Covid-19: When life is hard - you learn to adapt

Art in Lockdown and Beyond: 6 Months On

Yesterday was the six month anniversary of the UK being put into lockdown - in order to protect people and reduce the expected number of deaths from Covid-19.

Yesterday was also when 

• Boris announced more restrictions on what we can do
• it was a very sunny day at Kew Gardens - and I spent a very happy day on my very first visit of the year to the gardens in decent weather.

I spotted this sign.  It struck me as absolutely spot on to where we are now 

Think about how you can learn to adapt to a new normal.

When Life is hard... you learn to adapt

The Coronavirus Posts

Today I thought I'd take a quick look at the number of blog posts that I've written in the last six months which relate to Coronavirus and Covid-19 in some way or other.

I've just been updating my schedule on my Coronavirus / COVID-19 and Art page on my Art Business Info for Artists website - and it is in fact a LOT of posts. (listed below)

TIMELINE OF UPDATES by me 

(on Making A Mark, Botanical Art and Artists and Art Business Info for Artists)

FEBRUARY 2020: 

• Coronavirus, Courses and Cancellations (27 February 2020) - written before the Pandemic was declared

MARCH 2020: 

• Coronavirus & Art #1: Risk Management for Artists & Art Events (6 March 2020)

• Coronavirus & Art #2: Thoughts and recommendations on the implications of a pandemic (12 March 2020). Note I'm particularly proud of this one - because:
• my predictions were pretty much spot on
• lots of people wrote and thanked me for the pep talk!

• Covid-19 and Art #3: The timeline for cancellations and postponements?

• Coronavirus and Art #4: Art Galleries, Museums and Auction Houses close in London

• ​Mall Galleries to close until further notice

• COVID-19 and Art #6: Financial support for self-employed artists and freelancers

• A List of UK based Online Art Suppliers

APRIL 2020: 

Covid Guidelines for Artists meeting in Groups

Drawing Attention, the official monthly zine of the Urban Sketchers organization publicises sketching meet-ups each month. 

This month it published some very sensible guidelines for those artists and sketchers beginning to meet up again. You can find Drawing Attention (August 2020) on Issuu and the guidelines are on pages 4 and 5.

Well done to Urban Sketchers for doing a good turn and providing a very useful checklist of everything that needs thinking about and attending to! 

Plus a lot of it is relevant to other painting groups aiming to meet up in future e.g. plein air painters.

I've clipped the relevant guidance as it struck me that the more this very sound guidance can be shared, the safer people will be. 

ONE THING: It did strike me that another couple of points:

• caution might be suggested to those aged over 70 or those who have been shielding or have an underlying condition which places them at higher risk - maybe meeting up in smaller groups to start with
• I personally would want to know who harboured young people at home who ignore safety precautions or are too young to adhere to them properly - so I can stay well away from them.

I did also wonder what the scope was for Zoom Sketching Groups!

BOTTOM LINE: As indicated, whoever is running a group and arranging meetings between people from different households should ALWAYS have the health and safety of ALL participants as their #1 priority.

Artists need to exercise good judgement, common sense and integrity

Job losses at major art galleries

Staff working in the 'art' side of major museums in the UK seem to be surviving Covid-19. Those working in the trading arms appear to be not so lucky. 

Some of the strategies being employed to allow art galleries and museums to live within their means seem a bit crude at present - and, in my opinion, there needs to be rather more business 'nous' employed in my option.

Tate staff protesting the proposed job cuts

This is a tweet by the union representing the staff at Tate Enterprises Ltd - the commercial subsidiary, which operates retail, publishing and catering within the galleries - following a socially distanced demonstration will take place outside Tate Modern at the end of July.

Today the press is being welcomed back to @Tate Modern, but the workers from #Tate Enterprise working in shop & cafés won't be: instead they'll be made redundant! Culture bail out money should save jobs! #CulturevsCovid pic.twitter.com/custyXB3Pp

— PCS Culture Group (@PCSCultureGroup) July 24, 2020

I'm left wondering whether the Head of Coffee - on a salary which exceeded that of curators of art at the Museums(!) - will be on the list of those whose jobs may be for the chop.  (READ my post from January 2020: Next time stop and think before you have a coffee at the Tate)

To be honest - if it were staff in Conservation (which requires training for jobs with limited opportunities) who faced the prospect of losing their jobs I'd be very concerned. However the trading arm does NOT exist without the reason why the art galleries and museums exist. Jobs in catering also crop up rather more frequently than jobs for conservation staff or curators.

