Covid Week One

There was so much going on I had not really wrapped my head around the reality of it. It started with one last trip to Silverton to meet with a hotel owner on a potential sale and commission. We left knowing it would be the last time getting out, we knew also that it was probably a last time effort on this sale. Even during the overnight in Silverton we felt what was coming. We hit the grocery store on the way back understanding that in Astoria certain resources had already become impossible to get and we hoped Silverton might provide. Coming home it was a flurry of closing studios and figuring out exactly what a Quarantine might look like. Would we still go in to our studios, how would we keep them safe?

That first night quarantined in my home I had a dream about small paintings. In the dream I could see the composition completely and woke to immediately start painting. That painting has not stopped. Every day through this weird time I make one small 3 in by 2.5 in painting as way of documenting this strange time.

It amazes me that I can be here studio less, in such a scary time and the only way to process is through the paint. That first week the paintings reflect the emotional experience of making this change. How we begin to adjust. Some of them even reflect on silly things like peanut butter which is about the joy my dog feels everyday when I put peanut butter in a kong. Some of them go deeper into the realizations we have when we have to pivot to communicate, build and live. Enjoy the first weeks work here.

You can also see them on my instagram @kiristatrask