Talking Heads

I have been fortunate enough to be awarded an artists commission for a group project running over the next couple of months.  This is new territory for me and all very exciting, but the elation I felt at hearing the news was quickly drowned out by feelings of overwhelm and WTF?!  A stern word, some deep breathing and a couple of days later the tide turned and I'm pleased to report I'm now in full project manager mode - you'd be so proud of me sis! 

Planner drawn up, I was in the process of breaking down my to-do list and scheduling the constituent parts - paying particular attention to make sure that nothing interferes with my post lockdown appointment with the hairdresser - when I stumbled upon a benefit of current life that so pleased me I felt compelled to step away from my planning and blog..... 

In a nutshell - if you need anything from IKEA go whilst they are offering a click and collect service!

My original plan to wait to see how many artists I had on board, and thus how many picture frames to buy, put me in their store on the 12 April, and if there is one place that I am NOT going to visit the day they reopen it's said Swedish retailer.

Instead I ordered online, chose my collection slot, received a text to say it was ready early, arrived at the store, pulled into the near empty carpark, phoned the designated number to announce my arrival, received a text message to tell me to proceed to Collection Bay 29, did so and waited in my car whilst my shopping was brought to me and left in a trolley for me to load into the boot.  Oh! That it could always work this way.

Now perhaps to those of you who have their grocery shopping delivered and can't imagine why anyone would spend their time going themselves (I like to pick my vegetables!), this isn't that revolutionary but yesterday it felt like a gift from the heavens and I am now busily trying to work out if I can compile a list of all the things that I might possibly need so I can utilise the service again and postpone any future shopping trip, where I've to actually walk round the store myself, indefinitely.

The premise behind my art project is a series of self-portraits that will be displayed as if on a Zoom Call - a collection of 'Talking Heads' made by the network of artists I meet with online once a month.  The portraits are to be reflective of our feelings surrounding Zoom and as I start to think about how I will approach the artwork I find that I am have conflicting feelings surrounding the much anticipated return to life post lockdown.

I hate the inadequacies of Zoom, but I like being sat in the comfort of my own home with a cup of tea; I miss having two, or even multi, way conversations, but my good ear is much better at hearing if only one person is talking; I might not like this much but it has become familiar and known and thus a comfort zone of sorts.

But for the record the thought of seeing my sister, my family, and my friends (more than one at a time); the return of parkrun after a year without it; the opportunity to meet face to face with the artists I've met on Zoom and the chance to have our work exhibited (eek!); is worth any anxiety I may have to overcome to be in a crowd, or even IKEA again.