![\"\"](\"https:\/\/artschap.com\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/lockdown-selfportrait-1-1040.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lockdown Self Portrait, Week 1<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s my quiet space, and I am so happy to be drawing in it. I can\u2019t get to my art studio in central London, so instead, I am stretched out between the mirrored chest of drawers, and the closed bedroom door. There are no other artists in this studio, my companion is a bag of odd socks, and sometimes, as I straighten my back, I dislodge all the paperwork shuffled on top of the cabinet. Here, I can be emotionally, even physically, naked, just me, looking into a lightly smudged long mirror. It\u2019s quiet — I can listen to my opera — where no one can find me until, well, until they find me\u2026 \u00a0I don’t have to make sure my son is doing his schoolwork or fold clothes, or feed people, or wash hands endlessly. I don’t look at the news, and I don\u2019t feel intimidated by the preening perfection of Instagram. My feelings do not come second to anyone\u2019s needs. Instead, in this studio, I have all the time in the world to go inside myself. I swim in my emotions and my thoughts. With my pencil and re-worked paper, I try to draw my face. It\u2019s funny that when I started yoga a few years ago, I discovered I had always had a place in me that was so perfectly calm. I didn’t always need to do the yoga to access it, even though it does feel wonderful to go through my body into this space. But for now, I will let me pencil lead me there. A place of acceptance inside me, where I can cry and regret, I can smile and love, with no judgements or fear. Looking out, and looking back, at me.<\/p>\n
\n