End Times Painting

I was in my art studio in Los Angeles when the pandemic panic first began in mid-March. My roommate who has had some serious health issues in the past, was at our house in San Diego. He was very concerned about the whole situation and, worried I might be ill somehow, wouldn’t let me come home -as it wasn’t clear how this virus was spread or how to get tested. When I insisted on seeing him and drove back briefly, we looked through a closed window at each other and cried. Everyone and every surface seemed like a potential source of infection. I did some chaotic grocery shopping, tossing random items into my cart, trying to scavenge whatever was left on the shelves- and back at my studio, had a meltdown worrying about how to disinfect said items from Covid. Then the lockdown occurred. My sources of income came to an abrupt halt. I spent the next three months in my live/work studio and stayed put during that time. Though I didn’t leave, the chaos and cacophony of the world around me- police helicopters overhead, sirens, raucous shouting - were clear and audible. I was glued to the news, watching the President deny there was a problem as Covid deaths tolls rose exponentially. George Floyd’s murder and then the resulting riots, fires and looting raised the stress. Two of my planned trips home to Canada were canceled when the borders were closed. I’m a terrible cook -or maybe I’m just emotional with a sensitive stomach- and ended up getting multiple cases of food poisoning. Without my usual hiking and gym routine, I became thin and somewhat gaunt. A family member in New York City died alone in a hospital. I stopped sleeping. I painted, “End Times”, 76” x 76”, oil paint on linen, at the start of the pandemic. In the foreground, we see what I call “the fickle fingers of fate”, (one mechanical in nature and the other making what could be interpreted as the white power sign), pull an acrobatic wire causing a figure on the left to trip and fall into the depths. In the lower background we see a reddish city scene. Smashed up cars and an oncoming flood of rolling water, indicate that all is not well. Upon closer inspection, the buildings are in disrepair and some are in the process of being smashed by a wrecking ball. Behind them, oil derricks clang on in their man-made destruction. I imagine a noxious smell. Though there is a sense of doom, in the distance we see the yellow hills, of what might be Malibu. The skies are somewhat clear, but flickering rose. Perhaps more disaster will come from above. Perhaps disaster will come from below. The big one. An earthquake. Whatever happens, it will be okay. I have a sense of calmness and acceptance now. I’m hiking in the mountains again and am more robust. Even if the situation is hopeless, I’ve had a marvelous life. The Earth will carry on without us and I sense that things will be better that way.

Painting:Oil on Soft (Yarn, Cotton, Fabric)

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:76 W x 76 H x 3 D in

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