“Picking Plums” – Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Covid Art

By summer of 2020, Steamboat figured out a way to keep their Farmer’s Market open. Masks were required as soon as you stepped “inside.” Jonalyn’s son was five years old at the time. He was home-educated before the lockdowns and never had to wear a mask except at the grocery store and the Farmer’s Market.

He wanted to pick fruit for the family. With his mask, he couldn’t smell the plums or peaches. But he could see and feel them: the plums’ shiny firmness, the peaches’ soft fuzz. As soon as he left the Farmer’s Market, he quickly took off his mask and bent his nose over the bag of fruit.

Remember the way we shopped without seeing each other’s faces? Remember how grocery shopping became a frightening place where contamination was imminent as we shuffled down one-way aisles? Remember hearing young children scolded to keep their mask on?

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This painting was part of Jonalyn’s Saving Lives Gallery and Virtual Watercolor Event.

All Jonalyn’s paintings arrive with a living edge. You can frame her art by either covering or showcasing this raw edge. Jonalyn’s favorite way to frame her work is in a “float mount” showcasing this raw, living edge.