MY MEGA-CREATIVE SPACE :: alyra

I’m a chameleon, pure and simple. I always adapt to the people and circumstances around me in order to meet the world’s expectations. I rarely fall short of them and it’s often very hard being what everyone wants/needs. It’s such a heavy weight, at times, having to live up to everyone’s expectations. Always having to be the strong one, the successful one, the provider, A faithful friend, A Steady in the Storm, A Counselor, the voice of reason and the heart of my little family. Sometimes, when you re-create yourself time and again, parts of you get lost along the way. But there is one place where I am truly me. One place where the only expectations to be met are the ones I set for myself (or maybe, I don’t set one at all). And that’s in my Study; (or my Perch as my husband calls it because it’s on the second floor of my little house and overlooks the street where everyone walks by). This place is mine and exclusively so. Nobody comes in this room without invitation. My husband pays his share of our mortgage, and yet he never enters the study without knocking. Even the cats give me a little chirp before they come in. Because it’s my haven, or heaven, depending on how you look at it. It’s the place that knows all about me. My home within my home. Where I am me, for all that is wonderful and terrible about who I am. It’s where I hide from the world, but at the same time, it’s the only place where the real me runs wild with reckless abandon. It’s where I’ve written my books and built my business. It’s where I dream of the possibilities and mourn the losses. Where I think and plan, and conspire. Many failures have been both suffered and averted here, and many successes fulfilled. Most of my achievements have been born in this space, and all of them have been celebrated here. It is everything to me because it’s filled with the memories of who I am. J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote about a house. The Last Homely House west of the mountains before the Sea. Tolkien described it as: “… perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.” And that is what my Study in my house is like. So, with that being said, I invite you to take a tour of my little piece of perfect. The pictures don’t do it justice, because much of the mood is lost since I had to use a flash to really capture everything. But, if you can engage the imagination of yours, picture it dark and candlelit, because that’s the way it always is!!!
This is the way in. The screen is a treasure from India, hand carved sandalwood and it scents the room magnificently.	The Tapestry is Moroccan in design and I wish I could say that I bought it there. Alas dare I say it? Ebay….
I’m an avid horseback rider. This is my Australian Riding Hat that has seen my through many adventures. Most recently on a wild ranch trip through Mexico with one of my closest friends. I love how it’s all wrinkled and beat to hell. That hat has kept me warm, kept the sun off my face and the rain from my eyes. It’s an old friend! Now, the bow! Archery is a favorite pastime of mine, although I don’t get to do it very often. My Bow is a handmade white cedar linen backed longbow, modeled after what they used in Medieval England. Its name is “ I Tirno” which means “The Guardian.” The quiver was custom made as a gift from a leather craftsman in Arizona and the arrows themselves were also handmade from cedar with natural cast off feathers.Photo: Turning Right/ Battle Helm and Dream Chaser
If you turn right you’ll see a little nook with some unusual things. The table is from the turn of the century, but the Viking Battle Helm is much older. It's it great!! Such a conversation piece. The Dream chaser at this point is so delicate that I don’t hang it anymore because it’s much too delicate to handle gravity.	A good writer needs great reference material! I couldn’t live without my dictionaries. My favorite is the one focused on Shakespearian Insults, but if you look close you can see dictionaries of Rhyme, Slang, Quotes, etc… I couldn't live without them
This is a print of a pencil drawing done by renowned Comic Book Artist Colleen Doran. It is of two Elven princes running reconnaissance at the start of the Great War of the Ring. The pencil study sketch below is original and one of a kind. I got this from Colleen (and she dedicated it for me no the back) at a Lord of the Rings Convention where she was presenting and I was teaching Calligraphy.
This is where my creative juices flow the best. The hours I have spent here are countless. Writing, Scheming, advising, planning, conspiring, ranting..etc... It’s all done from here. The Desk is an old teacher's desk from the turn of the century and it is much too small to be comfortable for my long legs. But I can’t bring myself to give it up. The Chandalier a focal point of Inspiration for me. Is an Egyptian Original. I bought it in the Bizarre on Khan al Khalili Street in Cairo at some crazy hidden rooftop shop. After much arguing and fighting with customs, I managed to get it back to the US In mostly one piece. Many people have tried to buy it from me, but I’ll never part with it. You can see behind the Chandelier some amazing photographs of early Egypt. I also bought them in the bizarre and I’m sure I was completely ripped off, but I had to have them.  Shebalinga, lap accessory. This is one of my two cats. Sheba-linga is her name, or “Sheebs” for short. Now, everyone loves their cat and I adore my little girl, but she’s not my pet. I’m HERS. She’s very possessive of me and follows my everywhere. She talks to me all day and checks on me constantly. She watches me cook and helps me make the bed. Then she sleeps curled around my head and her purr soothes me to sleep when Ambien won’t even work. She has fur that literally feels like a mink coat. She has a sister, Possum, but like a real possum, our little grey girl with a very pink nose is shy.	Early in my professional dance career, I knew I wasn’t going to look as good as I did then ever again, so I found a wonderful artist to immortalize myself. The artist is Ariadne Gaitanis and she was wonderful to work with. Neon took some great pictures of me and basically Aridne recreated a famous orientalist print and dropped me right into it. She was honest in the picture and only took creative license with the color of the costume. You can tell she's honest becausee she gave me very big thighs. Yes, I do have meaty hams, even at my thinnest I had meaty hams! I still have the costume and the swords but I’ve cut my hair and regretfully put on a few pounds!    This is the view from my desk as I walk out of my Study. Note the Framed artwork above the light switch. This is a calligraphy masterpiece done by Master Artist Daniel Reeve. Daniel is the mapmaker and calligrapher from the Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong Films. Daniel and I met during various conventions where he was displaying his Art and I was teaching Tengwar Calligraphy. This is an Original invitation to Bilbo Baggins’ One hundred and Eleventyith birthday celebration For My husband and Me. (The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien, Chapter 1, A long expected party)
And, so there you have it. A short tour of my sanctum and I hope that if you haven't got one of your own, it inspires you to aspire to one! The greatest investment you can ever make for yourself and your happiness is a Creative Space. It's the portal that allows you to get away from you, interrupted to you, amplified.

Comments

[Blanca]

*Gasp* GORGEOUSNESS!