Postcards In Isolation

Our local art gallery has been closed during the pandemic but very active in organising projects for its followers to enjoy.
One of them 'Postcards:Together In Isolation' aroused my interest and I decided to have a go.
We have been taking daily walks, mostly along the riverbank  and I decided to collect flowers and press them. I had a vague notion that I might use the shapes to represent different members of the family in some future painting.
For now I have produced two postcards of drawings using the flowers in black and white for the gallery project. The first one was simply  flower heads all linking together with a bit of spidery writing around the edge. The second drawing is more sparse. It's made up of a series of mechanical dots, regularly spaced out. The last ones, gradually forming into a flower. We have seen alot of diagrams and charts during this emergency. Maybe my drawing is trying to offer a bit of hope?
You can see them, along with many others, if you google Babylon Arts, Ely. Both mine are labelled 'Untitled'

Zooms And Drones

Before lockdown I had only a vague notion what Zoom and Drones were.
We have had several family zoom sessions since then and I have also attended some zoom meetings.
I had an idea that I would do a painting based on a 'Cabinet of Curiosities' in the future with the family being represented by objects of some sort. I still like this idea but see the composition also making reference to a zoom format with nine rectangles to divide up the cabinet shape. Time will tell.
And Drones? My neighbour now has one and I arranged for him to deliver some sweets for my grandchildren who were sitting in the garden and visiting for the first time since Christmas.

Going Virtual

Offering  my Virtual Tour (99p per view) to the NHS Charities Together appeal is beginning to gather apace.
I was on Radio Cambridge to launch it and again on Cambridge 105 radio  last night to encourage listeners to take part.
Photographs and stories of me with my 1931 Morris Minor have also been in two local papers and on several digital platforms.
I reached over 2,000 people on my Facebook page and you can still see the screen shot of me flying back in time to 1930s Hollywood in the Morris if you click on the photography section.  This part of the film explores my painting 'Dear Reginald Owen' and how I came to discover a stash of historical material from that era.

Safety First

When I first set up Ted Coney's Family Portraits over ten years ago, I was visited by a health and safety officer from the Council before I was allowed to open to the public .
One of his recommendations was that we  fitted wireless smoke alarms  on both floors of the house and I was happy to do this as it made us feel alot safer.
I was reminded of this the other week when I realised the alarms were out of date and the rechargeable batteries had stopped charging. We have new ones fitted now and  have promised myself to test them every week.
I was always greatful for the H.and S. Officers' other advice. He could have insisted that I had emergency lighting fitted on a rather gloomy landing. When I explained that I never left my visitors to wander around on their own, he recommended that I keep a large torch near at hand.
I always check the battery before each tour.