“Where the waters do agree, it is quite wonderful the relief they give.” Jane Austen

“And Breathe …..”

We have been lucky to see so many stunning water features, lakes and seas both here and abroad. I have been thinking of many of them during this lockdown, particularly those in Central and South America – some carry wonderful myths.

As a child, I devoured myths from all around the world. Myths are “fictitious stories or half-truths, especially ones that form part of the ideology of a society”. There are many myths in which we can see the vital role that water had in people’s lives. Since ancient times, people aimed to be close to Gods and this affected their lives at a high level; that’s why they honoured water and the Gods that were related to it.

While I was painting this imagined coastal scene, I began to think of my children’s love of water. My three year old granddaughter’s post lockdown wish is to be able to return to the swimming pool.

There are outlandish theories that Black people can’t swim due to their supposed inability to float. Some blame it on laziness or Black women being too afraid of getting their hair wet.

Before swimming became the symbol of relaxation and tranquillity it is today, municipal swimming pools also served as a reminder in the USA of its fraught racial history. For decades during the 20th century, many pools were segregated, and relatively few were built to serve Black communities. Lower socioeconomic status has also played a significant role in the lack of swimming abilities throughout the Black community.

So swimming never became a part of African- American recreational culture and somehow that myth has stuck in European societies.

Altered States

Altered States is also the title of a Sci-Fi  film in which a research scientist experiments on  states of human consciousness, using hallucinogenic drugs. But soon his mind-altering experiments get out of control.   

Altered States

And so, as the days countdown to Christmas, I reflect on the dramatic year, 2020 has been and at times, surreal. It might not be the year you want to remember but it will be one you’ll never forget. Perception management has become one of the defining issues of our age, heightened by periods of detachment enforced by Lockdowns What is truth? What is reality? The pandemic has highlighted existing injustices as well as generating injustices of its own.As the footballer, Rob  Burrow once said: “In a world full of adversity, we must dare to dream…” Rob was the Leeds Rhinos player who was diagnosed a year ago with motor neurone disease (MND)It’s been a messy, tragic year but we’ve seen hope and resilience.

Still We Rise

Still We Rise

The artwork is a reflection on a year which has flagged that nature, and globally, our health is under threat, alongside political tensions. I have used my love of my immediate environment particularly trees to inform the work. Composition is an essential part of the narrative with the broken bark as the protagonists. Using palette knives, brushes and at times running my nails through the paint added to the dynamism. The many layers of textures and movement of the limited paint palette were the essential painterly journey from chaos and destruction to order and balance, mirroring the rebirth in the natural world. I have always been fascinated by water. Universally, water invites the notion of life, renewal and transformation.

So “Still We Rise” reflects my hopes, not my fears.

United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust – Auction

I am feeling so blessed! 2020 has been such a ravaged year on many levels, yet lovely things also keep happening to me.

Untameable

I’ve just heard that two of my Antarctic paintings, “Melting Icecaps” and “Untameable”  will be going up for auction next year to raise funds for United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust.  The Trust exists to care for and conserve buildings and artefacts in Antarctica so that they might be enjoyed and learned from by current and future generation.

Melting Icecaps

Both  artworks were inspired by my husband’s epic photographic visit to the Antarctic 10 years ago when he photographed from dawn until dusk most days on the trip. The UKAHT operates Port Lockroy, the site of an old British base, which has been restored and is open during the summer months as a living museum.

My husband has a photo of the Post office in Port Lockroy,  affectionately known as the Penguin Post Office. Around 70, 000 cards are posted each year to over 100 countries.

Port Lockroy (photo: Derek Linney)

Along with the rest of the world, the Antarctic is warming up. The polar ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica are melting at a rate six times faster than that observed less than 30 years ago.

So good to be making a contribution, albeit small.

