Fun Shops Will Get you Outside the Covid Box
I’m an artist but not one who creates in a vacuum. I need my friends, community input, feedback, activism and frankly, fewer ZOOM calls.
Social isolation during Covid really slowed down my studio practice but it also gave me the time to carefully examine the why, what and how of my art making. But the isolation became too much for me. I needed you: my artistic peers, my friends, my collectors, my social justice warriors, you know who you are.
Finally, recognizing that Zoom is here to stay, I began to consider how I could use this technology to expand my art and my relationships with my “community.”
Welcome to Mary’s FunShop. It’s definitely not a serious workshop, but rather a way to come together, chat and have fun while exploring your creative side with your besties. Remember that, fun times with your friends?
FunShops are not necessarily for artists (many of my friends are artists and many aren’t). My FunShop is a way to share an experience and have a conversation that is driven by being together and not stressing over anything at all. Its only goal is no goal at all, except to be with others.
At first, an experiment with a few close friends, my FunShop is now a thing I organize for others. Basically, it’s a group of folks doing a simple art project over Zoom using prompts to keep things moving and encourage interesting conversation. We chat as we work bringing the satisfying joy of being with friends and doing something fun and productive. The most important item on the list is a pitcher of your favorite beverage. Yes, it’s time to get loose.
FunShops are for everyone from artists who miss their friends or just want to loosen up as well as friends and folks that have never done anything in an art studio but miss being with friends. It’s stress-free, something new, a conversation generator, and a creative way to share with others. No critique, just plain fun.
If you would like to enjoy a Fun Shop get-together, just send me an email or give me a call. I promise, this interactive activity brings Zoom to a whole other dimension.
Mary Farmer
828.712.3786
Studio: 184 E. Chestnut St, Suite 6
Asheville, NC 28801
Sand Hill Artists Collective 
Hi Mary – ran across pics of our European hiking trip, brought back fond memories. Susan Reynolds, Marilyn & Jerry South. I think Jerry was leading us. I’m fully vaccinated now, happy to say (since I’m now 90, egad), still hiking but much slower than I used to. Hope we are through this pandemic soon! Stay well in Asheville, love getting your emails/pics,
Pat Ernsberger
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