NO Parkin
Stuart Neale
Oil painting
30 x 24 inches
“I miss the physical, the tactile, the social viewing space. However I do wonder how bad lockdown would have been before the internet and the ability to share, make and view online; even see friends and family. For all its faults and problems, it has helped to keep us all connected.”
Stuart Neale
Stuart’s Lockdown Story
‘I recently took up landscape painting again, unfortunately though, this coincided with us going into lockdown. Finding my horizons greatly reduced, I decided on a series: ‘London planes, London clay’ – North London views being greatly defined by the colours from the clay that goes into its distinctive yellow bricks, and the trees – London planes – that were planted to soak up noise and pollution.’
How has lockdown made you feel? Has it impacted your mental health and wellbeing?
‘I work freelance, so I almost immediately had no work for the first 3 months of lockdown. I found the hardest thing was to fill the time now available, between inevitable homeschooling and queuing, with something productive, as I had always worked in creative industries.’
Has your creative project helped you to improve your mental health and wellbeing, both in general and during the pandemic? If so, how?
‘Hugely, without this as an outlet, I fear I may have driven my family and those around me quite mad.’
In what ways has the Covid-19 lockdown influenced your creativity or changed how you use art?
‘I miss the physical, the tactile, the social viewing space. However I do wonder how bad lockdown would have been before the internet and the ability to share, make and view online; even see friends and family. For all its faults and problems, it has helped to keep us all connected.’
Text and images © Stuart Neale
Art in Adversity 