So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Briar Wildwood. : )
One of the meanings of 'briar' is wild rose. Alongside the fact that her last name is 'Wildwood', no one in Bluebell Oaks or the surrounding area could perhaps have a more fitting name than Briar Wildwood herself!
Let me tell you why...
Briar has always had a strong desire to be outside. As a little girl she had trouble sitting still inside a classroom, despite being a fairly bright student. At high school, her art class soon became her main outlet for her headstrong and creative nature.
As she approached her last school days, everyone had different ideas about what path she would choose. Her art teacher, naturally, wanted her to apply for the some of the best art colleges in Sylvania. Her biology teacher thought she might go on to study zoology or botany. Her parents were expecting her to go off to university or possibly become a horticulturist.
She shocked them all by choosing not one of their ideas. Instead, she moved out and became an artist straight out of school. She told her upset art teacher that she couldn't stand another three years of sitting in a college clasroom.
She lives in a rundown old caravan in the woods, where the river hums gently nearby and there is nothing but her and the trees and the flowers and the birds, and the crickets that sing her softly to sleep every night.
Her parents were more than a little distraught. But her father had always said: 'Briar will be as free as a rose,' and he was right. She always was a little more untameable than her other siblings.
Briar can spend hours just sitting at her easel in the woods, working up a storm. She spends almost everyday off somewhere in the woods around her caravan with her paints. It's just as well she never seems to get lost, because if she did, no one would be able to track her down.
When Briar first bought her caravan, it was so rundown and that's what made it so cheap. It still isn't top notch, but Briar decorated it herself with her own design and flair. She likes the slightly rustic feel of it.
The walls were too plain so Briar felt the need to decorate them herself. It felt much more homely and brighter when she had added some of her own possesions and artistic talent.
Her bed is the window seat, which doubles as the couch. It's surprisingly comfortable despite being abit lumpy.
Briar gets asked often if she feels lonely out in the woods all by herself. And the truth is, although she does miss her family, she doesn't feel lonely.
Ever since she could hold a pencil, her favourite thing to draw has been a rose. Now, at 20, she has rather mastered it, but she never tires of drawing her good old friend, the rose.
Her old school books are covered in drawings, sketches and doodles of plants and flowers, alongside masses of pencil drawn roses.
She also decorated the bathroom herself, going with a blue theme.
Every morning she likes to sponge her face with cold water to wake herself up.
Briar keeps the place clean and tidy, especially her little kitchen.
Her baking skills aren't too bad, although she doesn't mind eating burnt toast or stale bread from time to time.
Most of her food, she collects from the woods. Briar finds something so refreshing in living off the bounty of the land, almost like it is one more step towards total freedom.
There is something inside her that seems to come alive when she is out in the woods painting.
She never runs out of inspiration and beautiful places to set up her easel.
Why is it that she has always felt more at home with the wind in her fur, roaming the land, than at home or in the village shopping with the other girls? Nature never seems to present her with any of the kind of worries she used to face.
Sometimes in the evenings after dinner, Briar does a little bit more painting, just outside the caravan before it gets too dark to see.
When the daylight has faded she brushes her teeth and goes to bed. She likes to sleep with her windows open so the crickets outside can sing her their lullaby more clearly. Often the gentle symphony is accompanied by the note of an owl.
Every now and then when painting is finished for the day, Briar will spend the afternoon just walking in the woods. As a little girl she used to love exploring the forest near their house, and her heart still pounds for adventure.
Sometimes, when the wild mushrooms are in full bloom or the berries are ripe, she takes her basket and collects what she can of the food nature provides for her.
This autumn the berries are particularly huge.
There will be blackberry pie tonight for sure, and probably for the days to come as well!
Sometimes, when Briar is sitting on the riverbank in the late afternoon sun, dangling her feet in the cool water, she thinks about what her life might be like now if she had taken another path when she left school. If she had bowed to the expectations of her teachers and parents, her life would be very different.
It took awhile for her art to supply her with enough of an income, but in the last few months it has started to take off. In fact, the demand for her paintings in the village is really blossoming.
Looking back, she is beyond glad that she allowed her headstrong nature to get the better of her back in those final months of school, when she made the decision, against all other voices in her life, to pursue her dream.
I just want to say that I really appreciate everyone who looks at my blog and comments on it! You are all so lovely!
Have a great week!
