Amongst all the sadness of Mummy's death, there has been a truly uplifting Journey that we have been led on over the first few sad weeks after April 26... a journey that apparently started 25 years ago! A few summers ago, my mother and I went out to an art show in the forest put on by local artist, Jamie Brick. He had been given his start many many years ago by my mother, who had juried him in to Creativity, the arts and craft show down at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour that she organised. She was very taken with his carved whimsical wooden figures, and these two artists were definitely "on the same wavelength"!! At Jamie's show,north of Kingston, I remember being taken into his wonderful workshop and told about an arrangement that he and my mother had - Jamie was going to be creating a magical, whimsical urn for when "I popped off!" (in her words). This was the first I had heard of this, and I was a bit taken aback, but nonetheless intrigued with the hilarious "business agreement"... It turns out that Kyla had had a similar experience the summer before! So two days after Mummy was released from the shackles of a body that gave out, we found ourselves seeking out Jamie in order to find out more about this artistic wish of hers. It was a Sign that the Sunday we first visited Jamie was a stunningly beautiful day, filled with glorious sunshine, whereas the day before had been chilly and windy. We drove out to the country, bumped along an unpaved road to Jamie's four season magical home in the woods. It was meant to be - Mummy was smiling down on us as we went on this adventure. We learned that this artistic pact had been going on for TWENTY FIVE YEARS, and that she had a vision of creating whimsical reminders for each one of the children once she was gone through Jamie's art. Full of whimsy, something that would make us smile every time we looked at them, these were no ordinary memorial urns... these were CREATIONS!!! TREASURES!! Of course, Mummy being Mummy, she had changed her vision almost every time she went out to see Jamie over the years! He was able to show us what her latest idea had been, but he was looking for direction from us just as much as we were looking for information from him!! Herein started our Journey that has taken us back out to that magical place in the woods five times so far... we have delighted in poking through Mummy's jewellery collection, looking for pieces that could be incorporated in to the creation; we have taken fabric out to Jamie that can be used for clothing, as well as poking through our own house with an eye to find any meaningful vessels. I went hunting with new eyes and found an Aladdin's lamp amongst her plants that inspired me. Not only was it a gift from my father to my mother when he was doing consultant work in the Middle East, I had taught in nearby Qatar with my family AND it represented what I wanted it to: a wish to be with my Mummy at any time, just by looking it and smiling and remembering!!! A Joanie genie in a bottle!! My words of inspiration for Jamie came from a quote on a condolence card describing Joan as "groovy with an air of regal"!!! You could just see the sparkle in Jamie's eyes as he heard this, matched with the flair of an Aladdin's . Kyla has found inspiration in Jamie's silver collection and chose a delightful creamer as the base of her creation. The crown will be decorated with jewellery from my mother's collection. It has been just what our souls were craving for in such times of sadness - some zaniness and creative flair!! Each trip out to the lake in the woods has been an uplifting journey, full of promise, creativity and excitement. There is nothing normal about this... but then again, we are our Mother's daughters and there was nothing "normal" about her!! In fact she used to say quite indignantly, "I am NOT normal. THAT is an insult to me!!!" Ah yes, Mummy... you certainly must be smiling down on us as we go along this Artistic Journey...! The photographs show our journey, as well as the amazing art work of Jamie Brick, Dreamer and "Envisioner" of Whimsy... updated photos to follow as the story unfolds over this summer and the creations have been created!