With the new, never-before encountered situation circling the coronavirus we are completely encased in our own shells/cocoons to prevent the pandemic from not only entering our own realms but also in the effort to avoid becoming carriers and unwittingly help spread the pandemic. It has devastated the lives of many, changing lives beyond repair for many and yet it remains almost the same kind of ritual for others particularly those who have been in the confines for long times. I have heard some friends panic while some others take it in their stride. For me personally, since I have always been working from home, it hasn't changed much in my limited environment except that my daughter and husband have started attending classes and working from home respectively. The change, however, is the fact that I can't move around freely as I wish during the day and I am confined more inside the room and the kitchen. We have become like individual islands inside the home during the day and each home an island. The marked change, however, is the less traffic and sighting of people around. I can hear choppers every now and then and the siren of the ambulance frequently. The sirens give me a twinge in the gut when I think of the people in it and what they would be feeling at that moment though all the cases may necessarily not be Covid19.
Pondering continues all along on the concept of life and the home itself among others. The news of the rise in domestic abuse is also a matter that wrenches me. It is not something new though; I have always wondered how people can be so uncompromising, egoistic, violently sadistic and ridiculously savage knowing that our life could end in just seconds. It's all so transient. None of us know how long we may get to live and yet we act like immortals! I wish people would be willing to listen to and be more accommodating!
As for home, isolation has deepened my sense of home as my native place and the space that I share with my family. It has always been so whenever I am away for a long time; feeling home-sick. I have friends and family who tease me over it but then that feeling has always been strong. I need my mother and daughter particularly to complete the feeling of home. It could be perhaps that they are the ones who understand me the most and who catch me at the slightest of a change in expression and gauge my disposition and vice versa.
Here's a couple of selected works from the past 3 weeks that I had posted on my Instagram.
I have used Arteza and Daler&Rowney gouache on Moleskine for the first. Daler&Rowney FW and Ecoline ink on Strathmore Mixed Media sketchbook for "Rise", watercolour and gouache on A4 size card paper for "Be Aware" and added the text digitally.
A trial at Therese Schwartze’s work. I have tried a different face and a slightly different expression. I love the way the lady and dog (Puck) look at each other. Staying home, pets seem to be great companions from a lot of shared photos these days. Here’s to all who have been diligently staying home!❤️
“Rise”
"Be Aware"
We are in our own bubble now so that the situation can be contained. I see two extremes- one who isn’t bothered at all leaving caution to the air and the other in panic. They somehow miss the point and I do hope they don’t end up causing trouble to self and the others! Adhere the midway- be aware, follow precaution and not panic. Be kind. Be safe.
I was experimenting with watercolours and gouache on Moleskine as well and these I photographed, unlike earlier times. The third one is on Japanese Rice paper.
The gouache set of 24 colours from Arteza and a book by Geninne were my daughter's birthday gift for me.
How are you all coping with the situation?
Stay home! Stay safe! Take care!