🎨 I took myself on an artist date

When you read The Artist’s Way, you’re supposed to commit to two practices: daily morning pages and weekly artist dates. Because my experience is more The Artist’s Way Lite™ (or even The Lazy Artist’s Way), I’m adhering to a much looser cadence for these practices. I’m journaling a few times per week, and I’ve done a handful of artist dates so far. Not bad!

These are author Julia Cameron’s “rules” for artist dates:

One challenge is that I live in the middle of nowhere. I’m at least 90 minutes’ drive from many of the suggested artist date destinations. There is, however, a thrift store just 25 minutes away. And it’s a really good one. 

I rarely have much of a list when I go thrift shopping because you really never know what you’ll find. But on artist dates, I pay particular attention to the craft supplies, organizational items, etc. I recently claimed our spare bedroom for my craft corner/art studio, and I feel like I’ll never have enough little bins and tubs for all my things. 

Here are some of my recent treasures. A thrift haul, if you will:

1. The original spirograph predates me, but it was definitely still a thing in the 90s. Spirotot is apparently an iteration aimed at little ones, with pieces that are slightly larger and easier to handle. The lady working at the till expressed envy when she saw this in my basket. I can’t wait to try it out!

2. I kid you not, I have an identical item sitting in my online shopping cart at muji.ca. It’s essentially just a little clear binder with clear pockets, and it will be perfect for storing and organizing my sticker collection (gosh, my inner child is very pleased with that sentence).

3. A nice red basket for storage! Bright, primary red and primary blue are my favorite colors, so my eye always catches on them. 

4. This giant carabiner. No idea what I’ll use it for, but it spoke to me. I think it’s designed for hanging a diaper bag on a stroller? 

5. Another thing that spoke to me: this toy drill. It’s so charming and whimsical, and it’s my favorite colors! (I immediately had the absurd and disturbing thought of re-labeling it “for lobotomies.” Am I okay?)

7. I love finding original art at the thrift store. Not the ill-fated Pinterest crafts (i.e. melted crayon canvases, iykyk) but tasteful amateur stuff that has been discarded for some unfathomable reason. I bought this felted landscape, signed by the artist, for $1. I love it.

6. How cool is this calligraphy book?! I knew I was going to buy it before I even looked inside because the cover is so stylish and fun. 

8. The ap-peel of this next item should be obvious 😉 I am a huge sucker for functional items that are shaped like food. I don’t actually know what this apple container was originally for… it’s double-walled, kind of like an ice bucket, but it’s too small for that. In any case, it will look very cute on a shelf in my studio.

9. This doohickey is a flexible phone/device holder that can clamp to a table. I think people use these to read their Kindle while snuggled under the covers with a page-turner remote, but I plan to use it to film flatlay videos. (I might try the Kindle thing too.)

After taking myself on a few thrifting artist dates, I feel like branching out. Maybe I will drive to Saskatoon or Regina or Moose Jaw, where there is a bit more to do. Or maybe I will have a nature artist date! We live near a migratory bird sanctuary that is quite nice, although I need the bugs to die ASAP (the mosquitos have gotten really bad again). 

For a homebody and introvert, these excursions feel especially important. They help me get out of the house, and more importantly, out of my head. 

See you next week,

Kara

What I do when I’m not at my desk

Kara Detwiller is a writer and artist based in small-town Saskatchewan. She specializes in long-form content writing for enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, and manufacturing clients. She is also working on her first novel, among other creative pursuits. To connect, reply to this email or find Kara on LinkedIn.