I am two weeks into a workshop on The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Guide to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. Joyce Hogue is leading the workshop for our group of 10 or 12 women, at A. Wickey Studio-Gallery in Rosemary Beach, Florida. I bought the book eons ago, when it first came out, and I started it several times, but my interest always waned after not even one week of studying it by myself. One of the exercises in the first chapter, which is to continue I guess for the rest of your life, is to write 3 pages about anything, every morning. I found out in this workshop that I don’t have to use a big notebook, so I can finish my 3 pages inside ½ hour every day. I think using a fullsize notebook is what cost me my enthusiasm in previous attempts. I expect the energy of the group to keep me focused.
I am more in touch with my desire to produce art now, and I expect The Artist’s Way workshop to reinforce the direction I am heading. Anyone following my blog knows that I am not a “blocked” artist, that I have been producing quite a bit of art over the past few years, especially considering that I also have a full-time job and several part-time jobs. Also I have been much more involved in my local art community, serving on the Board of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA), and working especially hard on CAA’s A+Art Committee.
One of my part-time jobs has been to occasionally produce photographic images for Leslie Kolovich, host of The Stand Up Paddle Radio Show, a blog with online podcasts of her interviews of interesting people and events connected by the theme of standup paddling. She also writes “On the Road with Leslie” segments for the Standup Journal, where some of my photography has illustrated her adventures.
So it should not be not a surprise that I took my cameras with me on my “artist date”, an exercise assigned by the Artist’s Way workshop. I got up early last Saturday, and launched my canoe in the bayou behind my house, and paddled out on the glassy-calm Choctawhatchee Bay at sunrise. The buoys marking the Intracoastal Waterway captured me, and my half-hour artists date turned into two hours. I played with some of my photos right there and then, in my canoe, using an application on my iPhone. I’ve included a couple in this post. Most of my photography is done with my Sony Cybershot which I dearly love, but which requires a computer for any post-processing.
My practice of photography is paying off. Next week is the opening of “Scenes of South Walton“, a juried art exhibit at Hidden Lantern Gallery in Rosemary Beach, Florida, and I am one of the 12 artists selected for the show. I submitted 3 photographic images. All of the art is nature-inspired from South Walton County, Florida, my home community, as a part of the Back-to-Nature Festival hosted by South Walton Community Council. The show opens Thursday, 10/18/12, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
The next night, 10/19/12, A+Art’s “Top of the Class” juried art show opens at Northwest Florida State College, in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. I served as show coordinator with the Co-Chair of the A+Art Committee, Miffie Hollyday, for the production of this show. Every member of the committee provides invaluable assistance, and I’m excited to be a part of this team effort. Working behind the scenes certainly has given me an appreciation for the process.
Most of my images are available for purchase. Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot