Creativity in a pandemic...

...has somehow come to mean that the condo has become an extension of the studio.  There are piles of projects from one end of the place to the other, and John is concerned that eventually we'll have no place to live.

The dining room table sports a long-term butterfly project,

the coffee table in the living room is wearing a bit of fabric that requires some outrageous colour,

and the bedroom bureau has an even longer-term embroidery project that has been languishing for a couple of months (well, maybe more).

Naturally the studio is chock-a-block full, as well, with nearly a full table of paper in the process of being transformed.  It is, after a number of layers, starting to look interesting.  I wonder what the final colour scheme will be...

Another of the tables has an on-going art journal that sees some use nearly every day as I clean my brayers.  Please - don't judge me by the number of wine labels you see on this spread...I'm sure it took weeks to empty those bottles.  😋😋😋

There are piles of 'things' all over the studio, including some rec centre wristbands from the pre-Covid gym sessions (oh how I miss that gym!).

Another stash bemuses me with the things that 'might come in handy someday'.  Really, Win?  REALLY?

 The walls are covered - with tools from hand-cut stencils

 to shelves of paints and projects in various stages, and much, much more.

As I look around the condo at all the colour and texture and pattern and play opportunities, I wonder how in the world one could exist in this time without the joy of an active imagination and sense of playfulness.

I'm hoping that you're in the throes of your own creative bent; I'd love to hear what you're doing.  Feel free to add links in your comments below!    

The season....

I love my 'workshop season', because I get so jazzed up about possibilities, painting and playing with colour.  I've got so many starts on the go right now I'm a little dizzy (well, more than usual, that is).

I finished another water study utilizing paper scraps that I save over the year.  The paper is a combination of found and  hand-painted papers adhered onto board, with beads and found objects added to the mix.

Evoking Water 8 x 10 Mixed Media on board by Win Dinn 

The work below uses some of my favourite motifs - keys and puzzle pieces on a background of photos transferred onto a painted matboard.  Keys normally denote spirituality for me, but in this case, the painting became about a memory that definitely does not work as it did previously!

Wish I Could Remember...  5 x 10 Mixed Media on matboard by Win Dinn 

 I'm so thinking spring, and the  hand-painted paper butterfly reflects this.  I have another butterfly piece on the go as well, so I know that spring must be on the way.  This painting on canvas utilizes torn strips of an  upcycled novel adhered onto the canvas as a ground for her flight plan.  I think she has an assignation happening in her life...

Midnight Flight 5 x 7 Mixed Media on canvas by Win Dinn