Episode 13: The Power of Getting Together to Make Art with Other Creatives

In this episode, Mama Judy and I talk about something we both love to participate in: what we call artist playdates! There is such connection and creative growth in coming together with other artistic souls, whether it's an intimate session with just one other person or a larger gathering. 

A playgroup is designed to be a nurturing space where you can express your creativity.Whether you're seeking collaboration, accountability, eager to learn from fellow artists or experiment with new techniques, or simply longing for a safe space to engage in what you love (be it knitting, stitching, painting, coloring, etc.), a playgroup offers a meaningful way to connect with your creativity and build lasting relationships with like-minded creatives.

Mama Judy and I discuss how both introverts and extroverts can find a place in these creative gatherings. Mama Judy, as an introvert, reveals how these play dates have added depth to her life and turned creative collaboration into a precious gift.

While I, Jill, the more extroverted of us two share the beauty of my larger neighborhood playdate groups. 

Our goal for this episode is to share our experiences and ideas so you might be inspired to start or join a creative playgroup of your own. 

We hope you enjoy!  

Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here.

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Transcript

Jill: 0:19

Welcome back to the mama, Judy and Jill podcast. We are so grateful that you're here. Hi, mama. Judy.

Mama Judy: 0:25

Hi, Jill. Hi everyone. Hey, Jill. Today, why don't we talk about

Jill: 0:30

play dates? Ooh, I like the sound of this. Yes. Well, we both love play dates, but let's tell everyone what we mean by play date. You know,

Mama Judy: 0:42

first of all, I have to tell everybody that I love the word play. And the reason we use the word play in this is that relieves pressure when you go to play with someone. It's fun and freeing. And what we mean by play dates is when you merely get together with one or more creatives and you create together, you

Jill: 1:07

play together. And, the reason why Mama Judy and I wanted to talk about this on this episode is because, I have two play dates that I have on a regular basis now in my neighborhood. These are things that I'll, I'll talk a little bit about each, and then Mama Judy does things individually, generally with just one other person, maybe two. I know that you had one recently and we just know how powerful it is for us in our playful spirits to let that out. And we thought if this gives someone else an idea of putting together a play date of their own or joining one, it's just been really important in a big part of our lives, wouldn't you say?

Mama Judy: 1:47

Absolutely. And I'll start with my story, Jill, which comes from a more introverted perspective, and that's why I only do play dates with one or two people because I really don't like groups and. I never thought about play dates before. I created home in my own little world and I met a woman through Instagram just talking back and forth and enjoying each other's work. Found out her sister, uh, lived a winter out in our area and she was coming out to the area, so we decided to get together. We met and from that point on about once, probably every two weeks or so, whenever we could, we would just together and create out on my patio. Lin does stitching mostly, and I do of course my paper and fabric journals. But what was interesting, Jill, is that when I picked up a play partner, I wanted to experiment more. I wanted to share more. We tried new things. We did things. I taught Lynn things that she had never tried. She taught me things and it became a very sharing rich environment that I really looked forward to. And I think that everybody, whether you're an introvert or an extrovert or whatever label you wanna put on yourself, can benefit from that type of sharing because it generates enthusiasm, it generates new ideas. What about with your playgroup?

Jill: 3:45

It also generates tag onto your little list. There is accountability. Ooh, right. You're coming together and even if you're not feeling it that day, you're gonna whip out something to work on and then you'll get into that flow again. So for my example, I have a really fun neighborhood, that I live in with just, a lot of women of all different ages. And so I have two groups, that I get together with. One is up the street and there are just a total of six of us. There's only six people in the group. Not everyone shows up every time, but we go to a woman's studio. She has a studio in the basement of her house. We all come together. One woman comes and paints. I come and either stitch or do like little paper collage stuff. Another one does mark making. someone, we have it, uh, once a month. And someone came the other night and she was working on scrapbooking. She wanted to do some scrapbooking about her dog that passed away. And so she was working on that project and. I love it because that day, had I not had that plan, speaking of accountability, I think I would've wanted to just, I had a real busy, brainy day at work and I was just tired and I did not feel like going. And I went and it rejuvenated me and I learned something new. And the other thing you said about, you know, collaborating and learning new things, I for sure have learned things in this group. And, and one of the women is an artist of many, many years like you are. Katie is a, an amazing artist, and so she's always sharing little tips and ideas with all of us. That's really fun. But also, one of the women was able to share something that was on her heart that day. That felt safe to talk about in this small group of women. She knew. I mean, I'm telling you now, I'm not gonna tell you what what it was, but she knew that this was a place that she could come and share something that personal that was going on in her life and be able to just sort of vent and also just get some love on her, in that moment. And I thought that was a really neat moment because, and we've had time to build that trust though.'cause we've been doing this for about a, maybe a year now. And I