While it's always sad that anybody loses their jobs through no fault of their own, let's keep a proper perspective on this. 

• It's a lot more sad for people who are losing their lives during the pandemic and 
• there is going to be a major structural shakeout with respect to how organisations are run in future - and there's no guarantee that ANYTHING will ever go back to being the same as before.
• If more cuts in spend are needed, and I were in charge:
• I think I'd be very inclined to start with all those earning a salary of over £35k - right up to the Director - with the percentage cuts increasing as salaries increase.  
• That would enable more people to remain employed and reduce those who would need to claim benefits. 

More about the job losses

These articles tell you more about the consultation about the need to cut back on staffing due to the anticipated decreased level of trade at the Galleries.

• Tate boss defends plan to cut 200 jobs in art gallery shops and cafes | BBC (9th August)
• Tate and National Gallery commercial units to cut hundreds of employees (10th July)
• Tate faces protests over impact of job cuts on BAME staff | The Guardian (26th July)

Bankside Gallery reopens - with a new exhibition

The Bankside Gallery - home of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) and Royal Society of Painter Printmakers (RE) - has reopened for a new Exhibition and viewings in person - in the gallery.

An exhibition "Summer at the Bankside Gallery" opens today until 27th September 2020.

It comprises artwork - paintings and fine art prints - by members of both the RWS and the RE - although I think the latter has the edge in terms of quantity and quality of content.

While it says on the RE website that the exhibition is full of new work, I'm afraid I recognise a few as works I've seen before and the word "includes" might be more appropriate.

The Bankside Gallery and Exhibition are open daily (during exhibitions) between 11am and 6pm.  There are no indications of visitor controls on the website relating to

• limits on visitor numbers
• the need to pre-book a visit

although I do expect they will need to ask for names and addresses on entry re contact tracing.

However their email says

The safety of our visitors and colleagues is our top priority. We have been working hard to ensure that we can welcome you back to the Gallery safely, so you will notice a few changes and new measures in place on your next visit.

For the record "retail art galleries" come under the Covid-19 government guidance for Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) for retail shops and premises and section 2 indicates the type of provisions expected for "Keeping your customers and visitors safe".

There are no announcements as yet around events - and I'm guessing they might be somewhat more problematical.


Given they're three stops on the Tube for me, I may well break my duck (no public transport since March!) and venture forth to view the exhibition at some point - when I feel a bit more confident about safety arrangements. 

PS Today the Mall Galleries has posted that deferred art society exhibitions will be restarting on 1st September. I'll post more about this tomorrow.

A Digital Renaissance for Online Art Collections

It's become very apparent that in a world starved of external stimuli, people turned to art online for a visual feast. Covid-19 has changed a LOT of things and art is not least among those activities that will be changed forever.

Bye bye, blockbusters: can the art world adapt to Covid-19? - back in April - suggested that online might well become the NEW norm for consuming art.

“We’re going to talk in terms of before and after. The virus will change a lot of things for art.” Frances Morris, director of Tate Modern,

The Art Galleries and Museums are now re-opening (slowly).

However, it's noteworthy that the old world of viewing in art galleries has changed in a very marked way. They are having to be

• very, very careful with pre-booking, 
• choreographed routes through an exhibition and 
• lots and lots of sanitiser.

I think it's very definitely going to be a long time before we again see the usual hordes associated with blockbusters. What we might get instead is

• a more civilised viewing of an exhibition or a gallery - so long as you don't want to wander from a prescribed route or retrace your steps!
• a continuing upward trend in viewing art online - now people are more aware of what is out there.

If you don't know what's online

For those of you who are not aware of what is out there, there's a lot more than in the past - although there have been some sad losses along the way.

Here's a list of places where you can view art online.

I'm an inveterate surfer and I know there's a lot more out there. I'm going to keep coming back and adding to this list - in future posts. (see the side column for how to subscribe to this blog)

In the meanwhile, you can get started.........

Tate: ways of viewing art in the permanent collection online

Online Art Websites (i.e. online is the norm)

• Google Arts and Culture which has interesting offshoots such as
• Collections - at museums around the world. One wonders whether Google outdoes the museum's own website when it comes to viewing art given you can get in VERY close to some artwork on Google's website
• Art Selfie

Install the app, take a selfie and search thousands of artworks to see if any look like you.

