Downtime Painting

This is a 1m wide oil painting of a nurse and her hubby on downtime. It’s after her first week back on duty, tackling the COVID-19 pandemic at the QE2 Birmingham, in the ICU. On duty, she wears full PPE, so she has learned to smile with her eyes. She has to deal with nurses who are too scared to even enter the viral wards. When she comes home, she has to decontaminate by washing down thoroughly before even getting a hug. She is a ward sister, she is my sister – respect. There is a comfortable distance created in this painting, between the viewer and the subjects. The viewer’s standpoint is where the subject’s large flat-screen TV is, so the viewer and the subjects are both kind of observing each other. This is how the subjects looked to me on my laptop when I took a screenshot during a video chat, which I later painted. The inspiration for this painting came from the strong light cast across the room, the informal pose and the simplicity of the triangular composition. One half of the painting is just a wall. That still life in the foreground was a bit tricky to tackle though, I hadn’t even noticed it because my eyes were so drawn to the light. I wanted to do it justice though, because otherwise I knew it would irritate me. Did you notice? They’ve each got their mobile phones on the arms of the sofa.

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:38.6 W x 26.8 H x 0.8 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.