Artists are thinking outside the box these days! Most of us are creative in many ways besides making art. I am working on frame making and driftwood sculpting among other things. I think the challenges of the current corona virus pandemic as far as sheltering in place goes, is not as bad for us painters. We are used to working at home, alone in our studios or when outside looking for isolated places to commune with nature. One of the reasons for Plein Air Washington Artists is to get us solitary artists among like minded friends to share ideas and our work. These days that is happening mostly online ..and there are many ways to share your work online!.... a blog post to work on!
PAWA member Joanne Shellan has come across a great way to share beauty with her community that is not online.
In her words;
The Smallest Art Show in the World
I wish I could say
I thought of the idea myself but of course, it came from the internet. Seems like even when I do think of something original, I eventually find it on the internet. The idea seemed a little odd, a bit risky, and awfully like selling so when I started placing one painting a day on an easel in my front yard, I wrote on my sign, “Art- enjoy!” Pushing art sales when people are dying was clearly bad business. When the numbers leveled off, I got braver and wrote my website on the bottom and several people have contacted me through my website and by leaving notes taped to the easel.
My son’s room is upstairs and looks out towards the street side. He yells down to me all the time, “Mom, they’re looking at your art again!” Those first couple of weeks of the shutdown, people were out walking in droves. When I happened to be out front when people stopped to look, they were so appreciative and told me they looked forward to seeing my paintings every day on their walks. When I post photos on social media (like the 
ones shown with this article), those get most likes. It is a feel-good story and we thrive on those. Friends send me pictures of my paintings in the front yard and they are sending those photos to other friends.
We are in lock-down but my paintings are not. Someone could run off with it. It is a risk but isn’t everything? This tiny thing is starting conversations, it’s getting people to think about art, it’s adding connections between people. When it’s only one painting, people stop and look at it for longer than when there are thirty paintings. And paintings out in the sunshine look fantastic! Talk about good lighting!
I don’t sew masks, I am not on the front lines, all I do is paint. It’s all I have to give.
Stay safe everyone,
Joanne
Check out Joanne's website HERE
She also exhibits her work in many galleries including the Red Sky Gallery, Dragonfire Gallery and Bainbridge Arts and Crafts.
