Reigniting the Flames: Going on An Artist Date

I've been on a long hiatus; it's been three months since I've updated paper-pencil-pen! Chalk it up to my writer's block -- or blogger's block. First, it was all the wedding planning (yes, m'lady and I legally tied the knot at the end of June!) followed by a honeymoon to southern Utah in July. Well, somehow August and half of September came and went... with my eyes mostly glued to the computer for the copywriting job I've held since last October. I do have aspirations to get back to the creative work.

So, last week I made a jumpstart by taking myself out for what Julia Cameron calls an "artist date" in her book The Artist's Way: "The Artist Date is a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you." (Click on the hyperlink for more info from her blog!)

The Sebastopol Center for the Arts held an opening for its juried exhibit ABZ EtCetera: "work that explores the use of letters, numbers, symbols, characters, text, books, calligraphy but also images of graffiti, murals and letter envelopes"

What a visual (and sometimes tactile) delight it was to peruse the text-based images, art, books and other papery pleasures in our midst! Among my favorites were this ceramic paper press, enlarged Japanese stamps, and handcrafted drawers for envelopes and other sundries (created from reclaimed wood with photograph 'ancestry' montages on the sides and hidden places for a child's treasures inside).

There was also Eric Johnson's deck of typoglyphic cards, which he created at his Iota Press. I'm signing up for one of his letterpress workshops next month!

Dear Reader,
How do you reignite your writing (or artistic) aspirations? Have you taken yourself out on an artist date lately?