About

The Short

Name: Iris
Age: 25
Location: London, UK
Nationality: Dutch
Husbands: 1x (Andrew)
Pets: 1x (Tikka the Bengal)
Tattoos: 1x (iris on left shoulder)
Piercings: 5x (belly button x1, ears x4)
Job: office manager
Hobbies: mixed media art, art journalling, reading, playing the violin, going to the cinema, World of Warcraft
Music: classical, soundtracks/scores

The Long

Relationship / Marriage

The most important thing first, my wonderful husband Andrew. We’ve been together since January 2005 and married since October 2008. In him I have met my best friend and soulmate. Sorry if anyone is reaching for a bucket at this point, but it’s true! I never thought I could feel so much love for a person, nor did I believe I would meet anyone who would love and care for me so deeply. Not to mention he understands me completely and encourages me to be myself. He makes me very happy. I feel really lucky to have met Andrew and to have him in my life forever and ever!

Cat

Another very important ‘person’ in my life is Tikka. My super crazy and wonderful Bengal cat! I had wanted a cat ever since I was little, but the circumstances were just never right. In April 2009 the time was finally right to get my very own little cat monster! Life is just so much more fun with a cat, especially one as crazy as Tikka. She is also really really clumsy. She loves hairbands and resealable plastic bags. She also loves watching the pigeons and ‘chattering’ at them.

Art

Creating art is a passion of mine, but it is something I also struggle with greatly. I never thought of myself as particularly artistic, as a child I wasn’t talented or a ‘natural’. I remember the crushing feeling when I proudly showed something to my mother (who could draw very well and she studied architecture) who commented that it didn’t look very realistic and needed some work. An offhand comment she probably meant as encouraging, but as a small child it was a devastating judgement and one of many things that stifled my creative voice. I am currently working hard at regaining it.

The physical action of picking up a pencil and creating something is very easy, but the mental aspect is something else. There are so many inhibitions, social ones (“if you’re not talented or can’t create pretty/realistic art you shouldn’t even be doing it”), personal ones (“omg I suck!”) and if we listened to them all the time we’d never create anything. It’s easy to talk and make sweeping statements, or to know intellectually that everyone can and deserves to make art. But it’s much harder to feel deserving in your heart. I hope that sharing my relationship with art and my journey as an artistic being (on my blog) will be valuable to you.

Violin

I come from a musical family and the violin has long been my favourite instrument. I took up lessons when I was about 7 or 8 and was horribly disappointed to find that it sounded so badly! I took lessons for about a year, but never practiced and eventually gave up. I played the piano instead until I was about 14. In September 2009 (at the age of 24) I enrolled at a college for adult evening education to take violin lessons. The beginning was slow, and especially the first 3 months were a real challenge. It’s not much fun to produce screechy horrible sounds, but I stuck with it this time.

At this point in time I’ve been playing for a year and I’m enjoying it immensely. It’s very satisfying to get better and to play well known pieces. I have really clicked with two people from my class who are just as into it as I am and we meet up once or twice a week outside the lesson to practice together and try new pieces. I recently read a book about people’s regrets. A lot of people mentioned not learning to play an instrument. Well, I think it’s never too late to start! The age range in my class is very big (the youngest is about 17 or 18, and the oldest are retirees, probably in their 60s) and everybody enjoys it a lot.

Last updated: 13 September 2010