My intention with this series is to capture the feelings and mood revolving around this worldwide isolation. The idea to pursue a series on this topic was more or less prescribed to me, rather than discovered.
My curiousity from seeing other artists online work with various mediums led me to unboxing Holbein gouache and placing paints on my paper palette. I’ve also started painting in natural light. It’s a bit of a challenge when the days go by so quickly and the sun begins to drop. Colors warm up and strong shadows get cast over the paper. Nonetheless, pursuing this series titled “isolation” has been a treat.
Instead of spending hours on end and even weeks working on the same large oil paintings, being able to work quickly and in a smaller space allows me time to finish in a sit down session(for now). Gouache is a peculiar substance that I’m learning to maneuver. The way it layers and dries is so bizarre that it feels like a science experiment every time I put paint down. “I wonder what color it will dry as?” is the little game I’ve been playing. When people ask what gouache is, I usually refer to it as the lovechild of acrylics and watercolors. It can be both translucent and opaque depending on the ratio of water.
During these troubling times, being an artist is something I’m so grateful to be. I have a place where I can redirect my thoughts, feelings, and ideas, so that they don’t stay trapped inside me, buzzing around bugging me all day. I invest long hours into my craft and expel my energies into them until I feel there is nothing else I can possibly do with them. I rest and wake up to a blank canvas that I spend my days trying to unravel, understand and express.
For the inspired artist, quarantine may seem like a gift from above while to the artist struggling to find their rhythm, inspiration or personal space to work, this could very much be a living nightmare. It’s not necessary to be a professional, to have a style, to already have a clientele or even to make good art. Now is the time to experiment. To try new mediums, remove boundaries that limit what’s possible, and to say why not?
I suggest that even in a state of fear, panic, anxiety, frustration, and confusion, creation is the meditation you deserve and need. Reflect, introspect, dream or do whatever you must to discover where to invest your energy, but please, don’t let this quarantine bring you down lower than it already has. Instead of taking in negative news, create art and share it, because that’s the kind of news that I look forward to each day. It’s time to take a stand. It’s time to create.
