The Artist's Way Book Club led by Christine Joy Swanson

2024 Dates will be announced soon!

These five weeks will cover the Intro and then first 4 chapters of "The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" By Julia Cameron. The series will pick up again with a new drop in series in 2024. 

This can be a group where people can pop in and out at any time - so people can sign up for a class at a time. The book works in such a way that if a student misses a class they don't "fall behind"! Christine Joy will be using each weekly chapter for group questions— covering a challenge every artist faces in their artist life. 

November 14th - Artist’s Way Intro Reading - Introduction to the Artist’s Way book and various artist challenges we face/practices that will help us along the way. I will guide an art critique session using one of my old paintings to begin teaching students how to give helpful critiques in future critique times. (Critique is a word that scares many of us so I am going to debunk the fear around that word and show how helpful it can be to get others input on our artwork - it is also a lot of fun in my experience! Part of the fun is a bit of "show and tell")

Nov 21st - "Week 1" in the book called "Recovering A Sense Of Safety." This chapter deals a lot with the inner art critic - the voice within us that keeps us from creating freely. Here we talk about "Protecting The Inner Artist Child Within." Great stuff in this chapter! For the last half hour we will have guided art critique time. 

Nov 28th - "Week 2" in the book called "Recovering A Sense Of Identity."  This chapter deals with the challenge of outside voices in our artist journey. This chapter is about getting more in touch with our true artist identity, and separating this from what others may have told us about our ability/"talent"/creativity/etc in the past. For the last half hour we will have guided art critique time. 

Dec 5th - "Week 3" is called "Recovering A Sense Of Power." This chapter covers topics like "synchronicity, anger, dealing with criticism, and growth." The focus of this chapter is to find empowerment through these things in our artistic journey. For the last half hour we will have guided art critique time. 

Dec 12th - "Week 4" is called "Recovering A Sense Of Integrity." Here we will do some excavation work to dig up some of our "buried artistic dreams." Another question we will discuss is "What changes need to be made" to bring them back to life. For the last half hour we will have guided art critique time. 

ARTIST INSTRUCTOR: Christine Joy Swanson

LOCATION: This drop in series is held Off Site-- the location's address will be shared once you register for a drop in session.  **Please note November 7th session was cancelled and postponed until November 14th.

EXPERIENCE LEVEL: All welcome!

SUPPLIES/MATERIALS: All materials provided. It is not required to attend all sessions- you can sign for a drop in at any point. It is reccommeded that you find a copy of the book, if possible, but absolutely not a requirement. Christine Joy will provide all necessary materials for discussion and critique. The group will continue in January 2024 moving on with Chapter 5.

ENROLLMENT COST: $15/drop in to cover materials, art supplies.

Sliding-scale pricing options are available for anyone in financial hardship. Find more information here.

Please note: 
There is a max of 15 students per workshop. Please join the waitlist if the spots are full. If someone drops the class, all people on the waitlist will receive an automated email to register. It is first-come, first-serve for the open spot.

Health & Safety: 2023 Cancellation Policy
- Masks are now optional for all staff and students