
When I read this letter of Van Gogh's it comforted me very much and seemed to throw a clear light on the whole road of Art. Before, I thought that to produce a work of painting or literature, you scowled and thought long and ponderously and weighed everything solemnly and learned everything that all artists had ever done aforetime, and what their influences and schools were, and you were extremely careful about *design* and *balance* and getting *interesting planes* into your painting, and avoided, with the most astringent severity, showing the faintest *acedemical* tendency, and were strictly modern. And so on and so on.
And Van Gogh's little drawing on the cheap note paper was a work of art because he loved the sky and the frail lamppost against it so seriously that he made the drawing with the most exquisite conscientiousness and care. ”
These days, it seems that there is quite a bit of artistic support and encouragement on the web but before the web took off – we’re talking 10 to 15 years ago – one book stood out and that book was The Artist’s Way.
I bought it at a bookstore in Burlington, Vermont, where I lived. (One downside about the web: it has eaten bookstores.) At the time, I was also taking a drawing class and got into a conversation with the teacher about the book. We gradually formed a creative cluster, along with two other people. We’d get together and talk about a particular chapter, our art and where we were going with our creativity.
In 1997 I moved to Chicago and was fortunate to go to a workshop by Julia, at which I met two other women. With them, I joined my second creative cluster. Every month we’d meet at a cafe and do the same: talk about the book and converse about how we were getting along with our morning pages, how many artist’s dates we went on. One of these women became an accomplished playwright; the other, a published author.
I probably worked with The Artist’s Way for a good ten years and by far the most wonderful thing I got from it was the creative clusters, which was Julia’s brainchild. From these groups came steadfast friends to whom I am still close. I never bonded with the morning pages; I couldn’t get up early enough and never felt comfortable doing them. However, artist’s dates were easy and a delight to do!
I probably don’t know how much I am indebted to The Artist’s Way. Certainly it championed my creativity. Undoubtedly I have benefited from its unwavering belief in the importance of artistic expression. I think it created a foundation from which I always went back to my art. Sometimes I would stop, be discouraged, or think ‘What the use’, but I always went back. I think I have Julia to thank for that.
Sue Oliver - Sue blogs at This Happy Room
OFF! I'm on a extended trip. Artist dates galore, brother's birthday, a spot of research in an archive I hope, exhibtion visiting. Will be checking email intermittently until the 5th Feb.
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