Our eleventh post of the series, Artists in the Time of Coronavirus includes Ed Snyder, Charles Keenan, Diane M Lilly, Sandi Lovitz, Kyle Confehr, and James Ehling! Thank you for all who submitted! And if you want to participate, send your statement (250 words max) and 2 photos to support@theartblog.org. More details here. Stay safe and stay positive, and come back in the days to come for more “Artists in the Time of Coronavirus.” We have a wonderful community and are so proud of being able to share everyone’s art. (We have gotten ~200 submissions, so if you haven’t seen yours yet, don’t worry- it is coming, and we can’t wait to post it!)
Ed Snyder
I’ve been a practitioner of social distancing before it was a thing – I photograph abandoned sites and graveyards. Sometimes I even explore abandoned graveyards. These images were made during such an exploration this past week – the six-foot social distancing rule is rather easy to achieve in such a place. …
For me, creating art is a personal and solitary experience, but I’ve learned that sharing it with others is vital. Years ago when I began exhibiting my photographs of cemetery angel statues, people would tell me why they were purchasing certain pieces. It scared me that others could find meaning in my work.
Death and decay are concepts I gravitate toward, whether denoted by abandoned buildings or cemeteries. These latter reminders of our mortality have seen an upswing in popularity – cemetery visits by “normal” people have increased this past week! When you think about it, this was the original purpose of “rural” garden cemeteries – beautiful getaways from the grimy, noisy city. Philadelphia’s luxuriant garden cemeteries, Mount Moriah, the Woodlands, and Laurel Hill were the go-to open-air art galleries and parks of the Victorian era.
As we look to create Art in the Time of Coronavirus, consider the words of John Lennon: “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” Public gatherings have become non-existent with COVID-19, and so the city’s wonderful graveyard greenspaces have taken on greater value. Visit them – imagine them to be your next artistic muse (but do leave the dangerous abandoned ones to me).
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mourningarts/
Website: Home | edsnyderphotography
Charles Keenan
My routine is changing due to COVID-19. My focus must shift from outside my home to inside my home. Until now I always carried a small 3×5” sketchbook with me. Its purpose was to allow me to quickly draw things away from home – buses, malls, the view through a coffee shop window, churches, even a politician speaking. I also had a larger sketchbook to draw in color with pastels while away from home, and I would bring these to Studio Sessions, downtown, the seashore, and picnics. Of course, the current shutdowns and general directive to “stay home” has put those sketchbooks on hold. My subjects have almost always been figurative, and sometimes metaphorical. I have been married for over 30 years and for 25 of those years my lovely wife was most often my muse. She became a Registered Nurse and as her position became more demanding, I looked to Art Studios for models. Now I can no longer attend cancelled Studio Sessions at area Art Centers, and my wife is working at two facilities which will not lessen with the current pandemic. I am currently using on-line modeling sources, which can be excellent, and developing my own modeling poses through self-portraiture for the day when the Art Centers will reopen. As always, I intersperse my figurative work with easily understood metaphorical paintings. The two images I have included here are 2 of my most recent oil paintings, which were being finished just as the pandemic was settling in.
take care,
Charles Keenan
Diane M Lilly
Hi I’m Diane M. Lilly of Di’s Studio Designs located in Delaware County. I own a small home based art and decor business, creating Celtic inspired wood burned art and designing handcrafted wood candleholders with faux floral decor. My “day job”—where I have been a merchandiser in a retail setting—has recently closed for an indeterminate amount of time due to coronavirus, so I’m diving back into my art and design projects as a way to potentially land a few custom requests while I’m on “vacation”. I’m taking this time to do a rethink on my business goals to see if I can create a viable work-from-home business model, and get paid to do the things I love most! I’d sure love to make this a permanent way to earn a living—especially since I am not guaranteed a job to go back to! All of my designs are inspired by a love of nature and the need to fuse that love with my need to be creative. I have an educational background in interior design as well, which has inspired me to dabble in a variety of design projects, particularly for small decorative objects.
You can find me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/disstudiodesigns/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DisStudioDesigns/ or go directly to my web site at http://disstudiodesigns.com.
Sandi Lovitz
I’ve been spending more time in my studio now that we are basically in lockdown.. I have become more fearless with color, mark and rhythm. I listen to classical music while painting which gives me a renewed energy full of hope. I am blessed to be a creative and have the outlet of painting to live in during this surreal time…Counting my blessings and getting used to this new state of being in the world around us…Just letting go with a smile and hoping to give smiles to those who see my work..
Sandi Neiman Lovitz
www.sandineimanlovitz.com
Instagram sandineimanlovitzart
Kyle Confehr
Kyle Confehr was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA., where he currently lives. He works primarily in pen and ink and paper. Kyle gets inspiration from awkward social norms and pop culture trends. Creating mesmerizing narratives, his work has been compared to the late Keith Haring.
Kyle blurs the line between graffiti and illustration. Kyle enjoy’s working with a “PMA” sentimentality derived from his childhood spent in the 90’s and early 00’s. Whether it be a quote or quip inserted in his work, or a recurring visual element like; pyramids, basketball, jewels, and skateboards.
His recent work can be seen on Kyle’s instagram; https://www.instagram.com/kyle_confehr/ or it can be viewed at The Public Trust, (formerly Art Prostitute) https://www.trustthepublic.com/
James Ehling
My name is Jim Ehling, I currently reside in Exton, Pa, but born and raised in West Chester. I have been compiling drawings and paintings over the last few years, hoping to find a place to share in a gallery soon. My Instagram page is Jimpt36, Deviant Art title is Jib Slice, hope to maybe meet other artists with like minds and hoping to keep the work coming to show, when we are all able to return to some kind of normal .This whole Covid outbreak is very saddening. The toll that this will take on us all, in so many ways will also be a burden for our kids to live on with for the rest of their lives as well.
Thank you so much, Jim Ehling
