Blogging? I'm never going to do that...

Well here it is. That thing I was never going to do. Actually now that I think about it, I was never going to venture into self employment either (tax returns? Form filling? No thanks!) but it turns out I push my own personal boundaries a lot, no matter whether I find it comfortable or terrifying.

I figured I'd start by sharing bits about my life in relation to what I do and why I do it. There's usually at least two main reasons, which could be divided into "obvious and surface" and "something that requires a small novella of an explanation because that's the way my mind works and I don't want to be misunderstood or misinterpreted so I'll just rabbit on for a couple of hours in order to paint a vivid picture of my life in its entirety".

I'll do my best to keep blogging "obvious and surface" with snippets of the rest added in for amusement. Or horror. I've not decided which route I'll be taking! For the more seasoned connoisseur of the written form you may want to stop reading now before the thoughts being transferred via my fingertips from my head have you screeching in despair "what is she dooooing?"

So back to the subject and a little bit about what I do. I've written an 'about' section on my website already so I won't repeat that, but I'd like to say a little about it in a less formal way.

Wire art was a curiosity for me. I'd seen some stunning metal sculptures online (fairies and dandelions) and was simply blown away by the detail and beauty of them. This of course led on to a search for other wire art, jewellery probably being the top one with wire wrapping detailed pendants, earrings, rings and a million other beautiful things.

Sadly I am allergic to a lot of metals and I also have sensory issues with certain things on my skin so jewellery has never been something I took much interest in. From my point of view, it has probably saved me hundreds if not thousands of pounds in my lifetime. But I can still appreciate (and wistfully gaze at) beautiful designs and colours all you makers out there create.

What did catch my eye on my searches were little tree of life pendants and I thought "Ooooh - I could do that!" which sums up how I see most things. That is right up until the point I realise nope, I definitely can't do that and not only can't I do it, I don't want to do it and I hate it so get it away from me and never speak of it again! (last venture attempting to learn crochet comes to mind... and anything that involves having other people physically teach me anything! I make a lousy student and I'm best left to my own devices). ANYWAY... I did do some tree of life pendants, only they were so large, they were only fit as wall decor, which they still are to this day; hanging in my hallway as a reminder of how it all started. Plus I have really boring white walls so they help break up the monotony.

It was from then I started experimenting with how to make self supporting trees, and it took months before I had something that would stand without being glued, held down with stones or propped up against a wall. There was a lot of trial and error but the thing with self directed learning is you want to do it until you get it right. I didn't do it because I had to, I did it because I wanted to have something that once I was finished, I could look at it and know what I'd created was worth it. I could look at it and be happy. And for one of those extremely rare times in my life, that inner critic that normally doles out the harshest opinions without pausing for breath .... well she went quiet. And after a period of contemplation, looking at the creation in front of her she said,

"Not bad. I actually like it".

It was in that moment I knew I wanted it to be more than a hobby, and over a year of deliberation, preparation and perseveration later, Twysted Roots was launched.

Thanks for reading. And welcome to my blog!

❤