Lockdown 2020

Springtime Indoors

A selection of images from my “drawing-a-day” project

When the Corona Virus lockdown began in March 2020, and I was confined indoors like everybody else, I set myself the task of creating a “drawing-a-day” for the duration. The project ended when I completed drawing number 75 on May 30th. This date coincided with the government’s plan to ease lockdown and the date when spring officially transitioned into summer.

In the early days of the project from mid-March, my choice of a daily image was quite random; they were selected from inside my home and linked together only by their daily chronological sequence. However, during my daily exercise walk around my local park from the beginning of April, the idea of creating “SPRINGTIME INDOORS” became the project’s focus.

I began to observe the myriad of botanical changes in the park – the blossoming and blooming of flowers and shrubs, the sheer variety and density of colour both large and small in scale. Over the following weeks I created one image a day, noting how quickly spring was unfolding and, equally, how temporal the season was. I also observed that 2020 was the sunniest spring since 1929 and the cruel irony that it coincided with our enforced lockdown. Thus the idea about bringing springtime into my home was consolidated.

The images have been created in three stages. I began by using photography and drawing; secondly I added colour via my iPad then finally I printed each day’s result (A4 size) prints which gradually took over my entire living space.

I have selected 40 of the 75 images produced during the SPRINGTIME INDOORS project. My plan is to raise funds for a permanent display in care homes and day centres so residents may enjoy the lasting colour of spring 2020.

The images are produced on Canson Aquarelle Giclee art paper 310 gsm (paper size 16”x12”, image size A4).