Sunday, August 5, 2018

Meeting Julie Ford Oliver

On July 13th, I had an opportunity to meet Julie, whose blog I've followed for years.  She's always impressed me as warm and kind, and extremely generous with her knowledge of painting.  So when I left a comment in June on her blog: Art Talk and she responded that she was coming to Cannon Beach, OR - a mere 30 miles from where I live - and asked if I'd like to meet.

Yes, yes! Oh my yes!   Sometimes you just know in your gut you would enjoy making the acquaintance of someone you've met online.  You. Just. Know.

Julie is as down to earth, warm and friendly as she seems on her blog, but she also has a wonderfully droll sense of humor.  She was in the company of her friend Jan, who had kindly driven her to Cannon Beach from Portland.  I sat down at their table in a cozy little place we met for breakfast, and we all three fell into easy conversation immediately!

Julie had cataract surgery 5 days before flying to Oregon and I'd had some minor hand surgery so we compared notes on what a non-event some procedures have become.  We talked about favorite pets, Julie's studio in Albuquerque, discussed a bit of personal history, and took a tour of a local art gallery.

Julie suggested we wander the gallery separately, pick a favorite piece of
artwork (we couldn't limit ourselves to just one) and tell each other why we were drawn to it when we joined back up.  That was fun and provided additional insight into these two women I'd just had the pleasure of meeting!  Do it the next time you go through a gallery with a friend.

Julie posted a photo Jan took of the two of us on her blog, but I didn't have the sense to get a picture of all three of us. (What are passersby for anyway?)

There you go....vicarious thrill for the day.  If you ever have the opportunity to meet someone you enjoy online - go for it!


3 comments:

  1. Glad you had a good time meeting a fellow blogger. Sometimes you really can tell by a person's writing that you'll just hit it off. Good to have that confirmed.

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  2. How wonderful to meet with Julie. She and I have been corresponding for years, too. I do hope to fly out and take one of her workshops someday. It's on my bucket list.
    Enjoy your day,
    Carol

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  3. This is my third try. Hope it goes through. They get shorter each time!
    Thanks for the wonderful words you wrote. My head was considerably bigger for a satisfactory period of time. It felt the same way for me, dear Lauren. You are great!
    It is fun meeting old blogging friends. Reminded me when I was young of my pen pals. i got to meet two of them and they were just like they wrote.
    I think of you often😍

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