Friday, September 3, 2021

"No one's on the streets We moved it all online as of March"



In March last year I took a four month long break from the studio. I still could have driven there, and even found parking. But I would have felt like a hypocrite doing that while at the same time appreciating the clean air so much. And in the early days we didn't even know if we were safe walking down the street.
I had thought I couldn't be happy without painting and going to the studio every day, but it turned out to be OK. I sewed a lot, cooked up a storm, caught up on stuff that went neglected for years, and even gardened a little. It was actually a relief not to do open studios, after 21 consecutive years. 
Started going to the studio once, then twice, now three or four times a week. Even though sales have continued on UGallery, I really lost my mojo. Gallery 30 South's Coaster Show gave me a much-needed boost - I admire the curator Matt Kennedy's work (I was in La Luz de Jesus' Everything but the Kitschen Sync once), knew about the Coaster Show, and wanted to give it a try. I did four paintings in oil on coaster (Fort Point Beer Co. round coasters from the Rite Spot Cafe, thank you)! They were so much fun to do. You can see the whole show at https://gallery30south.com/coaster-show-2021/
Netflix and podcasts have been an education and connection to the world. I've been listening to No Dogs in Space for a post-bac in post punk, That Record Got Me High (title of this post is a lyric from the Arctic Monkeys album they covered; I don't even listen to them but it was a fascinating discussion), A Matter of Life and Debt about student debt, and Social Distance which sadly is over, even though I for one continue to socially distance.