How are Scottish artists reacting to the lockdown?

Pop surrealist Michael Forbes has been working on a new series of paintings

During the lockdown, Scottish artists continue to work away on projects, even creating new pieces of art influenced by the coronavirus crisis.

Among them is Dingwall-born pop surrealist painter Michael Forbes.

His work is hugely influenced by popular culture and has featured music artists David Bowie and Frank Zappa, along with comic book superheroes Superman and Batman.

Fans of his art include Madonna and comedian and actor Ricky Gervais.

Michael, who was an apprentice of the late Pop artist and acclaimed sculptor Gerald Laing, has been working on a small series of paintings since the start of the lockdown.

He said: "I've felt the conversation is about the spread of the virus and what economic strife may follow. I don't hear a lot about how the virus started."

Forbes believes people need to connect more closely with Nature

The virus is believed to have originated in a market selling wild animals for food in Wuhan, China, late last year.

"I wanted to spend my lockdown time making paintings that made clear we are part of the animal kingdom," Michael said. "This might seem obvious too, but bizarrely I feel this is not how we conduct ourselves."

"If we are not careful, viruses and other diseases can leap from one species to another. My hope is that after this terrible time is over we can focus on how we treat nature, and abuse it at our peril."

In the Western Isles, visual artist Moira Maclean, who describes herself as a "wallpaper pirate", has been raiding the attic of her home.

Maclean has been collecting pieces of wallpaper for more than 20 years

"The lockdown seems a perfect time for a clear out," said Lewis-born Moira.

She has been sorting through, the trove of old wallpaper she has been amassing in her attic for 20 years or more. She incorporates the paper in her art.

Moira's fascination with wallpaper started when she was a girl when she played in abandoned white houses, a type of home built to replace straw, thatched-roof blackhouses in the Hebrides.

Moira Maclean has been using some of her time in the lockdown to sort through hundreds of peelings of old wallpaper

"I was collecting bits of wallpaper from a young age, and any envelopes that came to our house," she said.

Moira, who studied at Aberdeen's Grays School of Art and runs projects at Stornoway's An Lanntair arts venue, has strips of wallpaper from 100 years ago.

"Newspaper was used as lining for the wallpaper and some of the papers date from 1919," she said.

"I always think of the wallpaper as being a silent witness to the lives of the generations that lived in a home, and also that these fragile pieces of paper can outlive a heart."

In Inverness, Falkirk-born Frank To has also been collecting pieces of paper.

Seal of approval: Frank To has been making drawings on UK and Scottish government letters

Before the lockdown, the Inverness College UHI art lecturer would travel between the Highlands and Glasgow, where most arts supplies are and where he would work on refining his drawings and paintings.

"When lockdown was announced, I had very limited supplies in Inverness," he said.

"However, it's not something that I'm a stranger to."

Frank To's training at the University of Huddersfield taught him how to be resourceful in times of limited resources and he learned how to make his own paints and paper.

Government letters

Recently, he has been making drawings and paintings using gunpower and during the lockdown he has been creating drawings on government letters about Covid-19 he and friends have received in recent weeks.

Some of his new work represents the lockdown's effect on nature, with wildlife venturing into urban areas, emboldened due to the reduced human activity.

Explaining one of the drawings, the artist said: "Seal of Disapproval is an art piece done using soot, fire and charcoal on the UK government Covid-19 letter.

"The piece highlights how despite the difficulties of the Covid-19 lockdown on a global scale, nature itself is repairing itself with animals now having room and freedom to move such as the stags bathing in people's back gardens in Paisley."

So, it seems artists will emerge from the lockdown with exciting new works and ideas for their fans to enjoy.