Lock down blues in many shades ....

I think these faces say it all…. but being locked down with these little souls was a godsend indeed. You can learn a lot from your dogs; living in the moment, acceptance and forgiveness.

When the lock down announcement came, my feelings were mixed. I was desperate for a bit of me time, as I always find towards the end of term, but the thought of not being able to come and go to the studio, my second home, was confusing….. and I know some makers did continue to travel to their workshops but knowing how much other background stuff desperately needed attention I chose to ‘stay at home’.

Checking on the studio once a week and bringing a shop to our neighbour became an odd eerie experience; the site has been so busy of late, to go from having to park on the grass to being the only person around was not inspiring and I felt happy to get home!

One of the biggest joys of the year is the cherry blossom filling the sky over the garden….. my thoughtful neighbour sent me home with some which was beautiful but felt a little tragic too.

Time alone is often something I crave and I find magnifies my creativity. I have been on a couple of solitary retreats over the years, I love making things still and just listening but this time I just felt anxious and found myself glued to my phone! So I reverted to a trusty friend The Artists Way an amazing resource for creativity.

Play! Play! Play! Its the key to finding your creative self so I reflected on what I used to have fun doing and ordered a jigsaw and some lego!!!

This painting by Gustav Klimt has A LOT of gold pieces and is still in progress!

It was nice that my pottery was still out there working for me while I was tucked up, this cup from my new Yogi collection is now at home with the lovely Katie, plant medicine lady and maker of Little Bird Soaps.

Artists cannot be kept down, we love a challenge and it was great to see how people responded creatively to their closures. Courtyard Gallery with whom we share the lovely Paula ‘Magic Maker’ are setting up online …

And my beloved Pottery Geeks have been prolific in research and sharing …… someone even found my moment of fame in Linda Bloomfield’s book.