Day 1 - Friday
This morning at 00h00 South Africa went into lockdown as a preventative measure to try and curb further infection of the Covid19 virus.
Just allow me to go back a bit in time.
In the past three weeks I have sold three paintings, which I am extremely grateful and thankful for. The paintings were packaged and posted off to the United Kingdom. Thank you to the buyers from the UK, your support and encouragement is greatly appreciated.
"Dance Of The Butterfly"
"Perfection In Imperfection"
"Shelter"
I have been working at an Art and Craft Shop here in our village in the afternoons from 13h00 to 17h00 for nearly three years, as well as present a workshop once a month at the Art Shop on a Saturday morning. I had a fully booked workshop for tomorrow 28 March 2020 for an Acrylic Pouring Workshop, however we decided on Monday already to postpone the workshop due to all the uncertainty with regards to this Covid19 pandemic and also did not want to put anyone's health at risk.
Last week was still sort of 'normal' at the art shop, even though we did notice a spike in clientele due to schools closing earlier and purchases were made to creatively entertain themselves as well as their children.
Our President announced on Monday evening, 23 March 2020, that we will be going into lockdown for 21 days on Friday morning 00h00 , 27 March 2020. Tuesday when the Art Shop opened it's doors there were clients eagerly awaiting to go in and to start their creative shopping spree for the lockdown period. This entire week until closing time yesterday was extremely busy, a kind of busy that we never experienced even during Sale time at the Art Shop. It has been a physically and mentally draining couple of days.
Creativity is good for the mind and soul and it was really great seeing people wanting to be creative especially during this upcoming lockdown where you are isolated in your home, be it alone or with your family members. Being confined to your home can have negative effects on the mental state of a person and some people might even experience depression. This is where creativity can play a huge positive and preventative role as it is food for the mind and soul.
Honestly, I was really relieved once I got home from work, knowing that I am now in my safe haven. I was mentally and physically drained and went to lie down on the bed and fell asleep. After waking up we had supper, yet I still felt really tired and went to lie down again where I drifted in and out of sleep a couple of times. Everyone in the household basically went to bed as I got up and I was filled with mixed emotions of the crazy busy week as well of what was happening in our world.
Today the first day of lockdown really felt so surreal...almost unbelievable of what was really happening in our world. I kept checking up online to see what the latest news was, what people were up to and so forth. Took an afternoon nap as I had a very disrupted night waking up almost every hour, checking online what was happening. Our family unit just spend the day quietly, relaxing and talking and trying to take what was happening all in.
Today South Africa recorded it's first two fatalities linked to the Covid19 Virus and there was a big spike of 243 from yesterday in positive tests. Now totaling 1156 positive tests for the virus.
Below is a 100 x 100 mm painting I played around with on Wednesday evening with some mixed media. Hope you like it and that it brightens up your day.
In a separate blog post I will update you with what has transpired over the past year and a bit, hence my absence on my blog.
Please stay safe, keep the social distance and take care. Much love and hugs from my home to yours, wherever you are in the world.
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