New Paintings and Keeping to Art Deadlines During Coronavirus

'A Global Connection,' oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 x 140 cm

During this exceptionally difficult and challenging time when our daily routines are drastically altered, I'm trying to keep a focus on my artwork and to stick to my deadlines. It's not easy because at times I lapse into a lethargy and become anxious. Then the 'What If?' keeps me awake at night. Last night neither my husband or I could sleep fully and at 6.30am we ended up eating some trifle!

Any minor feeling of illness sends your mind racing: Is this coronavirus? I've suffered from a really bad flu (6 weeks ago) that then went in to my ear and I had to have antibiotics, and any twinge of pain or health abnormality now instantly brings to mind 'Do I need to self-isolate?' Luckily, both my husband and I are coping and keeping our distance from people but it's hard because you have to keep alert to all the things you now can not do.

However, I was really pleased this week because in between doing the daily 30 works 30 days art challenge, I managed to finish a painting for a Biennale in China later this year. I only stretched my canvas in the second week of March, and it's a big one - 100 x 140 cm - and I never thought I'd get it finished and submitted by the deadline of April 15th! The last stages of this painting were really hard and even now I have to remind myself to stop finding things I could have tweaked. 

The theme of the Biennale was Home and Co-existence, and my idea was to paint a home situation in which people are reading newspapers each with a different current topic on the front. So there are the themes of nature, the world, relationships, and home. I've included animals, water, fruit, a teapot, homes, and a butterfly which is symbolic of the sharing of thoughts. The people are linked by the red chairs. 

My thought was that people co-exist, wherever they are, through this daily ritual and sharing of thoughts on current issues. I really enjoyed painting those newspaper fronts and the theme of newspaper readers stretches back to my time living in Cyprus when this was an ongoing series of oil paintings. I have extended the theme in this new painting not only in terms of the shapes and paint application but through the way I've depicted the abstracted forms on the newspapers. None of it was foreplanned; I always let the painting guide me.

I submitted the work about a week ago to an online form. It was actually very difficult to follow the instructions and took some time but I feel a sense of achievement that it's finally submitted. I hope it will be accepted!

This week I've been making a small painting every day for the daily challenge. I'm going to post some of them next.