• Web Gallery of Art created by two retired Hungarians Emil Krén and Daniel Marx. This website has been aroundsince 1996 and looks precisely the same as when I first visited many moon ago. It has an  alphabetic list of artists giving basic information on artists
• WikiArt.org - Visual Art Encyclopedia - nearly - but not quite - as good as Google for high resolution images. However the selection is more boring. Essentially a vehicle for shifting reproduction oil paintings
• Art cyclopedia: The Fine Art Search Engine - another ancient website which does the job if you are searching for art or want to explore an art movement but isn't the best at delivering an indulgent visual experience
• Art UK - the digitisation of the public collections of art in the UK's art galleries and museums and other public collections

Sadly, The Athenaeum has disappeared - see Goodbye to the Atheneaum Art Database? I keep testing the original URL but keep getting the sorry this site cannot be loaded message

The remainder of this post is devoted to some of the main museums in the UK and USA. Starting this post has made me realise - yet again - how much progress has been made in making art more accessible online.

Take this to be the first of a number of future posts which will explore the online art offerings of different art galleries and museums around the world

- because this is going to be a major way of consuming art for some time to come......

Art Galleries and Museums - UK

Each museum takes a different approach to how they make their collection accessible - which makes it somewhat irritating as the first thing you need to do is make sure you understand what is available and what unique method for making it available and accessible is adopted by this gallery!

However I'd added more than few pointers and examples below....

#Museums Unlocked and lockdown art

We've had a number of innovative lockdown art projects during the Coronavirus Lockdown. One of these was created by #MuseumsUnlocked - and this blog post is about that initiative

#Museums Unlocked - The Facts

1. It's a project developed by Dan Hicks (@profdanhicks) - who is a professor of contemporary archaeology at the University of Oxford and a curator at the city’s Pitt Rivers Museum
2. It ended earlier this month after running for 100 days. 
3. It was a Twitter project - run through the hashtag ##MuseumsUnlocked
4. The project had themes - one for each day (see below for the themes for Days 1-100)
5. People responded and posted images in response to the set themes (see examples below)
6. Most of the themes were to do with history and archeology - but some were related to Art.
7. People were invited to share their own pics of the museum in question
8. It produced what has been termed a "curatorial endeavour" by the culturally engaged Twitterati.

Please share your photographs of exhibitions, objects, architecture, events and more—so we can make a "virtual" visit tomorrow and see the museum through each others' camera lens.

Below are the themes for each of the days

Four pics provide the themes for 25 days at a time.

How to see what got posted

To view what people posted for specific topic you need to:

• log into Twitter
• put #museumsunlocked and the theme into the search window e.g. "#museumsunlocked + portraiture"
• do the search - and see what comes up.

Here's a few I found on various museum topics

Covid-19 #12: Meet the Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal post lockdown

Neil Mendoza has today been appointed as the new Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal by the Government's Culture Secretary.

In effect he is the man tasked with reviving the UK's cultural sector post lockdown.

Why should you be interested? You might be want to think how much planning is going to focus on the "traditional way of doing things" and "all the normal suspects" as opposed to who really needs to be represented at the table.

I suspect we're going to get a response 

• very much focused on large organisations and 
• NOT one focused in any way on people who are self-employed within the sector

Why do we need a Commissioner?

Our local, regional and national institutions have been trailblazers in coming up with innovative ways to reach audiences during the lockdown. Our focus now turns to paving the way for the reopening of the country’s cultural hubs including theatres, galleries, museums and entertainment venues, when it is safe to do so.Culture Secretary - Oliver Dowding

What is a Commissioner for Cultural Recovery and Renewal?

Apparently the Commissioner will:

• provide an expert and independent voice to the government
• advise on how UK culture and heritage can begin the road to recovery from the pandemic

Culture and creativity will be vital to rebuilding communities across the country and in sustaining our international standing as a creative nation. Helping the sector to reopen is a priority for the Arts Council and I very much look forward to working with Neil in support of the aims of the Taskforce.Sir Nicholas Serota

Who is Neil Mendoza?

Neil Mendoza

Wikipedia describes Neil Mendoza as

a British entrepreneur, publisher and philanthropist.

