Wild Cherry

I think about Cherry often, and just this evening was revisiting my notes from one of our coaching sessions. It felt like she gave me yet another gift of wisdom, rereading her words, and I always think of her as a guiding light along my creative path. Cherry taught me to love making art again, and in essence helped me reclaim my life force. I am sorry Paul that she left this world too soon. Please know she is missed and held dear in my heart always.

I've known few people who seemed a better fit than Cherry and Paul. You both have been an inspiration, sharing your lives on your own terms. She was very special, and I am lucky to have known her even if only briefly.

Este mes de marzo Cereza pienso en ti. “Te mando un beso… Arrojo mis besos a la tormenta Por si alguna gota cae en tus la labios y te recuerda que alguien en algún lugar todavia piensa en ti”

Cherry and Paul stayed with us a few times when they were on their frequent travels. They were always welcome and good fun. We stayed with them when we were in Loja, Spain and it was a lovely time. Running with their beloved `yogi and mixing with their village friends. It's a mark of their personalities that our neighbours, when they stayed with us, still asked about them long after they left. I feel that if everybody could have some of Cherry's qualities the world would be a better place. We were glad to stay with Cherry, Paul and Warren for a few days recently and after seeing Cherry one last time, I was reminded of a line from a Van Morrison song "Coney Island" and I imagined Paul with Cherry in that lovely room overlooking Torquay harbour. The words are: "I look a the sight of your face as the sunlight comes streaming through the window in the autumn sunshine." Send Paul your messages and dont be a stranger. Cherry demands it!!!

I keep thinking of Cherry’s art which was so unique and touching, her energy and creativity, and the joyfulness she seemed to have for every endeavour. She was so generous and inspiring. It’s hard to believe such a bright force of life could leave us. Much love ❤️

What a wonderful, kind hearted and creative woman Cherry was - a beautiful tribute from you Paul. Sending much love ❤️

dear Paul, I was so shocked and saddened to hear about Cherry’s death and I wanted to write to send you my deepest condoleances.. we haven’t been in touch for years but I remember Cherry with such vividness - her brightness, her grace, her creative energy, her kindness….we had such a good time together when we did our weekly Spanish conversation evenings in Hackney, both at the very start of our Spanish adventures.. I am now back in London after Mijas - please send me a messsge if ever you come to London, I’d like to meet up if possible.(helenaorta@hotmail.com) I will be thinking of you tomorrow, I’m sorry I can’t be there .

She was an amazing person. She really helped my son Max at a really bad time in his life with her art guidance. She was one of a very few people who presented to him a really positive role model for how he could be as an artist, and for that I'll always be grateful to her. He was a confused and troubled kid who couldn't be in school, and she took him seriously, which is all he really needed. Max is thriving now, and I'm grateful to every positive influence that got him to where he is, and that includes Cherry. She had a strength and personality about her you could see instantly. I feel lucky to have known her.

Cherry made me reconnect with the Spanish spirit, in England. We met at a party, and both her and Paul seemed the Spanish ones, and me the English one, even when I am Spanish. They had just moved from Spain, and my connection with Cherry was immediate. She was the heart of our 'Spanish family' in Teignmouth. I will always remember with fondness our walks talking about everything, our coffees, BBQs at their backyard, and their constant laughter, banter and joy. Cherry was a great friend that brought warmth to my heart, an inspiration, and a climate warrior. I will miss her. Cherry me ayudó a conectar con el espíritu de España en Inglaterra. Nos conocimos en una fiesta y tanto Paul como ella parecían los españoles y yo la inglesa, aun cuando yo soy española. Acababan de mudarse de España y mi conexión con Cherry fue inmediata. Ella era el corazón de la 'familia española' de Teignmouth. Siempre recordaré con alegría los paseos hablando de todo un poco, los cafecitos y las barbacoas en su patio, y su constante sentido del humor, risas y alegría. Cherry era una gran amiga que me llegó al corazón, fue una inspiración y una guerrera del clima. La voy a echar de menos.

We were once part of an online event about being a creator and she said, "My favourite project is whatever I'm working on at the moment". Inspiring... (I've uploaded a short audio clip, where she talks further about this, back in January 2015, in the Music section.)