Mama Judy: 5:47

think that goes to the bigger picture of what we get out of a play date or a play partner. I love that phrase, play partner. Mm-hmm. Um, it's a sense of community. We're building that community based on our creativity and the energy that creativity creates in a safe space where you can try new things like Lynn and I have done. Or, another example because again, I've had to work more. I've always known I am more of an introvert. I'm great when I know people, but meeting new people is like, oh God. And you know, I'll be one of those women if I was living alone, I'd have an art studio with 20 cats and you know, I'd die and somebody would find me.'cause I haven't come out for 30 years,

Jill: 6:46

Uhhuh.

Mama Judy: 6:47

So I've worked on getting myself out there. And another play date that I had here recently that I posted on Instagram was that Jill's father, Jack, who was my life partner, met a woman just by going, he's, he's the extrovert. He's the one I always say, go out and make new friends for me. And he met. He met a man, a man. Who then introduced him to his wife who had this art studio. And so he set it up for me to go meet her. Well, you know, you never know when you meet a stranger if you're really even gonna connect with them. And I have found it interesting that everybody that I've met who was creative and artistic in some way, I have loved them from the get go. And I think it's that creative energy. So not only did I go meet her, but I wound up going to her studio two different weeks while we were still in the N Pomo, San Luis Obispo, California area and creating. Now she taught me things because she had a different form of art. So all of these creative partners that I've run into have broadened my. Techniques, my life experiences and for me, and maybe for some people out there that are a little shyer on going out and meeting, it's given me an additional depth to my life. I now look forward to the possibility of meeting somebody I might like. Now, I do make it sound like I'm really bad about meeting people, but let's just put it this way. I'm not the one that's gonna rush out and make the friendship right away. I'm the one that will be holding back to see whether or not I like your energy. So play partners are good, no matter. Whether you love to meet people from the get go or you're hesitant like I am, I can say that not only has my art been enriched, but my life has been enriched by the energy that these women have brought to my, existence.

Jill: 9:20

Yes, and I'm glad that we're talking about the introvert extrovert because listeners, we, mama Judy and I were talking a couple days ago when we were thinking about this episode and um, I asked Mama Judy, which who I've known for 30 years, but I said, so would you consider yourself an introvert, extrovert? And, and all We were texting and she actually texted back all caps, introvert all the way or something. I said, what do you think I am? And she said, extrovert all the way. And I was like, what? And I thought it was so interesting, but I think it's important that, because I would think, oh, well it's, it could be simple for anyone to throw something together to go invite people and all that, but that is not the case necessarily. So, I wanted to mention another group because there's an example of this. So another group in the neighborhood. So I was walking the dogs and I knew this woman had bought this house in our neighborhood and knew her neighbor. And I think at this point she'd been here for 10 months, but I mean, she lives a couple blocks away. So it's not like my next door neighbor. But I had always been looking for her. I wanted to introduce myself and, she was outside. So I hollered over, hi, I've been wanting to meet you, and we met and this sort of thing. And the conversation came up that she's a knitter. And so, I. I was like, oh, I like to stitch, you know, and we talked about it. I said We should do some sort of like little group or something. And she said, I have a couple friends that I sort of get together, but I would love to do something more normal. So since then, that was literally only maybe a month and a half ago, we've set that up and she didn't know a lot of people in the neighborhood and I do. And so,'cause I've lived here longer and so I gave her a list of names and we've come together now twice at her house. It's more a little bit on the eating and the having beverages side as much as creating, I am seeing that. Whereas the other one, we're really creating more, but it's so much fun community. But the other day there's a neighbor that we have, who I would think is probably an introvert. and I asked her, so for the extroverts listening, if you do know someone is introverted and you've got something going on, I said to her, we have something going on in the neighborhood. Would you be interested in joining? She said, well, I don't do anything artistic. And I said, well, I do stitching. I would be glad to show you how to do that. I can give you some supplies and stuff. I said, but also I'm gonna send you a link to this really neat form of Japanese, you know, it's, is it called Sashko? I think it's called. It's a Japanese way of stitching and she is part Japanese. Oh. And I said, so you might be interested just'cause of your culture and, and your, family history And so she said, I would love to come and so she is gonna be coming to the next one she has three children. I said, so you could even use this to mend their clothing. There's a lot of creative people that use, their creative outlet is mending their clothing and, and embellishing their clothing and that type of thing. And she's got all these little kids running around. So I figured she could do that. But that's one thing too, is if, if you are the extrovert like I am, I sort of feel like it's my duty to, put the word out to other people that might be a little more shy. But, but just talking to you the other day, I didn't really realize how important that might be for an introvert, introverted person to have somebody to maybe do that.

