Walking the Way of the Artist Monk

☀️ Summer Art Club returns!

Daffodils and tulips have come and gone. The lilac in our yard is finally blossoming. Summer is just a short month away, a time for visiting the beach just because and ice cream for dinner and, for me at least, waking up and exploring creativity again.

Yes friends, it’s Summer Art Club season! Wanna come along?

We had a lot of great conversations and playful fun with The Artist’s Way last time, but this year I wanted to try something a little different. I’m getting the sense that with AI looming everywhere (in the workplace, in art and writing, in our cultural imagination) maybe this year it would do us some good to explore some slow, embodied rhythms of contemplative creativity.

You’re invited to come along on a 12 week journey through Christine Valter Paintner’s book The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom.

Together, we’ll explore what Benedictine monastics, Celtic wisdom, and desert spirituality traditions might have to show us about the creative life. This is a way of being that resists hustle culture and instant gratification, and every week there will be an invitation to explore sacred reading, poetry writing, visual art, and contemplative walking.

What Exactly is Summer Art Club?

A 12 week The Artist’s Rule book club, hosted right here on Substack, June 15 - September 5.

Cool, How’re We Gonna Do This?

Each week, we’ll read a chapter and work through the practices in the book. I’ll set the table with:

• A Sunday paywalled post with your weekly reading assignment, a little summary of the chapter ahead, and check in questions.

• A private discussion space where we can chat throughout the week and share our art and insights. (Platform TBD, please vote on the signup form! Last year we used Discord and that was mostly good, but there’s a bit of a learning curve if you’ve never used it.)

• At least one Zoom call a month for a face to face check in and/or lectio divina practice together.

Wait, Did You Say Paywall?

Yep, but hear me out. To protect the space, discussions and book club posts will be paywalled. But I have options! You can choose one time or monthly, and comp subscriptions for anyone who needs it.

• If you want to do a one time payment (and get a month free), it’s $10 via Buy Me A Coffee or Venmo @Jen-Yokel.

• If you want to try it out, you can upgrade your subscription to $5/month. The benefit is you can cancel anytime if you find it’s not a good fit for you right now.

It takes a bit of work to set something like this up, so consider the subscription fee a small contribution to help support my work. That said…

Please know I don’t want money to be a barrier! Art club is for everyone!

If you want to join but the paywall is holding you back, DM me or email hello [at] jenroseyokel [dot] com and I’ll set you up with a complimentary subscription. If you want to be there, I want you there. 💛

Other than that, all you need is whatever art supplies you have on hand and a copy of The Artist’s Rule, which you can purchase through one of the links here.

Whether you’re creative by career or in the margins, and whether you think yourself an Artist or not, I hope you’ll consider joining us!