Artist Way Meeting: Week Two

Week Two: Recovering a Sense of Identity

This chapter ended up lasting two weeks due to conflicts in scheduling. I missed one and a half days of morning pages and completed my artist dates. I particularly liked a couple of exercises such as making a list of imaginary lives, which included being a dollmaker, filmmaker, gymnast, etc. I also like figuring out where my wasted time goes and made a commitment to spend less time on Facebook.

Thoughts About The Artist's Way Book

Lately, I have joined a group where we are working through "The Artist's Way" book. I spend quite a bit of time during my morning pages, complaining about the abundance of God bullshit and giving up your power to an invisible being or force. I take full responsibility for my creativity! I am proud of the hard work and time I dedicate to my art. I attribute my success to my continued focus and efforts. I am courageous, because there is not a safety net or nebulous guidance.

Being a Humanist and Atheist, I continue to find the book challenging, but try to concentrate on the things I DO agree with.

Finally, I found this really cool post where they have rewritten the "Basic Principles".

http://taephoenix.com/2012/12/27/a-skeptics-guide-to-the-artists-way-core-principles/

Original	Modified
1. Creativity is the natural order of life. Life is energy: pure creative energy.	1. Life is a manifestation of creative energy that includes cycles of building and destruction.
2. There is an underlying, in-dwelling creative force infusing all of life – including ourselves.	2. The innate urge to create is a healthy part of being human.
3. When we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the creator’s creativity within us and our lives.	3. When we open ourselves to creativity, we embrace vulnerability, intuition, spontaneity and uncertainty. This leads us to greater happiness and peace.
4. We are, ourselves, creations. And we, in turn, are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves.	4. Our lives are a manifestation of creative energy; it benefits us to align our own efforts with that energy for as long as we are able.
5. Creativity is God’s gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.	5. Creativity is a precious component of our whole selves. Valuing it is a gift to ourselves and leads to greater self worth.
6. The refusal to be creative is self-will and is counter to our true nature.	6. It is our choice which parts of our nature to feed. The refusal to feed our creative nature runs counter to our well being.
7. When we open ourselves to exploring our creativity, we open ourselves to God: good orderly direction.	7. When we open ourselves to being creative, we become aware of our ephemerality and yearn to use our time here well.
8. As we open our creative channel to the creator, many gentle but powerful changes are to be expected.	8. As we open ourselves to creativity, we will see powerful but subtle adjustments that lead to personal and artistic growth.
9. It is safe to open ourselves up to greater and greater creativity.	9. It is safe to open ourselves up to creativity, insofar as anything in life is truly ‘safe.’
10. Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source. As we move toward our dreams, we move toward our divinity.	10. Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a part of ourselves that we must listen to in order to value all that we are.

- written by Tae Phoenix

Working at My Art Studio

I spent a few hours today at my studio working on an armature for an upcoming sculptural project. Although, it will not ever be seen in the final piece, I really like the way it looks. I also disassembled an old art piece of mine.

Artist Date

Today I visited SFAC Galleries to see the installation by Elisabeth Higgins O'Connor. It reminds me of my friend Rob Putnam's work.

Afterwards, I headed to Japantown to look through the bookstore.

Figure Drawing Session Attended

The model tonight was Inky and I always love drawing her, especially on her short poses which tend to be more dynamic.

This is my favorite.

Studio Visit

After my Artist Way meeting, I headed to my art studio where I cleaned and disassembled a few old art pieces, so as to recycle some of the components.

I also reworked my armature for a hanging sculpture. I haven't even started fabricating the structure, but I'm nervous about it looking too literally like a figure. I must remember working with Heather and how we took something that was very figurative and abstracted it with layers and layers.

I wasn't in the studio long, but it was good to spend time there.

Artist Way Meeting: Week One

Week One: Recovering a Sense of Safety 

After reading the introduction on my own, I then delved into the chapter. As an exercise, I began to become aware of my blurts, which are negative beliefs that suddenly pop up. I then replace them with affirmations to challenge the original thoughts.

I completed several of the exercises and also started my morning pages. I wrote them every day.

It was interesting to notice the differences with each of the other three artists and how our needs are different. I'm excited to work through the 12 week program again. I've already strongly asserted my atheists beliefs and have stated my displeasure with the heavy emphasis of "spiritual" and "God" in the text.

Photo-A-Week Challenge #8: Black and White

Week #8: Black and White

Artist Date

Today I planned three things for a personal artist date. The first was to visit the Odd Fellows Building and take a couple pictures of the facade.

The second planned things was a visit to the Wendi Norris Gallery for the Science and Surrealism show.

Victor Brauner
Indicateur de l'espace, c. 1934 (detail)

Victor Brauner
Indicateur de l'espace, c. 1934 (detail)

Matta
Star Travel, 1938

Matta
Black Mirror, 1947

Matta
Black Mirror, 1947 (detail)

Last, I visited the library to peruse the art magazines.

Norman Mooney

Michaël Borremans

David Altmejd

Photo-A-Week Challenge #7: In the Distance

Week #7: In the Distance

Photoshoot Location Scouting

Today I joined my photographer friend John to visit a possible photoshoot location. I shot some footage and pictures there many years ago. When we got there, the pond was completely dried up, but here are a couple of photos for research.