Neil Mendoza has had a career building businesses in the creative and finance sectors.
He is currently:

• the Provost of Oriel College, Oxford
• a Non-Executive Director at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (since 2016)
• the Chair of The Landmark Trust - a UK charity dedicated to saving buildings of historical importance
• the Illuminated River Foundation - a large art commission project to light London’s bridges
• a Director of Bookmark Content  (worth checking out if you want to know more about digital marketing of content)

Previous roles included

• Founder of Forward Publishing (which became Bookmark)
• Commissioner of Historic England, 
Chairman of The Prince's Foundation for Children and The Arts, and
• Vice Chair of Soho Theatre

He led the Mendoza Review of Museums in England (2017). (see The Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England PDF, 2.08MB, 110 pages). It looked at

• what the national infrastructure for museums is and what it could and should be; 
• the museums sponsored directly by government; and 
• the challenges and opportunities for all of England’s museums. 
• It made recommendations across the following areas:
• Adapting to today’s funding environment
• Growing and diversifying audiences
• Dynamic collection curation and management
• Contributing to placemaking and local priorities
• Delivering cultural education
• Working in museums: Developing leaders with appropriate skills & Diversifying the workforce
• Digital capacity and innovation
• Working international

I haven't looked at this in any detail but I do know from a career spent working for and with government that it's very unlikely for people to change their mind on what they think is important if they published a report in the last five years!

This is his Twitter account - should you feel the need to tell him what his new priorities need to be

What happens next?

The government press release announces that planning for how various economic sectors which are currently closed can be reopened safely

There are five sectors and task forces in the roadmap to rebuild Britain.

 These are:

• Recreation and leisure, 
• Pubs and restaurants, 
• Non-essential retail, 
• Places of worship, and 
• International aviation

The first of those taskforces - Recreation and Leisure - is being established by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. This will be supported by working groups which include:

• the entertainment and events group
• sport, 
• museums and galleries, 
• heritage, 
• tourism and 
• libraries.

I can't see any recognition of the impact of coronavirus on the self-employed - such as freelance professional artists and illustrators.
The Entertainment and Events Working Group will

bringing together representatives from around the country to develop advice and guidance on the reopening of cultural venues across the nation, helping to get employees back to work and audiences once again enjoying our thriving cultural sector.

It will include representatives from:

• Royal Albert Hall, 
• Birmingham Royal Ballet, 
• Really Useful Group, 
• One Dance UK, 
• Cadogan Hall, 
• Association of British Orchestras, 
• Nimax, 
• Leeds Playhouse and 
• The Royal Opera House.

What I'd like to see an analysis of how those employed in the arts are split across the different sectors and the extent to which they are 

• either employed by large organisations - the likes of which get a voice in these working groups
• those who are self-employed - who are very often ignored by the government (witness the arrangements for how to support people's income when it took a lot of banging on tables to make the point that there are LOTS AND LOTS OF SELF-EMPLOYED PEOPLE!

The Artist Support Pledge

Matthew Burrows started the Artist Support Pledge on on the 16th March 2020 in response to the COVID19 pandemic. 

In the last two months it has:

• become a global movement of support for artists and makers by other artists, makers and art collectors
• generated 174,804 posts on Instagram (it had generated 175,277 posts by the time I finished this post!)
• collected 41k followers on the Artist Support Pledge Instagram account

How the Artist Support Pledge works

The best ideas are always very simple - as this one is.

View this post on Instagram

This is the HOW TO guide to participate in ARTIST SUPPORT PLEDGE anyone anywhere in the world can take part. 1. post your image/s on your Instagram account 2. If possible use the ARTIST SUPPORT PLEDGE logo and text (swipe to see) by reposting or using a screenshot. You can also cut and paste from my website (see link in bio). 3. give details of the work and price (no more than 200USD, 200GDP, 200 EURO or 20000JPY) 4. ask for anyone interested to DM you 5. add #artistsupportpledge NB: singular - one ‘s’ not two 6. follow the # 7. when you have sold $1000 worth of work fulfil the pledge and spend $200 on another artist/s work. 8. If in doubt do it in a spirit of generosity, that's all that matters A creative generosity creates a generous creativity 9. Stay connected for more opportunities by following @artistsupportpledge NB/ we DO NOT select work to be seen. You may not see your own work as there are so many images but others are seeing them. Text for posting below: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists around the world have found themselves without work, teaching, technical support, gallery work, exhibitions and sales have disappeared. In an attempt to help alleviate some of this stress @matthewburrowsstudio has instigated the #artistsupportpledge The concept is a simple one. You post images of your work to sell for no more than $200 (£200, €200, ¥20000) each (not including shipping.) Anyone can then buy the work. Every time you reach $1000 of sales you pledge to buy another artist's work for $200. So make a pledge and post your work with the #artistsupportpledge and follow the #. keep updated on news and further opportunities @artistsupportpledge Repost and tell your friends, colleagues and collectors. Stay well and live generously. #supportartists #covid19 #coronavirus #livegenerously #artistsupportpledge

