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A year ago, Covid quarantines and social distancing began. Like many projects, my group art show “Shards of Color and other Broken Things,” was impacted. The artists, myself, Timothy Allen, Darlene Newman, and Frankd Robinson, had planned a 2 day show at the Crosstown 420 gallery. A few people came to the opening, (we provided masks and gloves) but after the first night we were told that we couldn’t come back the next day. So we re-hung at my studio, but no one came. It was a nice to socialize with the other artists, but there was the feeling that the whole world was about to change. Little did we know how much.

All artists have suffered from the social distancing and this terrible pandemic that has gripped the world. Businesses large and small have suffered, and keep this in mind if you can spare some of your stimulus money to support them.

Here some of the photos from the art show and the preparation. Frankd Robinson gifted his Tin Man hoodie (with heart) so I was warm for the show and all future cold weather.

Darlene Newman, Frankd Robinson, Timothy Allen all have art for sale. Frankd and Timothy are on Facebook. Darlene is too, but she also has a website: http://www.darlene.fineaw.com/

For all the shocks, deaths and sorrows of the past year, I am always encouraged that creatives keep on creating. I hope this next season we will go forward in awareness and kindness, and keep creating. (And remember collecting art is an art in itself.)

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Thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to share it, if you’d like.

This blog is brought to you by the generosity of people who support me on Patreon , buy my art, and who support me in so many different ways. 

If you’d like to make a one time donation, you can do so at paypal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile

Cards and prints on some of my art is available on Redbubble.  

If you find a typo, let me know, and I’ll send you a postcard.

I’m still working on my moonflower series of paintings for my supporters on Patreon. I’ve mailed a few out, but the winter storms have all but halted the mail. I think that this is the first time in my life when the mail actually stopped running.

In Memphis, we’ve been iced and snowed in for 8 days. Yesterday we got a boil water alert because our city reservoir is running low, partially frozen and partially over used. We all have to keep our faucets and taps running to keep our pipes from freezing and breaking. The plumbing here is not designed for weather this cold for this long.

I tried to get outdoors in my wheelchair one day to experience the snow, but immediately got stuck. I didn’t even make it down my front porch ramp. My son got me back in the house and I’ve been indoors, inside, ever since. But we haven’t lost power and my son did a big shopping last week, so we’ve done okay.

Even though I’ve been unable to get out of the house (me and most of Memphis), and I’ve not been able to talk to doctors or the pharmacy, I’ve been mostly okay. Working on paintings, reading, and even writing in my journal again — I realized I’m lucky.

Good fortune is a comparative thing. If I compare my situation to beautiful summer days, then I can get really unhappy. But if I compare myself to those who are homeless in this weather, those who lost power, those who more complex medical conditions, then I’m doing well. I am grateful.

When I painted, I brushed off extra paint on a small 5×7″ canvas. Then I squirted the paint with water, let it blend and separate, and did that several days in a row, until I saw something emerge in the painting. And I saw something in myself. My ability to hold on to a feeling of contentment has improved so much over the past few years. I have cultivated better ways of looking at, speaking to, and talking about myself over the decades. I do get depressed, but it’s only one part of who I am. Who I am, at my core, is this person who values contentment and has done the work to keep it alive within me. Even at my darkest, now, I can remind myself that I have great friends and supporters (and doctors and medication.)

That’s what’s been nice about creating the moonflower paintings now, even though I wanted to finish them last month. I am spending time each day creating something for people who appreciate my creations. I’m restricted in who I see, or further restricted, since we’ve all been restricted by COVID 19. But all the connections I’ve made, all the ways I’ve grown, all the ways I’ve spent in the garden watching things grow — all of this is entrenched in the core of my being.

So, when I finished up my leftover paint piece, after I began to see shapes in it, I had been inside the house for 7 days. But it was okay. I was going to call this piece, She was often late for the party, but never for the dance. Instead I called it “Inside Joy.”

What do you think?

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Thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to share it, if you’d like.

This blog is brought to you by the generosity of people who support me on Patreon , buy my art, and who support me in so many different ways. 

If you’d like to make a one time donation, you can do so at paypal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile

Cards and prints on some of my art is available on Redbubble.  

If you find a typo, let me know, and I’ll send you a postcard.

Anyone who supports me on the Patreon platform will get an original work of art once a year. The size of the painting depends on the level of donation and how long the patron has supported me. Patreon is platform that allows you to make monthly donations to me to keep me in art supplies, medical supplies, and other financial necessities. You can read about it here.

I’m doing a series of moonflower paintings this year and as I get them finished and send them out, I’ll post them. One of my friends and supporters got his this week. He practices Tai Chi and I do, too. I love the base position called by my instructor “embrace the moon.” I know other instructors call it other things — hold the ball, embrace the earth, etc — but I like the moon metaphor best. So I painted this for him:

Here is how he displayed it, with the painting he got last year:

If you’d like to receive an original art work by me, please consider becoming a supporter through Patreon. For as little as $1. a month you can be a part of my support base and a patron of the arts.

~~~

Thanks for reading my blog. Feel free to share it, if you’d like.

This blog is brought to you by the generosity of people who support me on Patreon , buy my art, and who support me in so many different ways. 

If you’d like to make a one time donation, you can do so at paypal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile

Cards and prints on some of my art is available on Redbubble.  

If you find a typo, let me know, and I’ll send you a postcard.