Tasha Tudor is an author introduced to us through author Fiesta….back in, um, August.  Yes, we have dropped the Author Fiesta ball….or fallen off the Author Fiesta wagon <just insert your preferred phrase here>.  When busy season hits with our businesses, there is really only so much we can keep up with.

But you know, sometimes, you can just zoom through some things, and you are so busy trying to keep up, that you aren’t left inspired! There’s no time to be inspired!!  What good is that?   But with Author Fiesta, Cay Gibson, who has put together the whole author study program, encourages all involved to go at our our speed anyway. So we kind of stalled at Tasha Tudor….or better said, we got stuck on her. In a very-good-way.  While we do hope to study the following 2 authors over our slower cold season, and envision ourselves doing so on the coldest of days, as we cuddle together with hot mugs of cocoa, being entertained by the stories formed in the imaginations (or partial experiences) of these child authors, we have all been greatly enriched, and inspired,  by the study of Tasha Tudor.

It’s not just her books, her stories and/or her illustrations.  It’s her LIFE.  It’s her SPIRIT.  It’s the soul that springs forth the works she gifts the world with. I think we have found those (capitalized) elements to be even MORE inspiring, than her works themselves.  She has literally left us somewhat….changed.

I think I can identify with Tasha so much, because like me, she is an artist.  An illustrator.  A visualizer.  Who, like me, I might add,  will stop at little to create the work she sees in her mind. (The contents of her freezer come to mind.)  It’s not that we want to create these visions in our mind.  It’s that we NEED to.  Without question or hesitation, we do whatever we have to make it a reality.  A physical state of the vision in our head.  But what I am also familiar with is the simple life of which she finds indescribable JOY in, the world of her own she creates, and the courage she effortlessly holds, to immerse herself into that world which she wishes to live in,  Yes, in doing so ultimately removing herself somewhat, from the world which she finds rather unenjoyable. Sad. Discouraging.  Not for her. It’s not a decision so much, as instinct. As following her heart. As being as dumbfounded that others live as they do, as they are that she lives as she does. People who know me, know I’m much like that.  Whether they like that about me or not, makes no difference to me! Or rather, to us as a family.  Because the satisfaction of living as you wish is bigger than anything else. Tasha knows this. It’s likely why she lived to be so old.

I have not stopped thinking about her book, A Time To Keep.  Beautifully illustrated, beautifully written. And full of the kind of days and life I strive to give my children.  That they too may grow to treasure a heart full of childhood memories, however un-ordinary their experiences have been.  It only matters that they were abundant, and joyful! So that book alone inspired me.  Or at least made me feel in good company, sensing she too, found deep joy in the little things.

My children have fallen in love with Tasha for different reasons. It is merely the stories, the artwork, her animals (very much including Corgis, of course)and gardens.  It’s the world in which she lives in, or creates, more so than than why or how it all came to be. Or why she lives in such simplicity.  I think more than anything, they can relate to it. Either way….we have all been profoundly inspired by everything about her.  In a way, we feel blessed that we hadn’t gotten acquainted with her until after her passing.  For had we fallen in love with while she had lived, her death would have crushed us.

If you happen to be not familiar with Tasha Tudor, you might consider looking into what all of out fuss is about.  Another very enjoyable piece on her is this video, Take Joy!  The Magical World of Tasha Tudor.  My guess is that there is something in that documentary for everyone. At least things to ponder and wonder about. I was so excited when the library called and said my ‘hold was in’. I have wanted to watch this video about her for months. To ‘meet’ her, so to speak.  I asked my husband to sit and watch it with me that night, and he obliged, just a little disgruntled, and quite prepared with his work laptop on his lap, ready to save him from the probably boredom about to strike.  But guess what?  He didn’t touch key nor mouse-pad through the entire film! He had to chuckle when the credits rolled, that he got nothing done as he had planned. We chatted for at least a half an hour about her.  He was just as taken as I was, with this documentary of Tasha’s extraordinary life she rarely let anyone peek into. I was enchanted even by the way she spoke, and how she sort of laughed out the last few words of most every sentence she spoke-peppered with her own amusement.  I was excited for the kids to watch it too, the next day, because I suspected they would deeply enjoy it as well, and want to watch it again and again. (They have.)

This video, Take Joy, as well as A Time To Keep, and many of her books for children, are availale through your public library.

Maybe you will relate to her and her life. Maybe not. I suppose it depends on what YOU treasure and hold dear to you. What inspires you. What your ideal world looks like to you. For us, in her own quiet and very private way, Tasha was a gift to the world, certainly through her works, and also the peek into her own world, which she eventually invited us all into.

Take Joy!!