The COVID Queen gives a nod to the Sun King with her powerful pose
Audience as inspiration is how I get ideas for paintings like “COVID Queen.” The friend that received this card has a quirky sense of humor, and it was obvious to me she needed something quirky in the midst of #QuarantineLife. I worked on this card for several weeks in April and May because I wanted to get it just right.
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Tropical Paradise: Remote Edition
The next card I painted was for someone with roots in the Caribbean. It was still cold out and I was sure they were probably dreaming of a tropical paradise. Since it had become clear they would not be traveling anytime soon, I decided to bring them “Tropical Paradise: Remote Edition”
The Joy in Geometry
My friend, Dana, loves mathematics and finds joy in geometry. Finding patterns and repetition, and making precise calculations, brings her deep satisfaction. When thinking about what to paint for her card, I remembered one of her artistic photographs, “Hearts of Gold”.
One of my favorite flowers is the Blanket Flower, and I thought a stylized version of it would be just right. It would bring together the best of my CMYK painting technique and Dana’s joy in geometry.
Imagination is an important part of survival
Figment is a little purple dragon from Disney’s “Journey Into Imagination” ride at EPCOT. He’s also my friend’s absolutely favorite Disney character. She loves Disney, and before #QuarantineLife, she visited multiple times a week. It’s her happy place. It hit her hard when Disney had to close down because of COVID-19.
We’ve been known to ride “Journey Into Imagination” together and sing along to all the songs. What better way to cheer her up than with a message of positivity from Figment?
How have you used imagination to survive #QuarantineLife?
Bringing Cheer during #QuarantineLife
As #QuarantineLife began to engulf the entire country, I noticed that there was a resurgence in sending physical mail to help people feel connected to one another.
I was looking for a reason to paint again and remembered the stack of unused, blank watercolor greeting cards sitting in the corner. This seemed like the perfect way to bring some joy to friends and family while also giving me a reason to set aside time to paint.
Thus, my line of COVID Cards was born. Each card is custom designed for the recipient. By nature, I’m a designer, and work better with project scope. Picking specific people to design for gave me the focus I needed to be creative in a variety of ways.
I painted my very first COVID Card for my mother. As a little girl, I always looked forward to the daffodils blooming at Easter time, and the bleeding hearts we bought one year for Mother’s Day were always so beautiful. It seemed only right to put them on a card.
Perfect is the enemy of the good: Embracing imperfection
“Perfect is the enemy of the good,” is attributed to Voltaire, the French writer and philosopher. He was actually quoting an Italian proverb, “Il meglio รจ l’inimico del bene.” A more literal translation would be, “The best is the enemy of the good,” but that’s not what’s stuck around for us English speakers.
Photo by Jeff Siepman from Unsplash
Although I’m sure there have been entire philosophical treatise and books written on the subject, I’m not here to philosophize. What I’m really here for is to showcase my artwork.
I was waiting until I had time to get my website perfectly right, but realized that by the time I find that kind of time, I will have a huge backlog of art.
Over the weekend, I stuffed my perfectionism way down deep, buried it in a block of ice, and designed a good website. Is it perfect? Of course not. Would it have ever been perfect if I waited? Probably not. But do I like it? Yes, I’m happy with what I designed and am even more happy to start sharing my artwork.
If, “Perfect is the enemy of the good,” then I guess I’ll have to be content with less than perfect. What’s new?