Bex Hall

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The Artists Way

A nature walk as an artist date this week

You don’t have to know the name to see what you need to see

Tiger swallowtail

For this week’s artist date, I wandered in nature with my camera. Some subjects were old favorites, like the touch-me-knots, which I used to call popsie-doodles when I was a child. Their seed pods ready to burst open into a curlicue with a light touch.

Touch-me-knots

Or the Pokeweed plants and their deep purple berries. I used to crush them to use as paint and the color matched my favorite syrup, boysenberry, ergo this plant was a boysenberry, which I believed was its name for many years.

Pokeweed

But some names I didn’t know, like the tall, bushy mauve flowers or the yellow butterfly with black stripes or the caterpillar with spikes on its spikes.

A guide tells me the light purple flowers are Joe Pye weed. According to legend, Joe Pye was a Native American herbalist who used it to cure a variety of illnesses, including typhoid fever.

The butterfly appears to be a Tiger Swallowtail.

The spiny caterpillar appears to be a buck moth, which gets its name because it’s one of the few moths that fly during the day during deer season.

Buck moth caterpillar

I went on the artist date this week intending to capture snapshots of nature to use as reference for drawing. But my curiosity demanded to know the names of what I saw and I did that research afterward. Now I know. And so do you.

But the real magic happened before I looked up the names of everything. The real magic was being in nature. I didn’t see Joe Pye weed or a tiger swallowtail or a buck moth caterpillar. 

Joe Pye weed

No, what I saw were mauve air castles nestled among verdant waves dappled with sunlight and shadow. I saw delicate yellow and black fairies dance around the parapets while an armor clad guard stood watch.

I saw summers long past filled with boysenberry painted faces and contests with my cousin to see who could get the most popsie-doodle pops. Seed pod curlicues tied into necklaces. Caterpillars collected and held captive while we witnessed them become whatever they were to become.

To see, we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.”

—Claude Monet

Until next week, all my love.

It’s time we talk about the artist date

An essential step toward a real relationship with our creativity.

Suspended in time brooch

Julia Cameron, in The Artist’s Way suggests the inner artist needs playful inflow and that a little fun can go a long way toward making your work feel more like play. She goes on to say it’s important to set aside a block of time weekly for what she calls an Artist Date.

I went on my 30th artist date this week. I began doing these, along with the Morning Pages, in January this year. With each date, I am receiving and opening myself to insight, inspiration, and guidance.

Yesterday’s date was like a treasure hunt at two estate sales.  I went with an open mind and if something spoke to me, I would consider it. In a basement, I found four colorful marble eggs, $2 per. I pictured them in my yard’s landscape, near the ceramic chicken that stands guard, and the surprise reaction my granddaughter would have when she discovers them.

Marble eggs for a ceramic chicken

At the second sale, I stopped at the jewelry table as a brooch caught my eye. It was attached to a card touting it handmade in Oregon and titled “Suspended in Time.” Seven tiny clock faces, two set at 9:00 and the other five at 10:08. 

I studied it and wondered how I might use it in some kind of art creation. Worse case, I could pin it to my cork board and enjoy its steampunk quirkiness. I bought it, $5.00.

Later I showed it to my friend who informed me how much she loved clocks and, “Wouldn’t that be beautiful on the lapel of a coat?” she gushed. Of course, I’m now going to give it to her for her birthday later, but its striking and fun the differences in our vision for the same item. Actually wearing it never occurred to me. 😊

Estate sale find

“In order to have a real relationship with our creativity,” Julia writes, “we must take the time and care to cultivate it.”

Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.

Until next week, all my love.

So you see, imagination needs moodling—long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.”

—Brenda Ueland