Artists in Lockdown

So just what have our artists been up to during lockdown?

Pat Betts

Life may not be quite 'normal' at the moment but like many people, artists involved in the Combe Down Art Trail are trying to get on with things as best they can and many are as busy as ever! Some are donating work in support of charities and many are involved with the hashtag #artistsupportpledge where artists can sell their work (maximum price £200) and once they reach £1000 of sales, they buy another artists' piece. It's a great way to share artwork, encourage artists who currently have no other outlet, and support the art world as a whole. To find out more, visit the hashtag on Instagram or head over to Matthew Burrows' website, who initiated the fantastic concept. And 20 of our artists took part in our online Virtual Art Trail!

Click here to see what went on in our Virtual Art Trail

Richard Gardiner

NEW STUDIO

Lockdown has given Richard time to do a lot of gardening and preparation for a garden room which has become his new studio. While luxuriating in the new space, Richard was inspired to paint for the Forever Friends Appeal at the RUH in honour of the hard work of the hospital's frontline staff.

Linda O'Gorman

EXPLORING NEW TECHNIQUES

Linda has taken advantage of the lockdown to explore new techniques, particularly linear work using ink, watercolour and ink-tense pencils. To complement her drawings of cathedral windows, she has also been looking at medieval illuminated letters to inspire her further. Experienced in monoprints, Linda has been exploring the accidental textures that occur from the process.

Shuya Cheng

SUPPORTING REFUGE

Born and brought up in Taiwan, Shuya now lives in Bath. She has been busy creating her stunning abstract pieces using her sewing machine and selling them as part of the hashtag #artistsupportpledge. As well as supporting the @artistsupportpledge and @craftcouncil, Shuya donates 10% of the sale price to Refuge Charity, a fantastic and sadly much needed charity which helps fight domestic violence.

Sara Liras

LINOCUTS

Sara works full-time, creating her monochromatic linocuts on weekends. Lockdown hasn't changed that routine for her - although, like many artists, she struggled to find her creativity in the beginning. Acquiring a new hand press helped spark ideas again. Lockdown has also allowed her time to plant her first set of vegetables and she's already inspired by their shapes and textures, planning future designs.

Rachel Ward

PAINTING NHS KEY WORKERS

Rachel usually paints outside in and around Bath, and anywhere else she happens to find herself. But while in lockdown, she's stuck more to her studio and has been extremely busy painting stunning portraits of NHS workers. The portrait shown is of Jessica Wardle who has been maintaining essential cancer services while also testing CPAP machines vital for COVID-19 patients.

Anna Fraenkel

UPCYCLING CLOTHES

Anna has a passion for sewing and usually makes cushions, tea-towels and aprons using her own fabric designs. Just before lockdown, Anna gathered as many wool jumpers and denim jackets as she could from charity shops with the intention of teaching herself more about upcycling clothes. She was glad she did as, alongside making facemasks and other paid work, upcycling projects have kept her busy these past few weeks. Deciding what to unpick and resew, Anna's gradually created her own unique upcycled style and has even gone on to sell some pieces.

Sally Muir

ARTIST SUPPORT PLEDGE

Since graduating from Bath School of Art and Design, Sally has been working as a painter, specialising in human portraits, gradually moving over to mainly dog - and to enormous success. During lockdown, Sally is continuing to paint, selling (and buying) work in the #artistsupportpledge as well as taking part in the weekly Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Week. Her book, A Dog a Day, is published by Pavilion Books.

Paul Wilkins

ALLA PRIMA

Paul is usually busy creating screen prints from his home and lockdown hasn't slowed him down. Along with prints of moths, Paul's also stretching his wings and experimenting with oil paints. He's tentatively trying the 'Alla Prima' technique (wet on wet) which allows him to produce a picture in an hour or two.

Katy Spencer

SKATEBOARDING!

