The Artist Way Workshop - June 22, 2023

The Artist Way Workshop – Recovering a Sense of Power Chapter 3 – June 22, 2023

“This week you may have found yourself dealing with unaccustomed bursts of energy and sharp peaks of anger, joy, and grief”, according to Julia Cameron. She explains this is “because you are coming into your power as the illusory hold of your previously accepted limits is shaken”. The concepts of progress and growth are not in a linear or straight line. The process of growth and progress may feel more like two steps forward and five steps back. The important thing to remember is to practice being kind to ourselves.

Julia Cameron addresses many key concepts in this rather meaty chapter. Anger, she explains, is meant to be listened to, it shows us our boundaries, and where we want to go, acting like a map pointing us in the direction we need to go, address, work on, or explore. In other words, anger is a healthy emotion inviting us to grow. Other vital concepts she discusses in this chapter must deal with some of the different

emotions that may be triggered in the process of becoming creatively unblocked. Curiosities, explorations, and expressions associated with creativity may cause some people to feel shame. If a person was made to feel shame at an early age, they may have buried that feeling under “it doesn’t matter”. If they then start creating, it may bring up those feelings of shame and prevent many talented people from following through. This is why we need to learn to be very protective of each other as creatives and of ourselves, especially when it comes to criticism.

We worked on our found things landscape collages from our sensory walks. We had many great landscapes transforming our found items into many beautiful scenes.

Next meeting, we are going to do Blackout Poetry Collages in our Art Journals and discuss Chapter 4. Look forward to creating together.

Supply list:

Select three of your favorite song’s lyrics. Type the lyrics on a page, filling the page with text from the lyrics. Have these three pages ready for our activity on Thursday.

Markers

Paints and Brushes

Stencils

Scrap paper and glue