There are no words eloquent enough to describe the havoc wrought by the pandemic. The loss of life, livelihoods, special events, schooling and opportunities compounded by social injustice—it is more than one small mind can comprehend. But this interval has also brought gifts, the gift of time for many, freedom from expectations for others, the opening of possibilities not previously considered for some. Artists, like everyone else, have faced these challenges, and they are still doing what artists do—creating, interpreting, expressing, contemplating, sharing.

Katalkina Focuses on New Work Despite More Demands

“Balancing homeschooling, household tasks, keeping up with never-ending 2020 news, and lots of Zoom sessions with finding a regular time slot for painting has been the main challenge for me,” says Anna Katalkina. “As a result, I am painting much less.”

Katalkina is nevertheless excited about her new work. “I had the idea for a new series before the pandemic, but the pandemic solidified and focused it,” she says. She has been surprised by the paintings. “Even though I have completed only two and am finishing the third, I can already tell that each one is very different. They will be united in their difference.” Katalkina is especially pleased with her image of a humanoid ant rattle in a vintage golden frame.

Lantz: If You Can’t Paint, Read about Painting

Some artists, like Paula Lantz, haven’t been able to work at all. “I’ve always made my art outside of my home, but I wasn’t able to use my studio at all for several months. It sort of made me brain-dead.” Instead of painting, she has spent the time reading about art. “Fortunately, I have a lot of art books.”

When she couldn’t paint, she instead spent time reviewing her own work in albums and sketchbooks. “Wow!” she says. “Some of that stuff should be in MOMA—and some in the trash.” Now that she is back in her studio, she is excited to be painting again.

Bernat Paints with the Sharks

Valerie Bernat, who is a docent at the National Gallery of Art as well as an artist, has also spent a lot of time reading about art and artists and especially windows. “A grid links both a view out of a window and the readings I’ve been doing about minimalism and conceptualism and the artists who work with the grid,” she says. Thus, grids are showing up in her work.

“My paintings have taken a darker turn. Sharks have made appearances,” she says. “I consciously have wanted the images to have a bit of ambiguity to reflect our uncertainty. Windows also have appealed to me, since we’ve spent so many days on the inside looking out instead of the other way around.”

Wallar Returns to Old Themes

Gale Wallar misses the simple freedom to be somewhere else but has found the freedom to explore. “Usually I get a lot of artistic inspiration from my surroundings. I miss not being able to go to museums or galleries and see other art in person, or to hop on a bus or train and go to New York for a day,” she says. Wallar misses being able to travel to see inspiring landscapes, especially mountains, and to explore other cultures. “I am relying on photos to relive my past adventures.”

Wallar has returned to one of her oldest themes, big canvases of big mountains. Last fall she started working on a series of small format glacier scenes with an environmental theme. The first new work she started after the shutdown was a large, 36” x 48” canvas. “I had not worked on large canvases for about 30 years, for practical reasons. The change felt good!”

Wallar has also used some of the time to experiment with new materials and methods. “I have felt more freedom to try new media, which has been interesting. I have not had many results that are especially good, but it was fun to order some new art tools.”

Squires Looks to Poets and Nature for Inspiration

For Maureen Squires, this has been a time of thoughtfulness and enhanced creativity which has resulted in several new series. “As a calligrapher, words are often the inspiration to my ‘word paintings,’ and words I have been saving up presented themselves opportunely,” she says. “The other source of inspiration is my natural surroundings and finding a way to represent nature as more an idea/image than straight representational work.”

One of new Squires’ new series is based on a quote from Maya Angelou:

We have some impulse within us that makes us want to explain ourselves to other human beings. That’s why we paint, that’s why we dare to love someone—because we have the impulse to explain who we are.

Another series deals with the isolation the pandemic has created. It is based on one of her favorite excerpts from Rainer Maria Rilke:

I am too alone the world, and not along enough

To make every moment holy.

…and in the silent, sometimes hardly moving times

When something is coming near,

I want to be with those who know secret things

Or else alone.

The three paintings—so far—of her third new series are inspired by living on an island surrounded by estuaries and marshland. Title “Marsh Magic,” the abstract series suggests the changing colors and depths of water moving in and out of tidal areas.

“None of the series are ‘done’ per se,” Squires says. “I may add to them.” Since the need for quarantine shows no sign of being over, especially in the south where she lives, there is plenty of time for more thoughtfulness and creativity.

Coppel Travels from Home

Marcia Coppel normally finds the subject matter for her colorful paintings and intriguing figure drawings during the time she spends in Mexico each year. Unable to travel abroad, she has had some struggles with painting, as she usually paints from the drawings done in Mexico.. “Then I found two sites for drawing the model on Zoom,” she says. Ya esta! The models are back. Problem solved.

Williams Just Wants to Have Fun

Patricia Williams had difficulty painting during the first few weeks of the shutdown. “Someone we had known for many years was an early casualty, which heightened my sense of unease. I finally sat down in my studio and said to myself, just paint something. It doesn’t have to be good. It wasn’t, but it got me started,” she says.

Williams expected to spend this year working on a series with the prospect of a solo show. “Instead, I am just painting for fun. I am experimenting with new papers, new media—loving alcohol inks—old media I have lying around the studio. The lack of expectation is exhilarating.” Eventually, some of these lines of inquiry may find their way into series. If not, she has enjoyed the time.

Another positive is that Williams finally developed a daily sketchbook practice, something various teachers and friends had advised her to do for years. “My husband and the dog like to sit on the porch and commune with nature every morning. I like to get the day going. The shutdown raised the question, going where?” she says. She now joins them every morning to sketch. She has found that working from the same view day after day can be a catalyst for creativity and for trying new things.

Touchstone Expands Its Reach

Touchstone Gallery has also responded constructively to the pandemic. While our physical space is closed, we are finding vibrant new ways to connect online through our website and social media. Our monthly shows are now a virtual 3-D experience, which offers freedom in the way our artists’ work is presented and the way it can be viewed. Our upcoming international juried show promises to be one of the most interesting and thought-provoking yet with 730 entries from countries all over the world, including South Africa, Columbia, Poland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, Cyprus, Australia, Japan, Luxembourg, Canada, Germany, Brazil, Greece, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, Kuwait and South Korea. Moving the event online allows us to include artists that would not have been able to participate otherwise.

The pandemic has brought challenges, of course, but it has motivated us to explore new ways of connecting with each other and the public, and it has reminded us that whatever happens, our art is always open.

Cover image by Maureen Squires

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