Friday 28 June 2013

Tiny spaces can be portals too

Okay, I suppose the ultimate tiny space we all have is inside our own heads but, as conundrums go, it is probably also the largest at the same time. Intriguing and quite amazing when you think about it – we can take ourselves anywhere, at anytime, with anyone in there. I have always been intrigued by the fact that our minds/imaginations can be so limitless, so tangible in the multitude of paths they follow and yet none of us have ever seen one. How can something we use everyday be invisible? Formless, (at least in the corporeal sense)? It is an extraordinary thing.

The road in the header photo resonates with this for me, a path to follow – yes, I know it's a bit obvious, cliche even – but I've always loved exploring those places, going just that bit further to see what lies round the corner or over the hill. I enjoy escaping into pictures, photos, paintings, whatever, just wondering what there is that you can't see, what lies beyond. Visuals can be a great stimulus for words, just look at where it got Tracey Chevalier for one; fabulous.

This is the sort of stuff I'll be blogging about, though a few other areas of interest may pop up from time to time as the mood takes me. Like landscapes, not necessarily pictures of, (though that's a possibility too), but different types of countryside, seaside etc. that inspire or just make me go 'wow' in a breathtaking moment. The photo header at the top of this page marks one of those. I took the shot on a walk in Cornwall, one of my favourite places, there was a bend in the road then this tree all wind-blasted and leaning, with great puffs of cloud behind it. Very dramatic and rather beautiful I thought so I took a snap. It has a sort of plucky air about it, clinging to the bank like that and reminded me of the trees in Shetland. The wind is so fierce up there, the land so exposed that vegetation above ground level has quite a fight on its hands, but don't let that put you off, it's a beautiful place with wonderful bays and a landscape all its own … plus an abundance of birdlife, any twitchers amongst you would love it!

In this blog. I'll be featuring writers, a visual artist or two, musicians, people working in a whole range of mediums, basically anyone who provides me with a 'wow' moment – I hope they will provide you with some 'wow' moments too.  To whet your appetite, here's one I took earlier (very 'Blue Peter'), Cornwall again. Can you see a lioness' head in those clouds or is it just me?







Friday 21 June 2013

Welcome to the tiny space

To begin ... an explanation. The tiny space in question is where I do my writing, though I do have a roving pen and notebook on the go, most of the time, that travel about a bit.

Over the years the tiny space has changed location. It began life on a 1940s' dining table in, where else, a dining room which naturally it had to share – both table and room! This was one of those 'now you see it, now you don't' places and not a success. It had a few intermittent residencies on my lap in various armchairs and on beds, but this was on an emergency basis only. This space, however, is still called upon from time to time and invaluable.

There was a brief spell on a lovely Arts and Crafts table, a bargain bought from a secondhand furniture shop installed in a corner of my bedroom, but when we connected to the superhighway it had to move again for the phone connection (all very pre. wifi). My tiny space became a very small, windowless corner of the hallway, a cramped major artery of the house and caught in an arctic wind tunnel between front and back doors. This required thick jumper, fingerless gloves, hot water bottle, blanket and copious amounts of tea/coffee to be thawed enough for flexible movement in both fingers and brain. I wrote most of my MA work there, thousands of words of it; my advice – avoid hallways.

A bit of the spare room was a step forward, but it can be quite tricky keeping the circulation going in your legs when one of them is wedged against a computer trolley and the other fighting for space with a large chest of drawers and everything everyone else doesn't want in their bedroom. But I'm not churlish, the spare room was the proverbial light. Immoveable trolley has now been removed, lovely table from bedroom installed, room redecorated (that was a job and a half), bookshelves erected and the tiny space is a comfortable L-shape by a window; oh the joy of natural light! It is still shared with bits of clutter and is a guest room, with bed of course, but I have my books around me, lovely arty things that friends and family have given me, my table and laptop, notebooks and pens ... what more could I wish for? I love my tiny space and it is just mine. Not quite Virginia's room of one's own, but a tiny space of my own. Fab!