Diary of a Lockdown Artist

Saturn Speaks talks about our interconnectedness. Even during quarantine, when people feel isolated and alone, our actions are still felt by others and still have an influence, for better or worse.

Like all of the artwork in my lockdown series, Saturn Speaks is not a collage and does not use photography. All of the painting and drawing has been done by hand directly on one sheet of 30 x 42 inch paper (2 1/2 x 3 1/2 feet).

After Degas

After Degas

After Holbein

After Goya

After Kollwitz

After Daumier 

After Sargent

While washing my hair I created this in 3 - 5 minutes. I called it, We Will Survive. The surreal lockdown rollercoaster had begun. 

I had much fun and learned a lot doing this master copy of Venus Lamenting Adonis. It also helped me formulate my plan for lockdown. I often prefer an old master's drawings to their paintings. And I love learning about an artist by doing a copy of their work. 

But rather than tell someone else's story, I wanted to somehow customize the work to tell my own story. (Like I had done in week two and three.)

Thanks for checking in. We're fine. Just a typical Saturday night in isolation. I'm chilling topless in my plastic laundry hamper. Holding a feather as I usually do. Got my turban on and red shoe laces for my fake stab wound. Using the paper bag from food delivery as a table. Nothing strange happening here at all. Another routine Saturday night in lockdown. You?

Re-creating works of art turned out to be fun and addictive ... and surprisingly self-portraits.

Georgia O'Keeffe - Hands by Alfred Stieglitz

Esthetically speaking, I like the simplicity of the first version of this recreation (without the mask). 

But the second version with the mask better captures the inescapable daily nuisance of the mask for me.

The prior week (week 2 of lockdown) I used Michelangelo's figure drawings to tell current day mythology. What luck that it set me on a wonderful creative course for the quarantine. For week three I used Daumier's figures to illustrate more childhood mythology. This drawing shows a student being scolded just before their best friend rescued them.

For the second week of lockdown I created Dodgeball, a triptych (3 panels), using red chalk, black chalk and brown ink on paper that I stained with tea. 

The figures are master copies of Michelangelo's drawings for the Sistine Chapel.

The inspiration for this challenge came when an old friend jokingly asked me to make a painting commemorating her childhood victory of catching a killer dodgeball hurled at her by the school bully. I liked the challenge, but not being a narrative artist, I initially drew a blank. 

While at the Getty's Michelangelo exhibit - the day before it shuttered - this concept occurred to me.: 

Michelangelo's burly muscle bound figures would tell our schoolgirl mythology perfectly.

The red (headless) figure on the center panel is catching the dodgeball. The figure just to its right is throwing the ball. 

The side panels show the spectators.

On the last night of normal restaurant business before the lockdown, I took this lobster home in a doggy bag to paint. The chef had sawed it in half. I texted a friend, "My poor model! Its head had to be tied together with a blue rubber band." She replied, "He is lucky - he's still got a job!".

Remember when we used to get together with friends? A friend gave me some beautiful oranges from his tree. 

It's always a treat painting fruit with leaves still on them.