Well, a lot has happened since the previous instalment of my blog hasn’t it?! And it is only now, as we appear to be re-emerging from this uniquely surreal period and my crippling anxiety has subsided just enough for me to get behind the key board, that I feel sufficiently motivated to write something. OK, so that is not entirely true, but like many people I have had trouble sleeping and my mental health has been tested somewhat.

This has been a time of great suffering and pain but there have been positives. We have been afforded time to slow down and reflect and the environment has had a significant reprieve with the media awash with stories of the swift and impressive reclamation of nature. Just the other day I was sitting in Brockwell park appreciating the smogless vista of London in all its glory, and I am sure there are now a lot more birds! I naively hope that society does not slip back into the same old patterns.

On a personal note, this epidemic arrived almost immediately after I had decided to become a full time artist. I had hoped to ease myself in with a part time job in a bar or cafe to help make ends meet but found I was thrust into being an artist proper, with no chance of a plan B, a real sink or swim situation!

I am fortunate enough to have found this period to be a highly formative and productive one. With the usual expression of my work, screen printing, now made unavailable to me I took the opportunity to develop original work and in particular work on painting. I had always had being a painter in the back of my mind and this has been the ideal time to develop me style. Working from home I have been using acrylic. I love acrylic, the immediacy of it. It forces you to work fast and I love how you can play with the merging of colour and layering. I’m hoping this will feed back into my screen printing through monoprint!

In terms of subject matter I’ve been focusing on the impact of the lock down in the form of a visual diary of my experiences, as well as on a wider commentary and reflection on what has been happening. And I have found that work has been very well received! Firstly I have been taking part in online markets, which have proved to be a spectacular success. In particular A South London Makers Market, where the organisers Liv and Daisy have really embraced the platform and put a lot of hard work into promotion. I have found that these markets have been approximately four times as profitable than the usual in situ equivalents! And I get to do it from the comfort of my home and try my hand at being a Vlogger with the video promotions I have enjoyed creating!

Not only this, but from wider spread promotion and reaching broader audience I have garnered attention from other sources. The Delphian Gallery is a Hoxton based Gallery that promotes exactly the kind of work I am aspiring to. They promoted me on there Instagram feed to their following of over 100K, which was a real boost! They favoured the following.

I was also approached about being featured in Volume 1 of a new NYC based zine called Soon We’ll Be Dead, brainchild of the incredibly talented Indiana Hoover where myself and nine other artists were published. Check them out. They feature the following work.

In addition to this, a French online magazine got in touch to interview me on my work and process, which was again very flattering. You can read that here.

And perhaps most excitingly I am currently in conversation with a highly revered luxury retailer about them stocking my original portraits! Here are a few examples of the work they are interested in.

Who Killed The Pork Chops - Acrylic on A3 Paper

Evidently Chicken Town - Acrylic on A3 Paper

Below you can see a few more examples of original work I have created during this period. I have now made a limited Giclee print edition of this series which can be purchased from my website!

www.davidhorganart.com

Don’t Feed The Animals - Acrylic on A3 Paper

Fighting, Pushing, Praying - Acrylic on A3 Paper

Blue and Pink Floral Arrangement - Acrylic on A3 Paper

Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to sharing more work with you soon. Especially as I can now get back into the fantastic Sonsoles print studio.

All the best,

David

Lockdown Series