I Joined an Art Society and Found My People

It started with a poster in a café

A funny thing happened a couple of months ago. I was waiting for a coffee at one of my local cafes when I spotted a poster on the door, advertising for the Illawarra Art Society. The Society met on the first Saturday of the month, which, as it turned out, was the following day. A google search didn’t reveal much, they had a Facebook page, but no website. So, I wasn’t clear on what the purpose of the group was, or what they might do together once a month at their meetings. I decided against going that month. My weekends are quite precious to me – I really need time and space, and fresh air, to rest and recharge if I’m to make it through another full week at work, these days.

Find your scene

I was satisfied with my decision not to join the Art Society, for a few days. But I kept seeing that poster. And then I remembered something I had read in Austin Kleon’s book Show Your Work! This book is about sharing your creative work openly, connecting with other people, and finding a community of like-minded creatives. Kleon suggests finding a ‘scene’ of creative people and start to contribute your ideas, techniques to the collective ‘genius’ of the scene (or, ‘scenius’). I had thought I would be able to do this via the internet, and have spent time following the pages of artists I admire, commenting on their work and contributing to discussions. This has been helpful – I’ve learned many new techniques and found inspiration from artists on those platforms – but I’ve found it isn’t quite the same as relating in person with someone. The conversations tend to be very one-sided and don’t go anywhere. No one has time to contribute back and forth the way we can face to face, in real time. And then there’s the sheer volume of stuff served up by the algorithms. I have to be careful not to disappear down a rabbit hole and start mindlessly doom-scrolling instead of putting my phone down and actually making art. Online ‘scenes’ have the ability to take your work far beyond where it could go physically, which is a great thing. But they definitely have their downsides, too.

Working on a silly ‘Turtle Birds’ artwork. For the fun of it.

So, I made myself go

On the first Saturday of the next month, I made myself go to the meeting. In preparation, I reached out to the Society via messenger and asked those questions that had been bothering me… what does one do at an Art Society meeting?? The president got back to me and let me know they generally do their own thing (make art) together for a few hours in the morning, and then they have their monthly meeting to discuss what is coming up on the calendar, for example, exhibitions, fund raising, publicity, financial reports, and workshops. On my drive to the meeting, I gave myself a stern pep talk. I was not going to tell my life story, disclose my neurotype and family dramas at the slightest hint of a question. I have a tendency to overshare, especially when I’m nervous or excited. I don’t seem to be able to answer a simple question without delving into the past to give the correct context for my response, because I have a thing about being ‘accurate’. I also told myself I probably wouldn’t hang around for the meeting, it being my first time, and not being sure how welcome I would be.

And within 30 minutes… Oh. These are my people

However, as I sat and listened to the other artists chatter while we each worked on our own thing, I noticed something. The conversation wound its way around various topics, including all of the things I had told myself would be unwelcome information for me to share… neurodivergence, difficult family situations, kids and grandkids having problems at school… I could relate to it all. It suddenly dawned on me that these were my people! I really don’t know why I didn’t expect to find fellow quirky people in an art society. As soon as I made the connection, it seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. But for some reason, it’s not what I anticipated.

Just some … Ibises? … Ibii? … Ibis? … I saw on my walk to the cafe from the Art Society.

What the internet can’t give me

I thought I was joining an art society. I didn’t realise I was joining a community. I did end up staying for the meeting, and listened to the members make plans for putting some art displays in local cafes, organising for future exhibitions, discussing whether to buy a new banner and have a new logo made up. I saw the work these artists were doing to support their art, and each other. I immediately started to see the advantages of working as a team for these kinds of opportunities, and sharing the benefits amongst the group and encouraging and lifting each other up. I also heard about plans for the following month’s watercolour demonstration, led by one of the artists. For a small fee, I could learn some new techniques from someone more experienced and with a different way of working. The following two months will be workshops on mixed media by a different artist, which I’m also really excited to learn more about. I left that meeting feeling incredibly inspired, uplifted and grateful that I had made myself attend. I hadn’t known how much taking that step would change my thinking.

What I’ve learned from these artists

It’s only been just over a month since that first meeting. But already, I feel that I’ve learned a lot. Not only about making art, but about being in an art community. I find it so thrilling to watch another artist at work and get a glimpse into how they think, what they notice, what they choose to portray in their art. The group members are incredibly talented, and hardworking, but I’ve noticed they aren’t precious about their work – they like to play, tinker and have fun, and they’re generous with their resources, ideas and advice. I have a tendency to get very serious, even about things that are supposed to be fun. I’m already learning to loosen up, just a bit, and be more ready to go with the flow. I attended the watercolour workshop, and actually painted on paper for the first time in a while – it’s scary when you can’t just hit ‘undo’! But actually, it turns out you can – you can wipe paint off, or let it dry and paint over it if you really don’t like it. It just takes a bit longer. I haven’t finished my watercolour yet, but I plan to do some more of it this week. So, I’ve learned some watercolour techniques, and I’ve also learned some life lessons – have more fun, be less serious, and be kinder to my work while it takes shape.

My first attempt at a ‘creative wash’ in watercolour.

My second attempt at a ‘creative wash’ in watercolour.

My progress with the river stone artwork so far. The hardest part was ‘finding’ the rocks to bring out with shading, using negative space to create an outline.

They made room for me

Initially, in that first meeting I attended, there was some discussion around my chosen medium, digital illustration, and whether it was within the Society’s rules to accept digital artworks for exhibitions and stalls. However, I was assured that it would be put to a vote at the next meeting and that there seemed to be strong support for moving with the times and accepting newer art forms. At the next meeting, a proposal was put forward to vote on whether digital artwork would be accepted. I was invited to speak a little on the topic. I found myself talking about how digital artwork has helped me with my fear of making mistakes, because I can easily undo anything that goes wrong. This has led me to experiment more and continue with a piece long after I would’ve given up if I were using paint. I also talked about how, with my newfound bravery, I’d love to learn as much as I can from the artists at their workshops. That was all very lovely to hear, I’m sure, but the question they really wanted answered was – do I make it all myself, or is there AI involved? To which I responded, ‘Oh, it’s all hand drawn!’ That was good enough. The proposal was accepted, and I’m now in the Society. I hope to find opportunities to give back to this community, because I feel like I’ve already benefited so much in a very short space of time.

My first art society stall

Once I had attended two meetings, I was able to join the Society at their monthly art stall at Bulli Beach. I had a really fun day – I sold 8 cards, and one of my customers was Costa Georgiadis (from Gardening Australia!) I was so excited to meet him and was a bit star struck and incredibly flattered when he bought 3 of my cards!

My little set up at the stall. The table was very kindly shared with me by another member of the group, whose hand painted magnets are at the front of the table.

Artwork all set up for sale by other artists in the group. I need to get cracking with some more designs and prints!

I didn’t know I needed this

I thought I was going to an art society meeting because I was curious about art. I didn’t know it was going to lead to so much more than that. I love these moments in life that feel like they’re a fluke – you just had to be in the right place at the right time, and everything fell into place. However, looking back, it’s not really like that at all. It’s more about being open to opportunities and being willing to take risks or say yes to things you might not normally do. I still visit that café a few times a week, and every time I see that poster, I think about the connections I have made by saying yes to that call, and I smile, and look forward to seeing them again next month.