As we adjust and transform our habits to accommodate life in the time of Covid-19, we are making use of virtual reality: Virtual hugs, virtual meetings, virtual gatherings, virtual affection. That is our new reality. In the past, the ease with which we manifested our social selves, lavishing  our affections on each other,  convening a meeting or hosting a family dinner has been replaced with new and unique ways to experience each other's presence. It is nor altogether unsatisfying but is a  tepid replacement for the real thing. We will all value the fluidity of our social society so much more as this long-term distancing situation persists.

 

I am using this time down time by taking solo car rides to various out of the way spots where I enjoy painting. I  want to be productive despite the underlying anxiety that bubbles under the surface of my calm exterior.  I pack my hand sanitizer, cleaners, wipes, mask, and gloves, and my plein air oil painting kit and drive southward toward the James River and a little bluff which overlooks a bend in the river. I am well-assured I will be there alone--few people hang there. And when they do, there is healthy respect for maintaining space between us. 

 

It is early spring. Magenta red bud trees are blooming and baby chartreuse green leaf-buds decorate the branches of trees that overhang the riverbank. The sky is springtime blue and puffy clouds float by. This is my favorite reality--a place to convene with nature, to be alone with my muse.

 

The real world is scary right now. The virtual world is less satisfying than the real. My work is to take the chaos of the real landscape and transform it to a virtual reality that works in two dimensional reality.

 

I live in the painter's world which is both real and virtual.