Leisure Acres: tiny broodings

A nostalgic hand-painted sign nailed to a hickory tree welcomes you to "Leisure Acres," the neighborhood where we live in the Appalachian mountains. My husband likes to joke that there is no leisure in Leisure Acres. The name is so opposite who we are- I mean-we don’t even own a couch. Living off the grid in a tiny house we built ourselves on six wooded acres keeps us busy. Our ways are a bit obscure too. My husband is the mastermind and often I feel a bit lost in all the special "systems" we use to keep this “thing” we dubbed TINY, sustainable. As COVID-19 closed the borders to Switzerland my planned art residency in Geneva also came to a halt. After reading Ninth Street Women, a biography of the women of the NY Abstract Expressionist movement, I decided to consider my own surroundings and feelings more to inspire my art.

As for all families, Covid-19 has brought about discomfort, sacrifice and transformation. I have questioned my ability to teach, guide and homeschool our 13 year old nephew who lives with us. I have questioned my ability to mother from afar our older daughter. I have questioned my role as a wife, woman and artist. This has been a time of contemplation and yes, even brooding. In light of what so many in the world have had to traverse through, my issues seem so small, my broodings so tiny, just a drop in the bucket of despair the Pandemic has caused. The verb brooding seems so fitting at this time of lock down and “nesting“ at home. It is not a state of despair, it is a state of waiting and pining for things hoped for. Even in scripture God is compared to a mother hen caring for her young. I believe these new works deserve a place in my landscape painting at this time.

Brooding cloud #1 mixed media on 48x48x1.5 canvas

Brooding cloud #2 mixed media on 48x48x1.5 canvas

Brood 1 mixed media on 40x30x1.5 canvas

Brood 2 mixed media on 40x30x1.5 canvas

Brood 1/ Brood 2 Diptych mixed media on 40x60x1.5 canvas

Four brooding wigs mixed media on four 4x4x1 wood cradles

Bellyache mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Chrysalis mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Thorn and flesh mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Ruff mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Dark Hallow mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Resting under the red maple mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Kettle is boiling mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Two red kettles on green table mixed media on 24x19 bristol

Hiding under the rock mixed media om 24x19 bristol

Good morning is just two words. mixed media on 14x11 bristol mounted on 1" wood cradle

Brooding #1 Jim said the hydrangea bush was 150 years old. I didn't believe him. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #2 Food scraps collect in the kitchen sink. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #3 Crank open the bedroom window and feel the cross breeze. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #4 Stay far from Dark Hollow's creek water. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #5 It stinks behind the wood pile. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #6 White potatoes seem to grow best in this soil. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #7 Jim asked how I liked the paint job on the bridge. I smiled. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #8 Coffee pot with sassafras root and honey. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #9 Buddy's fish pond is always filled with mud. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #10 The swimming hole is just down the street but the sign says no trespassing. mixed media on 14x11

Brooding #11 Who put red onion in the privy? Mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #12 Black bear hijacking our five-gallon compost bucket. Mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #13 Vultures circling over my head while reading Howard Zinn. Mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Brooding #14 Chocolatiers make the best neighbors and then they move away Mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Four crab apple trees along deer path. mixed media on 14x11 bristol

The dead hemlock's playing tricks on me. Mixed media on 14x11 bristol

Red tea kettle and two jars on striped table. Mixed media on 11x14 bristol