Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Families

 As we get older, we come to realize how important families are to our lives.  Families do not always consist of those sharing one's genes.   Friends can become a family also.

As an artist, I come from a family with a long line of creative souls going back as far as great grandparents.  At least, that's as far back as I can go.  My mother was a painter, my brother was a kinetic sculptor, my father was a musician with artistic talents, my aunt (Mother's sister) painted and created water sculptures, two of my three cousins are in the arts (one makes jewelry and the other is a documentary film maker).   My grandmother had to work so when she created, it was through knitting.  My grandfather was an architect.  My great aunt painted and her son was a photographer who also invented the portable strobe and collaborated with Harold Edgerton.  Another great aunt dabbled in metals and her daughter has a wonderful ability to do illustrations with great detail but chooses to do other things.   Great grandfather was a woodworker.  There are others.   We would make a good case for creativity being genetic.

I have a very dear, dear friend whom I have known since our early years in grade school.  We attended high school and college together.  We even began to wear identical clothes with no intent to do so.  Bonny is also an artist.  She creates beautiful necklaces which she has had great success with and she paints.  Her family (husband, 3 daughters...Amy writes childrens' books and Sara is a pastry chef who can write and take beautiful photographs) means so much to me.  In my mind, they are family.

My new family is still developing.  It is my LUMA group....our collective.  We are 10 in number (4 women, 6 men), all photographers but each with a totally different style and approach to how and what we shoot.  Some of us in the group have grown closer to each other.  It's great to have a wonderful group of people that share your love for taking photos, that support you and share info, give honest critiques, and just have fun.  Most artists  spend so much time alone that it becomes important to have friends who share your world.  It's not the way the "normal" world operates and, in my opinion, the art world can be difficult for non-artists to understand.

My genetic family is not terribly close and, sadly, there aren't many of us left.  Maybe this is why friends are more like family to me.    I'm grateful to have them.




2 comments:

Bonny said...

I am so touched. You are my sister, my friend, my mentor. We have learned so much from each other. I could say so much more about what a good friend you have been to me. You helped me to believe in myself and I will be forever grateful.

Sara said...

very sweet post Cardi, brought tears to my eyes and also, very interesting to read about your background!