Notes from the studio from Artworks’ Valerie Armstrong:
DISCONNECTION, acrylic on canvas, 70 cm x 100 cm
It is 12th May 2020. We have now been in home lockdown for nearly two months. I am over 70 years old and though normally healthy, I do suffer from very nasty bouts of bronchitis, so I know I must do everything I can to avoid contracting this destructive disease.
THE SILENT VISITOR (detail), acrylic on canvas, 60 cm x 30 cm
I now live alone, but despite that I am one of the lucky ones: I have a beautiful garden and studio at home. The weather has been sparkling and so far, I have painted my way through the solitude. During this time my paintings have changed, they have become larger, freer and bolder as I think to myself:
“I have nothing to lose, now is the time to express all that I am feeling: the sadness, the fear, the loneliness, the anger, the calm.”
THE MEMORY TREE, acrylic on cradled board, 45 cm x 45 cm
I have painted my Covid ‘monster’: my garden which calms and soothes; my tree of memories and my feelings of fear and confusion regarding the present situation.
THE WILD GARDEN OF CHILDHOOD, acrylic on canvas, 70 cm x 100 cm
It is an intense time in my studio. These are the paintings I have completed during the past two months.
Valerie Armstrong
ARTWORKS 