My Creative Life #11 - Naked Ladies

I figure that title alone will have my blog popping up on google searches everywhere. 

One of my Beau's clients is an artist and was kind enough to invite me to her weekly life drawing group. It is an intimate group of about half dozen artists who meet up and share a model for a two hour session. The session is held at one of the artist's beautiful heritage home in a cozy study with comfy chairs, classical music, and a wood fire burning. 

Being around experienced artists can be intimidating but I was comforted by the calm and quiet of the room and the focus of the group around me. Each person was there for their own study and there was no pressure or competition. 

When I was in college we would have a 4 hour life drawing class once a week. It was in a brightly lit room with 20 ambitious students shrouded by 20 paper clad easels. My instructor was an eccentric woman who was fascinated with anatomy and who was not opposed to picking up roadkill or carcasses from farmers if it meant she could pick the bones clean for further study (she was also amongst the few of my instructors who had been rumoured to be institutionalized for mental instability). 

The classes were cold, the models colder and the instruction and criticism unrelenting. Not to mention the other students constantly comparing and challenging each others drawing skills. It wasn't fun and killed my urge to draw for the joy of it. 

Yesterday's drawing group was small and quiet but being there amongst them filled me with a strange joy. It was tiring but it was fun. The home owner invited me back for next week and I'm already excited to join in again. Perhaps I can rediscover the joy that I always had for drawing.