Some 2015 Artist Date Ideas .

Only three weeks in to 2015, and I am already lapsing in my artists dates. Sigh.
Does posting about artist dates count as an artist date?

What Are Artist Dates?

In Julia Cameron's book "Artist's way" she describes the tool as follows:

"The Artist Date is a once-weekly, (minimum of 2 hours), festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly“artistic” — think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration. When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it."

I posted about my artist dates in 2014. Here are some ideas that I have for 2015 (including some of the artist dates that I didn't get to in 2014):

Explore Outside:

• Explore the starry sky: Stargaze and get to know your constellations. My favourite app for this is StarWalk. It costs $2.99 but believe me when I say it's the best $2.99 you'll ever spend! Look up!
• Explore the birds in your backyard: Go Bird watching. Learn about the birds in your area using a free app from Cornell University called Merlin. You are also helping bird research by contributing to Cornell data on bird populations in your area!
• Walk the historical part of your town (like the New Edinburgh heritage trail or the Hintonburg Hertitage walking tour) and make architectural sketches.
• Visit Friends of the Ottawa Library bookstore or any place that sells books and magazines and spend $5 on reading materials that pique your interest.
• Visit Ottawa's busy and colourful Byward market and buy a coffee, people-watch or sketch.
• Go skating on the Rideau Canal skateway - be sure to check on the mobile App for ice conditions  (ot the twitter account) before setting out with your skates
• Explore any of the many trails in any season along the National Capital greenbelt

Explore Online:

• Visit a museum online. Explore the Freer Gallery of Art and sixteen other renowned museums around the world with Art Project. In this virtual environment, Google technologies enable visitors to stroll the halls of Versailles, study objects in the Hermitage, or gaze at Van Gogh’s Starry Night and other masterpieces in stunning detail.
• Visit the millions of historic images posted to Flickr by the Internet Archive and try typing in a word like "artist" or “garden’ or "poetry" and enjoy what images appear? Create a collage from the images you find.
• Look for a Canadian woman artist you have never heard of and research them online and/or visit a museum to see their art and then write a blog post about them.

Listen:

• Listen to a Podcast: My #1 choice when it comes to podcasts is the website OnBeing a Peabody and Webby-award-winning public radio program and podcast that takes up the great animating questions of human life: What does it mean to be human? And how do we want to live? From ecology to autism to torture, Krista and her guests reach beyond the headlines to explore meaning, faith, and ethics amidst the political, economic, cultural and technological shifts that define 21st century life(Available on iTunes or NPR or on the website OnBeing)These podcasts offer incredible music, food for thought and are guaranteed to be uplifting no matter the subject (environment, depression etc.) And they are free!
• Listen to some free music: I use my City of Ottawa library card to download free music through freegal