Sleightholm Folk Art

  This week I rounded the corner into my third trimester— and as I get bigger and wobblier and feel more kicks and stretches, I can’t help but have babies on the brain!
   As the mother of four little ones, I admire Tasha Tudor and all she was able to do and create even more. She had said that many of her earlier works were done with a baby on her lap. I will soon be testing the theory of that work method myself!
   In the film “Take Joy”, about Tasha Tudor’s life and work, they show several sweet photos not only of her mother and child paintings, but photos from her own life.
   I am always struck by the tenderness and beauty of those personal family photos— little bed-capped babies cuddled up in a fluffy bed, Tasha nursing a little one much as women have done for for hundreds of generations, but so sweet and snug in their 19th century method of life.

Of course I am all for running water, central heat and air, and a washer and dryer as I prepare to become a mother to a second little one. But I’ve also been thinking of the sweetness and quietness of the old fashioned ways of welcoming a baby into the world.
   It will be the heart of frosty winter when my boy comes, and taking Tasha’s advice to not believe in hurry— I’m going to take my time with resting and getting to know him and not pushing myself too hard to get back to life and work as before. I know it is a luxury these days to not be mandated by work or insurance about how long I get to be with my baby. With Audrey, I was required by my insurance to return to work within 6 weeks of her birth. There was a lot of hurry in that, and the stress of how to go back to work and juggle caring for a newborn and trying to nurse her at the same time.
   That wont even be a concern this time around and I am so grateful for that. So, winter will be a quiet time here at Audrey Eclectic– as I take Tasha’s advice, and the advice of all those early mothers who were able to have a proper ‘lying in’ after the birth of their child. I know my brain will be full of painting ideas, and my little one, much as Audrey has been, will surely be a source of inspiration.
   I know it will all be a big adjustment and there will be many tired and exhausting days and nights ahead. But I will try to ‘take peace’ and find joy in all the little things that will come to make everything richer and better, in art and life.

Happy Tasha Tuesday~
H