Artist Date: Fort Williams Park... 5.10.2013

One of the things that I have found incredibly important – and just as easily forgotten about or put off (I will admit to being guilty of this) – is the need to recharge your artistic batteries regularly. I first read about this idea in Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” about 15 years ago, and although her 15 week creative block program didn’t work for me, her idea of a planning a regular Artist Date DID. An Artist Date does not necessarily have to cost anything and it is entirely up to you to decide on what to do during your “date” – after all, it is your time to spend with your “inner artist” (Cameron’s phrasing).  For me, an Artist Date may consist of:     

·         wandering through an art supply store checking out potential new supplies

·         browsing the new releases in a book store or attending a library sale

·         attending an art show at a gallery or museum (keep an eye out for free admission dates or check your local library for free or discounted passes) or local Open Studio or Arts on the Green events

·         watching an art biopic

·         reading an artist biography or material that the artist has written themselves

·         getting out of my comfort zone and taking my sketchbook out to a park for the afternoon

Portland Head Light #1

This weekend’s Artist Date introduced us to Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, ME. My partner had suggested an overnight stay just outside of Portland, ME with the idea of grabbing some downtime before preparations for the upcoming show start ramping up. Some of our best trips have had minimal or absolutely no agenda (including final destination) at all and last weekend nothing was planned outside of hanging out at the beach and checking to see if the area could be a source for new adventures.  Sunday morning found us just north of Two Lights State Park and we had noticed on the map that Fort Williams Park was relatively close-by, so we decided to try to locate it and check it out.

Portland Head Light #2

Fort Williams Park is a decommissioned fort; it has 90+ acres of green space and rocky coastline for visitors to enjoy. They have a small, relatively sandy beach, remnants of a mansion and military fortifications, a large pavilion area for parties and family reunions, walk-up access to Portland Head Light (with museum and gift shop) with amazing views of nearby Ram Island Ledge Light and Casco Bay. Additionally, visitors have access to a number of playing fields (we saw soccer and flag football games going on in separate sections of the park and rumor has it there are tennis courts and a baseball field), along with crushed stone coastal pathways and picnics areas overlooking the rocky coastline – some actually have grills… and, best of all: the park is FREE.

You may be wondering how this can be considered an Artist Date. As I previously mentioned, an Artist Date can be anything you wish it to be, in this case: scouting out potential areas to spend the day working on my projects, taking photos and gathering ideas. Cape Elizabeth is only an hour and half from Lawrence, MA, so this makes it an assessable area to day-trip to, plus you have access to Portland itself, which is an art-friendly city and one that I hope to be spending more time in. Also, once home, I had a chance to check out their website: http://www.capeelizabeth.com/visitors/attractions/fort_williams_park/home.html and learned that we had just missed the annual Labor Day Art Show… giving us an “excuse” to return again next year and spend more time there.

Portland Head Light #3

NOTE: For those not familiar with Julia Cameron’s  “The Artist’s Way” and would like to learn more, please check out: http://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/artists-dates As I mentioned, her program didn’t work for me, but I did get some constructive ideas out of it, maybe another creatively blocked artist could benefit more from it.

Jenn White
White Rooster Studios