a long gap and the decision to intermit for another year... new exhibition soon

I meant to do a post after the exhibition in Lyme Regis. I wrote it but time slipped by and then it semed too late and we went in another lockdown. I loved being in such a beautiful place. I swam every morning before opening up the gallery and when I had a break I wandered down along the coast and out to the Cobb enjoying the totally different geology. The piddocks (Pholas dactylus) were facinating. I knew about these molluscs that drill into rock but had never found one. Cornwall is mostly granite which is too hard for them to drill whereas Lyme is all clay and limestone. The soft blue lias beds where people hunt for fossils were riddled with them.

Back in Cornwall November was a good month as I finally sorted out my garage and made it into a workshop. I found tools I hadnt seen for years, gave everything a home and made it into a beauitiful space to work in.

But I didn't find winter easy. I lost the threads of my art practice or thats how it seemed. I was due to return to my MA studies in January 2021 but when it got to December 2020 I realised I wasnt ready and as a carer I didn't feel it was safe for me to return either, so even before we entered the third lockdown after Christmas, I decided to intermit my MA for another year. It turned out to be the right thing to do as everything soon shut down and went back to being virtual and online again.

I kept swimming.

Everything is cyclical. Our body rhythm and moods ebb and flow like the tides. I'm learning to accept that there are times when I just tread water and creativity ceases or is channeled into everyday things like gardening. Solitude and time allow me to pay attention to things crawling, to experience small moments of grace but Ive been in no rush to do anything about these moments other than to watch them come and go.

But now it is the end of May and we are coming out of lockdown and Im having to gather myself together for an exhibition. I have a print in The Poly Spring Open until 5th of June. Then I am in the joint exhibition 'where the land meets the sea' with Steven Buckler and Phoebe Wild at The Poly from the 8th to the 12th June.

We are emerging at last. There have been conversations round my dining room table. We are talking again and we no longer have to work in solitude.

More posts about the exhibition coming soon...