As a general rule, Maria and I keep our distance from each other’s friends. Since we work in the same place and live in the same place, boundaries become important; we are both independent, we both feel the need for our own work, lives and space.

Besides, she has many wonderful close friends, and I don’t have any in the conventional sense. It’s easy for us to maintain our boundaries.

Sometimes these two artists – weekly actually – manage to interact, and while Emily Gold and I rarely see or speak to one another, I feel a close connection with her as well.

They are both texters, and they ping back and forth all day.

Emily is one of those remarkable people you run into from time to time (rarely) who simply stand out. Emily is that combustible combination of talent, smartness, honesty, and caring.

Last week, Maria told Emily that she was stuck creatively (this happens for six or seven minutes every month or so). A few days later, Emily came roaring over with art supplies she bought so she and Maria could work together.

This is very Emily. She has a lot of empathy for her friends.

It worked; Maria took off like a rocket after Emily came. I was invited (briefly) into Maria’s studio to see their progress with Gelli prints, which I never heard of but fell in love with.

I was not really comfortable visiting the studio that day, I felt the day belong to them, it was not a family affair. But I only stayed long enough to tape a video and pass it along to Maria.

Nobody asked me to stay and I was grateful for that.

I do love seeing how this two spark one another and get each other going. and experimenting Each will not permit the other to be down or discouraged for long, and let’s face it, being an artist can be lonely work.

Emily and I hit off from the first. She doesn’t mind smartasses and is not intimidated by men or anyone else I can think of. I  love and appreciate her work.

She and Maria, both creatives who rush to each other’s side at the first sign of malaise, care very much about each other and living in the country as we do, it is precious to find a friend like that.

I’ve never quite been able to do it, perhaps because men are dumb that way, or perhaps I have too many lumps in my head to know how to do it.

A beautiful mess is the right word for their day together, they made a lot of beautiful prints, and they made quite a mess.

I could hear them laughing all the way from the studio into my study. It was a nice sound.

I was in a supporting role; I made lunch and boiled some fresh corn. We all had a nice talk about kids and creativity after lunch.

I guess Emily is my friend too, not in the way she is Maria’s, but in our own and different way. I admire people as talented as she is, check out her blog, and I respect people who take their work as seriously as she does.

The fact that she is such a good and thoughtful friend is impressive.

What is the secret to a creative life? For me, that’s simple.

You get up every day and work a bit harder than the day before, and you keep doing it until you get where you want to get.  You stay from day jobs, they are creativity killers.

Creativity is like anything else – you get out of it just what you put in. I believe the creative spark is inside of all of us, the lucky ones get a chance to see its light.

Emily and Maria both get that, they don’t need to be told anything by me. But sitting with the two of them, I felt I was at home with my true family.

I doubt I will see her or talk to her again for months, but it will be nice when we do.

Emily wrote about the visit on her blog today. It was nice to read that she felt as good and welcome here as we felt so comfortable because she was her.

I love the idea of the beautiful mess, in part because I feel it describes my life so closely.