A follower of my blog recently wrote to wish me a Merry Christmas, which was very nice of them to do. But included was this question: “Have you been a victim of COVID?” The question was asked because they’d noticed that I hadn’t posted on the blog or on Instagram for quite a while.
My first answer was simply “no,” but suddenly I felt guilty for not thinking about what some might think if I stopped posting. And so, my second response idea was to explain that I just hadn’t been sketching much and thus had nothing to post.
Then it occurred to me to reflect on the question itself. I’ve considered myself one of the lucky ones during the COVID pandemic. I’m retired so staying home isn’t a heavy burden. My wife and daughter are home with me so I don’t even have the angst of not seeing my family through the holidays.
But upon reflection, like so many people, I am a victim of COVID, not as someone who got the virus but in other ways. For instance, I was supposed to have knee surgery back in September. It was cancelled as Quebec hospitals cancelled all “elective” surgeries to free up staff to deal with COVID victims. This has relegated me to the limp around the house crowd and limited my ability to go for long walks, something I was doing during the early phases of the pandemic.
But maybe the biggest impact COVID has had on me is my sketching, something I used to do every day and now do almost never. I tried drawing food, kitchen utensils, and sofas. I just don’t like it. For me, sketching is about going out, plunking myself down on a tripod stool, and drawing something. Take that away from me and I simply stopped sketching. I’m sure I’ll get back to it once I can go out again but until then, I’m really having a hard time being interested. In that sense, I am a COVID victim. I suspect most people have simliar “victim” stories.
That’s not to say that I’m not doing well or that I’m unhappy. I’ve taken to playing my guitar again. I bought a ukulele. I’m getting in touch with music again. It’s all good. I hope others are responding to these disruptions in their life in similar ways. I hope all of you have a happy holiday season in spite of circumstances. I apologize for not making a statement about why I wasn’t posting before. I know there are at least three of you who follow my stuff and I should have thought about the potential for misreading my lack of presence. We’ve all got to be like the two kids in my sketch. We’ve got to keep that ball rolling regardless of the ups and down of the terrain.
Good to know you haven’t gotten ill. But you do make a good point that there are more victims of the pandemic than those who get infected with it.
I’ve become involved with more on-line groups. I’ve done a few virtual outings with USk Yorkshire. They have a separate group for that so as not to confuse the boundaries of USk Manifesto.
I’m sketching a lot from my own photos… revisiting European trips of the past two years.
And I’m going out to sketch from my car at least a couple times a week. I miss the USk group but I do still find enjoyment in location sketching by myself.
As long as I’ve been sketching I’ve been taking photos for the sole purpose of sketching from them. I think I’ve actually done that twice 🙂 Truth is the old adage of “there’s always something to sketch” remains true. Just as true, one must be motivated to sketch and it’s probably more the mental side of things that’s causing me to stop sketching. This is the time of year when I live in coffee shops and museums but these are all closed here so I’m facing a winter of no venues in which to sketch. I know that the end of COVID confinement will be marked by my surgery and weeks more where I can’t go anywhere. Thus, there is no light at the end of my tunnel right now. So, I’ve decided to take a different road and learn some music theory. I’ll get back to sketching some day. I just don’t know what day 🙂
I wasn’t inspired to do much either, but then I decided to make my own Christmas cards and got on a roll with 4×6 postcards. I set up a lap kit with a clipboard so I can paint while I lounge on the sofa and watch tv in the evenings. I love your picture of the kids and snowball! Glad you and family are well.
I think lots of us are living in a state of malaise. Daily news of irresponsible Americans, ignoring the fact that 3000 people are dying every day in their country, dance merrily in the streets while expressing their “freedom” doesn’t help with my mood I’m afraid.
Christmas cards are fun and I’m glad that’s worked for you. I’ve tried hard to kindle an interest in sketching in the house. I just can’t do it, but I also admit that it’s something more than subject matter that is stifling my desire to create art. Ten months is too long for anyone to be cooped up and the knowledge that it’ll likely be another six to nine before we came come out to play isn’t very inspiring (grin).