The art of staying at home and keeping you distance is child’s play!

Many of us remain forever familiar with artist E. H. Shepard’s wonderfully endearing drawings of them in A. A. Milne’s unforgettable children’s books.

Incidentally, Pooh and Piglet’s friend Christopher Robin recited a poem in 1927 - entitled Solitude, on the first page of ‘Now We Are Six’ - which admirably summarises self-isolation and staying at home!

“I have a house where I go,

Where no one can be.

I have a house where I go,

Where nobody ever says ‘No’,

Where no one says anything - so

There is no one but me.”

Made of three bare sticks tied together at the top with string, like a wigwam with no covering, Shepard’s drawing of Christopher Robin’s house is as greatly cherished by children and adults alike as his Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger (and other little forest-dwellers!) in Kenneth Grahame’s immortal book ‘The Wind in the Willows’.

London’s Chris Beetles Gallery in St James’s specialises in traditional artworks from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, particularly British watercolours, oils and sculptures.

The gallery also stocked with one of the world’s biggest selections of original illustrations and cartoons including Shepard’s Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet - currently separated by a distance of two metres! Because of Covid-19 the gallery is temporarily closed to visitors but “is providing a special service that should cheer the nation” according to gallery Director Dr Chris Beetles.

It’s a weekly series of online art exhibitions “that celebrate aspects of our particular personality, and our pleasures and preoccupations,” says Dr Beetles.

Covering most sides of life in the UK including domestic, industrial, rural and leisure activities, the chosen artworks radiate optimism and good humour, with a liberal garnish of sentiment and nostalgia.

The images “will remind us” says Dr Beetles “that even during times of greatest national challenge, Britain remains strong in spirit.”

So far there are six collections of drawings and paintings on the website at www.chrisbeetles.com with Instagram and Twitter feeds, beginning with ‘The British Spirit’ and Arnold Roth’s hilarious pen ink and watercolour entitled True Brit.

Depicted with handlebar moustache, bowler hat and pot of tea, waving an umbrella and Union Jack, the American cartoonist joyfully confirms that “even when living abroad, British people tend to retain their characteristics and cling to their customs.”

Other typically British traditions featured in the drawings to keep our spirits up during the lockdown include the Chelsea Flower Show, cricket (in the rain!) other sporting activities, church and country life, and an antidote for thinking that life will never be the same as it was in the good old days!

The second series of online artworks focuses on self-isolation and staying at home, featuring drawings by some classic British illustrators and cartoonists which might help us to do so.

One of the drawings is of one of our “best-loved national characters, Winnie-the-Pooh, drawn by E H Shepard,” who, as Dr Beetles explains “stays happily at home with his good friend, Piglet… at two metres distance!”

Chris advises “if you are staying at home, then you should try to establish a structure to the day…and whatever your age, take opportunities to exercise, such as solo badminton, the suggestion of William Heath Robinson.”

“You are likely to need to receive deliveries,” says Dr Beetles, adding “these you should accept at a safe distance, as do the residents in Ronald Searle’s illustration entitled Your Letterbox.”

The third of the gallery’s online exhibitions follows the ‘Guide to How to Self-Isolate’ with advice on ‘How Not to!’

Another delightful Heath Robinson pen and ink cartoon entitled the Communal Cold Cure is captioned “don’t be tempted to socialise with your neighbours…however

attractive it may seem.”

There’s an added warning - “if you become ill, don’t congregate with other sufferers - as do Heath Robinson’s invalids - as this will do more harm than good.”

And if you’re taking exercise outside “don’t travel a distance on crowded public transport, whether or not it is by Ardizzone’s charabanc!”

The fourth and fifth series of drawings and paintings depicts Easter and Spring, bringing “the promise of longer, warmer days, and the sense of a new beginning as nature bursts into life.”

There are many beautiful pictures of seasonal, rural landscapes - flowers, fields, lakes and trees, farm animals and neat, horse-ploughed furrows - collectively captioned “from the confines of your home, you can still share in this celebration of the British countryside.”

And of course Easter Week brought “the compensatory pleasure of delicious chocolate eggs.”

With Brexit in mind there’s even an (imported!) chlorinated Easter egg!

The sixth and most recent series of online artworks entitled Heroes, poignantly announces “Cartoonists salute you.”

And there’s a message to the gallery’s online visitors “we hope that you stay safe and well, and we look forward to welcoming you back into the gallery soon.”

Meanwhile the Chris Beetles team is working remotely and “would be delighted to hear from you” so please do not hesitate to contact them via email ([email protected]), (0207 839 7551) and their Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. You can visit the current series of online exhibitions at www.chrisbeetles.com

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