An evening of fun and inspiration

Every once in a while if we put ourselves out there we encounter amazing opportunities to grow and to be inspired.

A number of months ago I was surfing the web, reading blogs of successful local illustrators. I came across this photo - it's a picture of the first inaugural 'sketch club' at Mike Kerr and Renata Liwska's new art studio, whose name is "sketch club" - how cool is that?   In attendance at this inaugural sketch club evening were five illustrators, Renata and Mike along with Carolyn Fisher, Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli and Byron Eggenschwiler - all of them successful illustrators.  Additionally, Renata, Carolyn and Jacqueline are published children's book illustrators. I had crossed paths  previously with many of these fine artists- Carolyn and Jacqueline were former instructors of mine at ACAD years ago and Renata and Mike were guest speakers during those classes.  So, when I saw this image I couldn't help think to myself, "How does one get invited to a sketch club night??!!"

Apparently, all one must do is ask. I later summoned the courage to email Mike and express my interest in attending a sketch club night and guess what? Last week I got an invite.

What a fun evening! I was certainly out of my element being an amateur among these professional illustrators, but they were all so welcoming and encouraging. It was a similar group to the first sketch club - Renata, Mike, Carolyn and Byron. We sketched for 3 1/2 hours until I had numb bum (there is some physical training involved in drawing for hours, who knew?) and  had to excuse myself to get home and pack as my family was leaving for a 5 day vacation the next morning and I hadn't started the packing process yet.

I left sketch club on a high that has lasted all 5 days of our family vacation, and learned a bunch of priceless nuggets from the experiences they shared.  All in all an absolutely neat experience to spend an evening among illustrators.