Creating at home: How Voice Contributors are occupying their time in isolation

Bea Kerry

After honing my DIY skills by fixing my sewing machine I've been starting on some mini projects, headphone felted pockets and fabric coasters! It's been really fun to do something creative that uses my mind in a different way to all of the university work. As well as sewing projects, in these changing times I've been doing a lot of mending and darning as we don't know when we will next be able to buy clothes without holes. Bea’s patchwork technicolour dream socks anyone?

With going on two and a half weeks of COVID symptoms, getting out of bed can often be a struggle, but when I have the energy, sewing is one of my favourite things to do. It relaxes me, uses just enough of my brain, and I have a cool coaster at the end to show for it!  I'm hoping to make a cushion cover for my next project, so watch this space...

Charlotte Hooker

I’ve been struggling to find time to be creative with school, so linking work with art was a necessity. However, I’ve found a great way of revising for my Drama A-Level whilst still being creative! With this, I’ve created a miniature set in a cardboard shoebox for my interpretation of the wonderful play ‘Brontë’ by Polly Teale. For the exam, we may have to describe our set designs, and what better way is there to describe something than to just make it and look at it with your own eyes! 

I’ve also found old colourful finger torches, of which I’m using as my own little shoebox lighting rig, and old squishy stretchy yellow men to play the parts of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë!

Sadhana Narayanan 

I haven't really painted before this, but since I have an indefinite amount of time at home at the moment, I decided to give it a try. The painting is not exactly how I imagined it, and it's definitely not perfect but I gave it my best shot! It was really relaxing to just paint without pressure and also get some time on my own. The sunset was beautiful and colourful a few days ago, and I used that as inspiration for my painting. 

I think I'll continue painting while we're in quarantine, which will hopefully give me time to learn more and develop my painting skills!

Mary Strickson

I started the social media #inktober 52-week challenge back in January, before we could even begin to imagine where the year would take us! February and March were busy months for me as I worked on my exhibition, so unfortunately I got rather behind with the challenge. However, it is never too late to catch up, so I’ve been busy working on the posts I’ve missed and getting back up to speed. This week I had a go at drawing, inking and painting my first ever attempt at a comic strip for the prompt ‘Balloon.’

I’ve also been busy sewing. I made my first tote bag and also my first attempt at teeny-tiny straps. I also made a mini cushion which you can see propped against my sewing machine. Unfortunately I can’t share the other items I’ve made because I have already got started on making Christmas presents!

Sally Trivett

I’m an art student, so I’m no stranger to making art work, although being at home and out of the studio does pose some challenges in itself. That being said, I’m a complete beginner when it comes to creating something purely aesthetic. So when I saw Rebecca Vincent, a tattoo artist I follow on Instagram, running an online masterclass on how to draw one of her intricate heart tattoo designs, I felt inspired. A few days after seeing the class, I felt comfortable enough with the idea to give my own drawing a go. I’m trying not to make a value judgement on the quality of it now it’s done, but I really enjoyed the process. 

It’s currently facing out of my window for the world to see. I saw a little girl today look up and point at it, so that made me smile. For me that’s enough.

Tayo Adewole

With all this new time at home and my inability to relax, I thought I’d make some stuff. These ‘creations’ come in two parts. 

The first is pretty familiar to me and that’s getting back into writing poetry. If you follow my Instagram you probably realised that I’d been very bad about writing or posting new stuff, but being stuck at home has been the kick I’ve needed to bust out a new notebook and write some new stuff. Maybe by the end of this I’ll even end up recording some spoken word and compiling it into something bigger! (no promises though)

The second is a bit more unusual for me. I’m getting more into cooking things other than stir fry, instant noodles or oven pizza. So far I’ve managed to make Akara (West African bean cakes) and Obé Ata (Yoruba stew). Not sure what my next move is, but even if it’s not quite Michelin star-worthy, I’ll keep going anyway!

Tom Inniss

I am a bit of a doodler, especially when on long calls or when staring desperately at a notebook looking for creative inspiration for an article. That said, I have never particularly held any interest in drawing, but in a late-night purchasing spree I purchased an iPad and Pencil under the pretence of giving drawing a proper stab. In the time since that decision, I haven’t done anywhere near the amount of drawing I told myself I would (shocker!) but I have had a crack at a couple of bits. The first was a sketch of my desk lamp when I first got the Pencil delivered, and the second is a mountain scene that I used to cover up the horrendous attempt at a portrait of my girlfriend I did. She wasn’t impressed...

Dan Hodgkiss

Food glorious food. If the end is nigh, I don't want to be the guy gnawing on the last tin of baked beans. With that in mind, I've been looking to see where I can reduce food waste in my cooking. So far, I've created my first ever potato peel pie, nettle dumplings and I've helped myself to garnish in the form of edible hedge-trimmings. The pie was adapted from an astonishingly middle class online recipe which didn't contain any actual potato peel (only organic, GMO free hash-brown mix), which my stodge-hoarding, lard-loving Granny would have been horrified by. 

I've also started planning ahead, trying my hand at vertical planting, with spuds, peas and kale grown in a tower of old tyres I brought home just before the garages closed!