Caroline and I are taking an online watercolour painting class. It’s really for her, my budding artist, but I play along in case she needs assistance.

The class is offered via Zoom and there are probably 10 other people in addition to the instructor. It is a very relaxed 75 minutes of wetting the paper with water and then blending in colours. We’ve learnt to layer by applying water, then paint and then letting that dry before adding more. It is very peaceful. The instructor checks in and everyone shares their progress. Each week we spend our time bouncing between two paintings to allow one to dry while we work on our second.

Some classmates seem to know one another from previous courses. The teacher spends time asking us what are interests are and allows us to do our own interpretation of the assignment from personal experience. For example, our first lesson was a landscape and she suggested a painting of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam but if we had a memorable landscape in mind we could choose to do that instead. It’s all very chill and I like getting to know the others. It is a gift at a time when we all feel so disconnected.

I’m not much of an artist but I love anything that keeps me present. Meditation, yoga, colouring, running, hiking, giving massage and now watercolours. While the class is for Caroline I am grateful for an hour of solitude.