Memories of Summer’s Bounty during COVID
Now that the weather is turning cold, I find myself thinking (longing) about the comforts of summer. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Fall, Winter and Spring. But in a year of no travel and our home becoming our office, classroom, studio, concert hall, comedy club, and restaurant, being able to be outdoors is greatly missed.
When the COVID quarantine started in March it was just starting to warm up in Ohio. It wasn’t long before we had our deck prepped and ready for outdoor living. It became our annex office, studio and patio restaurant. There were days that we had all three meals on the deck. We would watch the sun come up in the morning, and set in the evening from our deck.
In addition to our patio space, we did what so many people did, we put in a new raised garden and started to grow our own herbs & vegetables. Tending to the seedlings, then thinning the sprouts and finally starting to harvest; first the herbs, then our lettuces, and finally our vegetables, it was a much needed distraction. Our garden therapy brought a sense of hope to our days. The world must not be in that bad of shape if plants can still grow and produce some of the most amazing crops.
The vegetables that were making their way to our kitchen, started to carry not only the hopes of a great meal, but hope itself. I couldn’t let them just disappear into a stew, sauce, or salad without celebrating them in someway. So what is it that an artist does when they are in this position? They start painting.
I would carry the guest models back to my studio and paint their portrait. First from the left, then from the right, “no no, wait the light isn’t right”. I would paint them again and again, until I captured their beauty. Much like in the kitchen, their likeness would become apart of something else. Not a stew, sauce or salad; but a pattern.
The Christmas tree is up now. And New Year’s Eve just around the corner. We fondly gaze out the window at our outdoor living space, closed until Spring. These patterns are a bright reminder of the bounty that we experienced during such a bleak year, and the promise of the spring to come in 2021.
Aubergine, watercolor digitally arranged, Aug 2020
Hot Pepper, watercolor digitally arranged, Aug 2020
Little Tomatoe, watercolor digitally arranged, Aug 2020
Summer’s Bounty, watercolor digitally arranged, Aug 2020