Tammy’s Reviews > Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature > Status Update

Some of her beloved pets died of old age, too. Her outlook on life was increasingly bleak. Then when her grandmother died, nobody consulted her about what keepsake she wanted. They were going to give stuff to servants before asking her what she would like. No wonder she felt left out. She continued to visit art museums and exhibits because she learned more there than from teachers.

Her uncle died in his fifties and her grandfather’s business was sold. That put more responsibility on her father to guide his nieces and nephews. His nieces had bad taste in men in Beatrix’s eyes (influenced by her parents) and that kept him busy. Six months later her grandfather died and that required his father to step into managing his mother’s affairs. Some of Beatrix’s older friends died, too.

Ch. 3 Many things happened in a short period of time that rocked her world. She had an unusual attachment to places that her family returned to in their regular wanderings. She loved the architecture, countryside, and old furniture. She could remember the floor plans in great detail. She mourned when they stopped going to her favorite place in Scotland. They did not seem to care about what she thought.

I can’t help but wonder if despair was at the root of it. Beatrix must have been lonely because being a Unitarian closed many doors to her social life. She also had odd interests in comparison to young women her age. She seems a lot more serious than the frivilous girls trying to snatch a man and marry up, which probably disappointed her mother. She seemed to get along with older adults better than her peers.

Beatrix was in poor health for several years and after one lengthy illness she lost so much hair that she cut it all off. Not only was she struggling with the mood swings of adolescences, she found her parents were extremely demanding and pressuring her to do things that were not natural to her and she worried about being useless and having no options as an adult. Her governess helped lift her spirits.

When her brother was old enough for boarding school, she came out and no longer needed a governness. As an adult, she attended family parties and they held a special party to recognize her emergence. Because of her painful shyness, she did not enjoy it. Even though she was pretty and slim with clear blue eyes, her awkwardness kept away suitors. She faces the issue of being depending on her family with few choices.

When she took art exams, she earned scores of excellence. She and her teacher had different visions of art. Her parents were connected to the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and artists gave her tips. She preferred their style but her favorite mediums wass watercolor. She was 17 when she went to her first exhibition. It blew her mind. In time, she realized she learned more from art museums than from teachers.

To her horror, it died the next day and she had to tell the neighbor. It did not ruin their relationship and she appreciated them even more when she became an adult. She feared that taking art lessons would change her unique and different style. Her teacher stretched her by exposing her to different media. She did not want lessons to interfere with her expertise in watercolor.

To her horror, it died the next day and she had to tell the neighbor. It did not ruin their relationship and she appreciated them even more when she became an adult. She took art lessons in a variety of media. She was worried because she knew her style was different and unique. She feared a teacher might change her style. She struggled with being stretched and she and her teacher had different artistic visions.