Katy has been really busy with university work for most of lockdown but has been able to fit in some drawing. She's spent time visiting the beautiful green spaces near her and getting inspired in the sunshine. As well as mountain biking and wild swimming, Katy's made the most of the empty streets to start skateboarding!

Ele Nash

SUPPORTING BATH CATS AND DOGS HOME

Ele's work predominantly features mixed media paintings of Bath, as well as ballet figures and seascapes. But last year she began painting cats in ink and has donated all proceeds of sales to the Bath Cats and Dogs Home. With usual funding opportunities compromised, Ele once again donated paintings to their online auction held in June, raising £245 toward their fantastic £3,500 total!

Sally Gardiner

MAKING CEDRIC, THE HIGHLAND COW

Sally lives on a dairy farm just outside Bath and has a lifelong interest in animals, especially horses and dogs. While in lockdown, she has been busy creating individually hand-built highland cows and has quite a collecton going, all with their own personalities evident. And FYI, apparently a group of highland cows is called a fold, not a herd!

Sally Jefferies

SEWING FACE MASKS

Sally usually enjoys painting in almost any style, depending on her mood and inspiration. While in lockdown, her attention has been occupied with sewing face-masks for friends, family, and most particularly for the Peggy Dodd Centre, a day support centre for people suffering with memory loss which hopes to reopen its doors in the coming weeks.

Plodge

GARDENING INSPIRATION

Plodge (A.K.A. Antonia Robertson) has, like many lucky enough to have an outside space, channelled her creativity into gardening during lockdown. Now that her black petunias are in bloom, she plans to have a go at painting them. Not that she's neglected painting; this piece was inspired by a Monet piece she saw in Portugal last January.

Sara Studd

ARTIST SUPPORT PLEDGE

When Sara moved to Paris, she began painting full time. After nearly 20 years living in France, Sara returned to England and was introduced to mono-printing by an artist friend. Sara can't resist buying art and has been heavily involved in the hashtag #artistsupportpledge, selling her own beautiful prints and then going on to buy from other artists.

Hilary Strickland

ONLINE ART TRAIL WEEKEND

Hilary uses watercolours to create flowers and landscapes in delicate washes. Hils took part in the Newbridge Virtual Art Trail weekend, in conjunction with The Art Cohort in Bath - where the trail artists posted images of their work under the hashtag #the_art_cohort. While The Art Cohort shop is closed, its online shop, exhibition space, gallery, and workshops are open.

Jill Perry

INSPIRED BY THE THRIVING NATURE

Jill's passion is hand-stitching. Her main inspiration comes from nature - which fortunately in lockdown is evident now more than ever. Jill has continued to paint backgrounds on a variety of materials before using combinations of embroidery stitches to represent landscapes, plants and insects. Jill is looking forward to when she can run her courses again to help people find their creative spark.

Kate Marshall

CARRY ON RAKU-ING

Potter Kate Marshall has been practicing raku techniques for years and has established firing using traditional methods from her garden. She's been very busy making beautiful candle holders and lamp bases with copper tones as well as horsehair. Kate's only been forced to stop when the weather has been particularly fine as the raku firing can get pretty smoky - not very sociable to her neighbours trying to enjoy the sunshine!

Julia Trickey

ONLINE TUTORIALS

Julia is an award-winning botanical artist and experienced Bath-based tutor. She loves depicting less than perfect subjects, such as fading flowers and autumnal leaves. During lockdown, Julia has been offering online tutorials on a range of botanical art subjects. Free short tutorials are available together with longer in-depth tutorials to purchase.

Esther Norman

GETTING BACK INTO IT

During these unusual times, Esther has been grateful for her lovely dogs, taking them on long walks. To get back into throwing again, she's been experimenting with texture and coloured slips, enjoying the mental and physical challenge. Esther turned a lamp base that didn't quite go to plan into a water feature. And she's been hand-building bucket pots, using up her stash of drift wood in the process.

