Finding me

It has been a while since my last post so thought I would share what I have been up to. I suddenly realized that I haven't done any drawing since I have known my husband, some 18 years. Where did the time go? I always use to enjoy drawing as a child but going to an academic school I was advised not to study art for a couple of years and to pick it up again at A' Level. I never did. The above is a self portrait and my latest drawing. It isn't perfect, but it is me. I'm not perfect either so a fair reflection I think.

It is strange drawing yourself. I think I may have given myself slight more wrinkles than I have. I am blessed with my mum's skin, as it were, so tend to look more youthful than I am. Not a bad thing most of the time. Blogging like drawing causes for some introspection. I like to think I am very self aware. I don't miss much that goes on around me, but I don't always comment. Maybe that's why I have been quieter on the blogging of late. Honesty is always the best policy but speaking out is not always the most prudent thing to do.

As I think of where I have been in recent years and where I am now I can see a change in myself. I have, it seems, found myself again. I have even picked up my guitar of late. I have also realized how much of a 'Stroudie' I am. Stroud is a rather quirky Coteswold town. It was famous for its cloth (used for military uniformes and snooker tables) that would be made in the mills and hung out to dry on the hillsides. It was also a brewing town but alas Stroud Brewery no longer exists. It is now well known for its farmers market that brings many folk to come and taste and see the local wears. Stroud district is full of artists and writers. Damian Hurts is based here as are Jilly Cooper, Katie Fforde and Joanna Trollop. Other famous writers were Laurie Lee and W. H. Davies and let's not forget Revd W. V. Awdry who wrote the Thomas the Tank Engine books. The sculptor Lynn Chadwick also had a studio here. Keith Allen the actor and musician lives in Stroud and his daughter Lilly was born here and lives near by. Stroud and its five valleys is a beautiful place and perhaps evokes the creative in people. Stroudies tend to be a bit bohemien and eccentric. Being different is celebrated. Maybe you need to be born here or have lived here a while to understand exactly what I mean.

God tends to peel back our layers as we draw closer to him. In my walk with him of late it seems I have lost a few layers, or at least examined them more carefully. I am a bit quirky and like to express myself creatively in worship but this is me and this is how God made me.