Printmaker and Heart Project Trustee Nancy Murgatroyd has been captivated by the new words and concepts the pandemic has generated. She has been exploring the meaning of ‘isolation’ through her work and urges others to share their creative responses by entering our creative competition My Life in Lockdown.
Being a trustee of the Crediton Heart project is great but there is a downside. When we received the Lottery grant to build our community website, we were invited to celebrate 25 years of the Lottery. Of course, that is not a problem. Just think of the number of organisations which have been helped with crucial funding over 25 years. Our chosen way of celebrating is to run a competition, our chosen topic is, of course about the coronavirus “Lockdown”. My problem is that I can’t submit an entry because I am a trustee. That matters because, as an artist and printmaker, I have been thinking a great deal about “Lockdown”. It has been said before, we live in an exceptionally beautiful part of the UK surrounded by wonderful countryside. To suddenly be limited to one trip outside a day and, as a friend of mine said, to be under “house arrest” was pretty scary.
I panicked, I was sure I would feel trapped with far too little to do. I tried to organise food deliveries, I ordered vast amounts of mulch to top dress all the garden borders. I could not get the garden plants I wanted. However, the worst part of it was that I was separated from my weekly printmaking course at Dartington. That wise tuition, friendly support and gorgeous old printing presses. My favourite press was Harrild, our large clunky offset press with personality. Ink your lino, add the carefully lined up paper and Harrild would grind and clunk his way to producing the perfect print; well within my limitations as a printmaker.
So as Lockdown became a reality, I ordered a printing press, nothing as grand as Harrild or the other workshop presses but a small press I could use in my studio at home. I waited anxiously for 3 or 4 weeks until it arrived and then another week when I was too frightened to use it. Of all the ideas going around in my head I became increasingly captivated by the new concepts and words which were becoming part of our everyday parlance. Social distancing, self isolation, lockdown, shielding. We were talking about vents and PPE, topics familiar to me from my past life were now being shared across the nation. Graphs and figures and the R number were becoming part of everyday conversation.
Most of the time I lino cut, this is my chosen form of relief printing. An idea has to be simplified and refined without losing the essence of its power and meaning. It can be portrayed in black and white or with clever and unpredictable combinations of colours. My mind has turned to the enforced isolation of Lockdown. In this beautiful part of Devon which became so peaceful and magical did I have a sense of splendid isolation? Did I feel guilty that so many people were suffering so much that it was wrong to glory in my surroundings? On the other hand, would it be dreadfully unappreciative not to be thankful for the views, the birds, the peace and quiet, the community help and support, the friendship expressed over Zoom and Facetime. Art is a great way to express feelings and explore ideas. At the beginning of all this a friend said that I was so lucky to be creative. I feel fortunate, but so many of us create and explore ideas in a great variety of ways. So, my recent prints have explored both self isolation and splendid isolation. I have looked at Lockdown and have many more facets of this strange time still to explore.
As I said at the beginning, I cannot enter the competition, but I hope that you will share your experiences of Lockdown. Send some words, maybe a poem, a piece of art or craft, a photo or a picture of a 3 dimensional piece of work, a video of music or a performance, a song. The subject is Lockdown, how did you feel, what did you think? Let us all share our experience.
Click here to learn more about the Competition
