Category Archives: coronavirus

In a certain time and place…

This certain time and place…

Taking a pause on the GI JOE style series today.

The idea of this self-portrait was staring me in the face.  Specifically, the rear view mirror in my car. I’d just left the grocery store, loaded all the bags, clumped myself down in the drivers seat and looked up.  I hadn’t moved the mask off my face yet. There I was. It was me… along what the times dictated I be.  Not a requirement… a suggestion.

My mantra in regard to what I create has always been to tell a story and invoke an emotion. Words help, but they’re not always needed. If you can show a beginning, middle and ends with a single image, you’re better than you think you are.  Years from now, someone will see this somewhere and wonder how we got through it… how some managed and some did not.

As of this writing, nearly 55,000 people in the U.S. have died because of COVID-19. A month ago, that number was just a bit over 2,000.

My family does everything it can to protect ourselves and others. I’ve washed my hands so much I think I washed some of my fingerprints completely off.

We’ll never be the same… and ultimately, that’s probably a good thing.

It’s tragic. It’s scary. And… it’s equal opportunity… if you inhale and exhale you can get it. I hope that the fear I feel every single day is evident in this image.

I don’t like that fear… but at the same time I never want to forget that fear.

Categories: art coronavirus

Isolation in the age of COVID-19

Edward Hopper, Morning Light with Bob the SquirrelIsolation in the age of COVID-19

No other artist (in my semi-educated opinion) does isolation better than my good friend Edward Hopper.

I created this image of Bob this morning and realized we’re probably all feeling a little Edward Hopper at the moment… we don’t know how long it’s going to last either. Unlike Hopper’s characters, we’ll eventually get to leave our paintings… but what the other side of the canvas will look like is anyone’s guess.

I feel bad for my daughter… her senior year of high school curtailed by a pandemic she had nothing to do with. Things like her graduation ceremony…which, aren’t exactly cancelled… but aren’t exactly set in stone either. I hope after all the pissed off feelings subside she, and her generation, become stronger for dealing with it.

The lemonade made from the lemons they have will have an interesting taste to say the least.

I’ve depicted my family in a Hopper work before… but for the next series of images, I’m going to depict each member of my family individually in a Hopper work…because like I said… we’re all in a Hopper painting at the moment.

Categories: art coronavirus painting

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What COVID-19 is and how to stay safe

It’s good to knoCOVID-19 Coronavirus - description, safety and preventionw what you’re up against… Here’s a short panel about what COVID-19 is and what you can do to stay safe from it.

Squirrels have a tendency to make things a bit more easy to digest so I thought I’d throw together a basic panel of facts (and a splash of humor). Bob learning that he too could become a participant in this thing was really the spark for this… but I also wanted to explain.

How could I make this whole scary, world-wide situation a bit easier to understand for children. Sure, most are off of school, but do the smaller kids really know WHY they’re not in school? I could’ve made a book about this… taking a million points and pairing them down to the vital points is one of the most challenging parts of what I do.

Nearly all of our lives have been affected by this virus. And even though the things in this panel were probably taught to you before or in pre-school, it’s always good to have a logical reminder.  Make sure you wipe everything down… when this is all over, maybe some of these habits will make you post-Coronavirus a bit more healthier.

 

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strange times…maybe

Very strange times…

There’s a lot of fear out there right now.

There’s also a lot of arrogance.

I’m not sure which one is correct really.

You pick things up…

…but you wash your hands BEFORE AND AFTER you pick those things up.

I don’t have a clue as to when this “new” normal will become the “old” normal. Estimates range the range of ranges. Days, weeks, months… everyone knows and no one knows.

Lives will be lost. Lives will be ruined. Lives will start over.

I’ve stopped using phrases like, “I wish we could go back…” because, we can’t. Even my fantasies aren’t safe from reality.

I still hope though.

Maybe hope is a fantasy too… but I’m trying to keep reality away from that one for now.

Maybe hope is arrogance. Maybe hope is motivation. Maybe hope is a religion with no deity.

Maybe I should just shut up and be thankful for the days when the happy moments outnumber the sad, angry or hopeless moments. Even if it’s one more…

Maybe I should just shut up and draw the squirrel… the embodiment of fear and arrogance that smells like peanut butter and has a big fluffy tail.  He’s probably a little hope too…

Categories: blog coronavirus thoughts