Casgliadau Arlein

Hand-painted toilet roll 'Apple blossom'. Painted during the Covid-19 pandemic by the Swansea-based artist, Carys Evans.

"Painting on toilet rolls was not my idea. But, being invited to paint one, I was hooked. It is the perfect project for these times. I have a large studio six miles away, full of canvas, oil paint and every conceivable material. But I have not been there since lockdown, and now paint on a tiny table in the corner of my spare room. So I am making do with the materials I have here: toilet rolls, emulsion paint, pastels, limited acrylic paint and even maybe lipstick and nail varnish, who knows. Even my few brushes are threadbare. My subject matter are the things that come into my reduced world: birds, insects and flowers and whatever brings joy. Home now is a place of safety and peace. I suspect this has always been so but it is never more so than at the moment. I wish that was true for everyone." Carys Evans, April 2020.