This is my first very large golden drawing. It is an A1 sheet, almost a metre tall, and I know it is going to be a difficult task. In the drawing I am walking through Hampstead Heath, my face covered with a scarf that flows behind me. But I am one of three, one of three children each facing this time in different circumstances and different places. The slanted tree on its side is a real tree that I see every day on my walk. I find something poignant about that tree, it has fallen but is still completely alive, sprouting beautiful vegetation. There are other trees reflected in the ponds and small ducks and it is approaching springtime. The world is alive with light, leaves, plants, small animals and growth. It is alive with beauty even though the whole world is groaning. I see a great, powerful upstanding tree every day. I am going to draw that tree as if is filled with human beings who stand in judgement at this time. The tree becomes like a support for a modern-day Last Judgement, with batches and groups of naked, vulnerable people. Am I thinking of Blake, Michelangelo or Dante? Can a modern pandemic connect us with such ideas in the 21st Century?
