The Artist’s Way
I have facilitated The Artist's Way for friends for the past 11 years, opening my house and craft room to the cause. Having successfully run three rounds of The Artist's Way at Rock Mama Studio, I am offering the next round in 2025, January 27th to April 21st, 13 Monday evenings.
Looking for something sooner? Stay tuned to this place holder page, I’ll be trying an online round with friends & past students. I’ll post useful weekly materials on this page for following along!
Step outside your comfort zone.
Give Yourself Permission to Create!
Week 0:
The Contract. Make a commitment to yourself. I’ve created the contracts and printed on cardstock, watercolor, journal covers, etc.
How will you make it yours?
Reading: Introduction and the Basic Tools. Read through everything preceding Week 1. Find yourself a journal. I like composition notebooks. They are easily transportable, I don’t feel bad about scribbling my morning drivel on the pages and they can be covered or collaged. (A cover means something you can transfer to the next journal when you run out of pages.)
Week 1:
Recovering a Sense of Safety
Reading: We learn about shadow artists and protecting the inner artist child. We begin with tackling negative core beliefs. I have created a way to ‘box the censor’.
Tasks: Have you tried the Morning pages yet? Don’t forget to carve out time for an artist’s date.
This week, I have set up information about collaging and ideas for fun ways to collect your affirmations. These worksheets are designed to facilitate doing the tasks at the end of the chapter.
Week 2:
Recovering a Sense of Identity
Reading: You may find yourself setting new boundaries as you learn about what you want and need to move towards creative recovery.
Tasks: Copy/paste/write the copy of the basic principles to your Morning pages journal. Review them throughout the week.
Imaginary Lives: Many activities dig into the things we used to love and secretly held desires. Create a poster of imaginary lives. This becomes a great source for ideas of Artist Dates! Find some little piece of a dream life to enjoy this week!
Add at least three more affirmations to bury your censor.
Week 3:
Recovering a Sense of Power
Reading: We learn that Anger is a map. As we begin to open and embrace new creative avenues, synchronicities will open new (and sometimes scary) doors. We shake out long held beliefs that no longer serve us and consider new possibilities.
Tasks: Morning pages are a great place to hash out many of the tasks this week. If you’re feeling stuck for what to write, tackle the tasks.
Add to your posters. The tasks and exercises bring us to more ideas!
Warning: Prepare for next week’s reading deprivation! (pg87-88)
Week 4:
Recovering a Sense of Integrity
Reading: Remembering all the things we said we wanted to be ‘when we grew up’ we now begin the process of redefining ourselves.
Tasks: Do not skip the tool of Reading Deprivation! I extend this to social media and surfing our phones as the biggest time sinks we use to keep us from creating!
Add to your Artist dates and imaginary lives. Take an extended Artist’s Date!
Week 5:
Recovering a Sense of Possibility
Reading: This week we examine the payoffs in remaining stuck. We may find ourselves making drastic changes as we begin to break free from using others as an excuse to remain stuck.
Tasks: Lots of lists and fill in the blank exercises within this chapter are represented in the worksheets. I highly encourage starting the Image file. This becomes a great go to source when inspiration strikes for another collage. I keep a large envelope.
Week 6:
Recovering a Sense of Abundance
Reading: ‘What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.’ pg 108
Tasks: ‘Blocked creatives are often the Cinderellas of the world. Focused on others at the expense of ourselves, we may even be threatened by the idea of spoiling ourselves for once.’ pg111
Many of the tasks are acts of self care. Indulge yourself.
Week 7:
Recovering a Sense of Connection
Reading: We learn to tap into the well of creativity, looking out for perfectionism and taking risks.
Tasks: We will map our jealousy and do some digging in the past. Take the time to examine the buried treasures and create a collage that includes the past, present, future and your dreams. There’s no right or wrong. This is a date with your artist.
Week 8:
Recovering a Sense of Strength
Reading: This week we look at another major block. Time. We learn about ‘gain disguised as loss’.
Tasks: Early Patterning is an exercise from the chapter. Also consider picking 5 affirmations from the list on page 146. I’ve created worksheets for tasks 1 & 5.
Week 9:
Recovering a Sense of Compassion
Reading: This week we will face internal blocks to creativity. We will learn tools to dismantle emotional blocks.
Tasks: Take a look at creative u-turns then consider blasting through that block and mapping out a new plan.
Week 10:
Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection
Reading: This week we search out the toxic patterns we cling to that block our creative flow.
Tasks: You’ve come this far, be prepared to dig your heels in for the final stretch! Be extra nice to yourself, you deserve it.
Week 11:
Recovering a Sense of Autonomy
Reading:(pg 181) “Creativity is oxygen for our souls. Cutting off our creativity makes us savage. We react like we are being choked. There is a real rage that surfaces when we are interfered with on a level that involves picking lint off of us and fixing us up. When well meaning parents and friends push marriage or nine-to-five or anything on us that doesn’t evolve in a way that allows for our art to continue, we will react as if we are fighting for our lives-we are.”
Tasks: Build and Artist’s Altar. ‘Small rituals, self devised, are good for the soul.’ We all love an excuse for a pretty journal, task 3: Creativity Journal. I wrote this list in my ‘manifestation journal and used it to add collage ideas into my journal.
Week 12:
Recovering a Sense of Faith
Reading: Final words on how to keep going with this budding recovery. Where will you go from here?
Tasks: Make a new contract to continue using the tools of morning pages and Artist dates. Continue to nurture your artist child. Find allies to join you in The Artist’s Way and keep each other going!
Each time I reread the book is a different experience for me. There is always something different that stands out to me and my answers to the exercises have changed over time. We are ever growing and evolving artists!
