When I was a little girl I always wanted to be a show girl, a dancer, a singer, a performer, an artist. My only inspiration for this was repeated exposure to the beautiful works of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; the celebrated Impressionist painter whose images of singers and cancan dancers still make my face light up to this day.
And what did I dream of when I imagined my time as a proper grown up in my imagined career? I dreamt of fame and fortune yes, certainly. I dreamt of the roar of the crowd and the clapping of hands as I finished my ninth encore. I dreamt of living in gay Paris and hobnobbing with all of the society folk as only such an enchanting performer can do. But more than that what did I dream of?
My own dressing room, my own personal space that no one else was allowed access to without my say so. In that room I painted on my brave face for the big bad world, dressed in sharp clothes like armour against the onslaught I knew awaited outside. I received flowers, jewels and diamonds from admirers and displayed them proudly on my dresser.
And the crowning glory in this space wasn’t the wardrobe or the velvet embroidered stool. It wasn’t even the luxurious fruit bowl filled with exotic fruits. The crowning glory sat a-top my dressing table and shone out over the whole room casting it in a bright starlight glow; a huge arched mirror surrounded by light bulbs on each side save the bottom.
Sat at this dresser looking into my mirror I spoke to people at my door, catching their eye as I applied my thick black eyeliner. I cried a tear as another dashing celebrity broke my heart and I threw a bashful glance up at the fans who crowded outside.
And now I am a proper grown up and whilst I am an artist it is more the starving, paint splattered type than the glamorous with admirers type. But never one to let go of a dream, in my new house I have recently installed an illuminated mirror from the collection of bathroom mirrors with lights at Illuminated Mirrors. And thus I can sit in front of it on my velvet embroidered stool and dream the dreams of childhood once more.
