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Encouraging Creativity in Yourself and Others

I have a plethora of talented friends.  A mixture of professional and armature artists in a variety of mediums: painters, photographers, film makers, writers, actors, woodworkers, crafters, chefs, cosmetologists, scrapbookers and seamstresses.  I enjoy their talents.  The work they do is inspiring and it challenges me to expand my own artistic reach. 
I love seeing their new art as well as enjoying their older works.  From time to time I catch someones name as it rolls past on the credits after a film or see a familiar shinning face on TV.  This week I was lucky enough to get an offer to view new series of incredible photographs by one of my favorite photographers.  When these types of things happen, my heart jumps and I think ”Yes, my friend is awesome“.
Recently I have grown to appreciate the resurgence of a detail oriented art form called scrapbooking.  The time, effort and skill put into each page is exceptional.  Only to have the individual pages completed, bound then tucked away upon a bookshelf in anticipation of being rediscovered upon opening.
I am enchanted by older works of art too.  A quilt or knitted blanket showing its time worn use.  A self taught artist‘s paintings on any substitute for canvas they could find.  The deep simplistic nature of a black and white photograph freezing a moment in time. 
For all of the artists of the world.  Show your work, put it out there and share it.  Your contributions and inspirations are invaluable.  I will refrain from naming names but you know who you are.  Thank you for being my awesome friends!
JL Cooper

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