Lisa Thorpe

Coming Out of My Closet

In my last post I talked about a pleasant evening drawing alone- but today I did something I have not done in a long time – I went out and painted in public- and not only that I did it with a friend! Most of my pursuit of art is a solitary hunt sitting in my wee closet of a studio lingering and laboring on whatever project or problem I have going that day. I want to say right up front that my turtle time, as we call it in my house, in my studio is sacred, a much needed respite for this performing introvert, but today my sketching and chatting away the afternoon was more than lovely. My friend Diane and I have been threatening to get together and make art for ages and never getting to it but today we both made it a priority. We met at a lovely local hotel lobby and sat down with two pots of tea, Diane got out her watercolors and sketchbook and I got out my Ipad. We painted and talked about our lives and art and deep things and shallow things all the while sketching. We both agree that the word “sketching” holds less pressure than painting or drawing – we were just “sketching” – the waiter and few passers by peeked at our progress- and this public process required that we share and so we did, no precious master work to keep covered until perfected- we were just “sketching”. And so three hours passed, worries rested, and the niggling nagging to-do list waited patiently in the car while we sat and appreciated the curve of the cup and the polish of the teapot, observed the overflowing flowers and the overstuffed chairs – I am grateful for this little reminder of the extraordinary gift of ordinary things, and plan to get out of my closet more often!