A post shared by Artist Support Pledge (@artistsupportpledge) on May 1, 2020 at 12:53am PDT

This is how the Artist Support Pledge works in terms of raising money for artists:

• First of all you need to post an ARTIST SUPPORT PLEDGE logo and text to 
• explain how the system works and 
• alert people to the fact you are participating 
• (The Instagram post above provides the detailed explanation) 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists around the world have found themselves without work, teaching, technical support, gallery work, exhibitions and sales have disappeared. In an attempt to help alleviate some of this stress @matthewburrowsstudio has instigated the #artistsupportpledgeThe concept is a simple one. You post images of your work to sell for no more than $200 (£200, €200, ¥20000) each (not including shipping.) Anyone can then buy the work. Every time you reach $1000 of sales you pledge to buy another artist's work for $200.

• Artists post an image of their work, on their Instagram account which they are willing to sell for no more than £200 each (i.e. not including shipping). 
• Make sure you include 
• details of the work (eg media / size / original / print etc) and 
• price (no more than 200USD, 200GDP, 200 EURO or 20000JPY)
• you can price for less than £200
• Add #artistsupportpledge  (NB: singular - one ‘s’ not two i.e. artist+support+pledge)
• Follow #artistsupportpledge to see the work posted by other artists
• Anyone can buy the work. 
• Ask for anyone interested to DM you
• Fulfil your pledge and buy another artist's work for £200 + delivery when you have made £1,000 in sales  (and, I suggest, have been paid!) i.e. sell £1,000 and net £800 + a new artwork for your collection!)
• Keep updated on new opportunities and announcements @artistsupportpledge 

Other hashtags used by those participating are:

• #supportartists 
• #covid19 
• #coronavirus 
• #livegenerously

MY TIPS

• PLEASE DO NOT post art if you're NOT a career artist whose livelihood is currently in jeopardy due to Coronavirus. There's way too much amateur art being posted by people who cannot possibly be paying their household and business bills through the sale of their art. That, to my mind, is just plain selfish and attention-seeking given the intention of this project is to support those self-employed professional artists who have lost their ability to earn their normal income e.g. from sales of exhibited paintings in art galleries and art fairs, teaching art to students and the normal sort of work which many professional artists engage in.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many artists have found themselves without work, teaching, technical support and gallery work. Exhibitions and sales have disappeared. In an attempt to help alleviate some of this stress I have instigated the ARTIST SUPPORT PLEDGE #artistsupportpledge (Matthew Burrows)

• DO NOT be one of the very silly artists who uses the hashtag but doesn't follow the rules
• DO NOT post "tat" and ask £200 - it devalues both the project and the pledge - and it also won't sell! I checked out all the artists I didn't know in the curated list below....
• DO NOT use the #artistsupportpledge UNLESS you are participating properly. It's sadly become one of those generic hashtags which people include willy nilly!
• DO calculate package and shipping costs before you post for different places e.g. UK only - you're likely to get more responses
• DO post work for less than £200. 
• Your artwork does not have to be valued at £200 
• You have the option to sell more artworks for less money. 
• This works particularly well for those selling prints

Who has contributed to the Artist Support Pledge?

Here are some of the artists and artworks which have been posted for the Art Support Pledge
I'm posting good quality artwork by those taking the pledge seriously.

Below I've identified five artists - and will do a curated collection of another five artists next week if you like the idea.

Gareth Reid - who won Portrait Artist of the Year in 2017 and was the portrait painter for Portrait Artist of the Week yesterday (on Facebook Live) was an early contributor. He is selling prints of his drawing.

He also provides an excellent example of how to detail your work on your post.

A&I Lockdown Drawing Challenge: Portraits

Artists & Illustrators Magazine in the UK is running a weekly Lockdown Drawing Challenge.
This one does not bring money prizes, nor does it get your work shown on television.

Lockdown Drawing Challenge - Week 2: Portraits

This week's Lockdown Drawing Challenge relates to Portraits.

why not draw a member of your household from life, and if they won't sit for you, try drawing them while they watch TV or cook dinner.

