In the early days of 2020, when the pandemic started to spread, I was confined to my home. So I did what I love best…I painted. And the art poured out of me.
For some, time stood still. However, I had a purpose and a deadline.
I was supposed to exhibit my artwork in the Southwest Library (of Orange County, Florida) in August 2020, but the pandemic came along and changed my plans. It changed everybody’s plans. The library closed and the exhibit was put on hold. But, here it is, one year later, the library reopened and I had a new date for the show.
I am a grandmother, who could sit back in a rocking chair and watch television all day long to pass the time. But I had to do something to fill the hours of the long days of confinement. Bing watching was not an option. That deadline was still lurking.
Since my goal was to have enough paintings to show, I got to work. As the days rolled by, and the whole world closed down, I knew I had plenty of time to paint, and no excuse not to paint. The ideas just kept coming. A still life in a coffeepot. An old man in contemplation sitting on a bench between two trees. A colorful landscape. A cosmic explosion, far out in space. A town nestled on the Mediterranean coast. So many ideas waiting to come to life on my watercolor paper. Now, more than one year later, there are twenty-one paintings happily decorating two whole walls of the library. The one below is a watercolor that recently has been sold. It never made it into the show.
It was important to me to paint happy pictures, ones to make me feel good, as well as make others feel good.
These are difficult times. The pandemic is still here. People are still dying of COVID. But there are twenty-one paintings happily decorating two whole walls of the library now, smiling at all who come to view them, all hopefully making someone’s life a bit happier upon viewing them.
The art show opened October 9th, more than one year later than the original date, and my paintings will be adorning the walls of the library for three whole months! If I can put a smile on someone’s face as they view them, then I have achieved my goal. Something good can come out of a pandemic.
I’m still painting, although I’m not confined to my home any more. Time stood still for so many people during the pandemic, but not for me.
