2020 Life during lock down

Working through lock down was a huge challenge for me, because what came with it was being hit by a wall of creative block. I had two businesses that ground to a halt over night. That brought it's own set of worries. But being denied the right of being able to sit with a friend and drink coffee...the basic interaction with other human beings...well for me that meant that very fast my soul felt like it was actually starting to die.

To many it might seem that this was an ideal opportunity to produce art, but the truth for many artists was a very different reality. There was a huge deal of frustration in feeling the pressure that we should be able to work tirelessly and churn out copious amounts of art having all this spare time on our hands. I know for many artists they felt a great deal of failure at not being able to do this. There was comfort in speaking to my other artist friends who were honest enough to share their stories of how lock down had effected them.

I spent a lot of time looking through the lens of my camera and viewing insects close up with the macro lens. I discovered varieties of insects that I never knew existed in my own back garden. I produced a new range of greeting cards with these images.

I watched the seasons come and go slowly and observed various trees come into flower and quickly loose their blooms.

I looked at what the great artists in history used to find inspiration. I discovered they found it in the bottom of a bottle...or so they believed. The truth is it may have been lead poisoning that caused them to hallucinate and see the green fairy.

I had friends listen patiently as I voiced my disappointment about my creative block, but more than anything what helped the most was that they made me laugh throughout my frustration. Having the ability to do this should never to be underestimated. If you were one of them you should check in the mirror to see might you have hidden wings you may not have noticed before....really you should check!

Eventually the creativity began to flow.

The result was a mixture of ordinary things that I was surrounded by during lock down....the insect life, the seasons changing, the night time visitors to my doorstep (i.e. the hedgehogs), the bull in the field that I visited many times and a bottle of Absinthe!

To the friends who picked up the phone to one another during lock down and checked in to see who was okay....never doubt the difference that you may have made. To those who checked on me I will forever be grateful.

Recipient of artist bursary award 2020 by Westmeath County Council