Mama Judy: 12:33

Yes. You know that lady that you went up to, I probably lived next door to her for 10 years before I knew her name because I'd never come outta the house. And in fact, I, I'm gonna go out on a limb and I would be curious whether other introverts out there feel the same way, perhaps for an introverted type of person and it we're using these words, but it, it's not black and white or you are this or you're not that. Because I am can be more extroverted in certain situations. I'm talking about my natural inclination. Mm-hmm. So for someone like me, as I have already said, meeting these people in person and there was a third person that I met, I had donated a piece of art to a fundraiser and I met her outside when she was outside of the art gallery and we got to talking and she invited me to come over and have a play date out of the blue. So, My meeting these people again is a way to get outside myself, to get outside of my comfort zone a little bit. Mm-hmm. To get out and broaden my artistic horizon. And I think maybe that's probably a little bit more important for people if you're on the introverted side, because someone like you, Jill, who is more extroverted and very easily goes up to people and puts together the groups, like you said, you didn't even think about it. For us, we think about it. Mm-hmm. And it is sometimes, depending upon how far along the introvert scale you are, it can be a big deal to go out to a group or to join somebody else. But it's so wonderful for anybody because we, you go into a creative environment that you feel comfortable in. At least this has been my experience so far with everybody. I've done a play day with. I look forward like that little kid going out to recess. Oh, goody, goody, goody. I get to go play. Yeah. I don't have to worry about whether or not I like this page or not. We're just going to go play and get our hands in the paint and that type of thing. Yeah, and it's, it's wonderful. It's very freeing also. And in fact, when we've never set guidelines for our play dates because we just get together and kind of make up what we wanna do on the spot.

Jill: 15:28

Right. And that's the beauty of it too. You can just bring what you're working on or bring the other night, one of the friends from the art night, she just brought a, an adult coloring book, you know? Mm-hmm. So she just felt like, like mandalas. Mandalas, how do you say that word? Yes. And she just wanted to, color that night. And, you know, so that's what she was doing. And she's a very creative person that has done painting there before and different things. But that night, that's what she decided to do. I think back to granny, my granny, my dad's mom who's passed away now, but she went to heaven at 102. She used to sit in her living room in Springfield, Oregon and have quilting circles, and they would have this big frame and put the quilt. Stretch it out and everybody would be working on a certain quilt for somebody's grandchild or for someone's wedding or whatever it might be. And they would sit around that circle. And I wish, now I was young and I didn't think to just sit in there and like listen and just soak all that in, but they were in there talking, their hands were busy. They were working towards a common goal, which I think is neat. They were supporting one another because whoever's quilt, it was like, you're spending your time on somebody else's project, basically. But I thought that was kind of neat too. And one of my, neighborhood groups, she has thought about that. She said maybe we could all work on something together and then like donated or whatever. But that's something else to do. but I also wanted to say regarding the introversion or whatever, as you mentioned, you get together a lot of times just you and Lynn. Mm-hmm. So if just one person is wonderful to just get together with, while my neighborhood groups are several people, but getting together with one person, is gonna be just as beneficial as it was if it's a group, situation, wouldn't you think?

Mama Judy: 17:11

Absolutely. And in fact, you know, one size does not fit all in this case. You have to figure out, and most people know whether they're a little more introverted, direct extroverted,'cause it's what they're comfortable with and what you're comfortable with. And find that creative partner, that creative playmate that you can spend some time with. And I'll guarantee you it will be rewarding on many levels. You know, you were talking about the quilting bees. And that is what they were, they were a, a community of like-minded people. and that's what play days are, whether it's one or 10 or a hundred, that's what, going to somebody's workshop in person is. Which by the way, back to my personality, I have never done an in-person workshop. I prefer to do them online. I don't wanna go with a big group, but that's me. So you figure out what works for you, and it's out there. It's out there for you to partake in. And it's a, I know there is community, let's just use the word community. This is your community. This is your creative family in some respects. And. If you have problems, even like when Lynn and I have, we've talked about, well, I've done this and it didn't work, you can work'em out with that person because they're also creative. You know, for example, I can take a problem into Jack who is not that creative and he is not gonna be able to help me. So even working through something in your own art, not just learning techniques, it's really that creative energy you want to surround yourself with. That's really what a play partner and a play day, and a playgroup and a play, play, play school is. It is surrounding yourself with creative energy.

