Monday August 3, 2026
Artists Way week 5
Good evening everyone,
Yesterday was national coloring book day, national ice cream sandwich day, and international day of friendship - you can bet my artist date with friends reflected all of these things. So let’s share those hilights and then dive into this week’s conversation and assignments.
For the coloring page, I did my half by selecting a handful of (pictured) colored pencils at random from a bag of presharpened colored pencils and limited myself to only using those. For the diamond painting project my goal was to do half of the set of coasters completely - well I ended up having to do one color at a time for various reasons and I’d say ive done more than half of the work but I have zero finished coasters. I also did half of that progress with a crayon instead of my usual diamond painting pen to prove that it wasn’t a myth and also to prove that i could. Ignore the fact I’m still in work clothes this week - yesterday REALLY sucked and I decided to dive right into art before eating, having any coffee, or changing. Also we had a bug friend in the bathroom and I decided rather than have a staring contest while I showered I’d just wait til he decided to explore or leave. Eventually he did come outside with us to the garden where I hope he’s living happily.
P.s. check out Tanya Hales for coloring books, awesome newsletters, and hopefully more inperson events (I met Tanya at Reader Nation in Las Vegas last year and it was a DELIGHT).
OKAY ON TO THE ARTISTS WAY WEEK 5 and buckle up everyone!
Do you feel more or less inspired now that you’ve taken a week away from distractions and pre-made media? Are you ready to discover the benefits of trusting your intuition and exploring art as a part of your rather than just a hobby? Also this week I expect many of you, if not all, will decide that your goals are loftier than you were willing to admit and you will also realize that little changes truly do add up.
The most important take away from this week’s essays really boils down to the fact that things in life can happen without you making them happen directly. For example, you can find a job you love by talking to strangers in a coffee shop before you even sit down to rewrite your resume. Or you can discover a brand new material you want to work with by wandering the craft store before you’ve ever taken a class or seen the material used. In fact during our art party one of my friends had never seen diamond painting before and he asked if I’d make something for him if he bought the kit - he doesn’t have the patience or dexterity but he loves the overall product. ABSOLUTELY. I love doing them and I only have so many places to hang or use things. Just because you don’t see how things linearly connect does not mean you didn’t work for them. Just because you didn’t make things happen in the traditional way does not mean you do not deserve it. One of my mother’s favorite sayings while I was growing up is “trust in Allah but tether your camel first.” Have faith that everything will work out and good things will come to you but understand that you have to know what you want, you have to be willing to do the work and you have to understand that the footwork will get you farther than the worrying. In artistry, trust is believing that your work will find the right audience at the right time but tethering your camel is creating the art, being willing to share it, talking about your passions, playing with new techniques and mediums, and sometimes also being willing to learn or take advice from those around you. Just because you aren’t sure how to get what you want does not mean you aren’t working towards it or that you are unworthy. Whether you believe in god, the universe, or something else all together, the world will never leave lacking anything you are willing to want and show up for. Sometimes it takes time, sometimes it arrives in a strange way, and sometimes you blind yourself to the opportunities that are presenting themselves to you - but there are options, there is hope, and you are wonderful.
If you remember synchronicity from a few weeks ago, this is just reiterating the beauty of synchronicity and the way it and faith or belief or dismissing your own limitations (the above essay) go hand in hand. If you’d like to read more about that feel free to read the next two images and if you’d like to skip to the assignments you can do that as well. I’d like to remind you that the artists way is a guide in living a life that allows you to be creative and authentic in all that you do not just when you take to canvas, ink, or whatever projects you choose. And as such there are many essays that go on longer than necessary just to remind you that the things you’re learning and working with do truly support all aspects of living. I know someone who’s done the artists way with the bluejay community and found a much healthier living situation, a much more stable income, and a new passion for cooking dinners at home all from the workshop - while also taking up drumming and reigniting a love of writing novels. And a very active community member, Zoe, has done the artists way with us before and it gave her the confidence to apply for a promotion at work, take harder classes at university, and give new relationships a chance - regardless of the level of success all three taught her amazing things and she continues to take risks, reap wonderful rewards, and create some incredibly powerful art - particularly by way of photography.
ASSIGNMENTS AND CHECK-INS
As always, I recommend doing these by hand if at all possible and including them in the same notebook or folder or whatever you’re using as last week’s and ideally your “morning” pages as well.
By now you should be able to tell when you’re called to do an assignment, when you feel resistance to one, and what being indifferent indicates. But if you’re still figuring that out always do the ones you’re called to, the ones your resistant to, and give yourself grace to the indifferent ones unless the reading and I make particular mention of them and their payoffs.
