Wednesday's painting...

....

Negative thoughts yesterday stuck like glue.

I badly needed a good night's sleep. But I was so tensed up I couldn't sleep. I tried doing my daily painting which took me to about 2 pm, then Popeye came from under the blankets and began head butting the iPad with alll his strength. That cat knows I need sleep. 

Yesterday I had to go down to the High Street to sort some paperwork. It was deserted, not a single person. I am in one of the food shops, the one next door to Iceland, I was reaching for something on those shelves above the freezer cabinets. It was easy to reach, but there was only one jar in the cardboard tray, and it moved a bit when I took the jar out. 

The next thing I knew was a cascade of glass jars of sticky stuff (jam?) next to it, falling on the curved top of the freezer cabinet and rolling on to the floor where they smashed. I am surrounded with broken glass. The shop assistant came round the corner, and I am apologising and apologising and apologising.....

I had been in Iceland first, and again there were no customers, and it wasn't until last night I think I realised why Iceland disturbed me so much, or part of it. There were guys doing the food shopping for online orders and they were dressed in black with their hoodies over their heads, and the thick black snoods right up to under their eyes. They were not in any form of Iceland red uniforms. You could barely see their eyes, the only bit of human flesh showing. They even came in my dreams last night, and I realised why it was scary. You wouldn't have even allowed someone a year ago to come in a shop dressed like that. It was incongruous they were pushing these huge bright orange carts of individual shopping bags and looking at their screens and picking the next item.

Men in black doing your online shopping for you in Iceland...

Everywhere was empty, devoid of shoppers. Except me and an elderly gentleman who struggled walking. This is the High Street that was open much more a couple of weeks ago, despite level 4 lockdown. And lots of people then. Now, nothing.

I found this more bleak emptiness far more scary than all those people in previous weeks, with many not wearing masks. The sky was dark and oppressive yesterday, and it was about 11 am. And all I can think of is I am in an Apocalypse movie film set. The director will jump out in a minute with that board that says scene 1, take 5....

This is my digital painting for today. I struggled with it, badly. Two hours to get this far. It is me sitting on the day couch, feet up, the peppermint green blanket over me, the orange painted walls, the flowers in my windowsill (I have just realised, I never finished that blue vase). And the cat sitting on my arm, as he does saying 'No iPads allowed when I have your arm'. I was going to do my overgrown garden in the windows, but left it blurred. I initially had my shortish hair, but I struggled with my arms. My left one was under my chin, but it wasn't right. So I am moving the arm down to where Popeye can sit on it. But by this time it has exposed my right shoulder and arm as being very awkward looking. Only answer by this time is to do long hair to cover all my awkward painting sins. Then Popeye got out from under the covers and is butting me and iPad and threatening to attack the iPad if I don't go back to sleep.

So I do...

By the way, my face is probably the 20 year old me...