Until last weekend I don’t think it had ever occurred to me to create a blog. I spend too much time in cyberspace anyway and I recognise it as a block, something passive I do to procrastinate. But over the past few months I have discovered some amazing crafty blogs showcasing women’s (it always seems to be women) creations and documenting what seems to me to be an unachievable but idyllic earth-mother lifestyle of sewing, knitting and baking. Obviously not in the Stepford wife domestic slave style of previous generations but in the spirit of reclaiming these things that the feminism of the 1970’s tossed away to be the same as men.
A couple of weeks ago I paid a lot of money to a nutritionist to be told for the umpteenth time that I needed to avoid gluten (and probably dairy). Every time I am told this I stick my head in the sand because I am one of those few women who has a healthy relationship with food. I am lucky enough to never have had an eating disorder and I eat a fairly healthy diet although I do have a weakness for Green & Blacks Almond Milk Chocolate. Generally I don’t consume food with guilt and am fearful of getting neurotic about what I eat if I cut gluten and dairy out of my diet. But it also hit me that it’s ridiculous to carry on throwing money at nutritionists and ignore their advice so this time I thought I’d give it a go. I decided to search the internet for some good gluten-free recipes and the first website I found was Gluten-Free Girl, an uplifting account of becoming gluten-free after being diagnosed with Celiac disease. I loved this woman’s positive, joyful voice and almost immediately ordered her book. Now I usually buy books and let them gather dust on my bedside table for a few years but this time I devoured her book as hungrily as a bar of Green & Blacks during a blood sugar dip. And on a rare day when the sceptical, cynical monkey on my back (also known as my inner critic) was silent, I suddenly had the urge to start a blog. A couple of months ago, before starting The Artist’s Way course I don’t think I would have felt I had anything to write about. But the course has so inspired me (and reminded me that I have a strong drive to inspire others) that I thought it would be a fabulous way to document my creative adventures as well as motivation to continue this artistic journey once the course is finished. So here I am. And thank you Gluten-Free Girl, for inspiring me with your ‘glass half full’ enthusiasm and your delicious recipes.
Some years ago I decided to give up my career as a web designer to follow a lifelong dream and study textile design. I spent a year working very hard at Chelsea School of Art in London where I specialised in Stitch. However the universe had other plans for my creativity and during the summer holidays I found I was pregnant with twins. I had to leave Chelsea and so I moved back to Brighton where I gave birth to two boys in 2003. It was the start of a very bumpy ride as I had some mysterious and debilitating health problems which turned out to be MS. I was quite heartbroken to have abandoned my dreams of living a creatively fulfilling life and as much as I wished to fill that hole with motherhood, I yearned for more. Two years ago I became a single mother so I had very little time to indulge in anything artistically, particularly as any free time I had was spent looking after my health. That has been a journey of discovery in itself and I have become very involved in personal development as well as meeting all kinds of amazing healers on the way and finally getting a yoga habit. My twins started school this year so I eventually gave in to my creative hunger and decided to enrol in a course on The Artist's Way in April this year, even though I had no idea how I would find the childcare or time. But I trusted that things would fall into place and magically they did. And I haven't looked back. The floodgates of my creativity are still only just ajar - I have so many ideas but not much free time, but I am looking forward to the artistic adventures I am sure to have, whatever they may be. Right now I want to sculpt from clay, paint, draw, take photos and of course make beautiful things from fabric, but I have no idea where all this will lead and it's the not knowing that is an adventure. I am starting this blog with some photos of my embroidered textile designs from my degree course but I intend to record my weekly artist's date as well as anything else I conjure up. The Artist's Way isn't solely concerned with artistic pursuits, it is about leading a vibrantly juicy life, identifying and following one's dreams and injecting some childlike joy back into the stressful lives we adults lead. It's about noticing (and creating) magic and synchronicity, which is an adventure in itself.
