In the middle of the chaos and many uncertainties of 2020, the many hours of painting ­– often alone – out on street is grounding for me, a life & truth affirming practice. With surprising and delightful social interludes. Getting to know more neighbors. Talking to a stream of passers-by, on foot, bike or in cars, honking, shouting out their approval, stopping to read, talk, discuss, taking stills to send to family and friends worldwide.

I invite friends – one or two at a time – to paint with me. Masked and distanced. As a meditation? Prayer? Work party? Challenge? Joy? All of the above. Each of us realizes that the process of finishing just one panel takes effort and time, so commitment becomes important. But time is not much of a problem now, most of us are not as busy as usual, so organizing is fairly easy for me.

From the first group of Nicky, Laura, Tomye, Jonas, Renate and Christopher, only Nicky and Laura, stay. We all learn about the challenge of brush calligraphy on a vertical wall. The steep incline of pavement right up to the garage doors makes our legs sore. Or the white doors glare too much, hurting the eyes. And once the sun comes over the house beating down on us, it is time to stop unless we want to risk heat stroke. Despite being strong, my thighs are getting sore from running up and down the two long flight of stairs to the house to fetch water, extra rags, rulers, pens, erasers, tea, juice, fruit, to keep everyone happy...

How different the feel of the times is now – most people are rushing, shouting loudly at each other as they bike uphill, barely looking anywhere :)   But the teenage girl in pink exclaims "love your garage" as she flies by, it must be her usual running route. People going “back to normal" – as if possible – closes the window just a bit. Being not sure about life and death made everyone so open, I loved it :)  maybe this is a space we know well as artists...