Creativity has no age limit

 Creativity and beauty are alive and well in the retirement community! Retirement doesn’t keep artists from painting, writers from writing, musicians from blowing their horns, photographers from capturing beauty, and artisans of all sorts from growing craftier than ever.

Speaking of art, the lobby of the main community building is its own art gallery, under the management of a resident activity group called Art on the Wall. It always features the work of a local artist and changes every few months. Sometimes the local artist is a resident of our retirement community.

That’s the case with the latest collection that circles the walls of the lobby and extends down the hall to the dining room. The artist just happens to be a good friend. I’ve known Sharon Longstroth since college days over 50 years ago. We’ve kept up our friendship over the years and now find ourselves part of the same retirement community.

After college, Sharon taught in grade school, as well as being a wife, mother, and homemaker. All along art has played a central part in her life. It’s part of her identity as a person.

She is currently known as a “Watercolor/Mixed Media Artist.” Sharon writes, “In recent years I have spent considerable time painting the things that I love: old buildings, people I know, flowers, birds, and anything else that catches my interest. A few years ago, I took a mixed media class where I learned to make books and art pieces using my own painted collage papers. I loved the results and the freedom of creating in a new way.”

Sharon tells me that living in the retirement community has encouraged her as an artist. It’s not just a matter of having more free time (although that is a major factor). It’s being part of a community of other creative people who inspire her and motivate her to keep learning new ways of creative expression. She is part of the Studio Arts Committee and spends a lot of time in their large studio on the lower floor. She sometimes teaches art classes and also enjoys taking some of the other classes the committee offers.

I don’t consider myself an artist, but I’ve taken a few of the art classes, including one Sharon taught on mixed media. But aside from art, the creative energy this group puts out encourages creativity in other forms. I find myself writing more stuff in a more creative manner. It’s part of the atmosphere of this community. I’m grateful.

Here are some of Sharon’s pictures currently on display: