Like everyone else, I’ve been trying to keep myself occupied while staying at home. One day I sewed masks for the local hospital. They were lime green and matched the outfit I’d made earlier for Violet, my porch vulture.
And then I made a black cape for my skeleton rat, Ralph. I still need to fashion a scythe for him. Any Terry Pratchett fans out there? He’s supposed to be the Death of Rats from the Discworld series.
I’ve been reading. A lot. Sometimes two books a day. I find in times like these, when my mind is running around like a headless chicken, that I prefer to read books that have happy endings. I recommend Connie Willis’s time travel series, especially Blackout and All Clear. Her stories celebrate every day heroes and the ways we support each other when things are falling apart. Her writing makes me feel hopeful about the future.
I’ve been painting, too. There’s a show scheduled at LACA in Ludington in July that will feature local art work done during the pandemic. I plan to submit a couple pieces for that and I’ll get you more information about it at a later date, so stay tuned.
Before the stay at home orders for Michigan were in place, Steve and I were working to get my new gallery space painted. We got it done in the nick of time, but had to stop with the rest of the renovations until it’s safe to go out again.
There’s so much left to do! Put up some tulle and twinkly lights. Get Laurie’s Dolloween art in there. Paint skeleton foot prints on the floor, and a few other spooky, fun things. It’ll be cool when it’s done. I hope everyone will have a chance to come and see it this summer, but if not, maybe I can make a virtual tour? I’ll ask my son Nick to help me. He’s very good at figuring stuff out.
I’ve also been working on a brand new website that will just have skeleton art on it. Slowly getting all the skellies up there. I’ll let you know when it’s fully functional and ready for business. Meantime you’re always welcome to shop for them here on my website. Oh, and I just added a Gift Card option, so please take advantage of that.
Of course, the hardest part of all this is not being able to reach out and hug your family. I have a granddaughter in Kalamazoo who’s growing up so fast!
I still have plenty of things to do to keep me occupied. I have basement walls to paint. There’s a garden to put in. Dogs to walk. You know, stuff. And there’s always more art to make.
I hope you’re all staying busy and healthy and safe. Take care, everyone. We’ll all get through this together.