Michael Hill

Michael’s Lockdown Story

‘My name is Michael and I have been part of Rea [Stavropoulos’s] watercolour classes since they began at Burgh House in May 2014.

During lockdown Rea gave us a subject on which to work out a composition and then do a watercolour based on it. At first these were still life compositions done at home, but as lockdown eased I went further afield. I found lockdown very frustrating as I am an outdoor person and very widely travelled. I had planned one trip abroad for each month in 2020. I only got as far as March! With the fine weather, I gradually got out for walks, but have no garden to ease the heat of the very hot period. Also I had to put up with major works in the flat above me going on for over three weeks! At times it was difficult to keep my
calm.

I have been making idyllic country scenes in felt embellished with stitch, seaside views and imaginary architecture. I may not be able to travel outside my studio but in my head I have and it’s resulted in my pictures.’

So the art was something to look forward to in generally unstructured weeks with galleries, cinemas, museums and theatres all firmly locked. Once the topics were given us, the research of what to paint/where to go was very stimulating.

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