Rosemary Simmons

VISUALISING LIFE'S WONDERS

Rosemary is fascinated by the structure of things and how they work. During lockdown, she's been reading up on sea shells, the melting of the ice caps, and the structure of plants and how they communicate by electrical signals. She draws and paints to visualise these wonders, such as the painting shown called "Logarithmic Spiral".

Catherine Beale

LIVE WATERCOLOUR WORKSHOPS

Catherine specialises in light-filled watercolours, celebrating family and favourite places. She also paints part-imagined landscapes of Bath in cascading pigments, using a process she calls “gravity painting”. She's been very busy sharing her flowing techniques in friendly live watercolour workshops online – a beginners and an intermediate series.

Emma Rose

PAINTING RAINBOWS TO RAISE MONEY

Emma is an award-winning artist, specialising in contemporary, semi-abstract painting. She has continued to paint in lockdown and was delighted to reopen her amazing studio and adjoining holiday cottage. Wanting to create a rainbow to support the NHS, Emma also spontaneously painted her very old gate and set up a Just Giving page for NHS charities, raising over £600!.

Tim Perry

MAKING POTS IN HAND-BUILT KILN

Tim makes functional ware and unique decorative pots. He designed and built the kiln himself, in an outbuilding at his home, and has been able to continue to fire his beautiful pots throughout lockdown. The nature of the fuel kiln creates a randomness to the finished products, giving them a great dynamism. Tim's looking forward to showing these processes and his pots when the Combe Down Art Trail takes place in September 2021!

Vikki Yeates

SPONSORED SKETCH-ATHON

During lockdown, Vikki has been enjoying painting and drawing animals and wildlife as usual. Wanting to do something in support of animals, she decided to set up a sponsored ‘Sketch-athon’ day in aid of the Bath Cats and Dogs Home. Vikki was inundated with people sending her photos of their dogs which she then sketched in her beautiful illustrative style. Many people sponsored her via her Facebook page (even if they didn’t have a dog!) and some people bought their dog's sketches. She raised an incredible £335 over a couple of days!

Aurora Pozniakow

POPPIES AND SEED HEADS

Aurora has a long-standing relationship with the applied arts, particularly glass and ceramics. Having a workshop with kiln in her garden means lockdown hasn't slowed down her craft. She's been using her passion for nature to create a series of stunning jewel-coloured glazed ceramic poppies and seed heads.

Julie Green

SEWING SCRUBS

Julie loves coming up with creative applications for traditional materials and lockdown has been no exception. She has made scrubs for the NHS out of duvets as part of a voluntary group in Bath, as well as facemasks for family and friends. In between times, she's started work on a new project: spiral rope bowls, which she particularly enjoys hand painting and embellishing.

David Wood

WHO GIVES A CRAP... WE DO!

Like many people in lockdown, David's become preoccupied with loo rolls, but rather than panic buying, he's got his from Who Gives A Crap, a splendid charity which provides toilets for areas in the world which have poor sanitation, helping restore dignity. The loo rolls come in boxes of 48, and David has found they're great for making 'stuff'. So far, inspired by VE Day, he's made a relief cardboard spitfire shooting down the COVID-19 baddie, as well as an amazing old Cronkie bi-plane!

Sarah Turrell

LAVENDER BAGS

Sarah usually makes lots of beautiful glazed ceramics but has found for most of lockdown she's been less productive. Happily, her enthusiasm for potting has increased again and she's been challenging herself with lidded pots and garden ideas. She's limiting herself to only a few as, with no means of exhibiting and selling her work currently, she doesn't want to be snowed under! So she has also been making lavender bags from the lavender she collected last year.

Karen George

GETTING INSPIRED ONLINE

Karen initially found she was a little 'stuck' by being in lockdown but with the help of online courses, podcasts and blogs, she's now painting lots in her studio. Working in mixed media and acrylics, she's interestingly using far less blue than usual, discovering a growing fondness for green instead.