Elna's art

Yes I literally do, it's just fun. I love to spend all my hard earned cash on junk that I absolutely don't need in Tesco. It's just lockdown vibes isn't it.

After starting new medication, some of the side effects were included as heart palpitations, fatigue, sickness and nausea. So all the main symptoms of a panic attack, it's been a rough few weeks. But communicating this stress and sharing it with my followers makes me feel less alone, I know I'll get through it and it'll be okay.

After the news of Sarah Everard's death last month, I don't think I'm alone in saying I'm scared, all the time. I don't want to go anywhere by myself, I don't want to travel alone. It's so frightening to know that we as women are still so unsafe, targets on our own streets.

Life is feeling very very tiring at the moment, my life consists of deadlines, work, sleep, repeat. It's a lot to deal with. The crying bit is a lie, antidepressants have stopped my ability to cry, now I just feel the need to cry constantly, without the release.

This is a very strong feeling that I've been feeling recently, lockdown 1 felt so pure and innocent, all of us being so naive and sure that it wouldn't last long. I almost miss it, back when life felt like it was just on pause, not so scary and uncertain, just on a break.

This is a response to the feeling of missing touching other people. I miss holding people's hands, I miss hugs, I miss brushing past people at the bar. This is such a universal experience, we have all felt this way since covid took over our lives, and it's soul crushing to think we might now be able to ever go back to normal.

This is a response to my feelings of stress and anxiety over seeing my friends, even though I know I'm allowed to again now. I wonder whether that guilty feeling will ever not be there again?

Goodness me, I hope it does. That promise of sunshine and warm days and bright evenings, brings so much hope and excitement to our lives, it's the only thing that feels like it could make everything better now. If only the sun had the magical healing ability to rid the world of covid.

This is a quick response I had to my feelings about Boris Johnson and the way he has completely abandoned students over the past year. We feel forgotten, ignored, absolutely disgusted by the way the government have treated students and we are so angry about it.

Gemma, like myself, is very honest and open in her works, sharing her frustrations, stresses and worries through her character. I love this sincerity that she is able to convey through such light hearted and humourous illustrations. It is something I strive for when creating my own work, to be as open and brutally honest with my audience as possible, whilst keeping it easy to engage with.

David Shrigley has always been one of my biggest inspirations, his ability to covey humour and visual communication through is work astounds me. Every piece is so different, and his honesty makes me want to create works as truthful as his. He said "I thought my degree show was brilliant, but the people who were marking it didn't. I got a 2:2", and this feels so funny to me, it also feels like something I would probably say. I have often felt that my work isn't good enough because it is illustration, but seeing artists like David Shrigley succeed so prominently in the art world with work very similar to mine in terms of theme and presentation, is so inspiring.