Crafts Meetup Log #3
— The darker parts actually have a reddish sheen since I used the Diamine Polar Glow but that's not going to be captured in a phone photo —
I don't even know if I have a Log #1 for this but it's helpful for me to log the total number of times I've done an activity (rather than the number of posts I've made).
Was more prepared this time. Brought my fountain pens and a water brush with my Tomoe River paper, which is good because I never use this notebook so all that good paper and expensive supplies I bought when I was in a fountain pen phase was seriously going to waste.
Chose this because I like looking at blue and the effect is nice. Brought along a small Sierra Club calendar that was mailed to us even though my mom has not renewed her membership for years (you would think they would take her off the list already). There was a pic of Acadia National Park that I figured I would copy-ish.
I had arrived too early so I ended up chatting with the guy who works at the place we're meeting. He's doing cool stuff with glass and making glass marbles at a specific center. He also likes working with stuff like metal and wood and leather, non-soft stuff (as opposed to clay). That was all interesting. He mentioned he has aphantasia so he admires people who can draw. Weird for me to hear that because I think drawing is pretty like, basic, as in you don't have to literally go to somewhere to get specialized knowledge in how to do thing. Working with metal seems scary to me. Working with glass also seems scary even though I love glass so much and it's my favorite Thing Medium to look at. He also mentioned that he's neurodivergent but idk what that means like some people use it primarily for ADHD / Autism and others the more umbrella term. Since he was saying some stuff is like a blessing and some of it you struggle with I would guess more of that variety? I'm technically under the neurodivergent umbrella with my social anxiety and "personality disorder" but sensory wise I don't have issues, for instance.
Anyway. People from the book club showed up and then infuriatingly, because we had fewer people this time and I was sitting at a table in the back, they all sat at a table in the front (there were only 4 tables) and just started talking? It was like, ok, lol, and then eventually teacher lady got us to move two tables closer together so we could be nearer.
But like, didn't talk much again. There was a nice lady that sat next to me and praised my ink stuff a few times. She was making a birthday card for her kids or whoever else (said she forgets to buy these so she keeps like a stash that she uses whenever). She told me this park is in Maine, and you can tell because of the lighthouse.
After like an hour of just working on my stuff relatively silently I started getting kind of tired of my stomach squeezing and also developed a bit of a headache which I was hoping wouldn't turn into a full-fledged migraine. When the second hour was up I was a bit sad I didn't like really finish the piece per se but I was also glad to have an excuse to leave the stimulus already.
Didn't bother talking to anyone and hopped out. Teacher lady is always so nice and thanks me for being here and stuff. Kind of blinding. I think I might even be older than her idk man
Anyway I feel like this is mostly an endurance test of me in a group setting doing something vulnerable (drawing) so I don't even want to try with actually socializing. I'm never going to beat social anxiety anyway so the most I can do is hopefully expand my range of tolerance and keep showing up.
I think next time I will try drawing some of the glass sea slugs I saw online that make me lose my mind. It's nice to know at least that I have something to do in this notebook and will slowly fill it up with art instead of just random pen testing lines in my terrible handwriting. They want to increase the meeting time to 3 hours but 2 hours is already killing me. I need to aim to come later next time. Maybe actually sit next to people who talk more naturally.
Book club on Thursday. Need to stop dragging my feet and finish the book and take notes for my own purposes and email my friend. (and eventually post them here)
Going to show this piece to my sis and her BF, I think. Showing ink art is easy because it's just copies of stuff, totally unlike sharing my character art or whatever.
I'm so hungry