A NEWLY-FORMED community group in Usk has explained how lockdown has got their creative juices flowing, and how they have solace through sharing their work on social media.
Last month, Usk resident and keen Jazz-singer Deborah Hancock started the Facebook group ‘The Usk Lockdown Creative Art Gallery’, inspired by Grayson Perry’s Channel Four programme Art Club.
Helen Baxter shared this photo of Usk bridge
Stuart Lloyd sent in this piece, along with a host of other creative works
Joshua, aged nine, has taken to drawing world landmarks
Since the group started, Ms Hancock has been blown away by the response, with poets, musicians, and many beginners getting involved.
She believes it has brought Usk’s creative community together, and talks are already under way to make the group a permanent fixture post-lockdown, with events in the offing at possible locations including the town’s library, Sessions House, and the castle.
Explaining her inspiration for the group, Ms Hancock said: “Throughout lockdown I’ve really enjoyed Grayson Perry’s Art Club.
“He encourages people to send in what they have made during lockdown to keep us connected and use lockdown in a positive way.
“About three weeks ago I watched a show where he reflected on the last series and took pictures of art from each programme.
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“He went to collect the art from each person’s home to do his own collage of lockdown artwork. They were just ordinary folk – including a boy with autism who struggled to express himself but could make extraordinary models.
Group founder Deborah Hancock
A poem sent in by Adele Cordner
Sarah Searle shared this lockdown poem, which she wrote at the very beginning of the pandemic
“Grayson Perry got all this art and put it together, and it was just so powerful it brought a tear to my eye.
“I thought it was something we needed here at the moment, and it’s gone down beautifully. I’ve been amazed at how quickly we have got a group of more than 150 together sharing art. It’s become a little ray of sunshine in my life.”
Ms Hancock says she has been inspired to paint for the first time by the group, which she has shared on the page.
“I’ve never painted before and I’m not going to pretend I’m good at it,” she laughed. “But I have been really inspired by this brilliant bunch.
“We’ve got nine-year-olds sharing their drawings, and 90-year-olds sharing their embroidery. How great is that?
“Lockdown has given us a chance to stop and stare, and through that it’s given us a fantastic opportunity to get creative.”
Jennifer Pryer, who lost her mum nine years ago and is now shielding as a vulnerable person, has had plenty of time to “stop and stare”, so much so she’s finally got around to finishing off a colourful cushion which her mum started before she died.
Ms Pryer, who moved to Usk three years ago, says the group has injected positivity into her life, and she looks forward to seeing what people have posted every day.
“After mum died and my sister and I were clearing out her house and we found these two unfinished embroidered cushions,” she recalled.
Jen Pryer with her cushion, now passed down to her daughter
Sheelagh Kerry, who says she's been busy doodling over the last few months, posted this
Karen Green posted this watercolour painting, from a tutorial by Geoff Kersey
“We took one each and said we’d do them, but one year rolled into the next and we never got around to it.
“But shielding has given me a chance to get stuck into it. I have now passed it down to one of my daughters, and I’ve shared it on the group too.
"I’m delighted with the reaction, it’s lovely to feel that community support, which I’ve felt throughout the pandemic.
"It's another lovely example why I feel very fortunate to live in this town."
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