Stay Home!

Stay home and save lives! This is the chant for April 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, a simple but life saving strategy. For many their lives have been turned upside down by this order but for me, and I feel privileged to say so, that it actually has little impact.

My studio is at home and as I live in a rural setting surrounded by open spaces and a beautiful garden, I can continue to enjoy my daily walks and have plenty to keep myself occupied outdoors as well as in the studio.

I feel desperately sorry for the millions in developing countries, like Africa, where they live hand to mouth most of the time and community is everything. This is not difficult for us to do, it's different but not life threatening, like the order is for these people.

Through difficult times like these it essential to set goals, however humble, for each day and tick them off your list, leaving you with satisfaction of accomplishment for the day. For creatives it can be a time to explore different media and techniques, opportunities that you may never had time for.

Another positive creative venture could be starting a nature journal to encourage you to sit still outside and observe the small wonders that live in your garden. Like many artists, I'm sure you would have an unused journal in your art stash, so this is a time to open the pages and begin drawing. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, it's just for you.

I will leave you with this beautiful and timely quote:

"The simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity" ~ Edward de Bono