyday through many mediums, one of which is homemade art. Ever since she created this homemade ampersand for her mantle, I've been hooked on the idea of decorating with ampersands myself. And....yesterday....I came across 2 ampersand pieces for just $2 each. Sometimes...it's jut about showing up for the world as it delivers. 

I am looking forward to decorating my office space soon with these ampersands as well as this adorable cork board pinup I found for a great deal. 

"Art is born in attention" ~ pg 21

If you are interested in taking yourself on an Artist Date, here are a few ideas that I've found to be fun:

• Candlelight Bath
• Consignment Store or Goodwill/Thrift Store perusing
• Meandering through an Art Show, Book Store, Gallery
• Coffee Date & Journaling at a local Java establishment
• Sitting on my front porch reading a book with a cup of tea

"Changing a known route throws us into the now. We become refocused on the visible, visual world. Sight leads to insight" ~ pg 22

Would love to hear some of your favorite artist date ideas. Please share on my facebook page or in the comments below so we can all be inspired by each other. 

*Quotes are all from The Artist's Way...some of my favorites so far*