May her memory be a blessing. I will look to the wild flows of nature as a prompt to think of her. She was an extraordinary generous and creative coach. I feel fortunate to have known her that way as a coworker in her coaching business. She gave so much and so many lives are better because of her.

For me Cherry was a very thoughtful, extremely kind, highly intelligent and very very creative being. Paul, and family, I am so sorry for your loss.

What has always impressed me about Cherry and what I will always remember is not only her positive nature, her sense of humour and the fact that she had a ready smile whatever life threw at her, but also her positive attitude, her energy and her persistence in pursuing her artistic goals. Long before she worked as a creative coach, she would repeatedly encourage me in my own artistic endeavours back in Loja, giving me advice and trying to help me overcome my self-doubt and constant procrastination (whereby I turned out to be a tough nut to crack). The motto was ‘Get to work!’, and without this attitude she definitely wouldn't have created so much unique art of her own. Having said that, I shall miss her first and foremost as a friend.

Por casualidad conocí a Paul (en clase de conversación en Universidad Popular. Loja) y él me condujo hasta CHERRY, una pareja de Teoleteros Ingleses que desde el minuto uno apostaron por mí como persona, viendo en mí valores y cualidades que ni yo misma había percibido. Esa relación se fue afianzando y se tradujo en muchos y bonitos momentos compartidos, risas, confesiones, comidas, familia, viajes e incluso trabajo, en definitiva en verdadera amistad. No puedo hablar de CHERRY sin hablar de Paul, para mí siempre unidos, por eso siento tanto Paul que “tu media naranja” nos haya dejado de sonreír a la cara tan pronto.…pero estoy segura que su fuerza, su personalidad y su amor te seguirán acompañando siempre a ti y a todos los que tuvimos la suerte de conocerla. A pesar de la distancia que nos llevó a lugares lejos de Loja a los tres, seguimos en contacto y con algún reencuentro siempre que ha sido posible. Si algo tengo que sacar de aprendizaje de lo que le ha sucedido es la entereza, la valentía y la generosidad que ha demostrado hasta el final, en los mensajes que nos hemos intercambiado, incluso más preocupada por el dolor que pudiera causarnos a nosotros con sus noticias que por ella misma. Y siempre con una sonrisa o una palabra bonita, como me pidió ella misma, “que le dijera cosas bonitas”. Me ha enseñado mucho la manera en que ha afrontado su destino haciendo que la recuerde para siempre en Paz y Sonriendo. Os quiero.

Cherry's influence in my life was so positive, first as a great coach and then as a great friend. My life was expanded in so many ways by knowing her, and I truly believe she made the world a better place by being in it. I will miss her terribly.

Dear Paul, My heart aches for your loss. Cherry’s strength and grace were truly remarkable. I feel unlucky not to have known her better. Her spirit and smile will be remembered always. With deepest sympathy,

Bueno amiga Cherry ,en el poco tiempo qué he podido pasar a con vosotros siempre me habéis trasmitido mucha serenidad que cada día nos falta más ha la mayoría de los humanos y me fuera gustado haber compartido mucho más de tu arte que tanto tenías ,la vida es muy dura y injusta tantas veces ,me quedó con tu sonrisa y tú carácter firmé sinceró y agregado cu confianza depositada en mi persona, feliz por haberte conocido , cada vez que pinte tendré un recuerdo para tí 💐DCP

Querido Paul, Permíteme compartir contigo su eterna sonrisa y que sea ella la que nos ilumine. Generosa, cariñosa y cálida hasta el infinito. Anécdotas? Mil! La más especiales para mí: Cuando me prestó las llaves de vuestra casa el verano que nació Manuel. Me dijo: Loles, en tu casa hace mucho calor. Coge al bebé y os venís aquí cada vez que quieras, en el patio, bajo el níspero se está muy bien. Tenías razón, Cherry. Pero allí se estaba tan bien no solo por el fresquito y el níspero, sino porque tu/vuestro amor estaba/está en esa casa de puertas abiertas. Un fortísimo e infinito abrazo.

Sending warm thoughts and prayers for Cherry and Paul. We didn’t know her well but felt close through Paul’s news and updates. Thank you for sharing her story and journey and may she rest in both joy and peace.

