Isolated — An Artist’s View of Sheltering In Place
By: Stephen Schimpff Md
Tags: Art, Shelter In Place, Covid 19, Isolation, Self

ISOLATED Carol Schimpff

The coronavirus has changed everything; we are isolated. As 2020 began my wife, Carol, and I looked forward to a New Year of continued good health, reasonable prosperity, and close interaction with friends and family. Those hopes have been shattered, at least for now. We still have our health but there is a real risk of Covid19, the stock market has lessened our retirement funds and we cannot travel to see our family nor visit with friends nearby. Here are Carol’s perceptions through watercolors of the progression of the year to date.

HEATHER’S MORNING Carol Schimpff

In January, she painted a watercolor, HEATHER’S MORNING, of the sunrise from our niece’s deck looking out over the upper Chesapeake Bay. A new day is dawning with all the expectations that it brings. All seems well.

MY FATHER’S GIFT Carol Schimpff

We were excited when our older grandson was accepted at St John’s College in Annapolis, about 45-minute drive from our home. Since he and his family live in California, it will be a treat to interact with him more frequently in person starting this Fall. In preparation, we have spent some time at St John’s Mitchell Gallery which brings in exquisite collections such as American Impressionists which we saw in the fall. In late February we visited for ReTooled: Highlights from the Hechinger Collection. Hechinger’s was a mid- Atlantic chain of home improvement megastores ultimately merged into Home Depot. Mr. Hechinger accumulated a large collection of art related to tools. It gave Carol an inspiration. MY FATHER’S GIFT. Her father was a master woodworker. When we married, he gave Carol a hammer, a pair of pliers, and some screwdrivers. He had steel gray-blue eyes from his Swedish ancestry; they are represented in the shadowing.

VALUE STUDY Carol Schimpff

By now we were hearing about Covid19 cases in Seattle, especially in a nursing home. Soon more and more cases were appearing across the country. People were beginning to get anxious. A retired art teacher suggested an exercise of painting a value study of a pear with just black, gray and white. Carol did a VALUE STUDY, not of a pear but of toilet paper prompted by its hoarding.

PANDEMIC Carol Schimpff

Everything began to change rapidly in March. In Maryland, Governor Hogan closed the schools and banned meetings with more than 50 people. Soon Charlestown, our continuing care retirement community (CCRC,) began the process of keeping us safe with logical steps to keep the virus off the campus. These ramped up to include the closing of the six restaurants with meals now brought to the door, all packages delivered not by UPS, etc. but picked up at the lobby doors and delivered by staff, no group meetings, concerts, lectures and no church or memorial services (although still on closed-circuit television.) It was a war, us against the virus which prompted an article that was headed by Carol’s PANDEMIC. My interpretation is that the red could represent the virus all about; the green represents those that refuse social distancing; the blue those that have become sick and the dark purple at the bottom are the dead. The hope is that those in the white areas shielded by their actions and strengthened by their healthy lifestyles can remain protected until the onslaught passes. That hope is suggested by the yellow light. But those are only my thoughts; please make your own interpretation.

ISOLATED Carol Schimpff

We were asked to remain in our apartments (sheltering in place) except for walks outside where we use careful social distancing. Later, following the newer CDC recommendations, all staff and residents were instructed to wear masks. ISOLATED is the sunrise from our apartment on an early Spring day. The day seems bleak despite the coming sun; the ground is cold; a lone student walker (our grandson perhaps) is out. A woman glances out her apartment window and then retreats. A man works at his computer. The trees show no sign of Spring’s return.

Sheltering in place and the uncertainty surrounding Covid19 leads us to find ways to successfully maintain resilience with connections to friends and family, although via technology, plus adequate exercise, a good diet, stress reduction such as meditation, yoga, or coherent breathing and a good night’s sleep. We can challenge irrational fears by reading only realistic information, avoiding too much stressful news, finding some humor, looking for distractions, considering what we are grateful for even now, and listening to music that reduces anxiety. Despite the turmoil in our minds and lives, we can cope, we can be resilient, we can find peace.

APRIL Carol Schimpff

How long will it before we can return to at least a semblance of normal living? Since all of us in our retirement community are older and many have significant underlying diseases, we are at higher risk for severe infection if the virus gains access. Still, we all have hope. APRIL was inspired by a view a year ago at our cabin in Canaan Valley, WV. It is a reminder that April is the start of spring with new growth taking away winter’s bleakness.

Days to come will undoubtedly bring new challenges and new opportunities. We know not what they will be; only time will tell. Certainly, our lives have been upended in ways we never dreamed just a few short months ago. May we all live through the pandemic and come out the other end stronger and wiser. Personally, we look forward to our grandson being able to begin college on campus, to all of our family and friends maintaining their health, and us being able to once again visit Canaan Valley.

Carol R Schimpff is a retired architect, docent emeritus at the Walters Art Museum, and an artist. Stephen C Schimpff, MD, MACP, is a quasi-retired internist, professor of medicine, former CEO of the University of Maryland Medical Center and author“ of Longevity Decoded — The 7 Keys to Healthy Aging.