Alle meine Kekse

Corona Drawings 2020

The moment Corona reached Germany, people started to behave like in an end time horror movie. They bought tons of toilet paper, noodles, flour and yeast. There were empty shelves everywhere in the supermarkets. I still wonder, what people did with all the hoarded stuff!

I love to bake bread and I was so puzzled about the strange shortage of yeast! Some of my friends sent me letters with their last bits of dry yeast. That was really touching. In return I sent them postcards with my baking results.

The first lockdown came in March. Schools closed, people kept working at home. All concerts, sports and cultural events had to be cancelled. Singing was forbidden because scientists discovered that it makes the air highly infectious.

Strict contact restrictions made it impossible to meet family and friends. I was very afraid of bringing the virus home to my elderly parents. So I used to stay away from them with a heavy heart. I did the shopping for them and left the bags outside on the door steps.

It was my best friend’s and also my 50th birthday in March. We actually had planned to celebrate it together in Copenhagen. But the borders in Europe were closed. We cancelled the journey, stayed at home and sent birthday greetings to each other by mail. The big party with all my loved ones had to be cancelled as well. Ari and I had a cup of coffee with my parents instead. With a distance of course.

I missed my friends and my family like crazy and felt lonesome and blue during my endless daily strolls that I still use to do almost every day in the afternoon.

Corona Easter was very weird. It made me draw a wimmelbild about it all. It was an oppressive feeling that time. But at least I had much time to draw.

Spring came with sunny weather and people spent their time outside, longing for the feeling of a normal life. Ari and I went out for long walks and bicycle tours with our brand-new fancy helmets.

Shortly before Easter my dad had to go to hospital for a few days. I kept drawing in my sketchbook while waiting for him at the doctor’s. After only two more months that he spent at home, he died of cancer. It was a time of great sorrow.

During the pandemic I kept drawing a lot. Using social media and sending drawn postcards was a good way to keep in touch with friends all over the world. Some artists did challenges or little drawing classes on Facebook and Instagram. So did artist Yuko Shimizu and here is a little Ladybug-Corona-Cat character that I did for her Instagram drawing lesson.

In June and July the pandemic situation eased slowly. It was allowed to go out to restaurants and beer gardens, to do sports at the studio and visit exhibitions and museums. Even travelling was possible in parts of Europe. It was a time of cautious optimism. For me it were worried weeks because of my dad’s weak health followed by his death. That time I was working on a large blue drawing. It’s dedicated to my beloved parents Emil & Doris.

August brought moments of joy. We were so lucky that our exhibition Lotte&Ari-Havenrundfahrt took place at the wonderful havengalerie in Bremen.

At the end of August the long-established drawing class Die Rendsburger Zeichnerei was quite different with all these safety rules. But we had an unforgettable time drawing together at the Nordkolleg in this special pandemic year. Our fantastic guest artist Jens Maria Weber did a smashing workshop. It was so nice to meet friends, to talk, draw and have fun together. It was not always easy to keep hygiene rules and wide distance in mind, but we did.

September started with a lovely exhibition at the cute and tiny gallery Das Kunstbonbon in Dortmund. The Corona situation was still at ease when Ari and I travelled to the island of Föhr at the end of the month. We joined the opening of the great exhibition Möwen. Müll. Und Meerjungfrauen at the Dr.-Carl Häberlin Friesen-Museum. It was such a great surprise when Jörg Stauvermann and his team handed over the prizes to Ari and me. Ari was awarded for his cartoon and I got a trophy for my Fritten-Bude-illustration. What a lucky and happy couple we were (and still are)!

Shortly after those happy summer days the Corona figures started to increase again very quickly. It was totally scary. I could not believe that the situation had changed so sharply in such a short time. I only wanted to stay in all day and never leave my home again.

In October I was terribly sad as we had to cancel the Rendsburg illustration masterclass in the nick of time. The class was planned to be held at the Nordkolleg in cooperation with guest artist Mattias Adolfsson. We’ll have another try in November 2021.

At least I had time to take part in the Inktober challenge. I did all drawings with blue ink and watercolor and lots of humor. See my complete Inktober 2020 series here.

In November I took part in an online drawing class with artist Luise Kloos. It was about experimental drawing and I discoverd the pencil as a quite useful drawing tool! It came to a series of furry drawings that somehow show the odd and fuzzy feelings that the pandemic situation causes inside my head.

 

December was the same pandemic routine. Lockdown. Social distance. Hygiene rules. Christmas and New Year’s Eve without meeting family and friends. January and February 2021 no difference. March still the same.

But I have hope for things to get better! I have many more drawings to show and will post them here soon. The second lockdown has begun at the end of October 2020 and it is still going on… much time for drawings!

All the best – Lotte

Schon 2 Kommentare

  1. Franziska sagt:

    Eine traurig-süße Beschreibung von 2020. ❤️

    Liebe Grüße von alachiaswelt

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