Partners in Crime

I have at least four artist friends who accompany me on "artist dates" once in a while.  I borrowed the term from author Julia Cameron, who recommends individual, alone-time artist dates, to promote creativity.  I do those, of course, wandering and pondering...but my greatest fun comes from getting together with a friend and casing the latest inspirational source.  We've been known to yell, "artist date!" when there's something interesting we want to come back to investigate.  We've also been known to slyly refer to ourselves as "partners in crime," because we tend to spend all day and spend out our maximum allowance of reseources.

But it's only in jest, the crime part.  We are really enjoying ourselves and purposefully filling up with fresh ideas and materials.  Local thrift stores are a treasure-trove of possibilities, but we also love:  Ten Thousand Villages  http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/,  Pier One, http://www.pierone.com/, and Urban Arts and Crafts http://www.urbanartsandcrafts.com/.  We snark that they are really Suburban Arts and Crafts, since they moved from their first, downtown location, to a suburban hilltop retail village overlooking downtown.  Note:  somebody on these trips needs to drive a vehicle with carrying capacity!

The only problem we've run into, besides running out of time and money, was the fact that we all tend to admire/covet the same things at the same time! Nothing makes you conflicted like the stricken look on your friend's face when YOU snag the item first!  On the flip side, having a like-minded friend along can validate your choices, provide feedback on an item, or snag an item for you, that they know you will love!  Gift-giving to your like-minded artist friends is a breeze.

Spread Kindness!---MissElainie