Moving Through The Tunnel

The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be looming closer.  It has grown from a pinprick, like a distant star in a vast blackness, constantly out of reach; to something not quite beacon like that illuminates for miles as a guiding symbol.

That light, what ever it is for millions of people, has been a distant hope in a time of turmoil.

It has been bright at times where we have willed it to beam us up and out of dreariness and then has dulled off, like a storm approaching. On the edge and in the eye of the storm we have had to bunker down, keep safe, close the shutters and wait out high winds, lightning and try to keep the floodgates closed.

For eight months plus, my life at times has been a whirlwind of emotions and stress, yet also a hollow vacuum of lethargy and questioning purpose, of laziness, yet undertaking major sorting programs.

What has been the purpose for artmaking? Some small stimulus from exhibition invitations that have been postponed assisted to trigger me back to the studio.

For one hour per day a walk in my 5km neighbourhood instigated looking at my environment, seeing the changes of the seasons, plants sprouting new shoots, flowers, colours. Nature has no restrictions.

Encouraged to create prints, I watched copious videos from, across the globe, on a form of printmaking new to me.

Online shopping opened a new world of scouring Art Supplies websites for paper and paint.

Recycling acetate sheets to create stencils and recycling papers of preloved prints has proved to be a good way to make space for new works.

I blossomed into a creative functional being who looked forward through the tunnel to the small light at the end and I have seen it grow larger as I get closer and the blackness dissipates.

On most daily walks I have and am collecting the beauty of my neighbourhood through plants. Choosing size, shape and patterns of leaves to keep, arrange on the printing plate, layering colours and shapes that intermingle with stencils. I am moving along with a series of artworks reminiscent of the healing power of nature.

The artworks are currently suited to two themes:

Walking Tour 2020 consists of foliage from my neighbourhood, freshly collected on mornings of printing days.

No Restrictions for Nature incorporates feathers with foliage. The feathers represent freedom and the ability to take flight to wherever one wishes to go.

The closer I move towards the light, the brighter the world becomes. Asked about my plans for 2021, my answer is let’s get to the end of the tunnel first.