ONE WORD PROMPTS:
potatoes
sword
finger
watermelon
exhuberint
two
love
WORD BANK PROMPTS:
lily, scatter, moon, interrupt, enter, railroad
taste, flesh, pawn, trick, loud, lock
tidy, cute, fair, mouth, colony, court
corn, able, rain, variety, funeral, hypnotize
supply, veil, constant, unanimous, prey, racism
consideration, acute, forest, transaction, use, publicity
financial, vision, castle, execute, log, find
JULY READING RECAP:
The Baby Dragon Cafe by A.T. Qureshi - 4/5 I knew it would be a romance but I didn’t know to what degree, while I enjoyed the pacing, I don’t think there was too much spice for my taste, and the characters were ADORABLE - I do wish the synopsis or advertising gave me a better idea of what i was getting into.
The Baby Dragon Bakery by A.T. Qureshi - 4/5 I did love the book and I will reread it and this time I knew what I was getting into because its in the same world as the above listing - but the advertising and synopsis did not improve.
The Starless Sea by Erin Morganstern - 5/5 always a 5 always and as many times as I reread and relisten to this I only love it more. So beautifully crafted, such fantastic storytelling, what a lively world, masterfully woven together and balanced out. Every single thing has purpose and don’t let the length of the book scare you.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - 4/5 the repetition bothers me and I know I’m alone in this I KNOW I’m alone but I’m still going to be honest. Other than that, it’s a great story about found friendship, being a teenager, and embracing the things that make us different. This book has been recommended to me highly and I know it is loved and adored and admired by many of you - and I am trying. I do like it now. the repetition just gets to me for personal reasons.
I Love you call me back by Sabrina Benaim - 4/5 it was a pandemic poetry collection and while I don’t think that takes away from the collection I do think it gets a little less potent and resonant as we continue to get further and further away from that mindset. Also of course, trigger warnings for mother/daughter relationships, medical scares, and being away from loved ones. I do LOVE that Sabrina narrates it herself though and her narrations are just as engaging as her on stage performances and I don’t know if that’s worthy of the extra point to make it 5/5 or not so I’m leaving my rating as is and simply saying that’s a great aspect of the audiobook.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - 5/5 always a favorite always a reread a classic in not only the science fiction world but the film world, art in general, and conversations of humanity.
Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams - 4/5 I think we lose the plot a little and some of the significance of the first book, but it’s still entertaining, we’re still discussing humanity and the state of the world, and what we except from the lives we live. But it’s less impactful than book one.
Life the universe and everything by Douglas adams -4/5 still middle ground filler. We need it to connect the first two to the last two but it just doesn’t have the same zing or spark as some of the others.
So Long and thanks for all the fish by Douglas adams - here we get back to 5/5 quality because this one is HILARIOUS while posing even bigger questions and being even more entertaining and no pun intended but reeling us back in before the big finale in Mostly harmless - which I did not get to reread this month but do plan on rereading in August.
Before the Coffee gets cold by Toshikzu Kawaguchi - 5/5 I understand why this has so much hype and I love the conversations this begins and the characters it introduces and I did cry at multiple sections.
Tales from the Cafe by Toshikzu Kawaguchi - 5/5 the same style and storytelling as the first collection but we’re focused on a different aspect of life and the roles we play in other people’s stories as well as our own. LOVED it.
Before your memory fades by toshikzu kawaguchi - 5/5 we’re not running out of steam here however this was the one I took the most time with because it is so grief centered and well if you know you know. I will definitely be rereading it again at a later time.
Before we say goodbye by toshikzu kawaguchi - 4/5 I wouldn’t say we’re losing the plot and I wouldn’t say any of the writing is less impactful. I just think for me personally we’re spending too much time on grief and the ways we deal with impending sorrow before we’ve even experienced it.
If you want a more in depth review of any of these feel free to ask I’d love to tell you more, but I know some of you were asking what I read, how I choose which books I’m going to read when, and wanted to know how i felt about a few of these. I also reviewed 25 coloring books this month which was a blast and I’ll definitely be sharing my favorites with you soon (FOR NOW THOUGH DEFINITELY CHECK OUT TANYA HALES mentioned earlier in this letter!)
As always, thank you for your patience and joining me another week,
Sincerely,
BlueJay
I'm so glad I saw this! I adore how your art turned out, and I am genuinely delighted that you are enjoying my coloring book. 🥹 💖💖💖 Thank you for making my day.