The Year That Wasn’t

When 2020 began, I had high hopes for a wonderful, exciting new year. I’m sure most of us welcomed the new year with great anticipation. Little did we know what lay ahead.

As an educator, I found closing the schools earlier in the year a big concern. It’s good we have virtual learning, but that is not the same as in-class instruction with teachers there to motivate and inspire, especially for the youngest children.

I missed attending art openings and getting to mingle with other artists and with patrons. The last event that I attended early this year was an opening at Gloucester Arts on Main called “Winter Blues”. That was back in January. Other open house art events have taken place more recently with attendance limited, but we are being quite cautious. On my computer, I’ve enjoyed watching virtual tours of Crossroads Art Center open house activities.

Virtual Zoom meetings as well as virtual critique groups have been helpful. I got to see the juror, Paul di Pasquale, for the Metropolitan Richmond Artists annual juried show up close and heard his remarks clearly by way of Facebook. I was pleased that my painting, “Desert on Xanadu” received an honorable mention in the show. This photo was taken of my computer screen as the juror discussed my painting in the show. Technology is amazing!

Paul di Pasquale, juror for the MRAA show