Lara Tupper: Swift Ink Stories

The Wisdom of the Artist Date

(Photo by Robert Sturman)

If I allow myself, I can get lost in artwork—particularly when I’m feeling out of sorts—the lull and fascination of so much visual input, the stories told in other points of view. I can release my own stories for a while.

I tend to go to museums solo and have no set itinerary. In this way I have the “freedom to act a little weirdly,” as author Alain de Botton says in The Art of Travel. I don’t have to temper my pace or opinions. I only have to pay attention to my reactions.

Author and teacher Julia Cameron calls this kind of excursion an Artist Date, as explained in The Artist’s Way. “The Artist Date is assigned play, a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. It need not be overtly ‘artistic’—think mischief more than mastery.”

(To read the rest of my essay, please see Kripalu Resources: Getting Lost in a Museum: The Power of Art to Spark the Senses and the Soul.)

MARCH WRITING EXERCISE - Plan and…