This painting was begun at our first Artist Collaborative Making Art get-together. This is when we bring our art-making supplies to AANE and spend an afternoon, just doing art, talking about art, sharing ideas about art, maybe listening to some music, have some lunch. It's also a time when we can share our thoughts and experiences of being on the autism spectrum and be a community in that way too. It’s a fantastic thing to be able to be ourselves each doing our unique thing but having a community at the same time. Our artists collaborative group has now grown from just a few people, some parents and a few staff members to what is now many artists being more or less self-sufficient: putting on shows and events, and working more and more on our own as professional artists. Amazing what the right kind of support can do.
