Some of my latest almost-finished projects.
When you’re rolling off of your latest Netflix binge or asking your partner to please take a shower, it’s easy to fantasize about the old days when you could do things and go places without looking like The Mummy.
Since the lockdown I’ve been painting pictures based on places I’ve visited in happier, more bustling times. I'm also painting the quiet streets and empty countryside of our current situation. Recently I’ve I have had six paintings going at once, none of them finished.
The fact is, for me, the lockdown hasn’t been too awful. My heart goes out to people stuck in small apartments with people that annoy them, but our problems here have pretty much been first-world ones.
It’s confusing. Out here in the placid French countryside where the cows roam free and we have great healthcare, we are in a protected bubble. The pain and fear and anger that the rest of the world is going through is understandable but I don’t feel it the way they do. I can only observe from a distance. I do what I can in my own small way, but my art focuses on what we have achieved, what we cannot lose, what we should celebrate.
I’ve been making short videos that show my paintings and drawings from over the past several years. They are not political, they will not change the world. They are a peek into the my life as an expat who ventures (when it’s safe!) to different parts of Europe to discover new and interesting places.
We each in our own way want to make our world safe and fair. But we also need to be reminded of what it is to be human and feel those basic emotions; love, fear, wonder, sadness, anger, peace, joy, hilarity. I hope some of these are coming through in my paintings.