The Importance of Camaraderie

  We artists can be a quirky and strange breed....most of us are aware of this! Often we march to a different drummer and pay unusual heed to the dictates of society. We spend inordinate amounts of time alone creating art and speculating upon the visions percolating inside our brains. That is why being a part of an artist's group is so essential: it is a safe place for us to carry on with our antics with like minded individuals who understand...or at least pretend to!

My group...Washington Artists Group (or as we like to call ourselves....WAG) have been banding together since 2007 and we all agree our time together is often the highlight of our month. The WAGs meet the first Wednesday of each month over a potluck meal, bringing our quick wits along with our recent paintings for critique. Really we are just a bunch of smart mouthed jokers that love art talk and a good time but it is priceless!

 Last week we had our 4th Christmas party together at the grand home of member Judythe Sherwood and gathered for a group photo. This year was special in that we also celebrated the induction of our guru, Ned Mueller, as a Master of Oil Painters of America....a prestigious and well deserved honor! We are fortunate to have Ned and each other!

Standing in photo: Liana Bennett, Ned Mueller, me, Mark Boyle, Pepper Peterson, Dick Smith
Seated: Patty Forte Linna, Joanne Shellan, Judythe Sherwood

SEIZING OPPORTUNITY

I think I may be a serial opportunist. Ya know....I think you have to be that way in a creative industry! Today I visited my husband Dave at the hospital where he is recuperating from knee replacement surgery and I brought my camera and props along. As callous as it sounds I realized earlier today that I have a golden opportunity for a photo op with Dave being hospitalized. You see I have been painting these portraits of heads that I call FACEs and posing people with the portrait replacing their real heads. My mind has been astir with so many possibilities that represent life in general. Being confined to a hospital bed fits right into this category! He has been in there for 3 days now and will be coming home tomorrow so I realized that if I didn't get a picture taken today I may be out of luck. Thank God I married a good sport! Despite his obvious pain he allowed me to pose him in several shots holding up a portrait in place of his face. Even though the FACE in the painting is not his (it belongs to his closest boyhood chum) I'll bet he had about the same expression on his face behind the board! Here are 3 pictures I took today, one of which will be named "The Impatient Patient". Which one do you like best? Tomorrow I bring him home and who knows what indignities I will come up with by then!