Joyce Underwood |
![]() I'd just taken early retirement in May and had been pondering on how to keep life challenging. This plinth idea certainly ticked the box - so I filled my e-mail and phone number in on screen and rashly clicked 'submit'. I was absolutely confident that I wouldn't be picked from the thousands of entries, but at least I could pretend to myself that I was 'putting myself out there'. It came out of the blue - THE PHONE CALL! "Could you do the 10-11pm slot on the plinth on Monday?" Panic! Panic! I heard myself saying that I'd ring back in 10 minutes and let them know. "What would I do? No I can't do it - it's too high and scary - I'm not creative or confident enough," were all flashing thoughts. Thankfully my daughter Jenny was around and quite calmly said "Mum, you HAVE to do it - now that you've been selected. If you say 'No' you'll always regret it and think you let go of a great opportunity. You could get up there and raise awareness about ME" - and of course, as usual, she was right!
Stepping out of the taxi in Trafalgar Square was like stepping into a dream - I suddenly felt much calmer - it all looked so beautiful with the new coloured lights in the fountains, the floodlit buildings and there it was, THE PLINTH - occupied by a small illuminted figure sat quietly sketching. There was a friendly crowd below and people just going about their business.
The response has been overwhelming - I've had so much positive feedback from so many people - I'm still on a high! In fact now I think I can do anything. |