By December of 2020, aka month 9 of confinement, I was finding life a little... slow. I’m sure many of you had similar feelings as the holidays approached. The days just seemed to stretch on and family gatherings were cancelled and no end was in sight.

My parents in France were also feeling the weight of loneliness. To keep my spirits up, I decided to do a simple painting. Now what would I use? Carnations! My mom’s favorite flowers, and her mother’s too. A silver milk pitcher! A silver tea set was on my wedding list 20+ years ago, in Paris. I put the flowers inside the pitcher, and got working. Even though I couldn’t travel that year, the subject of my painting transported me slightly to another place than the one I was stuck in. And it was enjoyable; I really liked painting the complexity of the flowers, the reflections of light on the silver pitcher, and practicing a variety of techniques.