[Reading this two years on, I realise that I made Beth’s art group sound like they are a bunch of onions. I promise that isn’t what I meant … 🙂 … really …]

I joined Beth’s art group about a year ago now, desperate for some creative company and some time alone to be “me”.

I really needed a push, a commitment of some sort so that I would actually follow through on my aim to have an arty year. We’re an informal bunch, meeting at one home or another once a month in Melbourne, coming and going as we like, and sharing our interest in art with no need to be competitive. There is a lovely feel about it, and I’m so glad I joined. 

Beth is a retired art teacher who takes the time to teach and inspire us all, and it is amazing how much we have learnt as a group. I’m feeling a little nostalgic at the moment, and looking back at some of the work we’ve done over the last year. It’s nice to have a record of what we’ve accomplished, even if it isn’t recent.

I’ve always hated the feel of charcoal and pastels on my skin. There is something I’ve always found a bit dry and icky about it – and as a perfectionist I used to hate the fact that it made such a mess. Given my charcoal prejudice, it is pretty amazing that Beth managed to convince me to give it a go again. But here it is – my first charcoal picture for a long time – a sketch of some onions who kindly sat still for long enough to be drawn. I wasn’t so lucky with the cupcakes who posed for me a couple of weeks later!

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