If you are ever in doubt whether or not to create a piece of artwork, make sure you go ahead and create it, who knows where it will lead…

It was the weekend before the first lockdown and I had pulled my car over so I could Google the nearest place to buy A2 sized mount card as nowhere local stocked what I was after. I sat for 15 minutes or so thinking about if what I wanted to create would be well received, would anyone really care and was it worth the stress and hassle of driving around different towns just to locate card. But as the old adage goes, “you only regret the things you don’t do”

What had sparked my idea was the positive outpouring of messages that could be seen on hand written signs displayed in windows and chalked on pavements all applauding the NHS and front line workers.

As a graphic designer and artist I almost felt a sense of duty to contribute to this national positive ad hoc art movement. So with a sharp new scalpel and 26 sheets of A2 card I painstakingly cut out every letter of the alphabet with the intention of displaying a large simple colloquial message that would raise spirits in these troubled times.

“Keep Your Spirits Up, We’ll Be Orate Duck”

This was written on Tunstall Band Stand (A park I had very much enjoyed getting reacquainted with over lockdown) I marked out each letter by pouring aggregate into a stencil then carefully removed it, neatening it up by hand. I chose aggregate as it could be easily cleared away if not welcomed by the authorities as well as adding a transient nature to the piece, the natural environment ensuring it would disappear over time as we all hope the Virus will do.

It was this piece that led to a commission from Urban Wilderness for five short statements/poems that would be placed in various locations from Tunstall to Middleport. Having spent a lot of time during lockdown exploring my local area it was an amazing opportunity to install artwork into places that I had recently rediscovered. It also reignited my love of poetry and gave me the opportunity to write a modern day Nursery Rhyme, a potential “Ring O Ring O Roses” for the Covid generation.

The perfect bookend to the project came when Urban Wilderness asked me if I would like to write a blog about the experience. Of course I said yes but I also had one last poem that I wanted to share, and with the serendipitous timing of “Freedom day” only weeks away it would be the ideal time to display it.

So early on the morning of Sunday the 18th July 2021 I set out with a new stencil and a can of temporary road marking paint to pay homage to the thing that myself and I’m sure many others had missed the most during the last 18 months…Being on a Dance floor.

Outside the entrance of three local music venues I sprayed the short poem

“Ghosts on Dance Floors Will Dance Alone No more”

That initial idea executed over 18 months ago greatly rejuvenated my love of the arts and branched off informing several commissions some of which are still ongoing. We are all starkly aware of the negative consequences of the time spent with Covid but the resilience propped up by creativity and a shared love of the arts is a positive that I feel we can all take away.