Ages and ages ago I read (and enjoyed) ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron. One of the foundational tools from this seminal book on creativity is something called an ‘Artist Date’.
‘The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly “artistic” — think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration. When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it.’
— Julia Cameron
Back when I read the book I’d regularly go on artist dates, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve treated myself to something like this. It seems like a good time to revisit the experience, so I’m adding a new category called ‘Filling the Well’. I’ll do my best to document the experience in some way, if only for myself. This way I’ll be cataloguing the memories so that I can revisit them in the future and remind myself of the positive benefits of getting out of the apartment and exploring the world.
This week I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’ve visited this museum a number of times since moving to NYC, and it’s always a positive experience. There’s simply an overwhelming amount of fabulous art on display. One of the benefits of being a NYC resident is being able to visit museums like this whenever I want, so you don’t feel as though you have to take in everything all at once.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon taking in the Dutch Masters (Rembrandt and his students) the nearby Robert H. Lehman collection (Evening Calm & The Town Beach by Paul Signac / Le Pont de Passy et la Tour Eiffel by Marc Chagall) and also a bunch of paintings by more modern artists.
I shot some quick photos of works that stood out to me with their accompanying identification plate, but I didn’t want to be the person who sees the art through a camera lens and doesn’t spend time fully taking it in. That’s all to say that the photos you see below don’t really do the paintings justice and is just a small sampling of what I saw that stood out to me. They’re just a way for me to remember the experience.