• Submit it using the form on the Challenge page (link above)
• By 12 noon on Thursday 21 May. 

The A&I Team then select a a gallery of favourite works which are displayed in the A&I Lockdown Drawing Challenge Gallery.

The winner will be revealed on Friday 22 May, when we will also announce the theme for week three’s Lockdown Drawing Challenge.

Lockdown Drawing Challenge - Week 1: The Kitchen

Week 1 of the Lockdown Drawing Challenge was about the Kitchen. 

• This was the challenge

Our first week’s theme is the ‘kitchen’, so why not sketch your family cooking together or raid the cupboards for still life inspiration?

• SEE all the shortlisted Week One artworks
• The Judges decided the Drawing of the the Week was Kayla Tomlinson's "Right my loves, dinners ready" - a drawing of her partner cooking dinner. 

I agree - it's a stand-out work based on observation with a commentary! Looks to me as it was either drawn on a digital tablet or was drawn in pen and ink and had hints of digital colour added later. Either way it's very effective.

"Right my loves, dinners ready" by Kayla Tomlinson

The winner of each challenge receives

• a Faber-Castel sketching set worth £18, 
• a three-month subscription to Portfolio Plus 
• gets their work shared across our popular social media feeds and on the Artists & Illustrators website. (This is called "marketing" folks!)

Art On Demand during the Pandemic #1 - British TV

I've been amazed at how much art has found it way on to television and screens generally during the pandemic - and how much of it is:

• complete innovation i.e. winging it via the internet
• videos we never saw on television before
• the resurrection of art programmes which were really worth repeating

I'm going to try and put together a compilation of what I know about below - starting with the UK TV contribution

Sky Arts

Sky Arts Portrait of the Week

This is possibly one of the most innovative programmes.

• A past winner of Portrait Artist of the Year painting a model in four hours of live video on Facebook Live
• People AROUND THE WORLD join in either watching the Facebook Live Video live from their homes or via the 'saved' Facebook Live Video during the week
• everybody submits their artwork to social media using #MYPAOTW



a compilation of portraits of Bernadine Evaristo on Instagram

• the Judges - Tai Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano, and Kate Bryan - choose their favourite three each week

I think maybe the value of the series is that we actually see how a sitting progresses from the sitter being quite tense and apprehensive and the artist needing quiet to focus while they get the painting going - to things becoming progressively more relaxed as the four hours unfolds.

PLUS we get to see very many responses from artists all over the world - just plug #MYPAOTW into Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to see what I mean.

PLUS - we get Tai's Top Tips about portraiture and input from Kathleen and Kate about portraiture

Tai's top Tips - this week focuses on measurements of the head and shapes

We've had two episodes so far and the videos are still available online - and third is taking place while I'm writing.

Grayson Perry's Art Club on Channel 4

I seem to be behind the curve with posting on upcoming cultural offerings in the context of the coronavirus crisis

The latest is Grayson Perry's Art Club on Channel 4 - on Channel 4 8pm on Monday 27 April.

Isolation can be a difficult and lonely time for many. We want you to be part of Grayson’s Art Club, as we ask for the amazing British public to send in the artwork you have been creating in isolation.

If you haven't got "on demand" and are currently cursing me, there are three lots of repeats for anybody who didn't catch it first time round and wants to watch and/or record. Just click the repeats link in this article about it

Please join my Art Club. I'm inviting the nation to my studio. I'll be showing you what I'm up to, talking to other artists and I want you to send me images of what you are making #C4ArtClub@Channel4 here is where you can upload your art
https://t.co/ezNwxtARV8 pic.twitter.com/scSbGeQ0I8

— Grayson Perry (@Alan_Measles) April 2, 2020

Plus this is not a one off

Every week Grayson will host the show from his studio - taking the country with him as he creates new art works. Grayson will talk to other famous artists, creatives and celebrity guests about how they are spending their time in isolation and host masterclasses to help teach us all how to create art. Never tried creating art before? Then this is your chance. Each episode will be themed with something inspired by being in isolation, such as still life or portraits. Grayson will take inspiration from the everyday little things, as he helps you unleash the artistic side you never knew you had.

The first episode is about portraiture. It's all filmed from home. Plus artworks have been sent in by the public.

In episode 2....

