whispering in circles

wind in hair girl, pen, ink & pastel - Kodak LS753

Yesterday was a surreal sort of day. I felt a "letting go" in regards to my art. I rediscovered my Prismacolor Pens from design school and it didn't take me long to remember how much I dig these! That I have many shades of one color to help with shading and how forgiving mistakes can be with the clear blenders.

I spent the entire day up in my studio drawing, coloring, listening to the sweetest of music and every once in awhile, sharing the progress of my creations with my friend Letha via email. She also shared pictures of her canvases that she is working on in her studio with me. What on earth did we do before digital?? I felt like I spent the day creating with an artist-friend. It felt like an Artist Date. I read about Artist's Dates on Sarah's blog and told myself I would love to have a friend to do that with but mine are so far away. Well...I suppose that proved to not matter, really. Letha and I would shoot an email, send our sketch..."what do you think of this?" and explain our intent...include a song from iTunes and dance in circles with our eyes closed to one another’s choice of music. Of course...I'm the one that gets dizzy and practically falls down! At least I've learned how to laugh at myself.

I have been realizing how very important this circle of creative women has become to me in my life. This world of creative business owners, new or seasoned, blogging and sharing their journeys, commenting on one another’s blogs, sending emails of encouragement, advice, inspiration. It feels like we are all standing in a great big sister-circle, holding one another up if someone feels they cannot stand any longer.

They have made me feel part of a community, a tribe of sorts and every once in awhile I imagine us all gathering and dancing around a bonfire on the sand, with the waves crashing behind us and the wind blowing in our hair, whispering, telling us to be gentle to ourselves, to be free, to keep going. Reminding us that we are not alone in this whole topsy~turvy world of creative biz.