A loosely defined group of artists here in Uruguay are decorating or doing something in some way to make a statement through face masks, or tapabocas, which here are now required to be worn by everyone wanting to go into any shop, bank, cambio or anything else that is open for business. When the group began talking a couple of weeks ago, I responded that it was a good idea to channel some creativity during this period of isolation, and suggested it might even might lead to an exhibition or perhaps a fund raising auction to help starving artists, or something. Well, artists are typically starving, anyway, so maybe that hasn’t changed a lot with the Covid-19 Plague.

Yesterday I thought I’d better rattle my dags and produce something, as some wonderful things have started appearing on the Whats App group page. And once I started thinking and looking for ideas, I found a couple in some collections of free clipart I browsed, and this morning spent some free time making this first one. I mean, it was not like I had anything more pressing or had any social engagement to get dressed for.

I think this should work OK with social distancing out on the street or in the supermarket, right? We’re now required to wear masks or ‘tapabocas’ pretty well everywhere you can think of as people begin to move about a bit more while still social distancing and staying at home whereever possible. It’s interesting that once upon a time you had to remove all head and face coverings in every bank here … now a mask is required to enter a bank or cambio, supermarket or any other business.

One friend has already suggested she and ‘everyone’ will want one. I’m not planning to go into production myself, as the lips are appliqued red fabric, and the other details hand drawn in – took about an hour and a half to make and decorate from scratch – so, way too time intensive even to do a limited edition. But some bright young thing might start up some kind of production, perhaps printing them onto pre-made non-medical masks which are selling cheaply everywhere now. Just yesterday, a young man came to the gate selling packs of 5 in aid of a community support group. We have plenty, but I gave him a donation, anyway. Quilters are making masks for hospital staff and other front line people, using lovely quilters’ fabrics – so perhaps this kind of thing will catch on.

Anyway, I have a couple more ideas waiting in my mind, but right now I need a change of activity, a new book awaits my attention. Take care everyone, and wash your hands.

Under the present Covid-19 quarantine conditions, the pace of life has slowed for a while, and I know I’m not alone in having more mental space for small things I might otherwise gloss over, though I believe I’m fairly observant, anyway.

Glancing down this morning as I walked along it struck me how these busy little creatures were on an entirely different plane from the world I was walking along in. These leafcutter ants were moving bits of leaf somewhere, but I couldn’t work out which from which direction they were coming or where they were going, actually. And when you realise they were about 2-3mm long, it’s clear some of them were managing huge loads, often without much help, it seemed.

I didn’t spend too long watching and taking this photo, because Dulce the Dog had been unclipped from the lead and was wondering along ahead. She’s very obedient, and being a typical dog, walks at least twice as far as I do in any one excursion, zig-zagging back and forth across the path and nature strip. She’s getting pretty old, doesn’t hear well, and her eyesight is clouding over with cataracts especially on one side, so although we were on a familiar path, I needed to catch up with her to cross the road at our corner. I think I’ll keep her on the lead tomorrow and spend a bit more time watching the ants when we get to that point on the walk.

All across the land the little creatures we often hardly take notice of continue on with their normal life routines. In our world we humans are adapting, to a highly dangerous infectious disease that has brought a sudden change in all our lives and which will change us for ever. The death toll is rising and no one really knows how high it really is, or what the eventual tally will be. It is said that the Black Plague of the 1660s killed about 1/3 of the population of the known world at that time (from China across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe) a number thought to be around 25million people. The current world population is struggling to come to terms with the new coronavirus, about which we know very little yet, really, and not enough to be sure of finding a cure or a vaccine for it. In the meantime it rages on, present in every country now, and killing many more than seemed imaginable just a few months ago. Well, epidemiologists, virologists and public health and disaster experts have been able to imagine such an event, and warning governments of the possibility of this kind of event for years now, but it seems few countries in the world were adequately prepared to deal with such a reality. But under the present circumstances, I’m sure the ants and other little creatures in this area, wretched spiders included, will be just fine.

On a facebook page today someone was having problems growing a piece out from the centre adding curved strips onto a circular shape, finding the buckling increases with each strip – so here’s a little exerpt from class notes of a workshop I teach for advanced improv piecers. Who knows when I’ll ever get to teach a workshop again!

Inserting rounded shapes or ‘closed’ arcs

• First try a single curved shape or arc, like a fish scale – or part of one – as thick or narrow as you need.
• A set of arcs can be constructed this way, too. (think rainbow …) this unit or set of stripes can then be set as one piece into the background fabric.
• It’s important to not stretch either strip.
• I use tailor’s marking chalk in one of those rolling wheely things, but a line of pencil dots is ok too.
• You’ll notice I use pins – the tighter curve the more pins I use. (Think setting a sleeve.)
• Practice.

(a) (b)

                  (c)                                                     (d)

a) Cut shape to be inserted, place face-up on background also face-up.  Turn both over so that now reverse sides of both the background and insert shape are facing upwards

b) mark seam allowance on back side of the insert shape.

(c) on the reverse of the background shape,mark around the shape as per the chalk line, and cut inside this line

(d) with rights sides together, pin starting at the top of the arc and pin, easing out towards each edge – very like inserting a fitted sleeve.

With practise, you can also use these steps to insert complete roundish, or circular shapes into the background fabric !!! This is also called reverse applique – think of the molas of San Blas Is., off the coast of Panama and Colombia.