So it’s Friday morning 7.07am on May 1st 2020 and I’m about to launch a new range of jewellery that I have been tinkering on for the last 6 months. It’s 4 days in to Level 3 of Lockdown here in NZ after 5 weeks of full restrictive, no takeaways, no socialising , no doing anything of something remotely gregarious at Level 4 due to this parasitic pandemic that is the Corona virus, aka Covid19.
—- And I’m trying to launch another part of my very new artistic enterprise that is Valerie’s Gallery ?. What the hell am I doing ? While people are suffering and dying all over the world I have been isolating myself -(quite happily I might add !)- in my safe little studio garage creating my ‘gems’ as I call them. It just doesn’t feel right somehow. I have been in a state of Zen – mixing up and heating up the resin, dripping and teasing the paint into the moulds and watching as the alcohol inks dissipate the various chemical reactions. It was hypnotic to watch in itself and then behold — a beautiful little by-product of alchemy, love and luck. Time has just ran away with me. And so this is it – the question of Time. It’s time to show these to the world……… or is it ?? Is it in-sensitive of me to do this now in such a time of crisis and uncertainty ?? Should I wait ? Will we even have general markets for a while ? Oh – the indecision of it all is eating me up.
A friend of mine put me onto a group page called NZ Made Products and Businesses which now has a membership of over 200K and growing. Scrolling through the various services and businesses I realised just how creative and ingenious people have been over the last few weeks — not just small business creatives like me but huge corporations changing tack – making masks instead of fashion, engineering companies making breathing apparatus instead of vacuum cleaners. Everyone is creating albeit whether out of self-care and sanity and/or out of necessity. Humans are truly resourceful and ever-hopeful souls I realised. I had forgotten that. Creatives are out there thinking of other creatives, not competing with them. That is inspiring. People are inspiring.
And so I realised that I should share my creations. They have been made with love and hope for a better time. And then perhaps make a couple of videos on the techniques that I used so other creatives can experience the wonderment and serenity I felt in making them. That is a happiness worth sharing I believe………..
