Initially it was my intention to set up and inclusive online and in person workshop project which in brief would facilitate the notion of ‘play’ to a wider audience, particularly those who would not necessarily consider themselves creative. I am passionate about the idea of inclusivity in art practices and the lack of opportunities for those in certain demographics to exercise their creativity.

However, I sense a general mood amongst my family and circle of friends and beyond which is different to the first feeling surrounding lockdown and the pandemic. I feel that people are struggling to deal with family, education and finances day to day and although creativity could provide some distraction or therapeutic purpose it does feel although I am asking people to give something of themselves at a time when people are already stretched physically and emotionally.

Now is not the time…

So with this in mind I have come up with something new which still enables me to share something of my creative experience with others.  A public interaction which only requires one to look, listen and be present. No expectation or requirement to comment or give anything in return. To share honestly and not for promotional or commercial gain.

Outline of project.

• An online journal (using instagram) under the name of ‘twentynineatseven’. There will be no link or name just a short intro/explanation.
• For every day of February I will post a journal entry at seven pm.
• It will be an open insight into my practice as a professional painter with only exceptions made where data protection is relevant.
• After the last post (29/02/2021) the account will be deleted.
• There will be no links to my business (julieellisartist) account other than an initial invitation to join which will be posted on my business page for three days and then deleted. This is to ensure initial followers as from then on this will be reliant on hashtags. This post will read as follows:

Draft

MA Project: To create a public facing project. I will be opening a new instagram page which will serve as an online daily journal for one month beginning 1^st Feb 2020 (posting daily at 7pm). I hope this will provide an honest insight into my daily life as a painter. It s purpose is to share my creative experience/life with a wider audience and is not for the purpose of self promotion. For this reason this invitation to follow will be deleted in three days and the journal account will be deleted on 29^th February 2021. Follow if you are interested at https://www.instagram.com/twentynineatseven/?hl=en

• There will be five hashtags with each post which will be different every day for the entirety of the project and will not be art related. The purpose of this is to attract followers/interest from random areas of the public.
• I will document the project as a physical sketchbook printing daily posts and collating them with my own reflections throughout.