Tracy Jallow
Objects and Acts of Resiliance

Everyday I look at the world through my window, it’s so still but I feel it and I live it in my heart

Tikibar

One of my pleasures in life is to go on holiday and to meet friends and family in restaurants and bars to socialise. These pastimes were no longer an option to me so I created a pop-up Tiki bar that I could use via video calls to socialise with friends and family.

Grandchildren

I spend a lot of time with my grandson out of lockdown, in addition to my one grandchild my daughter was heavily pregnant, and she was due to have a caesarean. Prior to lockdown it had been arranged that I was going to support her when she went into hospital by looking after my grandson and that I would help her with her aftercare once she was discharged. As I was shielding this was unable to happen and I missed spending time with my grandson in the run up to the birth, but he came around often to leave me cakes that he had baked or paintings that he had made, I also had a few surprises in the post and vice versa for him. When my granddaughter was born, I saw her via video call as soon as mum and baby were comfortable, and I have been inundated with video’s and photographs. Yes, I am sad that I missed seeing them in person and being able to spend time with them but its more important that everyone stays safe and healthy there will be numerous opportunities going forward for us all to have fun times together.

Weekly Family Chat

From the beginning of lockdown, we soon implemented a weekly family video call which consisted of my mum, aunts, uncles and cousins. The family had to move through several media platforms until we found the right medium for us, it has also involved some IT upskilling for the not so skilled older generation of the family, this was a challenge but we overcame it .The calls has become a great source of joy, we set a task each week and this gives family members a goal to aim for at the end of the week. We’ve had a range of challenges from creating rainbow art, origami, bring something precious (show and tell) and creating cocktails. Although we are a close family this has strengthened our bond and a big positive from lockdown, we plan to continue this once a month after lockdown finishes.

Creativity

 I have enjoyed developing my creativity and have used it as a channel to manage my wellbeing, I feel happy when I’m in a creative mode. At the beginning of lockdown, I created a picture called the Covid Effect which reflected how I felt in that moment of time, I was scared and confused and I did not know how the virus was going to affect myself, loved ones and people in general. Prior to creating the art, I had felt very anxious (something I do not normally experience) however afterwards I felt much calmer, it’s as if I gave my fears to the painting. I’ve enjoyed doing an on-line life drawing class a medium I had never done before or felt able to do so, it was nice to challenge myself and experience new things.