Night sky with figure, 23 April, 2020

Last night , or very early in the morning there was a meteor shower in the north eastern sky, but because of urban light I couldn't see it. But I could see the Milky Way, arching over, scattered with stars. The figure from Pompei is turning its back, terrified I think by the immensity of what's out there. It's now a month since self-isolation started, and after the initial grasping of the challenge I sense a fearfulness that normal interactions will never return. My grandchildren are missing friends and new things happening at school. Others see partners breaking away. You can't visit a market, go to an exhibition or performance in real time and space, or lie on a beach. It is terrible for artists, as opportunities drop away. 

So look to the Milky Way within. Here is Alexis Wright from her Swan Book, ‘Imagination is a marvellous thing. It’s free. It’s wild. It comes from nowhere. It comes from practice. Hold on to it. Instead of being defeated by this enormous load, you can lighten the weight by constructing another way of looking at things.... Having learnt how to escape the reality about this place, I have created illusionary ancient homelands to encroach on and destroy the wide-open vista of the virus’s real-estate.'  

Diana Wood Conroy,' Night sky with figure', watercolour on Arches paper, 15 x 21 cm, 23 April, 2020.