This project started as a simple gesture of support for a local Longmont business: Six rolls of toilet paper arrived at my door by private courier, delivered by a Longmont Shuttle driver named Joe, who was wearing white gloves. I had purchased the overpriced rolls to support the shuttle service in their creative response to Covid-19 quarantine challenges.
I painted an image of one of the rolls with the intention of posting the work on Instagram and simply giving a shout out to the shuttle service. #itsstillalifeunderquarantine. What started as a whim to pass the time at home and a gesture to spread the word quickly became a daily practice. As I incorporated this process into my daily routine, I discovered it was the much-needed antidote to COVID zoom meeting fatigue: go into your studio and paint one small white object that does not speak. Clears the mind.
As I introduced different colors into the background the process became a study of the perception of color and taking time to sit with the impact of warm and cool colors on my psyche. Everything about this daily routine was an antidote to the rest of my day, which involved too much rapid change, too much uncertainty, and too many video images as I transitioned to working remotely and keeping up with current events via a steady stream Zoom meetings and news videos.
Slow perceptual painting of a simple object reduces the noise and allows for a more expansive exploration of the nuances of what happens to me as I perceive color, as I perceive the world around me. When does the hand take over and the painting become instinctual? What does my experience with the painting medium allow me to do on a 12 x 12 surface? I was infinitely surprised at how different each piece was. And it was refreshing to be reminded that creative pursuits can serve as a restorative measure in times of stress.
For me, the whole project has become primarily an act of celebration of painting and creative expression as a coping, calming, and sharing mechanism. It has been a way to connect with others – via a small colorful dose of humor- around the absurdity of our time. And as the set grew, I have reflected on the questions of consumption, mass production, herd mentality and gratitude for simple joys in my life.
The still life has historically revealed clues about a painter’s culture or personal story through specific objects. As I painted these images I also reflected on how rapidly a turn of events can make an object a metaphor or icon of one’s time and the way painting is the best language to express those seismic shifts, since the visual language of painting reaches past the barriers of the spoken word.
