Creativity
These are some of the creative ways people are spending their time. How are you being creative?
Every day since the pandemic began, I would look up to the skies and would feel a little closer to my children, family and friends who are in different parts of the U.S.A.
I began documenting the sky every morning since April 6, 2020. To make the pieces reflect the morning moment I would give myself approximately one hour. It didn't matter if the piece needed more time or just look funky, I would stop. The pieces are how I felt at the time and what I saw. At the bottom of each painting are the statistics of reported cases and deaths. It is a record of history that will hopefully last beyond my lifetime.
For my comfort, it was not only documenting each morning, but also a time line process that brought me the peace of repetitiveness.
Before painting I would gesso my paper the night before, if I remembered, two layers both sides. Then, I would cut the paper down to size. Measure the borders, tape the borders, clean my palette, mix my paint and mix my paint again and again. Then turn on CNN to get the latest statistics, then turn off. Too much news in the morning is not good for me.
Go outside and paint.
Gwendolyn Chrzanowski | 59
Peggy Halsey | 74 | Retired Global Program Developer and Administrator for the United Methodists Denomination
Beginning in late March, I have put out an art project in my driveway every other week. So far, there have been four, and I am putting out the next one this week.
I have so enjoyed sitting on my porch, a safe 20 feet away, and interacting with the children and their families. I was very briefly featured on Channel 20’s evening news, as well as an article in our neighborhood newsletter.
I plan to keep this up as long as I feel it necessary to shelter at home.
The first was a chalk mosaic.
Next, as Easter approached, I put out large poster board eggs and invited children to decorate and tape them to my garage door.
The third project was a mural of creatures under and above the sea.
Glenn Terry | 73 | Retired Teacher and Francesca Violich | 64 | Retired Teacher
For the last month we have noticed many more couples, and families with young kids, walking past our house. It's one of the few "safe" things to do, I guess. Three weeks ago we started entertaining them with a front yard "I Spy" game in which we take unusual things from our attic and hide them in our yard. A sign lists them and folks (usually young children) try to find them.
Cynthia Barnett | Environmental Journalist and Author
"I have met several new neighbors and we hope to have a small party after Quarantine for those who played. A couple other neighbors have little 'I Spy' games going on in the yard. Not sure how long I will be able to keep it up so hope the Quarantine ends soon. :)"
The Studio and the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Art By John A. and Mallory M. O’Connor
John and I have shared a passion for art throughout our lives. But we also cherished another tradition that has played a very significant role in our lives together: great food. We both love to cook (and to EAT)! So, we decided to collaborate on a project: a memoir/cookbook that would focus on our duel careers as artists and food-lovers. I would write the text and John would illustrate the various recipes with original art works.
The only problem was when would we have the TIME to take on this truly huge endeavor?
Enter COVID-19. Self-quarantining at home over the past three months has provided the perfect opportunity to work almost non-stop on this beautiful trip down “memory lane.” We’ve had the uninterrupted time to research the journals that I kept of past celebrations, to locate old photos and information on our friends and family, to copy down recipes from a variety of sources including my mother’s notebooks and John’s recollections from his childhood when his father owned a grocery store and also had several restaurants. It also provided time for John to set to work doing a series of pastel “paintings” of the various recipes.
So, even though it has been a strange and disturbing time in our collective history, for us it has been time well spent remembering all the good times we had with friends and family, cooking, eating, and making art.
©John O’Connor, The Stove, Oil on paper, 1961
Mallory O’Connor | 77 | Retired University of Florida and Santa Fe College Faculty and Former Director of the Thomas Center Gallery
Credits:
Created with an image by Brennan Martinez - "Tears in the Rain"