My Pandemic Health Buddy
Penny Cooper has agreed to be my Pandemic Health Buddy.
Here, she encourages me to play with my food, and to make good choices, such as... sardines!
Paint & Paper
I haven't watercolored in forever.
To begin with, I don't have much room in my new place. The house was already pretty full when I moved in in September, and since HM's son is here, it's crammed. Comfortable for living––especially since it's mostly warm enough to sit outside in the front or back yards––but not for art making. (When he moves out this summer, I can spread out a bit in the guest room--that's where I was sewing masks.)
"Mostly warm enough", I say, but we've got a cold front today--it was only 36ºF / 3ºC when I started blogging at 9 a.m.
It's sunny anyway, and due to warm up to 50ºF/ 10ºC. Perfect for dog walking...
Meanwhile, I might set up a table in my room, where I can keep out art projects, in all their inspiring messiness.
Though I don't have a table at the moment...
Also, I didn't have any watercolor paper. I painted this on the book board off a broken book.
This morning HouseMate gave me a big rolled-up sheet of watercolor paper. Hooray! I will cut it up into manageably small pages, and when I'm done painting, maybe make them into a little book.
(If I bind them first, I don't use them because I'm afraid of messing up the book.)
Speaking of the end of WWII in Europe today, maybe I'll make a little series of the Pandemic Homefront.
Juggling the Lives of Others
I'm not brave/ethically sure enough to head out and sketch things in my city such as the tents I saw the other day, lined up along the railroads. (They were there before, too--not sure how the pandemic is affecting people living out.)
It reminds me of people sleeping in the London Underground during WWII, such as Henry Moore sketched in his shelter sketchbooks.
"Two figures sharing same green blanket"
As I say, I'm not sure about the ethics of sketching people living out.
These are people living their lives--but they don't get the guarantee of privacy that people who own or rent in buildings get.
I don't like using vulnerable people as illustrations.
I had to make a decision about that in blogging too---how much do I use others, even anonymously as my material?
Very little, I decided.
(I do sometimes, if they're part of my life. Depending. Like, I write some about Big Boss, but I don't say anything about his life that he hasn't shared publicly on youtube!)
Would I want someone to come sketch me sitting in the front yard?
Not without them asking.
(Then, yes, I wouldn't mind.)
But I'm just not motivated to get personally involved at that level.
This has been a constant question at the thrift store too:
How much do I want to/should I involve myself in the lives of people in need, or allow people to be involved in my life and needs?
I'm no Dorothy Day.
Mostly I keep it light--a little touch of friendship with individuals here and there.
It's a juggling act!
Anyway, I'm not even thinking of recording the lives of others.
I'm thinking of painting the second empty Worcestershire bottle--empty because it goes in the Bloody Mary cockatils that HM has been making every afternoon for herself. After the first one, I declined.
I've been drinking gin and tonics, but Penny Cooper has advised me to cut back:
"Drink water with drops of tincture of mushroom instead," she says.
Point taken about alcohol ingestion, but Penny Cooper has no idea what things tastes like.
Penny Cooper has agreed to be my Pandemic Health Buddy.
Here, she encourages me to play with my food, and to make good choices, such as... sardines!
Paint & Paper
I haven't watercolored in forever.
To begin with, I don't have much room in my new place. The house was already pretty full when I moved in in September, and since HM's son is here, it's crammed. Comfortable for living––especially since it's mostly warm enough to sit outside in the front or back yards––but not for art making. (When he moves out this summer, I can spread out a bit in the guest room--that's where I was sewing masks.)
"Mostly warm enough", I say, but we've got a cold front today--it was only 36ºF / 3ºC when I started blogging at 9 a.m.
It's sunny anyway, and due to warm up to 50ºF/ 10ºC. Perfect for dog walking...
Meanwhile, I might set up a table in my room, where I can keep out art projects, in all their inspiring messiness.
Though I don't have a table at the moment...
Also, I didn't have any watercolor paper. I painted this on the book board off a broken book.
This morning HouseMate gave me a big rolled-up sheet of watercolor paper. Hooray! I will cut it up into manageably small pages, and when I'm done painting, maybe make them into a little book.
(If I bind them first, I don't use them because I'm afraid of messing up the book.)
Speaking of the end of WWII in Europe today, maybe I'll make a little series of the Pandemic Homefront.
Juggling the Lives of Others
I'm not brave/ethically sure enough to head out and sketch things in my city such as the tents I saw the other day, lined up along the railroads. (They were there before, too--not sure how the pandemic is affecting people living out.)
It reminds me of people sleeping in the London Underground during WWII, such as Henry Moore sketched in his shelter sketchbooks.
"Two figures sharing same green blanket"
As I say, I'm not sure about the ethics of sketching people living out.
These are people living their lives--but they don't get the guarantee of privacy that people who own or rent in buildings get.
I don't like using vulnerable people as illustrations.
I had to make a decision about that in blogging too---how much do I use others, even anonymously as my material?
Very little, I decided.
(I do sometimes, if they're part of my life. Depending. Like, I write some about Big Boss, but I don't say anything about his life that he hasn't shared publicly on youtube!)
Would I want someone to come sketch me sitting in the front yard?
Not without them asking.
(Then, yes, I wouldn't mind.)
But I'm just not motivated to get personally involved at that level.
This has been a constant question at the thrift store too:
How much do I want to/should I involve myself in the lives of people in need, or allow people to be involved in my life and needs?
I'm no Dorothy Day.
Mostly I keep it light--a little touch of friendship with individuals here and there.
It's a juggling act!
Anyway, I'm not even thinking of recording the lives of others.
I'm thinking of painting the second empty Worcestershire bottle--empty because it goes in the Bloody Mary cockatils that HM has been making every afternoon for herself. After the first one, I declined.
I've been drinking gin and tonics, but Penny Cooper has advised me to cut back:
"Drink water with drops of tincture of mushroom instead," she says.
Point taken about alcohol ingestion, but Penny Cooper has no idea what things tastes like.
2 comments:
It's hard to walk that ethical line sometimes. I've posted found photographs and notes occasionally, and I always wonder how someone would feel if they saw their discarded photo or note on my blog! But then again, the likelihood is so slim, and I never post anything embarrassing. I think it's good policy to mostly use my own material!
Likewise photographing other people -- legally if they're in public it's not a problem, but you raise a good point about homeless people who have no other option and don't have the luxury of privacy.
STEVE: Yes--it's not a hard and clear line.
It's subjective: do I feel what I'm doing is right and good?
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