Hello May!
I hope to reopen my Etsy shop as soon as possible, but more importantly, as soon as reasonable and safe. Unfortunately, I do not believe that is right now. But I appreciate everyone’s patience and support right now.
In the meantime, I’ve been focusing on other business-y tasks that I usually don’t make time for… like, updating my website! I recently changed up the layout and design, and updated the gallery to better reflect the work that I’ve done in the last few years. I really like the look of the site now and hope it’s a lot easier to navigate too. Yay!
I’m also still keeping busy with my abstract watercolors. I’m having fun playing with new color combinations — something I’ve usually found more challenging than enjoyable. In some ways the abstracts feel like a far departure from my ink drawings, but I’ve also really tried to bring some elements from my drawing style into my paintings which I think works as a sort of bridge between the two genres of art.
I will go back to drawing eventually. But I think being limited to inspiration at home, abstraction has given me a lot more room, so to speak, to work and explore. For me, it draws more on a dreamy imagination than those sharp details that come from working directly from life or a reference photo…
Plus, it’s a lot of fun! I spend as much time in my sketchbook working with the water and paint to see how ideas will work and testing new techniques, as I do using my fancy paper trying to execute those concepts as a final piece. It looks less structured than my drawings, but it is way more thought out than I used to give abstract artwork credit. It’s a delicate balance between intuition and intention. I love it!
As for staying entertained while staying home, I’ve finally started to watch some television again, which I guess is a baby-step back towards normal. I was watching Veep before this all began, and now I’ve resumed watching it on Hulu the last week or two. At the rate I’m watching (nearly constantly during the day as background while painting — provided I’m not taking an Animal Crossing break), I’ll probably be finished with it in a few more days. Then I can go back to staring at the wall, or even better — my new hobby of playing solitaire until my eyes glaze over… but mostly, Animal Crossing…
I’d like to say I’m also reading a lot right now, but I’m not really. Or, I guess more accurately, I’m just reading differently. Lately I’ve found a renewed interest in poetry. When it start to feel like the anxiety is never going to stop, I open a book of poems. Right now, I’m reading the works of Rainer Maria Rilke, Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, and Morgan Harper Nichols… oh man, Nichols’ “All Along You Were Blooming” was published this last month, but what I’ve read so far seems like it was only written this month, it has so captured the feelings I have about quarantine. It’s uncanny. Definitely recommend!
Thank you for joining me at The Shallow End!
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