I went to an art show opening on Friday night at my local museum. A group of eight women artists displayed artwork that was the end result of their journey through Julia Cameron’s book, The Vein of Gold. The eight women met once a week with the idea of doing one chapter from the book a week. Each would read the chapter of the week and do the tasks outlined at the end of each chapter and then they would come together and discuss their process. What should have taken 12 weeks to accomplish stretched into 12 months. Each discovered their individual levels of resistance in committing to the creative process and each was held accountable by the group. What they discovered was that resistance is a part of the creative process and has its foundation built on fear. Once the resistance is named and the fear revealed the real journey can begin or it can come to a crashing halt.

I was asked to be a part of this group originally but for many reasons it didn’t workout and I became a witness to their process instead. Being an outsider I was allowed to experience different points of view on the same issues. When eight women come together to traverse their internal landscapes, self-preservation comes into play and issues become much larger than necessary. Self-examination is scary all by itself but sharing it with others can be terrifying. Our emotions are wrapped tight like a newborn baby and well guarded. How much are any of us really willing to reveal to others? Hell, they might discover that we are as worthless as our internal critic says we are, a big phony with no creativity worth the effort it takes to cultivate! It’s a personal thing, creativity, it’s an expression of who we are, or at the very least, who we think we are. Doing art is an artist’s desire to communicate something on an emotional level. The very thing that drives an artist to make art can also stop them. There were many times when one or another of the eight women wanted to quit the group and the daunting task of self-exploration but they held it together and what they learned shows in their artwork.

The opening was an inspirational surprise. Not only did they show their art, they offered a small glimpse into their creative process with a video interview done by a local film producer. For me the experience was an affirmation. It affirmed that I’m on the right track to re-igniting my own creative flame.

I can’t recommend Julia’s books enough, The Artist Way and The Vein of Gold. They will inspire and cultivate anyone’s desire to create, they will spin a mind into a web of creative thoughts, and not only will the art be transformed, so will the artist’s life.

Here is a link to the show. There’s a photo of the artists self-portraits with a link to a QuickTime movie clip.

Here is the Web site of one of the artist, Susan Dunker.