Grayson gets viewers to send in their artworks of animals - a beloved pet, an abstract, or an exotic animal. He's joined by Harry Hill and artist Maggi Hambli

He's been giving some interviews about this new concept of an art club on TV

• Grayson Perry interview: ‘There’s no excuse now for not doing art’ | Evening Standard
• Grayson Perry launches Channel 4 Art Club to 'battle the boredom' of lockdown | The Guardian

P.S. Apologies to those portrait artists who are waiting for me to list them as being selected for the BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2020. As always the time it takes to do this post is much longer than I think! Should be published tomorrow. 

Covid-19 #10: Painting Portraits of NHS Heroes - has gone worldwide

Tom Croft's NHS Heroes Project just made it on to the BBC Lunchtime News - see Coronavirus: Artist Tom Croft paints NHS key worker portraits for free | BBC News

Stan @stanislow, one of the frontline staff - by his brother Adebanji Alade VPROI
"who still go to the (work) hospitals to do their part in making sure
things work smoothly during this pandemic!"

The project is simple - and I can explain with

• one quote and 
• the pics from Tom's instagram account - and 
• some of the pics which have been produced as a result.

Tom Croft also explains his project beautifully on his website - Portraits for NHS Heroes

I'm offering a free oil portrait to the first NHS frontline worker to DM me, I will work in lockdown from a photo you can provide me with. You get to keep the oil portrait and when the restrictions are lifted we can have an exhibition of all the portraits.

Croft's post below got 706 comments. A huge proportion of these were from artists and a goodly number were asking for a portrait of somebody who works in the NHS.

View this post on Instagram

I'm offering a free oil portrait to the first NHS frontline worker to DM me, I will work in lockdown from a photo you can provide me with. You get to keep the oil portrait and when the restrictions are lifted we can have an exhibition of all the portraits. Tag any artist who you think might want to participate and any NHS key workers you think deserve a portrait. #portraitsfornhsheroes 🎨💚 - - @nicolasuribeb @timbensonart @angebellart @alastairadamsportraits @lucystopford_artist @frances_bell_paintings @michaelriddleart @samdalbyart @kathleen.soriano @katebryan_art @goldsmith_ian @stevecannonartist @d__shoo @christabelblackburn @jonathanyeo #davidhockney #taishanschierenberg

A post shared by Tom Croft (@tomcroftartist) on Apr 4, 2020 at 5:15am PDT

He then did a follow-up Instagram Story (below) - where he explained again how it all works - for artists painting NHS Heroes during Coronavirus

If you want to follow it on Instagram follow #portraitsfornhsheroes

I should maybe add that I first met Tom Croft when he painted Kirsty Wark in the Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 Heat at the Wallace Collection that I watched, photographed and then, a year later, blogged about!  He's a thoroughly nice decent bloke! :)

He has the most amazing palette with towers of paint

Tom Croft with his portrait of Kirsty Wark (Episode 8 of PAOTY 2018)

Portrait for Heroes

Here are some of the portraits that have been produced by various artists. I think this is going to a huge exhibition. Maybe there needs to be one for each region?

My first pick from the very many portraits online has been painted by a portrait painter I know well - Adebanji Alade who is Vice President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters - who has painted his brother Stan who is very much on the frontline during this pandemic - as he explains....

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Portrait Deliberate Practice Series 137/250 (11). "THE ANGELS IN DISGUISE I", 6” x 8” Oil on Board. This is my brother Stan @stanislow, one of the frontline staff, who still go to the (work) hospitals to do their part in making sure things work smoothly during this pandemic! I think they are angels in disguise and I pray God will give them wisdom, understanding and anointing! May God protect them and guide them as they go in and out while the plague is raging.@applaudnhs Stan Is dual trained in anaesthetics & scrub, working in an operating theatres, his job is to help the surgeons when operating patients coming will emergency cases and elective cases. He also helps put the anaesthetist to put patients to sleep when being operated on. These are the angels in disguise, God bless them!❤️🙏 #nhs #portrait #justdoit #routine #frontlinestaff #grind #dream #keyworkers #believe #itispossible #oilonboard #addictivesketcher #adebanjialade #angelsindisguise #share #convid19 #coronavirus #showdem #practice #demo #care #angels #health #angelsindisguise #leicester #applaudnhs #portraitsfornhsheroes

A post shared by Adebanji Alade (@addictivesketcher) on Apr 6, 2020 at 12:13pm PDT

More portraits below.......