“As a full-time stay-at-home artist, I haven’t had to adjust my daily habits as dramatically as many others have due to shelter-in-place orders,” Herb Willey. “It so happened, though, that the threat of the virus came just as I was recovering from major dental surgery and moving to a new residence. For four weeks, I went from painting almost daily to not at all.
Credit Hurricane Katrina for the destroyed pier, and Covid-19 for the empty beach chairs.
“Anxiety over Covid-19 weighed heavily on me through this period. I found it difficult to concentrate, let alone be creative. But as time moved on, and with no end to the crises in sight, I began to realize that I would need to adjust and develop a new attitude.
I spotted this family taking advantage of the spring weather and the absence of anyone impeding their way to get out for a bike ride.
“In the past few weeks, my desire to create has overcome my worry about what surprises each day might bring. Still, I find I can often focus on my creative pursuits for only short bursts of time. Working on small studies that document the Bay St Louis, Mississippi, area where I live perfectly suits my mood. These paintings will be part of a new show, “The Quarantine Series,” scheduled for October at Gallery 220 in Bay St Louis.”
Footprints still litter the empty beach in Waveland a few days after it was closed.
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