Artful Friends

JenniferShawls

I am blessed with quite a few artful friends with whom I enjoy getting together to draw or paint, knit or crochet. The above sketch is of myself and a friend who is also named Jennifer. We both love multiple expressions of creativity, including knitting. Hence the shawls we both had knitted and wore to the movies to see the awesome Hundred Foot Journey. (That is a must-see movie!)  And although the sketch does not show a likeness to us at all, I liked having a drawn remembrance of a very fun day out and about in our knitwear. (In case you’re curious, Jennifer’s shawl is one-of-a-kind, her own creation! Mine is actually my Origami Shrug, the pattern for which you can find here. I think both of our shawls were knitted out of cottons, perfect for highly air-conditioned movie theaters in summer.)

Debbiedrawing

This drawing is of my friend Debbie with whom I draw on a regular basis. Here she is ensconced in the beautiful surroundings at our Ciener Botanical Gardens, where we like to draw and paint almost weekly. In fact, we were there this morning, my first time back drawing at the Gardens since my surgery. Often, all three of us, Jennifer, Debbie and I are there drawing the lovely flora and fauna. And all three of us enjoy being in the same gallery together here in Kernersville!

I have several other friends with whom I get together to make stuff or just to “talk shop”. As artists, we are always in need of encouraging one another to keep growing and stretching, fighting back fear, trying new things, being the creative people we know we are but need encouragement to be every now and then. Teresa and Stacey are two dears with whom I love getting together for just such encouragement. Though they live a few towns away, they are always in my mind and heart as I continue to walk this path of wife, mother, and artist.

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Next week I will once again be able to enjoy some knitter friends of mine in a knitting group setting! I am so excited about this!! I used to teach each of them years ago and our friendships have endured for five years or so even though I wasn’t teaching knitting. The above sketch from a few years back includes two of the dears (again, likeness is amiss) I will see next week when we begin to get together again to make things out of yarn. I could not be happier!!

If you’re a creative person, it is good to seek out friends with whom to share your love of making things. Whether you love making sketches and drawings, paintings, knitted or crocheted items, pottery, mosaics, poetry, WHATEVER,  you will love having a buddy or two to share in the fun. You learn so much from each other, and you benefit from mutual encouragement to keep on being artful in all you do.

Online creative friends are wonderful too! I so enjoy being here in blogland, sharing what I do and meeting you! I appreciate all of you who visit, whether you comment or not. But especially those who comment…I feel we are kindred spirits, together on this journey of living artfully and creating beauty in our daily lives.

Thank you, to ALL of you, artful friends near and far, virtual and local. Together we will keep the creative fires burning! 🙂

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