30 Dec MAKING IT EASY FOR 2021

Through 2019 and the beginning of 2020 I built up a really good momentum for painting. At the beginning of 2020 I finished a large commissioned painting and was looking forward to digging deep into my painting practice. The pandemic however skittled all of these plans – I could not get my painting practice of the ground again.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. After all there were so many other artists who were parents, stuck in the pandemic exactly as I was and were getting it all right and all done, so why couldn’t I do it? In retrospect I spent a lot of time in self recrimination, telling myself that I wasn’t doing enough or I didn’t want it enough to do it. It was a long heartbreak in terms of painting and competely unecessary. One thing the pandemic has highlighted is how differently it has affected different people. Each of our unique life circumstances have generated unique responses. In my case I couldn’t get my painting routine to work with my family responsibilities. And that’s ok.

When I was planning for the new year I knew I didn’t want to carry on in this same headspace because realistically I think we are up against the same kind of restrictions at least for the first few months of 2021. I have decided to park my painting practice for a while and focus on other ways of making art that I am equally enthused about. It’s about using my space and time constraints smartly to allow me to get more work done and spend least amount of time in setups and cleanups.

More line drawings, more Chinese painting and more sketchbook work. Now that I think about it, it feels like a such a simple and no brainer course of action given the circumstances. But the heart wants what it wants, and mine wanted to paint! So it took me a while and multiple chats with very helpful artist friends to figure my way out of this. Now that it’s done, I feel light and look forward to what I can make in the new year. Here’s to a happy and fulfilling 2021 !