That's Rachel up there. She's a 14 year old girl who modeled for my drawing class. Almost three years ago, I joined a group called, "The Artist Mothers' Group". It's here in Long Island. It was formed by a group of women about eight years ago who just happened to meet at some Mommy and Me play place. They got to talking about what they did before their lives as Mothers and found they had all been artists. Then they found none of them were working, let alone creating anything. They decided to get together once a week at someone's house and draw. Then they began having models, childcare..and moved into a community center. I heard of them 2 years before I joined, I had hit a low point. I had a 2 year old, was doing NO art and was ready to give up on being an artist. One day I called, the next day I joined.
It's been the best thing. Sometimes life gets crazy and I don't have time to go, but I force myself to. Once I am there, with this group of women, chatting and drawing...it's like meditation must be for other people. Drawing from life is grounding. It's a workout for the eyes, the brain, the hands and the heart. Each drawing is a challenge. Does it look like them? Is it boring?Is it composed well? One line off and you can loose a likeness.
We have an art show up right now. We have one each summer. We've had two this year and hope for one in October too. Each woman works differently. Pastels, pencils, watercolors...weaving,photography,digital design, felting, etc. We all ground ourselves in the human figure. It's bliss.
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