"Paintings With Personality"

Here I am with three artist friends. We were in Cape May for a watercolor workshop

FRIENDS INDEED

      I delivered a painting for a watercolor exhibit the other day. It was like a family reunion, the excitement was flying around the room. It has been a rough winter and there hadn’t been any shows for a while, we hadn’t seen each other for some time. We made a party of the receiving – with no refreshments.

      It is wonderful to have artist friends. They are as important to our wellbeing as friends are in our daily lives. Having an art friend to talk to makes us happier and more productive. It is exhausting to create all the time. A dedicated painter must practice and study art every day, and is alone as they work. We can become so involved in our work that we forget to shower, eat, or make dinner. In our art friends we have a place where we can rest, and restore our moods.

      You don't need a lot of good friends to believe in you, but you need some. A good friend can listen without having to agree. She or he can be relied upon to be a voice of reason or just someone who will love you no matter what.

      Artist friends help us grow as painters. We tell each other, "It's okay to experiment, try something new!” or, "Use a bigger brush! “ A painter needs to be unafraid, and to have someone in his or her life who is creative and who understands the struggle involved in making a work of art.

      We don't need a lot of good friends to believe in you, but you need some. Our friends give us advice and renew our confidence in ourselves. An artist friend can tell us we aren’t crazy, that we can create whatever we want and that we are very talented. It is important to know that there is someone who understands how hard it is to make are that is original and exciting. An artist friendship can help us become better than we ever thought we could be.

      I look forward to seeing all those friends again so we can talk about art all over again.

I was at another workshop, this one in Maine, with some friends when someone banged on our hotel room doors yelling, "Get out, FIRE!" We got out of course and sat on steps across the street (in our pajamas) for hours while the fire fighters did their jobs. The man in the picture is unknown to us. He joined us in our picture without us knowing he was there.

Let me know about your friends, artist and otherwise. Leave your comments below.