
Join the Great QuARTantine of 2020!
During these uncertain times, it is important to continue to express ourselves. Music, art, poems, essays, comedy, monologs...I want to see it all. I've just begun a quARTantine.
Isn’t uncertainty fun? I’m sitting here at the computer, and I’m used to words flowing from my brain to my fingers with ease. Today, I’m having trouble figuring out what to say.
We are in uncharted territory. On Saturday, the teenagers were still asking me about future plans and my response was, “We’ll see. It’s day to day at this point.” Now I feel like it’s minute to minute. We went from no gatherings of more than 250 people, down to 25 in four days.
The feelings I’m having now can only be compared to the feelings that I had in the weeks/months after Hurricane Katrina when uncertainty was the biggest obstacle in our path. Last Friday, when shit started getting real, I felt as though there were jolts of electricity in the sides of my belly. It occurred to me that the only other time I’ve felt that was after the Big K.
We are in uncharted territory.
I feel a bit lost, like I’m roaming in an unknown land. I kind of wish our local government would just shut everything down. Being ordered to stay home would make decision making much easier.
All my zombie apocalypse grocery shopping and food cooking is done. Today, I thought I would get a good work day in, but instead had to deal with a number of people I know freaking out. In truth, I was probably combatting their freak outs with my own freak out, but hey, I’m trying.
The hard truth is that we don’t know much. We are faced with an unprecedented situation, much like we were when our city was filled with water. At least then we could flee the city…
I keep thinking about myself, constantly talking about searching for the beauty within the chaos. It’s so hard to think of a bright side or silver lining right now. People are sick and dying and I have trouble making light and I’ve been slowly but surely getting irritated with memes that are making fun of the situation (although that didn’t stop me from creating a pandemic playlist on Spotify).
But in an effort to practice what I preach, here is a list of ten silver linings to quarantining, (yet I admit that this list is more applicable for an introvert than an extrovert).
- No more awkward run ins with people I don’t want to talk to at the grocery.
- Much less grocery store errands in general.
- No more traffic.
- Dolphins have returned to the Venice Canals.
- China’s emissions are at zero.
- Our global footprint as a whole, will reduce.
- More time with the teenagers.
- I’ll finally be able to organize the garage.
- I won’t get behind in weeding my yard.
- Art is not cancelled
Being a New Orleans girl, I’m not surprised that my first instinct last week was to find solace in cooking lots of food. But with that done, I’ve decided that art is my answer. I can’t control much of anything right now, but I did order a ton of canvases last month in preparation to make my “breathe” series.
“Breath” is taking on a new meaning now, and the idea for these paintings has changed. For one, I’m going to enlist my hubbie and the two teenagers to help. I thought that having an ongoing art piece in the studio for anyone to contribute to at any time, would be a great way to pass some time at home.
My first concept, which we are going to start this afternoon, will be a collaboration aiming to give all in my household an outlet to express all the feelings they are having. It will be an ongoing piece and I'll keep all of the art supplies out and easily available for anyone to jump in at anytime.
Aside from that, I’m going to go for long walks, meditate, practice Yoga, write, paint and I’m thinking that since we’ll all be in isolation, I’ll make some videos to send out to my community. I can make this quarantine a quARTantine.
I’d love it if you would join me. For those of you on Facebook, I have started a private group called “QuARTantine”. This group is a place to share your art, craft, music, essays, poems, monologs, skits, etc. while we're under quarantine. It looks like we're going to be inside for a while. The good news is art is NOT cancelled.
Let's inspire each other during this time and stay in touch with our creative nature. CLICK HERE to join the group.
If you’re not on Facebook, please email your art to me at Marigny@MarignyGoodyearArt.com and let me know if I may share it to the QuARTantine page.
We may be having to isolate, but we are not alone. Hang in there. Stay well and be smart. We got this.
With love,
Marigny
The image at top is from my Control & Chaos series which will be offered for sale next week. Marine Layer, 48"x48", Acrylic & Paper on Canvas. I know that times are tough, but I've decided to press on with my sale. After all, this series is all about controlling what we can, and giving the rest to the Universe.
If you still have disposable income, please help me keep my doors open by purchasing some art. Become an Artventure VIP and get early access to the sale by CLICKING HERE.