Arriving as my entire artist-self

A trip to Cape Cod to meet 9 other artists

The early morning beach air

I was anxious before I left for Cape Cod. It was one of the first times I was traveling somewhere for an extended period of time without M and Forest pup. It was also my first artist gathering. The first time I was going somewhere as my entire artist-self.

I drove 8 hours north to meet nine other artists. If you read my letter, you’ll remember we all met by taking the same online course. We were later accepted into a short 45-day mastermind where we bonded almost instantly. We showed up in that space eager and willing to talk through pain points. We were quick to celebrate each other and recognize the realities of pursuing a career in art.

After the 45-day mastermind, ee continued to converse nearly daily on an app called Voxer. I remember the first day we flew solo without our facilitator. We all were like, “So this isn’t going to change, right?” And it didn’t. To this day, we send audio messages, text messages, pictures, and gifs. Once a month, we join a Zoom call where we dive further into topics or just catch up and talk about current happenings. Sometimes we enlist someone to come speak. And sometimes we lean on each other’s areas of expertise to teach us.

I struggle to find the right words to describe the beauty of these women. I reminisce about Ninth Street Women and wonder if they felt something akin.

They all ran out to greet me when I arrived Friday evening. Each person traveled from different states/countries. And they were all exactly as I anticipated (though, some way definitely way taller than Zoom let’s off!). The in-person bond was immediate—of course, it was. And conversations flowed instantly.