A 琉璃神社-based artists is bearing her pandemic ruminations to the public at a Vernon art gallery.
After the pandemic caused Melissa Dinwoodie to be laid off from her bartending job in 琉璃神社, she endeavoured to paint every day until her day job could resume.
The result was 60 paintings created in 60 days, all of which are on display at the Caetani Cultural Centre tonight (July 18) until 9 p.m.
Dinwoodie began painting 10 days into being out of work鈥攄ays she spent processing the shock of having directly felt the effects of a pandemic-related workplace closure.
鈥淚n those first 10 days I didn鈥檛 feel very inspired to do anything 鈥� I was kind of in denial about what was going on,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 needed something to get me through each day.鈥�
Specializing in acrylic and mixed media painting, Dinwoodie鈥檚 work focuses largely on figurative portraits. The exhibit鈥檚 60 portraits are a chronology of the thoughts and feelings she experienced throughout her layoff period.
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Hung beneath each portrait is the journal entry she wrote the day the portrait was created.
鈥淚 would journal in the morning and kind of figure out how I was feeling that day depending on news that I had watched or who I had talked to the night before,鈥� she said. 鈥淗owever I felt that day, that was my starting point for the painting.鈥�
For Dinwoodie, the process was not only therapeutic but also eye-opening in terms of her work as an artist. A silver lining to her work disruption was that it afforded her the chance to paint full-time.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檝e always wanted to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淣o matter what it is, if you do something every day you鈥檙e going to have breakthroughs. You鈥檙e going to get better or find some things out that you didn鈥檛 know beforehand.鈥�
Dinwoodie added the extra time allowed to her experiment, and the pandemic served as an entry point for creating more topical work.
鈥淭his series has made me realize how important it is to do art that actually says something about what鈥檚 going on right now and is relevant.鈥�
The Caetani Studio Gallery exhibit is holding a reception from 6-9 p.m. Saturday. Social distancing measures are in effect, and visitors are encouraged to bring their own masks.
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