
I am still unpacking the paintings I brought back from in June from my studio in Hoi An, Vietnam and each roll takes me back to the months of Covid lockdowns when time seemed to stop, the world was on hold and all creatives gained the gift of peace and space to reflect on their practice. It was a time for deep navel-gazing.
Audible (audio books) invented 'Plus Catalogue' which offered a catalogue of free books and podcasts to keep everyone sane by introducing us to fresh authors, different genres and brilliant broadcasters who brought the world to our ear buds.
Amongst many, many others, I read Vivienne Westwood's Biography, The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton, A Life on our Planet by David Attenborough and revisited The Silk Roads by David Frankopan. Each one of these led me to consider our shared origins, the human need for sharing and belonging and the joy of life that we should be experiencing on this beautiful planet no matter our circumstances.
Vietnam fell silent. I was living with 25km of the busy Da Nang airport with arrivals and departures crossing my sky throughout the day but during lockdown, the skies were silent, my big river was silent, my gallery had closed. It was just me and endless sundrenched days which presented me with opportunities to experiment and express myself in that fearless way that I had seldom experienced since art college in the 1970s.
Now, I am going to look back on some of the pieces I produced during that time to remind myself of the issues and stories, memories and discoveries that inspired me back then.
The first is my portrait of Txai Suruà - an indigenous Brazilian environmental activist who came to fame when she attended COP21 in Glasgow. I so admired her. This year, COP30 is actually being held in Brazil so I expect we will be hearing more from this beautiful warrior.
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