Marguerite Bay (photo: Derek Linney)

Guests in White

The perspective of this painting was inspired by several visits to Welford Park near Newbury in Berkshire. Until this year, it has been home to the popular, annual Great British Bake Off. The estate opens its grounds to the public for about four weeks to enable visitors to see carpets of snowdrops that line the riverbanks and flow in nearby woods. Even though the weather is often cold but the sight of the wonderful white flowers peeking through the blades of grass is mind blowing. 

Acrylic and Mixed Media on Dibond, Natural Wood Float Frame 40 x 30cm

Lockdown-2 Art

Like many amateur artists, I occasionally suffer from imposter syndrome or become frustrated when an artwork is not going in the direction I want it to travel. When I’m in this lockdown frame of mind I need to tell myself to trust and enjoy the process. As the Black writer, Alice Walker once said: “We should learn to accept that change is truly the only thing that’s going on always, and learn to ride with it and enjoy it”.

“Walking in the Blue 1” , Acrylic on canvas sheet 40 x 51cm

This is the first of two calm landscapes in blue. Both serve as a symbol of hope, love, strength and friendship. Landscapes invite a natural connection which enables people to engage, regroup and relax. 
You might have seen or heard about dead trees in the countryside being given a ‘blue’ lease on life with a message for a great cause.  It originated in Western Australia, when a family painted a dead tree blue in the middle of their farm in commemoration of their son who committed suicide.  After posting a photo of the tree on Facebook, it soon went viral which prompted the Blue Tree Project to help raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention. 

“Walking in the Blue 2”, Acrylic on canvas sheet 40 x 51cm

Navigating self care is hard and it is not being selfish. During challenging times, it may seem as though we don’t have enough time to practice self-care and it can slide down our priorities list. But even five minutes of focusing on our breath or stretching can help us, or even going for a walk, even for a short time. For me today, it’s walking in the rain and remembering to smile even if I don’t feel like it. These small moments of self-care build up to produce a more resilient version of ourselves over time and they help to strengthen our coping mechanisms.

Small changes can help you find a sense of balance as we move through different phases of the pandemic. Remember that action comes before motivation. So find time occasionally to press the pause button and switch off your mobile. Above all be kind to yourself!

“Stimulus and Response”, Acrylic and ink on canvas paper 40 x 51 cm
“Winter Evening on Hindhead Common”, Acrylic and Mixed Media on canvas paper
35 x 46 cm

What cometh?

Mixed media on Cradle Panel Board 80 x 60 cm

My painting embraces this colourful autumn time but as Robert Frost wrote in one of his most famous poems, “Nothing gold can stay.”

I was walking in our nearby woodland this week where the yellow light of autumn was sifting all I saw. As the UK slides into a second lockdown, and we all hold our breath for a healing result of next week’s US election, I keep asking myself, “What cometh?”   

I mentioned that post George Floyd I continue to try to reboot my artwork.

It’s what Michelle Obama describes as a form of PTSD coupled with the lingering stealth threat of Covid19 Nevertheless, with all the uncertainty and tensions that 2020 has brought, I do remain positive. I continue to push through…. We all have to push through.

The Whisper of Trees

Acrylic and inks on cradle panel board 60 X 40cm

“I prefer winter and fall, when you can feel the bone structure in the landscape: the loneliness of it; the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it………..the whole story doesn’t show.”
― Andrew Wyeth

Having a break from drawing to paint yet another tree landscape idea! How I love trees through the changing seasons!

This is largely experimental to create luminous effects needed for a future project.

Iguazo Falls

Missing our travels ……….. This was a visual and acoustically stunning destination for us several years ago. The Falls can been seen from both the Argentinian and Brazilian side, and are among the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

This is the Devil’s Throat (Garganta Del Diablo), one of the 275 falls, set against a backdrop of tropical rainforest.

Thinking of a way to represent the Falls in the National Park, the multi frame attempts to the scale down the vista yet convey the vastness through the sections.

Acrylic on Canvas Quadriptych Each: Framed 25 x 60cm