I have sketching and posting daily and made it through the first week. Some days were definitely more challenging to carve out the time.
But it is so worth it. It’s fun to look forward to, and very satisfying when completed.
Posting them on the weekends will be difficult as family is a priority. But I can catch up with the postings on Mondays and just make sure I do the sketching.

So it stays fun and achievable - which is key!
Yesterday we went to Montclair State University for their open house event and this is a sketch from one of their buildings. Love the red Spanish tile roofs!

And those vivid red rooftops inspired my desire to paint more red… hence the cherries today.

Vivid juicy and chock full of anti-oxidants.

My sketchbook is a Canson XL Series Watercolor book, 7x10, 140lb paper

My pens… Micron, 05pt

FINDING YOUR CREATIVE CONNECTION

Weekly Inspiration to help you find and stay connected to your creativity.

This week’s creativity trigger is an artist date…
#4 Visiting a Farmer’s Market

The farmer’s market in Union started last week and I used the opportunity to take myself on an artist date. I learned about artist dates when reading The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. If you are not familiar with the concept it is a once a week, solo excursion to explore something that interests you, you find fun and that will spark your imagination. It doesn’t have to be an all-day thing, an hour, or even 30 minutes can do the trick.

It was unexpectedly very hot here on Thursday, and I had long list of to-dos, you know how that goes when it’s the have-to’s vs. the want-to’s … and I almost didn’t go. It’s easier sometimes not to, but I had the inspiration on my morning walk to go as an artist date – not just a shopping chore. Again, getting out of your routine, talking to new people, seeing and noticing new things can be very reviving.

Being the first one of the season, it was very light on farm vendors and I was a bit disappointed. My initial instinct was to zip through and return home to the air conditioning, but I am glad I didn’t. I went to the Wagner Farm tent first as they had a tiered display of herbs in pots and I can never resist potted herbs. I ended up having a lovely conversation with the couple working the booth and bought some fresh ground beef, in addition to herbs. And I will be back next week for their fresh eggs!

Alstede was the other farm with a booth, and the radishes I bought were delicious, and so cute. I love the visual of all the vegetables lined up in baskets and piles. I could sketch and paint those every day. And the roasted zucchini we had with dinner was so good! Topped it off with a lovely conversation there too.

It was so nice to take my time, really look at the produce, the colors, all the shades of green, and the abundance. It was more about the experience - taking time to really look, and interact as opposed to going there to shop. What I first thought was a bit disappointing ended up being very inspiring and gave me a lot of material to work with.

It’s difficult to communicate the essence of why/how it can create a spark… maybe it is slowing down and really looking. Not rushing through to get to the next thing on the list.

Maybe it was finding and seeing all the abundance within the limited choices.

Maybe it was interacting with new people and hearing about what they create… they created these offerings of produce!

I do know that when I got home and was trying to describe to my husband the initial reaction of ‘not much there’ to my actual experience – he wanted to go. And he definitely wants to visit next week.

I think the only way to get across the advantages of the artist dates and triggers that I experience is to do a deeper dive into how it makes me feel, and what it brings forth. Then maybe I can inspire you to try them. I truly believe we all owe this to ourselves. By taking a little time each week to cultivate and nurture our creativity, and fill our buckets, we are serving ourselves and all those around us.

I encourage you to visit your local farmers market, not just for the fresh local produce, but to really look, interact and experience it. See what surfaces, and what sparks you.

Please let me know if you try it and how it feels! See you next Tuesday.

Stay creative my friends.

Erin

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This blog series is an exploration into staying creatively connected. How to find it, nurture it, and keep it flowing. And, possibly to find it again if it’s been disconnected for years, or decades.

In each weekly post I will share one idea/artist date/activity that I have tried and invite you to give it a try for your own creativity connection. If it’s flowing, there is so much more peace and enjoyment in life.

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