mixed media on wood panel $1400
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, I, like many others,
found that the busy pace of my life slowed significantly.
Suddenly there was time to plant and maintain a vegetable garden-
a collaborative effort with my partner which also brought new life to our relationship.
I also began taking long bike rides with a friend several times a week.
I felt calmer, happier, more inspired. On one of my bike rides
I discovered a beautiful treasure on the ground that I could not ignore;
it was the piece of rusted metal that is now the central focus of this work of art.
Holding this rust in my hand, a question came to mind,
How have I gotten rusty?
I realized that my pre-COVID busyness had caused me to lose my connection
to things that mattered to me. When was the last time I had allowed myself time
to really relax and replenish? Working the soil, planting, watering, and witnessing
the sprouting of new life became my daily meditation. I became intimate with
each and every one of the plants I tended and became acutely aware of the
myriad life forms that arrived to partake of the bounty, as well. I was fascinated
by the daily comings and goings of bees, butterflies, and earthworms
that I hadn’t taken the time to notice before. Interestingly, being in lockdown
didn’t feel restrictive to me. If anything, I felt freer than I had in a long, long time.
I rarely had to drive my car; if I needed to go somewhere in the general vicinity,
I hopped on my bike, and that pattern has continued to this day.
The ebb and flow of busyness has increased since March, but the fresh
perspective gained during the global quietude imbues all my decisions now.
This piece is my way of expressing the sense of new life growing through ‘rust’
– the parts of myself that had grown stagnant. The foundation is a mixed media collage
created from pages torn from my planner, a symbolic representation
of the hectic schedule underlying and contributing to the rust.
To emphasize the point I placed the tabs from each month around the perimeter of the piece,
starting in March and running through November, with the 3rd, voting day, circled in gold pen.
The new growth coming up through the rust is constructed from copper wire and 36 gauge
“copper sheets that I cut into leaf shapes and embossed before adding a blue green patina.”
