These are very strange times we are living through right now. So much uncertainty and fear to navigate through everyday. At first I was quite nervous about all of it and found it hard to focus on any given task but that started to subside and I felt like I would just do what I was supposed to do and hope all would be ok. The area I live in depends heavily on tourism and I do worry how all of this will affect this community. On the positive side we have had very low numbers of people infected so sheltering in place has been working here.
The way I have been able to cope with the uncertainty is with my art. It has and always will be my lifeline. When I start to work I feel all the worries that I have fall away for that period of time. I feel fed and my head feels clear when I finish. This is not something new, it’s always been that way for me and I’m so thankful for it.
Before things started to fall apart I had started working on a new project I call the “The Allotments”. I worked on raw canvas adding paint to wet gesso and blurring the edges of the paint. What I started to see was sort of a patch work which reminded me of looking down from a plane at farm land. As I added collage material, stitching, rusty bits of fabric I started to see small gardens. Now of course these were very abstract gardens but I could definitely see them. Can you?
Shortly after I started this project I saw a little film produced by Green Renaissance on British allotments and I thought that’s what I will call these. The people that were in the film were so enthusiastic about their little pieces of earth. Each plot was tended to with such love that it was hard not to share in their joy. They spoke of community, abundance, and that there was no other place they would rather be. After seeing that I knew that these pieces of art (30 in all) were meant to finished and put our there into the world. I wasn’t sure the timing was right but I did it anyway because it made me feel so good.
If you would enjoy seeing the entire collection please click here. I hope you are safe, healthy, and working on the thing that brings you peace.