Expresso yourself!

Written by Sandee Setliff – I love a sunny day with endless possibilities stretching out in front of me, almost as much as I love chocolate and a cold glass of southern sweet tea. Throw in a good friend, gossip and some plein air sketching and you have the makings of a perfect day. We love to get together, just two ladies finding interesting locales to partake of some lunch and art.

So there we sat at Jongo Java on South Main Street, having satisfied the chocolate cravings and sweet tea part of the luncheon ritual, we took out our sketch pads and got down to the business of art. I chose a cool front door awning to draw while my friend decided to sketch an animated table next to us. It was filled with a group of octogenarian women who were a hoot to listen to, especially when the grandson of one stopped by with his electronic gadget, also known as a laptop, and wowed them all with his expertise of picture sharing techniques.

We couldn’t help but giggle and reminisce about how much fun it is to have a grandparent marvel over us with ooohs and aaahs, amazed that our adolescent knowledge far exceeded that of the “older folks”. We smiled as he showed them his internet prowess, fearlessly pushing buttons and navigating the unknown reaches of the internet.

With our heads bent down over our watercolors we smiled and nudged each other, amused at their awe and nodded our heads in agreement over how we missed those days of old.

So as we drew, we listened and we giggled. Who knew art and eavesdropping could be this much fun?

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Sandee Setliff is a contemporary mixed media artist and art journalist, enjoying her maiden voyage into writing. Her work can be viewed year round at the Art MoB Studio and for the month of August at Jongo Java in downtown Hendersonville.