Part of Supercool's Arts + Culture In Lockdown series
Intro note from Katie:
I discovered the Locked In – Lockdown Diaries project via Helen on Twitter. It's a great addition to our series as it's such a different take on 'the arts in lockdown'. Helen handwrites and illustrates journal pages; to stay creative, stay occupied, and "remember my life in these strange and unique times".
I've added written transcriptions and descriptions for each journal page we've included – but I'm no interpretation expert so let me know if this can be improved!
Helen Shaddock – Multidisciplinary Artist, Arts Facilitator & Writer
Transcription/description:
Wednesday 1st July 2020 – Lockdown Day 100
Audiobook
The Women by William Trevor
*Illustrations of a book with musical notes on the cover, and a speech bubble containing an open book*
Activities
- marginendeavour work
- Walton Library work
- Walton Library Team meeting
- Microsoft Word Online Course – Hyphenation, Styles and Spacing
- Open Reach engineer came to sort out internet – unfortunately issue has not been resolved
- Met Katy after her hospital appointment
- Walked round Leazes Park
- Phonecall with Bex
- Scanned lockdown diaries
- Housework
- Worked on updating website
- Updated journal
- Online admin
Song of the day
Superhiro by Cassowary
*Several floating musical notes surround the words, along with an illustrated speaker*
Weather
Cloudy and wet (fine drizzly rain)
*Title sat in the centre of a stylised depiction of a raining cloud, with umbrella above*
Podcast
Table Manners – Jessie and Lennie Ware with activist and model, Monroe Bergdorf
*Hand-drawn podcast icon sits to the left of the title – it's a graphical depiction of person's head and body, with 2 concentric circular keylines emanating from behind*
Fact of the day
Octopi don’t share DNA with anything else on this planet
*Illustrated string of DNA, together with a cartoon-like, smiling octopus*
Transcription/description:
Thursday 2nd July 2020 – Lockdown Day 101
Song of the day
Mountain of Air by Ellen Arkbro
*Several floating musical notes surround the words, along with an illustrated mountain*
Activities
- marginendeavour work
- Walton Library work
- Walked round Nunsmoor Park
- Walton Library Book Group
- Microsoft Word Online Course – Margins and Page breaks
- Phonecall with Theresa
- Walked round Leazes Park
- Phonecall with Barbara
- Worked on updating website
- Videocall with Holly and Otto
- Tended to plants
- Updated journal
Football Update
Sheffield United, 3 [Berge, Mousset, McBurnie] – Tottenham Hotspur, 1 [Kane]
*Illustrated plan view of a football pitch, and a football*
Weather
Cloudy but dry
*Description sat within a stylised cloud shape*
Audiobook
The Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
*Drawing of a closed book, with ‘Play’ symbol on the cover*
Podcast
Literary Friction – Carrie Plitt and Octavia Bright with agues Elizabeth Strout
*Hand-drawn podcast icon sits to the left of the title*
Film
Marvellous – director Julian Farino, starring Toby Jones
*Stylised illustrations of a Director’s chair, old-fashioned film reel tape, and a film camera icon*
Transcription/description:
Friday 3rd July 2020 – Lockdown Day 103
Podcast
Culture Call – Lilah Raptopoulos and Griselda Murray Brown with guest Tyler Mitchell, a photographer, filmmaker and political artist
*Hand-drawn podcast icon sits to the left of the title*
Weather
Overcast. Fine wetting rain in evening
*The title 'Weather' is sat in the centre of a stylised cloud shape*
Song of the day
Effektology by Noveller
*Several floating musical notes surround the words, along with what could be either a compact disc or vinyl record*
Nature Watch
Pea shoots and mustard seeds now sprouting
*Illustrated binoculars sit above the words, with a seed tray, with tiny seedlings peeking out, underneath*
Audiobook
Singular by Diana Evans
*Drawing of a closed book, attached via a twisty cable to some headphones*
Activities
- marginendeavour work
- Walton Library work
- Microsoft Word Online Course - Breaks, Pagination and Fields
- Walked round Nunsmoor Park
- Food shopping
- Worked on writing ‘The Thing’
- Submitted work to Supercool [Editor's note: how meta!]
- Walked round Leazes Park
- Phonecall with Mirela
- Doorstep catch up with Jill + Steve
- Catch up with David
- Tended to plants
- Updated journal
- Online admin
*To the left of the 'Activities' list, stacked down the page are illustrations of: a bulb of garlic with one loose clove; a slice of (honeydew?) melon; a pot of yogurt; a bag of penne pasta; and a carrot. Sat bottom right of the page, rounding-off the day nicely, is a sunflower.*
Helen was recently commissioned by New Writing North to produce #HomeTime. For this project, she created a printable template – based on her illustrated journals – to help folks kick-start their own lockdown diaries.
From the New Writing North website: "Home Time invites you to draw and write your day, to reflect upon the small details that make each day unique. The journal encourages us to pay attention to nature and the world around us; to think about what makes us happy and what we long for; to connect with others; and even to preserve for the future this strange moment in time."
Read about Helen's inspiration for the project on New Writing North's website / Follow Helen on Twitter / Keep up-to-date with the Locked In – Lockdown Diaries on Helen's blog.
Part of Supercool's Arts + Culture In Lockdown series
