After every storm there’s a rainbow

Museums, galleries and exhibitions have closed their doors. Opportunities to immerse ourselves in the arts are diminishing as we are stuck indoors surrounded by the same four walls, day in and day out. Isolating and without inspiration. These are unprecedented times and it is hard to imagine going back to those carefree days where we could walk out of the door without a worry in our mind, filling our lives with nature, cuddling people and collecting ideas. Currently we are still allowed to leave our homes for one form of exercise, so I’ve been going on daily walks around my neighbourhood.

I saw my first rainbow at the top of my road. A simple painting, probably done by a child’s hand. As my walks continued I started spotting the colourful arches in more and more people’s windows, popping up on every street. While school is out, some pupils have been tasked with making art for their windows as homework in order to spread joy to passers-by during the coronavirus pandemic and as a show of solidarity to all those people isolating.

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘art’ as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power”. Seeing so many rainbows inspired me to get involved in art-making too. With all this extra time on my hands I got busy with colours, making an interpretation of a rainbow with colourful buttons. We may not be able to display artwork in a gallery at the moment, but what could be more of a public space than presenting art in my own living room window for everyone to see? Often our personal art is kept private – a picture stuck on the fridge perhaps, or a portrait hidden in a spare room. However, this kind of window art is an outward expression of colour and an affection for strangers and neighbours who happen to walk by our homes, bringing a tiny ripple of happiness and comfort.

Hopefully very soon these days will be but a distant memory of a few weeks or months when we were all stuck indoors. I do hope the rainbows in people’s windows stay up and continue to bring joy for a long time, reminding us of a time when art brought us together. Perhaps these pictures will one day have their own space in galleries across the world for people to reminisce about that strange time we all lived through when we had to wonder what was over the other side of that rainbow.

Share your own creations under #chasetherainbow
Vanessa can be found on Instagram @abeldesignuk