Studio Notes: Just Me

Tamlin Blake with recently completed tapestries.

I find as I get older that I am becoming more aware of other peoples idiosyncrasies and find myself developing, or becoming more ware of, my own. By my husband's definition I am an extreme introvert. He is, in my opinion, the best corporate and life coach in the world so I guess he might be right.

Living and working in a small town amongst the vineyards and wheat fields suits me very well. Even for an introvert though, life in paradise can get somewhat lonely. This is not helped by the fact that I don't like reading the news, I am not mad about spending time in front of emails and I thoroughly dislike the phone. It's not the people on the other side, I love chatting with friends and family, I just don't like the intervening mediums. I put my head down, work all day and ignore all devices and as a result I tend to become, I suspect, a little out of touch.

Then suddenly a few small things happen and I realise it is time to pay attention. Recently, within the space of a morning, a stranger sent me an email, an old friend called and I received some news. 

The stranger had been moved by what I had written in one of my earlier blog posts and thankfully felt strongly about sharing her thoughts. The friend who called is an engaging artist who always manages to leave me feeling inspired and wonderful and I often wonder why I don't get in touch more often. And after two years of waiting I received confirmation that funds will be found to include one of my artworks into a conveniently well known collection. 

It was a good morning and a reminder that it can in fact be beneficial, and not so scary, to engage a little more with the world around me. But for now I am going to embrace my nature, do some work and I might phone the electrician / plumber / builder later.