For many, drawing and reading are solitary affairs, but for some, a group setting can offer encouragement and camaraderie.

Barbara Kurland started exploring the worlds of art and music after retiring.

“I wanted to learn to play a musical instrument, and I wanted to learn how to draw – and have fun doing it,” she said.

She started playing the ukulele and joined the group Ukuleles Unite, and took a class on travel journaling with Darsie Beck in Port Townsend.

The class with Beck inspired her and a few others to form a local branch of Urban Sketchers, which meets twice a month to fulfill the international organization’s aim to “show the world, one drawing at a time.” Beck was a member of the group in Tacoma and Seattle, and aided in getting the Port Townsend branch off the ground.

“I love the group because it’s not a competition,” said Kurland, who coordinates the local branch. The group is open and accepting, she said, and very encouraging. “I just love it.”

SKETCH IN THE DETAILS

The PT group meets on the second Wednesday and last Saturday of the month to promote urban sketching and share the many scenes of Port Townsend and its surrounding areas.

An outing is set for Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Old Alcohol Plant in Port Hadlock, 310 Hadlock Bay Road.

A brief meeting at 10 a.m. is followed by sketching from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The meeting to follow that outing is planned for Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. at The Palace Hotel in Port Townsend.

Artists draw on location, both in and out of doors, and aim to present a truthful record of time and place. Individuals may use any media they choose. Kurland invites anyone who wants to sketch to join. For more information, visit

urbansketchersporttownsend.wordpress.com.

FRONT PORCH BOOK CLUB

Melanie Hundley, a transplanted Southerner living in Port Townsend, is launching the Front Porch Book Club, focused on reading the works of Southern writers, and people are already expressing interest in joining, she said. “One felt like a book club was a great way to get more people in the area.”

The group is looking for adult readers who want to celebrate the works of Southern writers, traditional and contemporary.

“There’s just a plethora of Southern writers,” Hundley said, many of whom may be unfamiliar.

The group is starting with the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, and is set to meet at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2 at the Jefferson County Library’s small conference room.

Hundley said she was born and raised about 25 miles from Lee’s hometown and final resting place in Monroeville, Alabama.

She has begun a list of book ideas, and hopes to grow that list with the help and ideas from members.

Regarding the group’s name, Hundley said, “I couldn’t call it anything else, because that’s where you’d be invited if you came over,” she said. “You’d come over and you’d sit on the porch and you’d have tea.”

For more information, contact Hundley at mhundley500@gmail.com.

LEARN MORE

For more ongoing groups, check out the “Groups” section weekly in the Community Calendar.