After the climate strike in Amsterdam, which I attended with my hands in my pockets, a little voice inside me made it known that it wanted to hold up one of those creative hand-painted placards cobbled together from old cardboard and coloured paint at the next march.

I’m trying to listen more closely to my inner desires, and be in tune with what lights me up, so last Tuesday evening I tore apart an old moving carton, covered the kitchen table with old newspaper and got to work.  I first drew some drafts in felt-tip pen on the back of an old envelope, then lightly drew the outlines in pencil on the cardboard and finally got down to the fun part of painting with bright colours.

It was dark outside as I carefully painted the letters and images, I listened to podcasts and felt completely in flow, not feeling time pass until I looked up and it was time to go to bed. My creative practice mainly consists in photography and writing, which both involve technological tools, so picking up an analog paint brush and bright acrylic paints felt very grounding. I’m glad I satisfied my inner placard holder who was very happy to hold it up amongst thousands of other slogans during the march on Friday in Den Haag. I am so heartened by the tens of thousands of people who made time to march and make their voices heard.

Photo by Paolo S.