Cream, Skim Milk and the Pandemic

So many artists that I have talked to have expressed their difficulty in creating art while the pandemic rages around the world.  At the beginning, it was like the creative world stopped and held its breath.  I was no exception.

As we all adjust to the “new normal”, I find that my ability to paint and be creative comes and goes.  But that is normal.  When life is busy, there is no energy left over for painting.  I like to think of it as a bottle of milk.  Not the homogenized version of today but the one we used to get in a glass bottle, with both the skim milk and the cream.

Every day, we get a new bottle of milk.  That is the energy we have available for the day. As we go about our daily lives, we use up the milk.

Now, the skim milk we can use for lots of things – cooking, errands, socializing, and walking the dog.  But to be creative, we need the cream.  When you have cream available, you can draw, paint and be creative.  But when all you have available is the skim milk, you can’t.  When life gets too busy or too stressful, it uses up all the cream and nothing is left for art.

But as things quiet down in your life, more of the cream is available and we start to create again!
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So, if you find yourself not doing much art these days, don’t despair.  That feeling will pass and you will paint again.

Complicated, 16" x 16", Acrylic on Canvas utilizing acrylic skins made from molds that I created using plants and leaves!