{"id":6827,"date":"2018-02-25T04:00:18","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T12:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=6827"},"modified":"2018-02-24T21:03:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T05:03:25","slug":"6827","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/culture\/6827\/","title":{"rendered":"An Artist Date"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Danny Pierce, 1958<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Last week because it was colder than usual, I spent way too much time inside at home. So yesterday, when the temperature jumped from the low thirties to the mid-forties, I decided it was time to get out and go for an artist date<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Actually Mindy Halleck put the idea in my head a few days earlier. She\u2019d been asked by a student how writers can keep from being overwhelmed by how much work it takes to write a novel. And though she\u2019d answered the student in class, afterwards she felt his question deserved a more complete answer. Hence her blog post<\/a>. I urge you to read it. It\u2019s very good.<\/p>\n

The one point she made that hit home for me, especially after my stay-at-home week, was her mention of an artist date<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a writer or an artist, you may have read The Artist\u2019s Way<\/a><\/em> by Julia Cameron. In the book, Ms Cameron discusses ideas and techniques to help the creative person thrive. Among other things, she recommends taking yourself on an artist date<\/em>. It\u2019s a simple idea. Creation doesn\u2019t happen in a vacuum. It grows out of our openness to and interaction with life and the world. She calls it \u201copening yourself to insight, inspiration, guidance \u2026 filling the well.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Virginia Woolf, a writer benefits from having \u201ca room of one’s own<\/a>.\u201d And yet, you can\u2019t stay in that room all the time.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I started my artist date<\/em> at the Cascadia Art Museum, a museum in Edmonds, WA, that\u2019s dedicated to showing Pacific Northwest mid-century art.<\/p>\n

Their current exhibit is Northwest Design at Mid-Century<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Evert Sodergren, 1953<\/p><\/div>\n

Before WWII, American furniture was heavy and square-ish. After the war, air travel became more common and gave Americans a chance to see the rest of the world. The Pacific Northwest, with its ties to both the Far East and to Scandinavian countries, was the logical place for a new, lighter kind of furniture design.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bob Cram, Original advertising illustration for Frederick & Nelson’s Department Store<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s no date on this illustration, but it has a definite mid-century look.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tatiana M. Roats, circa 1955<\/p><\/div>\n

Nothing says the Northwest like Native Americans smoking fish.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ebba Rapp, circa 1938<\/p><\/div>\n

This bronze was sculpted in about 1938. Some things never go out of fashion.<\/p>\n

\n

Walking through the museum by myself, I had lots of time to think. And the one impression that kept coming back to me was the sense of awe I felt at how much time and care the artists and artisans put into their work.<\/p>\n

Why do they (we) do it? Why the passion for perfection and beauty? Why the desire to create something new, something all your own?<\/p>\n

In monetary terms, it doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n

And yet, that creative spark stubbornly remains deep inside us.<\/p>\n

And we just keep making art.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Last week because it was colder than usual, I spent way too much time inside at home. So yesterday, when the temperature jumped from the low thirties to the mid-forties, I decided it was time to get out and go for an artist date. Actually Mindy Halleck put the idea in my head a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43,743,29,1606,1050,1138],"tags":[1693,1689,1694,1692,1691,1695,1690],"class_list":["post-6827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-books","category-culture","category-edmonds","category-washington-state","category-winter","tag-a-room-of-ones-own","tag-artist-date","tag-cascadia-art-museum","tag-creativity","tag-julia-cameron","tag-northwest-design-at-mid-century","tag-the-artists-way"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s3Kn1e-6827","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10142,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/an-artist-date\/","url_meta":{"origin":6827,"position":0},"title":"An Artist Date","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"March 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Bali by Nicki Chen Last Sunday I went on an \"artist date\" to the Cascadia Art Museum. 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They're meant to be solo affairs, a time for the artist or writer to take a couple hours\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/rice-terraces2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/rice-terraces2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/rice-terraces2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9599,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/art\/youthful-dreams-do-they-remain\/","url_meta":{"origin":6827,"position":1},"title":"Youthful Dreams, Do They Remain?","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"July 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"painted by my mom What did you want to be when you grew up? My mom's dream was to become an artist. I don't know when that dream began for her, but by the time she was in high school, she was filling scrapbooks with her drawings. He stylish fashion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/IMG_2855-2-e1626986515489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10169,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/cascadia-art-museum-thoughts-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":6827,"position":2},"title":"Cascadia Art Museum, Thoughts & Images","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"April 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago I visited The Cascadia Art Museum. See An Artist Date. I described there that an \u201cartist date\u201d is meant to be a solo affair, a time to pay close attention to the sights and sounds, how the place you\u2019re visiting makes you feel, and what it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/IMG_3804-e1680721202778.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":257,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/art\/according-to-what-thought-on-visiting-the-ai-weiwei-exhibit-at-the-indianapolis-museum-of-art\/","url_meta":{"origin":6827,"position":3},"title":"“According to What?” Thoughts on Visiting the Ai Weiwei Exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 Questions \u201cAccording to What?\u201d The exhibit\u2019s name was a question\u2014which suited me that day. Questions filled my mind as my granddaughter and I ran through the drizzle and up the steps to the museum. What was art anyway in the year 2013?\u00a0\u00a0 Who gets to define it? And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo courtesy of anna.xie","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/8312146742_7327e0b00d_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6117,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/family\/graduation-2017-and-my-granddaughter\/","url_meta":{"origin":6827,"position":4},"title":"Graduation 2017 and my Granddaughter","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"June 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A Completion and a Beginning. Most of life is just day after day\u2014the rising and setting of the sun, the turning of the seasons. One day blending into another. But then, there are the milestones, those events that mark a new phase in one\u2019s life: the birth of a child,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "family"","block_context":{"text":"family","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/IMG_2468-e1496955957544.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2540,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/art\/batik-saving-and-resisting-color\/","url_meta":{"origin":6827,"position":5},"title":"Batik: Saving and Resisting Color","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"November 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Thinking in reverse. Years ago, when I did Chinese brush painting, the process was straight forward. I applied ink and color directly to rice paper. Anything I didn\u2019t touch just stayed white. Then I took up batik painting, and I had to start thinking in reverse. Batik is a resist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"batik on silk by Nicki Chen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0516-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0516-1024x682.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/IMG_0516-1024x682.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6827"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6839,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6827\/revisions\/6839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}