Creative Collisions: Why we need to talk to strangers more

If you’ve ever had the great fortune of meeting another creative type in a very organic way, you’d know how special it feels. Sparking a spontaneous friendship as an adult is an unrivalled joy – and often easier and less scary than you might tell yourself.

I made a new friend recently and, let me tell you, it was magnifique! Her name is Patricia and she is the sweet owner of a lovely little French café that recently opened in my town. I’ve popped in and sampled her incredible crepes (ten out of ten recommend the Nutella and banana, or the super simple yet excellent butter and sugar), and grabbed the odd takeaway coffee. While we’ve always been friendly with each other, we’ve never gone too deep with our conversation.

Well, that’s changed. One morning a few weeks ago, Patricia commented that she loved my dress. I issued the standard sewist response of a massive smug-yet-humble smile that took over my entire face and chirped, “Thanks, I made it!”, holding the skirt of the dress out and turning right to left like a little girl. Proud as punch! Patricia met me with the standard response of a shocked expression that quickly flowed into pure delight as she remarked “No – you made it? I’m also a dressmaker!” 

As you might imagine, the energy between us became electric as we realised we were both creative people with loads to talk about. We almost couldn’t wait for our turn to speak as we volleyed back and forth, sharing insight into the ways in which we are creative. We both love to sew, paint, stitch, knit, draw – basically we share the curse of the creative: believing we can make everything and possessing an insatiable eagerness to try. Patricia even shared her ongoing challenge of struggling with the discipline required to finish one project before beginning another and I was all, same girl, same.

We had to wrap up our chat sooner than either of us would have liked but, before I left, flat white in hand, I thanked Patricia for commenting on my dress and initiating this wonderful conversation and connection that had absolutely made my morning. She replied with something along the lines of, “We all must do this more. There are people walking past us every day that we have so much to connect over and we so rarely start the conversations that allow us to realise that.” We swapped names and numbers and BAM! A friendship was formed.

As I floated back to my car, grinning from ear to ear, buzzing with the joy of having made a new friend (and a crafty one at that!), I got to thinking about other times that I’ve made unexpected creative connections, and a few memories were quick to come to mind. Last year I hosted an event and, as I was preparing to begin my introduction, moments away from switching on my microphone, I spotted a familiar face in the audience. It was Karen from my Thursday night dance class! I nudged my friend and said, “See that lady over there? We go to the same dance class,” and my friend said “You mean Karen Lynch? She’s an incredible textile artist – one of her creations won The Wearable Arts Festival this year.” I was absolutely gobsmacked. 

This wonderful woman, who I throw shapes with in our local hall every week in the name of strength and fitness, is a fellow creative? I couldn’t believe we’d been sharing space on the regular and had never had time to chat deeply enough to discover our common interests – always too busy focusing on getting the choreography down, bracing our core and tucking our pelvis as we dance, squat and lunge the evening away. This enhanced connection led to heart-filling chats and even a coffee date where Karen kindly lent her weaving skills to help me out with a creative project.

Two doors down from Patricia’s little French café is the beautiful and inspiring studio The Pear Tree Gallery, creative home of supremely talented artist, Lauren Jones. The tale of my meeting Lauren is also one that warms my heart when I think back on it. We were at a sustainable fashion, secondhand clothing event a couple of years ago where neither of us really knew any or many other people in the room. As I scanned the space Lauren caught my eye. She was wearing the most wonderful earthy-toned linen pinafore, adorned with little hand-embroidered motifs of flowers, bows, ducks with ribbons round their necks, and the like. I was drawn to her immediately and approached her to strike up a conversation. 

In doing so, I learned that she was an incredible artist, just setting up her new studio in town. Not only that, but she had a micro flower farm, growing the flowers that she then immortalises in oil on canvas. Could she be any cooler? I also learned she is deeply loved, as one of her friends had sewn and embroidered that pinafore for her as a gift. #FriendshipGoals

There are many other stories I have of meeting fellow creatives. When I reflect on them I re-live the utter joy and sometimes giddiness I felt when those connections were made. At a time when the world feels like chaos, my heart and my peace feel protected by these moments and these friendships formed, and I feel renewed inspiration to seek them out every day. 

Patricia and I are in discussion about starting a monthly craft club at her café so we can broaden and nurture the creative connections in our local community, while also supporting her wonderful little business. Lauren is coming too. Everyone will be invited to bring something creative to work on if they wish – be it painting, drawing, crochet, knitting, mending… 

And those who aren’t creative are welcome too. Maybe it’s less of a craft club and more of a friendship club. It will be a gateway for all types of people to come together and share the pure joy of creating or simply existing side-by-side with other members of our local community. Perhaps we’ll have a coffee and a slice of homemade plum and almond clafoutis too: a product of one of Patricia’s more delicious creative pursuits!