In April, while much of the world was in strict lockdown, artists and writers in Cumbria were being invited to contribute to a book that would help document this unique period in history.
Lockdown creations from the artists of Cumbria
Artist Joan Prickett’s contribution to Through the Locking Glass
In April, while much of the world was in strict lockdown, artists and writers in Cumbria were being invited to contribute to a book that would help document this unique period in history.
Creators got to work writing poetry, drawing cartoons, taking photographs, painting, sketching, sculpting or using myriad other talents to create something that spoke of their personal, heartfelt response to a situation that was, in one way or another, affecting every individual on the planet.
My own input described my new relationship with the suddenly constrained ‘great outdoors’ – an outdoors that once, potentially, spanned the globe but was now, for me at least, largely confined to a few miles of riverside path that was slowly waking up to spring.
Time for reflection beside the River Eden
The end result, Through the Locking Glass, was recently published and includes contributions from 80 local creators – with all profits going to charity.
In his preface to the book, the man behind the idea, David Felton, writes: “Lockdown enforced a kind of retreat… and a moment for reflection. This was a life that was slower and, to many – if not all – kinder, where the treadmill of deadlines gave way to a springtime in which we grew to know our neighbours, and our little patch of home, and could watch, day by day, as nature awoke. Lockdown became a time to pause, think, walk, listen, hear, focus…”
As well as gracing the pages of this 168-page book, some of the creative expressions from this “moment for reflection” will soon be on display at The Studio Morland.
Profits from sales of Through the Locking Glass will go to charity
The Eden Valley venue is hosting a free exhibition of the publication’s artwork between August 15 and 30 (daily, 10am-4pm). In addition, poetry from it will be read via a custom-made audio installation on the weekend of August 22 and 23.
Copies of Through the Locking Glass can be bought online from Inspired by Lakeland (£14.90). Profits will be split between local NHS trusts, Eden Valley Artistic Network, Green Door in Kendal and Space2Create, also in Kendal.