2020 in the rear view mirror

 Since the Covid Pandemic shut down of 3/2020, most of us have had a big shift in life. We’ve definitely have to adapt to living differently. SF became eerily quiet. The world came to a standstill.

When shelter in place and work from home happened last year, we had just adopted an 8 week old puppy from Family Dog rescue. It was a lot to deal with because our cat took an immediate dislike. The 4 of us crammed into our tiny 1 bedroom condo was just too much stress, especially since we didn’t know the first things about raising such a young puppy. After a few weeks of me hiding in the closet to think while Kirk’s on constant zoom meetings, and out cat only comes out at night, which means no sleep for me, I’ve had it. Solution? We packed up and drove to my dad’s vacation house in the desert. 

The freeway was empty of cars except for trucks. Bathrooms at res tops and gas stations or anywhere along the way were all shut down. It was so different. When we arrived, it was with such sense of relief! We spent the rest of spring there, then drove to be with my family for a while when it got too hot. By this time, Kirk has lost his job, as have millions of people around the world. We’re lucky though, because we managed to stay sane and healthy in all this chaos. I’m very thankful that my family remains healthy throughout.

We came back to SF so I could finish painting my heart sculpture for Danville, which was delayed til summer. I was happy to be in my studio with my artist friends again. I painted my best mural heart yet. It was on display on Hart road until October when it was auctioned off. This heart I named it, “The Secret Life of Rosa the Otter.” From this I gained another heart commissioned for a couple in Danville, celebrating their anniversary in 2021. It’s titled “Love Story Of the Golden Butterflies”

In this short time back, through Kids & Art that I volunteer with, I installed my Garden Series in the law offices of Sheppard Mullin in Palo Alto. It’s been there over a year now, but since no one is in office, guess it’s mainly a place to hang. At least it’s not taking up precious space in our studio. It does look nice hanging there though.

We settled in town long enough to sort out things, then we packed up and made a road trip east to Michigan with our puppy. Our kitty, as usual, went to stay with her cat friends and uncle Sammy. It took us 5 days to reach Ann Arbor. Each night at the new hotel, before we could settle in, I had to wipe everything down with alcohol wipe. It was not the type of travel I would prefer, the stress! We stayed in AA until we’re sure we tested negative for covid before moving into Kirk’s parents’ home in Houghton Lake. It was nice to spend summer there with a lake for backyard and our puppy got to be socializing with other dogs and human contact.

I took the first flight since SIP to Cali to see my dad, who insists on leaving the safety of taiwan, because it’s my mom’s 1 year anniversary since her passing. The flights were pretty empty of passengers. I managed to delay his travel plans back to taiwan until after my birthday in October. I think it’s mainly coz mine falls on the same day as his best buddy, david. Kirk drive our Brick from Michigan to meet me and we drove back to SF. 

Back in the studios, we lost Andrea in the studios to Istanbul and her new bf. They’ve been living and working there since last October, I think she’s finally coming home in 2 weeks! Sarah and Lexie are the constants there. We’ve hosted a zoom mixer for Artspan to promote open studios online. Unlike ppl who thrive during this time, my work has lagged. Too much distractions to deal with. I did manage to get my new website going with the help of an old friend who’s in England/ Sardinia.

Fall, and elections, and all the craziness of 2020 came and went. What especially saddens me are all the mega-wildfires on the west coast. For my temporary mural installation, “Ashen Bloom” in the Mission in the now closed down Drawing Room Gallery annex, I painted a dedication to all the lost trees and wildlife in these fires. A few small works from this series went to a new gallery, Blind Insect, in Portland and I managed to sell 2 small works!

By Christmas, we’ve had it with the stress and we moved back to the desert for winter. Sometimes, we go back to see my family. Our car has now 130,000 miles with all the driving we did this past year. We developed new friendships with new friends at the dog park. Several friends from SF has permanently moved out of town during this time. 

So much has happened yet I’ve done so little, or so I thought. In retrospect, I managed to do quite a bit. In early 2021, I sent out many applications for various public art. I get rejected 95% of the time. I did get a “yes” from Palo Alto Artlift for my “Little Fish” proposal. That’s what I’m working on now. I lead a weaving workshop for kids via K&A. And now I’m preparing to make a triptych for our family hotel in Temecula due to open in mid September. Then I’ll be painting another utility box mural for Dublin, in east bay. It’s going to be a busy summer/fall.

So glad ppl are getting vaccinated. It’s such a relief and just hope everyone will continue to stay safe. It’s PRIDE weekend, it’s bumping out there. Life is wanting to come back. I hope I hope we all learned something that will help us move forward. More love, less hate.