Hello everyone! For two years now I've been meaning to give you a tour of my sweet lil fifties rig, which I impulsively bought as writing studio space just before my baby (aka Lil Dude) came... My trailer now sits happily in my driveway and serves as my tiny creative oasis.
Come in, come in! This is what you see from just inside the doorway...
To your right is the little booth where I write...
And to your left is the place where I
As you're lounging on the bed, take in the views...
If you glance up, you may spot a butterfly...
Or your gaze may land on a picture of Ian in a cafe in Oaxaca...
Or on pink lights reflecting off of vintage blue glass (I like to make red Jell-o with lots of whipped cream in these)...
And *red glass*, of course....
You'll notice that most everything in the trailer is old-- from flea markets or from special nooks in my life many years ago... here's a thick, cloudy bottle I found in an ancient junk heap in southern Maryland...
This handwoven carpet came from the Plaza de Ponchos in Ecuador-- I bought it while doing research for The Indigo Notebook and The Queen of Water...
I found this little postcard years ago in Oaxaca-- the artist is Cristina Bayliss. It's Playa Mermejita near Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico... where The Jade Notebook (my work-in-progress, to be published next fall) is set. Sea turtles play a big part in the book...
One of the many things I love about my trailer is that it rocks, literally, like a boat, as you walk in it... or even if you make any movement, really... so I've filled it with things that make lovely little sounds when moved... go ahead, wiggle and dance and jump around!
Reach up and ring the bells!
The bells are a favorite of Lil Dude, who likes jumping on the bed, which makes them chime...
Try on the old velvet belly-dancing wrap (another Lil Dude favorite), which was inspiration for The Ruby Notebook...
Peek out the window... listen to the breeze making the chimes tinkle a magical melody...
Make yourself at home and light a beeswax candle...Lil Dude also enjoys the candles (anything involving fire, actually)... This black clay candleholder is from Oaxaca, made in a nearby village. If I'm feeling unfocused, lighting a candle often helps me delve deeper and get in a creative mood. It also makes my trailer smell like honey... mmm...
Peruse some old books, gifts from my flea-market-fanatic-thrift-store-lovin'-ebay-shoppin' dad...
Old children's books inspire me... I love how they have golden lettering and swirling illustrations inside. And I love how musty and mystical they smell...go ahead-- take a whiff!
Feel free to pick up little trinkets and things lying around... here's a bit of sea glass from southern Maryland, where I lived on a beach on a Chesapeake Bay tributary for a few years during college...
Squint at the wee little shells and sparkles in the Pee Pee Island keychain my friend Amanda bought me in Thailand... Those of you who read The Indigo Notebook may remember Zeeta's Pee Pee Island T-shirt, which she wears out dancing with Wendell in Ecuador...
Run your fingers over the silky peony table cloth that I found ages ago at a thrift store...
And peer at another lovely peony on this little old vase my grandmother left me...
Tap your fingertip on the butterfly wings to make them flutter...
Enjoy the *pink* lights! I found a box of these at a flea market store near Loveland... these are another favorite of Lil Dude...
Puzzle over my photos of a bunch of Dali-esque trompe-l'oeil murals I encountered on an island off the coast of Marseille many years ago... part of les Iles de Friouls (which appear in The Ruby Notebook). Needless to say, the elusive paintings have disappeared... I searched for them to no avail on my most recent trip to Provence. The bottom right pics are fountains, which also appear (everywhere!) in Ruby...
Read some inspirational quotes from Mary Oliver (poetess extraordinaire) and Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love fame) and from other creative people... When I'm sitting there, trying to gather the courage to jump into my manuscript-in-progress, I read their words and feel a bit braver...
Light some pinon or copal insence at my altar-ish area...
If you've read Red Glass, you might remember the mention of the Virgin of Juquila, Oaxaca's patron Virgin ... well, here she is! Years ago, when I was teaching English in Huajuapan, some friends of mine (an adorable older couple who ran the juice stand on the zocalo) went on a pilgrimage to Juquila, and brought back this for me.
Here's another Virgin from Oaxaca... La Virgen de la Soledad... this is a very old one that I bought in a little shop near the Santo Domingo church in Oaxaca.
Here's another old one that I got at a market in Otavalo from an antique vendor... La Senora del Rosario de Agua Santa is an important Virgin in Ecuador.
This next Virgin came from the antique section of the street market in Aix-en-Provence, France-- I bought this while researching The Ruby Notebook a couple summers ago... and there's a scene in Ruby that takes place in this section of the market!
I believe that any act of creativity is sacred-- it involves tapping into something deep and wise and mysterious and beautiful... I've found that surrounding myself with objects that feel sacred to me is essential to my writing process. The smell of beeswax candles burning, the sound of silver and brass bells ringing when I shift in my seat, the feel of old velvet and silk, the sunshine filtering through old colored glass... all of these sensual details help me tap into the source. Here's some ocote wood for burning with copal in a clay incense holder that an old friend in Oaxaca gave to me... smells and textures that inspired bits of What the Moon Saw...
Et voila... that concludes our tour! If you'd like to read about how I ended up getting this much-loved trailer, click here for a little article I wrote about it. Thank you so much for stopping by... I hope you enjoyed your moments in my trailer... come back again sometime... I hope you gleaned some ideas and inspiration for your own creative space. Now, if you'll excuse me, my pillows are calling to me ...
xoxo
Laura