Cuando a Cherry le diagnosticaron cáncer de ovarios por primera vez en septiembre de 2023, estábamos cuidando una casa en Bath. Nos dijeron que debíamos acudir a nuestro hospital local de inmediato. Pero no teníamos un hospital local, no teníamos nada local. Estábamos cuidando casas y a punto de regresar a España. Pero, como habíamos hecho tantas veces antes, nos adaptamos. A las pocas semanas nos mudamos a nuestro primer piso en Babbacombe con un contrato de alquiler de seis meses, y después a nuestro piso en Torquay. Durante sus sesiones de quimioterapia, durante aquella horrible cirugía en diciembre de 2023, llena de incertidumbre, seguida de más quimioterapia y más tratamientos cada tres semanas a lo largo de 2024, ella seguía sonriendo. Nunca se quejó. Simplemente se adaptó e hizo lo que pudo, y aunque su energía fue disminuyendo poco a poco, continuó con su arte, colaborando en un libro sobre creatividad, creando más obras por su cuenta, y, como siempre, enseñándome el arte del diseño y la identidad. Sin embargo, su salud comenzó a deteriorarse a principios del invierno de 2024, y aunque me gusta pensar que no ignoró las señales evidentes, sí eligió no permitir que este cambio oscureciera su propia visión de su horizonte. Iba a pintar los colores a su manera mientras pudiera. Inspirada por las puestas de sol que veía desde su cama, por las siluetas de las gaviotas elevándose en corrientes térmicas o flotando graciosamente de regreso a sus calas costeras cada noche, ella se sentaba y observaba en silencio, respirando la energía de la convicción. La certeza de haber hecho lo que pocos logramos: vivir la vida a su manera. Así que, incluso cuando a principios de 2025 le dijeron que ni la cirugía ni más tratamientos podían ayudarla, ella asintió y regresó a su espacio sagrado, para pasar las últimas semanas en el piso rodeada de las cosas y las personas que había amado. Esas “pocas semanas” se convirtieron, de forma inesperada e increíble, en exactamente siete. Pero ni en un solo momento, ni siquiera durante esas noches eternas y dolorosas en las que me veía obligado a despertarla cada pocas horas para medicarla, susurró en mi oído que algo de todo esto era injusto o cruel. Ni una sola vez. Durante esas semanas tan difíciles, como durante toda su vida, ella fue en todo momento una persona que aceptaba, abrazaba y no solo vivía plenamente cada instante, sino que sonreía con esa misma sonrisa que todos recordamos, a pesar de todo lo que la vida le presentaba. Esa sonrisa es la que llevaré conmigo ahora, para siempre.

When Cherry was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September 2023, we were house sitting in Bath. We were told to get to our local hospital immediately. But we had no local hospital, we had no local anything. We were housesitting, and in between returning to Spain. But, as we had done so often before, we adapted. Within a few weeks we moved into our first flat in Babbacombe on a 6 month rental, and then to our flat in Torquay. During her chemo sessions, during that awful - touch-and-go surgery in December 2023, followed by more chemo and then more treatments every 3 weeks throughout 2024, she still kept smiling. She never complained. She just adapted and did what she could, and though her energy gradually dropped away, she kept up her art work, collaborating on a book on creativity, creating more art work herself, and as always, tutoring me in the art of design and identity. But here health began to fail by early winter 2024, and though I like to think she did not ignore the tell-tale signs, she did chose not to allow this change to obscure her own view of her horizon. She was going to paint the colours the way she wanted them, as long as she could. Inspired by the sunsets she saw from her bed, the silhouettes of seagulls rising on thermal currents or floating gracefully back to their coastal coves each night, she would sit and watch in silence, breathing in the energy of conviction. The knowledge she had done what few of us get to do: live the life the way she had chose. So even when in early 2025, she was told that neither surgery nor further treatment could help, she nodded and returned to her sacred space, to spend the last few weeks in the flat surrounded by the things and the people she had loved. Those "few weeks", unaccountably, unbelievably stretched to exactly seven. But at not one moment, not even during those painful, eternal nights in which I would be forced to wake her every few hours to medicate her, did she whisper privately into my ear, that any of it was unfair or unjust. Not once. She was at all times during those so difficult weeks, as she was in all life, accepting, embracing and not only living fully each moment, but smiling that same smile we all remember, despite everything that life was showing at her. That smile is and the one I will carry with me now, forever.