Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Fine Art Friends




In May of 2006 I decided to challenge myself to draw for 15 minutes a day. I needed an outlet in the midst of the crazy life of a stay-at-home mom to three boys under 5. Drawing had always been something that I did now and then, but it was time to make it a regular thing. So, I started drawing for 15 minutes a day, no excuses - no "too tireds", no "nothing to draw", no "I'm not good at this." Just 15 minutes a day to lose myself.

Well, that led into researching information and techniques online, which lead to becoming a regular blog reader...leading to becoming a regular blog writer. All these things have been very good for me - I truly believe that I am a better wife and mother because I have my artwork and blog. I believe my family would agree. :-)

Anyway, I recently realized that I was missing another key component. I really need a group of fellow artists who would be brutally honest with me - so I can grow as an artist. A couple of months ago Maggie Stiefvater encouraged her readers about her own group Fineline Artists. And I thought, "well, yes, lovely, but how to find the people?" Then recently Katherine Tyrrell made a similar point in one of her posts. I suddenly realized that I already knew a group of people.

So I decided to email 3 other ladies whose blogs I read on a regular basis, and who I have had some email contact with. I sent them an email asking if they were interested in joining up as a group for the purposes of critique, encouragement, and laughter (laughing is always a good thing!) I made it clear that I would understand if they were not interested, but I wanted to try. All three came back eager to do it. We swapped some emails and now we have a private blog.

So, I am very proud to announce that I am a part of Fine Art Friends...with Belinda Lindhardt, Jo Castillo, and Kasie Sallee and Valerie Jones. I have to say that I am very excited to work with these ladies, I admire all of their work.

If you are looking for a similar group, start one. People can always respectfully decline your offer. All the ladies above have more experience than I do. I honestly feel amazed that they agreed to do this with me. I was very nervous sending out that email - I didn't want to lose the few friends I had made on the web! Already, this group has been a good thing for each of us. I would strongly encourage anyone thinking about joining a group to do so.

The image at the top is a detailed value study for my poplar tree experiment.

8 comments:

Jo Castillo said...

Rose,

Thank you for the kind words, I imagine I have more experience but only because of my age. :) Thanks to Katherine and Maggie.

This is a great adventure for us. Off we go .....

Jo

Kasie @ ~The Art of Life~ said...

I'm the one who feel honored that you asked me!
I like what Jo said, a great adventure!
:)

Belinda Lindhardt said...

Likewise Rose :) i am really excited about being a part of this group and honored to be amongst you all.

Rose Welty said...

Thanks Ladies, I am very thankful that we're doing this!

Jeanette Jobson said...

That is a great idea Rose. Its good to have others to bounce ideas off and who can give you honest feedback instead of constant compliments - nice as they are :)

Best of luck with it!

Rose Welty said...

Thanks for stopping by Jeanette. The idea wasn't really mine, but I plan to get alot of benefit from it nonetheless!

Maggie Stiefvater said...

Rose, I think you are an awesome person and all of you have so much to contribute to a group like this. I just know I'm going to be able to watch you all grow by leaps and bounds -- Fine Line did the same for me.

Rose Welty said...

Maggie,

Thanks so much for your kind words...I appreciate you stopping by. This group is already very good for all of us. I think we're all that more inspired to try a little harder. For instance, we see the others making strides in a medium, or in business, and we know their lives are as busy as ours and it just sort of pushes us to try harder. (And we have a whole team to turn to when the doubt creeps in!)