Government and health officials have made it very clear that we are all in this pandemic together and only by being apart can we come together and defeat the invisible enemy.

This has been a very difficult time for everyone both emotionally and financially.  Like many people my ability to earn a living came to an abrupt halt with the cancellation of art shows, sales and all my workshops.

It was tough to earn a living as a full time artist before Covid19  and now it became a million times harder. 

The lack of income was hard but to be honest as an artist I was accustomed to living on very little and empty food cupboards were nothing new. What was extremely hard to bear was the constant roller coaster of emotions that each new day brought. Some days I was filled with resolve in the knowledge that staying home, continuing to create art as normal was the right thing to do. But on other days I was so filled with despair and sorrow due to thousands of people suffering and dying I was emotionally crippled and could not even get out of bed. 

So I decided to use my art as a kind of therapy and express my emotions through my paintings.  Using coffee instead of paint ( times were hard and paint is expensive) I painted a coffee angel every day - I felt that a little divine intervention might help me to get through this.  However my angels were not the stereotypical angels that you see on Christmas cards  with slender bodies and flowing locks.  My angels represented everyday people doing everyday activities.  Some were chubby some were skinny I even threw a few kids into the mix.   To release my feelings for the day I added words , quotes or notes to the paintings.  Some were inspirational, some were sassy and defiant others I chose to use humour to mask the pain.  The everyday angel project provided a way to express my emotional state in a tangible way and also to plot my day to day mood swings. 

My angels may not have been sent by God but they were definitely a God-send to me.

The result is a huge collection of coffee angel paintings, I have posted them on my web site www.asharperimage.photostockplus.com if you would like to see what I created.

This project has changed the way I do art, it forced me to use what I had on hand.  Going forward I have plans to use more organic and hand made mediums in my art.  I will turn my attention to what is available in my own back yard and devise ways to create paints and pigments from what is in my immediate surroundings.  The first challenge will be to make paint from what we normally regard as un-desirable dandelions and grass clippings. My yard also has a couple of bushes that produce berries which I am hoping can be used in the production of organic paint and inks.

After the long cold days of isolation it will be nice to go outside and forage for potential art supplies.