Home»A Stratford Artist Project»Michael & Tara Walton

Tara and Micheal Walton
I spent the first couple months of the covid shutdown exploring my interest in digital illustration. I would sit down each day with my newly found extra time and investigate what images and themes resonated for me. The process was very unconscious in the moment but, as I’ve since learned, spoke to feelings connected with the sudden collapse of my career in the theatre, the unexpected death of my Dad John, and the loss of my father in law Ken. I set out to make a daily creation as a way to focus some of my creative energy and posted the images on social media to share with my friends and family. Tara and I never spoke about the images or make a plan of how this could come together. I assembled all the images together chronologically so she would have a format on which to write. This is what came from it. I did not see a narrative or collective themes in the totality of the images until I read Tara’s words. I was deeply moved by her observations and poetry. The number on each image was the day on which they were created, beginning on March 22, 2020.
Michael
This collaboration began after all of the images were already complete. I humbly suggested writing some words as a companion to each image and an observation of what I witnessed in the process of each creation, but also of how I interpreted each of their meanings. Putting a voice to what would become an exploration of thought through drawings. The result frames a discovery of how beautiful and impossible life on this planet can be and speaks to our(human) resilience. The process revealed to us that all you love is truly all you own. This is my first written project. It was originally conceived as a book. . I am so grateful.
Tara