During lockdown 1.0, I continued my creativity but some of my plans changed considerably and, like many Artists I was reliant on social media for networking. I adapted to showcasing my creativity online and at virtual markets (with mixed success). I was fortunate in being able to continue with by drawing and printing and managed to get a potting shed installed as my studio, which was always the plan, but was potentially jeopardised by the restrictions in place.

I’ve been looking back at some of my drawings and prints and unpicking some of my creative thinking.

I started 2020 with a view to ‘doing more’ with my backgrounds. I’ve used old sheets and curtains in my sewn work before and enjoyed re-purposing domestic materials often associated with women and bringing them into the art scene. I was looking at doing the same with interior design and using wallpaper and tile patterns (love William Morris designs), but drawing them directly with common images I draw such as hares – and life drawing, particularly the female form. I strive to merge my illustrative work to some extent with my fine art practice and I’m happy I am doing this to some extent.

I wanted this to be a commentary on the statement ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ and challenging that from a feminist perspective. Taking the interior, we were all becoming so familiar with during lockdown, and emerging into the wider art world with images which are accessible through recognition, but for me have the enhanced meaning of bringing women’s work into the gaze of the art world.

It’s a theme I want to continue – and I have been printing directly onto wallpaper. I want to develop some of the linocuts made using life drawings as a reference, and print directly onto yellow wallpaper, framing them up for an exhibition really appeals.

What will Lockdown 2.0 bring….