Archive for October 2020
PL Recommends: #3
This week we focus on…poignant creations of children who, although separated by oceans, share common feelings of loneliness and isolation…innovative ways to experience art and culture during the pandemic…and how Native American artists are lending their skills to COVID-19 public health campaigns. Then a podcast takes you to Colorado, where you’ll learn about a unique…
Read MoreOf Fire and Optimism
As fate would have it, this painting is hanging right now at the Provincetown Art Museum in a group show in their spacious exhibition gallery. “In the Spirit of Fire,”was painted back in 2017, with oil stick, acrylic, pigment and mixed media on a 24”x24” wood panel. Owing to our pandemic lockdown, it’s been hanging there all of this spring and summer, until the museum finally reopened in July. By that time, the title of this painting, channeled from somewhere in the ether — as was most of the painting itself – has become more relevant, revelatory.
Read MoreWhat About the Grownups?
A friend who’s a teacher tells me that adults need recess. Every day. Especially now. The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that recess means “a suspension of business or procedure for the purpose of relaxation or recreation.” For grown-ups these days, business and procedure are often non-stop. It’s easy to feel burned out if work is home and…
Read MorePandemic Flashes
For over thirty years, I’ve been drawn to photography to express my imagination and vision, and to invite people into the world of my visual stories and poems. Since 2009, my photography work has expanded and evolved to become more important in my life and studio practice. The global pandemic of 2020 feels like a…
Read MoreWhere Do We Go From Here?
I love to paint roads. For me, they are metaphors for broader aspects of our lives. What’s ahead? What will we find around the corner? Where does this lead? These are questions we all face in life, particularly now in the pandemic. They are also the ponderings people ask about when viewing my minimalist road…
Read MoreDemocracy: A Work in Process
Democracy, like this mask, is a work in progress, often messy and confusing but hopefully with time will come clarity. Let’s hope we can emerge from this chaotic historic moment, humbled by our exposed fault lines, with renewed resolve to create a more just and equitable society. I want to believe Martin Luther King, Jr.…
Read MoreSoldiering On
During a recent photo walk, I saw a face-shielded woman and was intrigued by her personal PPE—her semi floppy headgear was different from the rigid shields I’ve been seeing in medical offices and occasionally on the street. Her shield does double duty; it protects her mask from the rain and provides an added protection for…
Read MorePL Recommends: Week 2
This week’s lineup includes an article on pandemic art created by one publication’s readers (some quite impressive)…a look at how British sculptor Sir Antony Gormly and the infamous Bansky are responding to the pandemic…and a commentary on how “starving artist” has become all too literal. We also suggest an insightful and sobering podcast that examines…
Read MoreUnMasked
In the beginning of the quarantine, I used my fiber skills in the way I thought most helpful while also keeping me a bit saner. It didn’t hurt that my neighbor is a quilter who offered up a wonderful fabric stash. The mask making started with a trickle, becoming a river and then a flood…
Read MoreLos Angeles Pandemic Life
Los Angeles has experienced a vivid shift in daily life since the beginning of the pandemic. Bars and restaurants are operating at limited capacity, small businesses are shuttering, and social lives have been curtailed. I am attempting to take portraits of people from all over the city’s diverse neighborhoods to illustrate how life has changed…
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