Ideas and Inspirations

In the first lockdown I had to isolate, and at first found it difficult to motivate myself to be creative. So to occupy myself I decided I would enrol on an Online Enamel Painting course with Gillie Hoyte-Byrom, who I know from being a member of the Guild of Enamelling.

There were 10 different painting projects, using painting enamels, different mediums and techniques. The beauty of the course was the ability to work at your own pace and the structure of the preparation needed before you even started painting. The picture is a painting enamel fired in pre-coated steel blanks.

Ann Jones – RAJ ENAMELS

Ideas and Inspirations

During the first lockdown I found it very difficult to settle to any creative work apart from knitting. I was determined to knuckle down in the second lockdown in November, so set myself the goal of drawing every day. Although some days it was the last thing I felt like doing, once I got cracking I never regretted it. I drew anything and everything, and I’ve selected some of my favourites that fell into a theme of the everyday to share. I managed at least one drawing a day from 5 November to well after Christmas, and would recommend it as a way of easing out of a creative block. 

Helen Sample

Ideas and Inspirations

Daily exercise has become so important for fresh air and tapping into our personal well-being. Whilst walking in Shrewsbury's Quarry Park, I was taken by the heavy canopies of evergreen trees and the daylight that appears between the tree trunks, connecting with some research on Gustav Klimt's landscapes for a recent mosaic commission. I enjoy using the same square format, and the small impressionistic shards of glass, metaphorically the light beyond.

Lindsey Kennedy