COV-ART 2020
—Bunny Bowen
This is a visual journal our our first nine months of seclusion during the pandemic of 2020.
In mid-March all meetings and events were cancelled. Wild Hearts Gallery was closed for two months, reopened on a limited basis during the summer, then closed again in mid-November. In early December we reopened under restrictions. We take it day by day.
Faced with an indefinite time out in my studio, I made two commitments:
- To make art with materials on hand, as much as possible
- To let my hair grow until we have a global vaccine.
I finished a silk Rozome already started (upper left), then moved away from that familiar medium. This was an opportunity to explore, to learn, to take risks.
I returned to wood, an early love, which resulted in Lament and Daphne (left).
Next my husband and I created a few steel sculptures for our outdoor space and made some slab tables from spalted alder and juniper for our living area.
In the summer I began a tutelage in pottery with dear friends. I intended to make a few clay disks to cover the pruning scars on junipers around our land. Some of these trees could be 200 years old, and their dead branches have provided hangers for many of my silk Rozome pieces.
To the right are a few of the first “tree blessings we made together.
I have used some of these in mixed media, such as a labyrinth sculpture, Fall Ritual, and Raven in the House of the Sun. Perhaps I’ll make some small bas relief clay sculptures.
I’ve begun playing with gold leaf as well. There is a bit in the feathers in this painting: The Launch— Plumas de Paz.
This little shrine on the lower right includes more gold leaf...Raven in the House of the Sun is made of found wood and barrel staves over 80 years old. The form is based on roadside shrines I have seen in Japan. The image comes from a version of Asian and Native American stories about how Raven brought the Sun. The raven is one of my recent clay pieces.
 And after nine months, I once again have a pony tail.
I've been fortunate during this time to live where there is room to wander and create.
Thinking of those who have suffered hardship and loss... may the next months bring healing.
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