WOMEN FRIENDSHIP

I belong to a group of women, artists and crafters, who meet on a regular basis once a month in turns in our homes. This friendship group was formed some years ago and grew strong. Creative energy flows in all of us, and we love to share its out comings with each other. The core of our group consisted of seven members, it has developed into ten by now. Guests are often invited to our meetings and it is the privilege of the particular hostess to do this. We also like to have a plan each time. So we bring in all kind of teachers who will give us small work shops. Once we learned silhouette cutting (Scherenschnitt), another time we drew Mandalas, we did card work and tried journaling. We are also teaching in between our group, sharing our individual knowledge. We made fabric from fiber, we dyed fabric, we discharged fabric with bleach, we painted fabric, we created colored paper, we made little bead brooches and a beaded pendant. We have the opportunity to get an insight into many different crafts from each other. Patchwork and quilting, bead jewellery, embroidery, mosaic making, knitting, crochet, pottery, glass art, painting, button work, papier mache, lamp bead work, we learned and taught patchwork techniques and embroidery stitches, and more. Once we had a wonderful lecture from one friend, about the painter Hundertwasser, with a lot of information and photos from a trip to Austria.

We invite lecturers on subjects of healing, how to better get along in life, how to overcome difficulties, how to understand ourselves and situations better. We had much joy with a woman who guided us on a gentle path with therapeutic cards. Many feelings surfaced and could be talked about.

We enthusiastically admire each others work and give a lot of positive feedback. We do not criticize. We encourage and comfort and excite each other in times of lows and downs. We talk about gallery visits and art exhibitions and share opinions about them.

We are all above middle age and got used to our wrinkles. We are not thinking about face lifts so much any more. :-) Oh yes, we are a lot more accepting now and searching for deeper meanings of life. We are not busy with competition and gossip, we respect each other completely how we are. We share recipes! Oh Yes! And phone numbers of doctors and therapists! Yes, yes! :-) We are all grandmothers and enjoy that very much! We tell about our grand kids, we are proud of them. We have a network of support, we trust each other and help each other and never peek uninvited in each others privacy.

If you would like to come to one of our meetings, you will have to be here at 11 o.clock, on Thursdays, it is always on a Thursday. You will be greeted with laughter and chatting and hugs. There will be a lot of food, including cakes and dessert. Maybe you will be asked to bring a salad. Coffee or tea you make yourself, every thing you need is on the kitchen counter, you snack on cookies. Then we sit down in a circle or around the table according to what will happen next. We will listen to the lecture of our guest speaker or enjoy the lesson of our work shop. There is never any pressure on anyone. If you don't feel to participate, you do not have too, you will just enjoy the company. About two hours later, we will have lunch together with all the delicatessen the hostess prepared and the guests brought with them. Then there is cake and more coffee - a lot of coffee - and more storytelling and sharing, before saying goodbye an hour or so later.

Our group is very colorful, we are all different, we are turquoise and burgundy, sea blue and olive green, no yellow between us, but a lot of sun golden. We love to give presents. We smile in receiving them. There is something very sweet in true women friendship, and it is even sweeter during advanced age, we are all a bit more discerning and wiser.

At the last time a month ago in my home, our special guest, our guest of honor really, was Ruth Dayan, the widow of former politician Moshe Dayan. She is 95 years old and an idol of wisdom and knowledge and a role model for us all. She has a very kind personality - and look how beautiful she is and how nicely dressed!

She loves arts and crafts. She is full of Israeli history and her stories can fill a day and make it an unforgettable and wonderful experience. She has the most incredible smile and she made our meeting very special!