Finding mutuals and community
TL;DR: I used to have a small, tight-knit group of art mutuals that sort of faded out over life being life and people growing up. I'd like to find a new one but I'm at loss on how to do so.
A while ago, during the pandemic, I stumbled upon this telegram group made of/for young artists from my country.
The moderation was not the best, so me and a small clique of people formed an "art cafe" group so we could talk in peace without all the drama. I was stoked to be considered cool and chill enough to be added to the special little group and, despite being the only furry artist there, everyone was super supportive of my art and helped me improve a lot.
That group motivated me to practice and gave a special kick to my artistic journey I'm still deeply grateful for. We used to do drawpile nights, discord calls, share resources, hype each other up, and share each other's work on social media. Everyone who was there is so insanely talented, it never failed me to inspire me, and I produced some of my best artwork during that time.
It was great, and I miss it terribly.
As time went on, everyone grew up and took their path, me included. I lost touch with everyone and I'm now looking for another group of friends that would inspire, support and help each other grow. I don't think I could be able to restore the old one because on top of not having the best people skills, there's a reason why it faded out and I don't want to force back the people who have might grown out of that phase.
Question is, how do you even find and form a tight-knit group of mutuals? I doesn't have to be big, but the older I grow the more I realize I need community in my journey.
I have some mutuals here and there, but nobody I'm particularly close to.