Paint-ins, poetry readings, journal writing, a feng shui class and even sleepovers have become means of self-discovery for a couple of dozen Metroplex women who call themselves Women of Wonder.

 

The group, formed nine years ago, uses the acronym WOW as its nickname. And the word “Wow” also suits the women’s reactions along the way, they say.

 

“The women are so bright and witty and into all kinds of art,” said Sherron Hughes of Bedford, a sales representative for a Dallas paper company. She become involved with WOW six years ago, and “I always come away feeling refreshed. It’s always stimulating.”

 

The group is unusual because of the diversity of its members and the subjects it explores, founder Sandra Eddy of North Richland Hills said.

 

The women range in age from their 30s to their 70s, with occupations in art, medicine, education, public relations and sales. They have been on retreats, taken field trips to museums, gone to sleepovers at one another’s homes and stayed at bed-and-breakfast inns, said Eddy, executive director of the Fort Worth Classic Guitar Society.

 

The group does not charge dues or elect officers, and it usually meets two Sunday afternoons a month. Newcomers are welcome, including — despite the group’s name — men.

 

Women of Wonder grew out of a discussion of Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Guide to Higher Creativity, organized when Eddy was community relations manager for the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Grapevine in 1996.

 

“We called ourselves The Artist’s Way group for a long time,” Eddy said. “People told friends, and the group grew. The purpose was to encourage women to grow and express themselves.”

 

Eventually, the group outgrew its name, she said. Members brainstormed and came up with Women of Wonder.

 

While creativity is at the group’s core, “it’s also kind of a group therapy,” said WOW member Dorothy Hamm, a Euless publicist and free-lance writer.