The Covid-19 pandemic has seriously challenged many people, but for two local artists it has been an incredibly productive time. Dan Morris has produced about 65 sculptures made from twigs. Jim Nelson of JA Nelson Art Gallery at 37 Spring St., has created about 40 new carved paintings.
A two-man show of the artwork created during the pandemic is on display upstairs at Nelsons, and the show will continue indefinitely.
Morris said in some ways, the social isolation required to avoid getting or passing on the virus that causes Covid-19 may be easier for artists than other people.
“Artists are already working on their own,” Morris said. “They create their own assignments for themselves and that is the creative process. They think of something they can make, a sculpture or painting, get out some stuff and try to make it. There is a drive to create.
“Where that drive comes from, I don’t know. Isolation during a pandemic is a perfect time for artists to stick themselves in a studio and get some work done. It can help the creative process to be isolated. I think it has been pretty healthy for some of the artists around here. I’ve made a lot of work during this time and so has Jim.”
Morris started on his sculptures in April when he was looking at wood and bamboo twigs in the yard while pruning and started to get sculptural images of something the size of a small trophy given to kids for participating in sports. He normally does larger pieces but decided these small twig sculptures would be fun to make and give to about a dozen friends he and his wife, Jane Tucker, used to see regularly on a social basis.
After a dozen, he just kept going until he got to 65 and has a couple more on the bench. He has sold some of the sculptures and sent gift certificates to friends for one piece of twig art that they can get now or wait until later.
“It will be a chance for them to have a piece of my art in their home,” Morris said. “Most of my work is more expensive and larger. It costs a lot of money to make so I have to get money back from it. As I get older, I’m happy to make smaller pieces. I don’t want to move logs anymore. People can have one of these pieces and it will sit on their dresser and be a dust collector.”
He and Jane called off Thanksgiving celebrations with families and friends. While they missed that, Morris said it is necessary. He likens it to when the country is at war; you just don’t act the same way you do during peace.
“If you want to feel thankful for those around you, you can show it without exposing them to the pandemic,” Morris, who also writes fiction, said. “The other thing about the pandemic is that you need to protect yourself to protect others. That’s a hard concept.”
Nelson has been carving and painting wooden panels for a number of years. They are a hybrid of painting and relief sculpture that he greatly enjoys creating.
“The pandemic created a tsunami of angst and practical concerns for our business and employees,” Nelson said. “At the same time, there was time to pursue artwork because the store was closed for seven weeks. The show at the gallery is hung chronologically, so it expands from last winter through nine months of effort.
“There is definitely influence from the pandemic. There is some facial work that is bizarre. I think it is fun. If you saw it, you would say, ‘Where did that come from?’ It isn’t typical of what I’ve been doing. The imagery to some people might be alarming and that is just fine. My heroes in the painting world aren’t people whose work is necessarily easy and matches the upholstery.”
Nelson said an idea will come to him and then it is like walking down a hallway with all these doors. You open the door and it leads to another hallway. Going down the hallways is fun, challenging, and being open to inspiration.
Nelson said artists might have an edge up not just on enduring the pandemic, but the volatile and alarming political scene created by the president flouting public health recommendations and refusing to admit he was defeated in the election. Nelson has been happy to have art to focus upon, and also that business at his store, Nelsons, since reopening has not only returned to normal, but has been far better than a year earlier.
“We are fortunate that our people are very careful to mask up and use hand sanitizer around the store,” Nelson said. “A few people have been militant refusing to wear a mask. They have to leave. We have zero tolerance for people coming into the store without a mask.”
Nelson said art productivity comes and goes as the cycle of inspiration and availability of time change. Sometimes he really cranks out the work. But, after taking a break, it can be hard to get started up again.
“People who aren’t artists think you wait for inspiration,” Nelson said. “Sure, you do. But while you are waiting, you are still making art. You go into the studio and start working. The inspiration follows.”