Navigating Life after Lockdown

It is true that although things are opening up, nothing seems the same as before. The suffocating facelessness of mask wearing and mask remembering. In years to come studies might be done on the psychological effects of mask wearing. Our freedom is curtailed. As a friend mentioned, it is not like you can just go to India on the Magic Bus. Travelling to York seems an expedition and as for leaving the country...

The interesting thing about freedom is we will find it where we can. Walking more, escaping in books, cycling, wild swimming and for me, Painting. It has been hard to keep painting this last year. Everything has seemed hard. Sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other. As all exhibitions were gradually cancelled it would have been easy to give up. I forced myself to keep going by an act of will. Production has been slower but it has kept going.

Instagram has been one of my 'Lockdown' hobbies. I have found it really useful for my work. Not only the discovery and following of some first rate artists but a great platform to examine my own painting and get to grips with what inspires me. Photographing nature and landscapes on my walks and then posting these next to my paintings enables me to see how my colour palette is strongly influenced by what is around me. The time of year, the light, the landscape and the weather. Colours in bark, blossom, trees, sky and earth are all reflected in paintings produced in a season.

Rabbit Dale

So I'd like to share my season with you. There is more to come. A lovely stay at Northfield Lodge in the Yorkshire Wolds has inspired a new body of chalky, spacious, pinky work. There is the lovely interior- Hyacinths and Lillies. Big and expensive and gorgeous. Then the small but perfectly formed- Yellow Tulips.