Artist’s Date

This weekend my daughter and I went out on an Artist’s Date. We are always meaning to do one of these and yet, work and life seem to find ways of delaying that plan.

An Artist’s Date is a concept by Julia Cameron from her book The Artist’s Way as a way to refill that creative well to draw from for writing, art, music, etc. when we’ve pulled from it too much and feel like we are running on empty.

And that’s where we’ve both been lately, running on empty.

So after getting some grocery shopping out of the way, we decided to drop in at The Burrowing Owl used bookstore. I love bookstores! There’s just something mystical and magical about a used bookstore. You never know what treasure you might find tucked away!

We browsed through the Sci/Fi and YA sections where I left my daughter. She writes fantasy for young adults and she always hits those shelves first. I was not planning on buying anything at all, I just wanted to look around and see what they had. Here and there tucked in or high up on a shelf were owl figurines (hence The Burrowing Owl name) in different poses throughout the bookstore. There were mystery grab bags of 4-5 books for $10. We might get one of those next time. There was a display table for souvenirs and gifts that looked fun.

The poetry section had only a handful of books. The nature section had several, but nothing that jumped out at me to read. I looked through the novels and mysteries, nothing there that peaked my interest at all. Still, I was just enjoying being around tons of books and looking at all the possibilities.

Then I walked into a small cozy room that had a nice sturdy chair to sit back and relax in. I sat down and felt the cool air from the vent above me. Perfect spot for a 100 degree day! I looked over at the books next to me on the shelf and there were 4 shelves full of Louis L’Amour westerns. I have not read a western in years and I loved his Sackett series long ago—and of course the movies that Tom Selleck and Sam Elliot starred in.

The Haunted Mesa caught my eye tucked in between his other books and I picked it up. Several people have recommended this book for a little bit of a twist that includes portals and even Sasquatch. They said L’Amour did his research back then (in the 1980s when this was published) and was ahead of his time. I was glad to finally find this book and started reading it right there in the chair.

My daughter came in later to find me and was ready to go. She didn’t find anything she wanted but did get some ideas, and that is what the Artist Date was for anyway. To refill that creative well.

We had a great date!

Do you take an Artist’s Date to take a break from all the stress and just enjoy something for the sake of enjoying it? Where do you go? What do you do? I would love to hear your ideas on things to do and places to go!