Jill: 19:33

Yes. And one thing too, some people do these creative play times playgroups on Zoom too. Yes. So even if near and far I've seen that people do that, I don't know that I've done it. I don't think I've ever had a meeting like that. But also, and I'm, I'm my butcher her last name because I'm not super familiar with her last name at this moment, but the woman who I'm now taking a journal class with Colleen Aura, I think it is Aro, I'm sorry Colleen if you are listening to this. But anyway, she does in her little community, she actually has get togethers out in her yard. Where people come and it's a paid thing. I think it's like$30 you come, she, she lays out all these fabrics and different stuff, and people can just come and sit on the grass or bring a, a lawn chair and they're working together, doing that. And I thought, how cool is that? And she's providing a space because she's a teacher as well, but she is providing that place for other people to come and gather and, and do that as well in person. So there could be a paid option. There's places locally here in town that I know, I think it's called local cloth, where people get together and they'll have like a, a night where you can come and just do your artwork and that type of thing. But, so you could for, I'm trying to give ideas too, if people are like, well, I just don't know. I don't know. I don't have a neighborhood that would do that. Or I live in an apartment where people don't even talk to each other. I don't know. But there's meetups. You can actually Google meetups, crafting meetups sometimes I've seen it like knitting shops that they'll have nights where they just sit together, but there are opportunities, so even if you have to Google it or something like that, or, or just grab a friend and say, let's go hang out down at the coffee shop and do some stuff together.

Mama Judy: 21:09

That's a great suggestion and that's a good place to start. Mm-hmm. and again, if you are more on the introverted side, you go there and you find out that's not for you, what will might happen is you might run into one or two people, you really like their energy that then you can invite to your own one-on-one play dates. So yes, even just starting with a group is a way to make contact with people you might want to spend creative time with.

Jill: 21:43

Right. Yeah. It's such a, it's been such a pleasure. And one thing I would say too, that's helpful for me, and I think because everyone is so busy, if you decide to start one or if you're joining one, I do like the structure of the fact that I know it's gonna be every, second Tuesday of the month or whatever. Because for me, for my schedule, I like to know that, have it in my schedule instead of it being loosey goosey. But I think for like, maybe you and Lynn, you can be a little more loosey goosey because being retired right? You can be a little bit more flexible with your timing But I like the fact that it's structured. I know when it's gonna happen. yeah, those

Mama Judy: 22:17

are the things that depending on your circumstance, you can make up what fits for you and your play partner. And yes, Lynn and I were a little more loosey goosey because we have more time. Um, we always set the time of day. And that's mainly driven by my lupus because in the wintertime, in the desert we're outside and I can only be there up until a certain UV level. But other than that, we kind of were flexible with, well, I've got something going this week. How about two weeks from now?

Jill: 22:53

Right? Yeah. So I hope today, mama, Judy and I just wanted to share our experiences and the idea, yes, you may be doing this already and Bravo to you'cause it's so much fun, but if you're not, we really want you to try it. So maybe you, we could even be your accountability partners and we could say, try to maybe meet someone or ask someone this week. Or if you're an extrovert and you know somebody that's creative and you know they're introverted, ask them to come over and sit down and do some work with you at your house or at the coffee shop or something. So, everybody can have some fun and do some playing.

Mama Judy: 23:27

Okay. I've met three new play partners in the last year. I don't have to meet anymore for a while.

Jill: 23:35

Yeah, you've hit your quota. You're good, Uhhuh.

Mama Judy: 23:37

I did. No, I'm, anytime I run into the the circumstance to sit down with another creative person, I now view it as a gift.

Jill: 23:50

Well, and Mama Judy and I are going to see each other in person in October. Yes. I'm gonna go to see Mama Judy. She'll be spending some time in Oregon and I'm gonna fly there and see her and spend some time with her and my dad. And so Mama Judy and I get to have an in-person play date, which I cannot wait.

Mama Judy: 24:10

And in fact, Jill, I think we'll have Big Mac. Video us and we can include that on one of our sessions.

Jill: 24:18

Yeah. Big Mac by the way, is my dad's nickname. Mama Judy gives for my dad's nickname Big Mac. If somebody's like, who is Big Mac?

Mama Judy: 24:25

I know. Is that, is that a hamburger? Yeah,

Jill: 24:29

yeah. We'll do some video and and share that with people. So, yeah. Anyway, well Mama Judy, I'm glad to always get to come here and this feels like play to me when we get to talk So in a way it's a creative play date for us as well.

Mama Judy: 24:42

You took the words right outta my mouth. I was gonna say that at the beginning and forgot. So thank you for saying that because this is my play date today.

Jill: 24:51

Yes, me too. Love you dearly. Love you too. Talk to you next week. Bye. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Bye.