2020 Went Astray

2020 unravelled like a teaser trailer for The End of the World! 

Perhaps the comet was an omen? 

Neowise C/2020 F3 was a rare and beautiful sight in the clear night skies of Spring but it just happened to coincide with the whole world going strange and scary. 

Comet Neowise photographed by NASA's Hubble Telescope in August 2020

The planet seemed to catch on fire and huge swathes of important habitats went up in smoke across every continent. Not only was this a disaster for the wildlife that lived in those locations, the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere really fed into the same global warming cycle that had been a catalysts in the first place. The wildfires were probably the most significant global disaster, though just a small component in the current climate crisis, of course! Droughts ravaged many parts of the world as temperatures soared to record highs, whilst in other parts there was flooding of 'biblical' proportions, brought on by more storms ever named in a single year... 

Then came the Corona-virus pandemic. Enough has been said and written about that all year, so I shan't dwell upon it here. Suffice to say that it may well be a practice run for regular, and possibly more virulent, pandemics to come so it's important to learn as much as we can from this experience. Possibly the most important 'take-away' from this is that viruses don't respect your political views. There's no point protesting against a microbe! Politicians need to put people before profits and the NHS has to be better funded! Also, we witnessed a global demonstration of how, when we feel threatened, humans can become highly irrational and easily distracted. Let's change our ways and work out how to 'pull-together' next time... 

Unfortunately, the politics of the last few years have tended more and more toward division rather than unity... it's an old ploy to take power from the masses - set them squabbling over something relatively trivial, like say, Brexit. Polarize the population and then flood those debates with lies and uncertainty. If people think that facts are 'fluid', then how will they decide what to believe? It leaves them free to select anything that supports what they already believe, so they will seek out 'news' and views that simply agree with their own world view. Of course public response to non-trivial issues, such as equality and environment, can also be manipulated using this method. 

Oh, mentioned Brexit there, didn't I? Sorry. Ah, well, we are going forth with some sort of last-minute deal that, after spending more than our entire subscription to the EU since we joined in 1973, seems to be only a bit worse than what we started with. And that's better than it nearly turned out - so let's be looking for the potentials - in the hope of finding at least some tangible benefits? Thankfully, I managed to avoid mentioning Trump (another global disaster!) But I should mention BLM, which became a rallying cry for much-needed social evolution. 

2020 was a mess. Perhaps the best thing some of us can say in its favour is, "It could've been worse and at least we made it through!"

Now, there's a new year looming, a time for each to reflect and think ahead. Look back on what we have done and forward to what we can do to steer toward the future we really want. 

I chatted with Julie McNicolls Vale at Cambrian News for their maes supplement, back in August... here's the published feature about creative life in lock-down Wales, being a virtual artist in residence for the Arts Council's Lead Creative Schools online programme with Tredegar Park Primary, taking part in Plas Bodfa's international Unus Multorum 2020 online art festival, and my new epic fantasy book THIS (part four) written with Zel Cariad and concluding Book One of our This, That and The Other trilogy! 

 Click thumbnail image to read PDF

Lock-down life suited me fine. I got to spend time with my family and enjoy daily exercise together walking our dog in our local woodlands. I do realise the experience would’ve been a real challenge, and not so idyllic for many, especially those alone in an environment with limited access to natural spaces… and of course, all the NHS staff, carers, and essential support workers that have tirelessly kept our society going have been doing a difficult job very well. But for us, watching the ancient forest go through its cycle of life for a whole year was a constant comfort. It was endlessly fascinating and a privilege to be afforded the time to be on intimate terms with the flora and fauna of the ancient landscape, peaceful and left almost undisturbed by other humans. 

It gave us hope for a better, greener future after lock-down, as people realised they didn’t really need half the ‘baggage’ of the modern world to survive. Perhaps they've glimpsed the cons of capitalism? We’re still hoping that we never get back to ‘normal’ - only back to better is acceptable. 

My year in books 

- one small step for Fantasy, 

one giant leap for this Fantasy author!

Four years in the making, THIS arrived complete and published in four parts from The Red Sparrow Press. Me and my 'creative consultant', Zel Cariad had a wonderful time putting the story together, pick'n'mixing bits'n'pieces from folklore and fairy tales and bringing them right up to date into the modern imagination. I also posted a small gallery of my illustrations used on the paperback book covers, which saw the year in as part of The Folklore and Fairytales of North Wales exhibition at Oriel Ty Meirion, over winter 2019-20...

THIS is just the beginning... the first book in the trilogy, This, That and The Other. 

