It’s the 10th of January 2021. Dan has been shielding from Covid-19 since 17th March. We’ve not needed the focus from the creative challenge as much over the autumn, when shielding officially ended Dan was able to go out for distanced walks and bike rides. I also managed to track down an affordable inflatable hot tub which Dan adored.

As we got into December the walk from back door to hot tub in his trunks became less appealing and Dan told us it was ok to pack the hot tub away for a little while by voting for an afternoon bath instead.

So we’re out of 2020 and the promise of hope in the new year has failed to materialise. We’re back into a national lockdown, it’s unclear if and when we’ll get the vaccine and ultimately what practical difference it will make to Dan. The hospitals are bursting at the seams and reports of ambulance waiting times are terrifying. No chance of distractions in the garden, the weather has taken a drastic turn with snow and frost.

So…

We’ve felt inspired to create again!

Earlier in the week Dan did some wet on wet painting with Jeanette. They left the pictures to dry in the greenhouse to be ‘visited by Jack Frost’ and the result was a lovely fractured, angular pattern in the paint.

This afternoon Dan and I made the painting into a frozen sky lantern.

• Use zig zag scissors to cut the page to size
• Cut a circle out of the blue page
• Stick a small piece of paint splattered coffee filter behind the empty circle
• Using an empty laughing cow cheese pack for the base stick the paper to the sides of the cardboard box and secure with glue underneath
• Cover the base with more of the blue paper
• Stick the edges of the paper together to create a cylinder
• We used a bright battery light in the lantern that Dan can touch to turn on