In the Studio…
Whenever I feel like it is time to press the reset button, to take a timeout from whatever I am doing, I do one of two things. I either take a walk across our fields and into the woods listening to a book or come to my studio and look for something to ground myself. It doesn’t take much. It starts with a great playlist. This week I am loving the music of a Canadian classical violinist, Angele Debeau. Light classical music works wonders for clearing the mind. I grab my camera and wander into the moment, whatever catches my eye, as you can see in the collection of photos above. Lately, it has been my moodboard, books and leaning into my “vintage traveling chaise,” a travel memory from our days living in Surrey, UK.
My vintage chaise and I have history…a special one.
Back in the day, when we lived in Surrey, and London was a twenty minute train ride from our little village of Esher, I set off into London in search of a sofa. As organized as I was, I managed to do what I often do in cities, I got lost. That usually is not a bad thing. In my mind, adventure always awaits. And there I was, wandering the streets of Parsons Green when I became smitten with a bicycle….and just beyond it the most extraordinary building with vintage furniture piled high, inside and out, like one big jumble sale of magnificent proportions. Potential was written over every piece. If I could have filled a 40’ container, I would have. I walked deep into the dark recesses of the building and that is when I spotted it, my magic carpet ride. I wrote on a blog post “No matter that it was torn here and there, that it had been patched to no end. I took one look and the chaise instantly transported me to every country I had ever traveled to in our expat life.” Forget the sofa, the chaise was coming home with me. As you can see, it did and not a day goes by that I do not appreciate getting lost in Parsons Green.
Over the years, some people have suggested I get over the nostalgia, say farewell to the fabric and start anew. With comments like that I question my relationship with whoever suggests it. I still love ever tattered piece of it and where it takes me in my traveling mind.
If you spotted a few books in the photos above that interest you, here they are:
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng. I need to qualify this one to say that I was gifted his book, The House of Doors which I absolutely loved. I quickly moved onto The Gift of Rain and The Garden of Evening Mists. I patiently await his next book.
A beautiful book, American Wildflowers: A Literary Field Guide, is the perfect book for the gardener in your life. Beautifully illustrated, it is a “collection of poems, essays, and letters from the 1700’s to the present that focus on wildflowers, their place in our culture and the natural world.”
Curate: Inspiration for an Individual Home by Ali Heath and Lynda Gardener is the essential styling guide at Tahilla Farm. Everything about it says Yes! to me.
How to French Country: Color and design inspiration from southwest France by Sara Slim. I am inspired by all her work. It is a beautiful book.
Coming Home to Nature: The French Art of Contrification is a wonderful collaboration between Estelle Marandon, Gesa Hansen and Charlotte Huguet. “Life in the countryside takes adjustment and there is much to be learned.” The give joyful meaning to the art of countrification.
And that my friends- are my afternoon thoughts from from my traveling chaise in the studio at Tahilla Farm. :))
Jeanne xx