We really appreciate our readers who have been supporting us so far and helping to spread the word, and a very warm welcome to our new friends who can step into the story via the samples below and join the journey with Rietta and Carla as their friendship is tested across the three magical realms...  

As summed-up in a few reader reviews: "Bursting at the seams with magic," and, "will be enjoyed by fans of fantasy of all ages, especially those who like the classics like the Narnia saga," and, "a lovely depiction of friendship," and most recently a Red Button review that proclaimed THIS was, "imaginative fantasy at its best, wonderful work and heartily recommended..."

My year in art 

- really, 20:20 should've been great for visual arts

...and in many ways it was! 

As an author and artist, I enjoy working solo much of the time, but I was also fortunate to have several outlets for creative collaboration during isolation. 

Just before the nation went into lockdown, I was installing an epic wall drawing in Plas Bodfa, an arts centre in Angelsey, for a major arts festival involving more than 100 international artists. The pandemic was already affecting many of those artists from other countries who found themselves adapting to send their work or to present it virtually. Then, one week before the final installation and opening to the public… well, that’s when everything changed. 

Corridraw: Writing on the Floors photographed by Kim Vertue, 

Writing on the Walls stills from the film, Possibilities of a House 

produced by Culture Colony for Plas Bodfa

The instigator and curator, Julie Upmeyer, who has boundless energy and drive, refused to let things drift and instead organised a series of online and virtual events that became the Unus Multorum 2020 Online Arts Festival. This involved several live-streaming events and she also facilitated a virtual environment using Zoom and social media for the artists involved to interact and collaborate. Unus Multorum also incorporated the launch of Plas Bodfa Objects, a selection of limited edition Artist's Multiples that migrated far beyond the exhibition environment, taking the Festival across the country and beyond - via mail order. My contribution was a special edition of 10 Cicorc... 

I think that, although I didn’t meet many in person, I got to know more of my fellow artists than I would’ve at a ‘real world’ event! I’m also pretty sure that more people around the globe got to see the art who wouldn’t have been able to get there in person, even under normal circumstances. 

Two Cicorc pals, 'James W. Fisher' and  'Arkinholm', exploring Plas Bodfa 
photographed during lock-down by Julie Upmeyer

I love a good residency and also enjoy leading creative workshops in the community. Alas, such opportunities were unrealistic during a global pandemic! However, through the Lead Creative Schools programme, part of the national Creative Learning initiative helmed by the Arts Council of Wales, I did manage to deliver another virtual residency which worked out rather well, at Tredegar Park Primary School - coincidentally, situated in the grounds of my ancestral home! We all shared adventures exploring islands of the imagination. Currently, I'm working with another fantastic school, Ysgol y Foryd in North Wales, on an exciting new project that will take us into 2021, involving food, fun and story-telling - watch this space [...you can read the artist call-out for this exciting Lead Creative Schools project as a PDF HERE]

Another thing that 2020 has encouraged is greater generosity in the sharing of content online. For example, in partnership with The Red Sparrow Press, I was able to make THIS part one available as a 'FreeBook' on the Medium platform, initially during schools closure, but it ended up staying there all year... and I have enjoyed visiting many online galleries and exhibitions, so I've seen more world-class art than I would've done on the usual trips to London and Cardiff. 

I began the year with a presentation at Oriel Colwyn, The North Wales Photography Gallery, of my project, The Stars, at Our Feet. So, it's quite fitting that photographs from that series will feature as the inaugural exhibition at The Signifier's new online initiative - The Six Shot Gallery - which I will then be curating for the rest of 2021 to showcase the work of a different contemporary artist each month. 

Presenting The Stars, at Our Feet at Oriel Colwyn in pre-lock-down 2020
photograph, left, by Kim Vertue, and right, courtesy of the gallery

Aside from THIS, the fantastic new novel, my recent writing has appeared in the following online publications:

The Signifier 

- for which I have contributed regular articles on the history of art 

Folklore Thursday 

- for which I contributed a piece on the marvelously misconstrued collection of Welsh mythologies known as The Mabinogion 

and Frame Rated 

- for which I continue to write regularly as a film critic, often in-depth retrospectives of classics, occasionally reviews of new releases...  

Wishing you all the very best and with a very special, "Thank You!" to everyone who has been reading what I've written and appreciating the art I've made. I especially hope you are enjoying spending time in the Realms of This That and The Other... and... I'm very excited to announce that there is a publishing deal in place for the next book, so will be working on THAT, again with Zel Cariad's invaluable input, and if all goes to plan, the wait for THAT (part one) won't be too long! 

So...

Roll-in and roll-on, 2021!