My Watercolour set up in Quarantine

I’m on Quarantine day 8 in the Maltepe facility in Istanbul. We’ve been blessed with sunny days for 7 out of the 8. Today began shrouded in mist, but it’s brightening up. As somebody who struggles with England going dark at 4pm in the afternoon, I’m happy to embrace any day with the potential for light and sun.

Salivation

I came thiiiiiiiiiiis close to salivating over my lunch delivery today (if you have no idea why I’m even mentioning this, check out this Turkey Quarantine Facilities post here). But the Pavlovian scientists in charge of our human experiment aren’t playing fair. Yesterday’s dinner was meat filled pasta, and spinach with what looked like meat in it—not good options for a vegetarian. The soup is usually a good bet, but it was one of the flavours on their carousel of soups I’m not keen on.

A certain musical from my childhood springs to mind…

So dinner was bars and apples. I then had to rob Peter to pay Paul. I ate my breakfast 12 hours early, and slept late. Breakfast was cancelled.

When today’s lunch was delivered, I was in the starting blocks beginning at 12:05. Heard the rattle of wheels at 12:09. And scared the lunch delivery guy when I yanked the door open immediately after his knock.

I was on the verge of salivation—but they haven’t broken me yet.

Snacks

The bar reserves are now dangerously low. I started with 23, and they’ve dwindled dramatically.

I have 3 bars and 4 days left. You do the math. My rationing skills obviously need fine tuning. The good news is that 23 bars was bulky and took up a lot of room, so now I have extra space in my carry on bag for souvenirs.

Souvenirs

We’re getting to that time in any holiday, when you start getting depressed about the fun and excitement coming to an end, and thoughts turn to souvenirs that remind you of your happy place.

Choice is severely limited, but I’m resourceful and determined.

Footwear

Our welcome package included a pair or imitation crocs, which have come in very handy. Usually I’d be happy to leave these behind, but I’ve used them and taken the label off, and although I like to think they would get donated to a worthy cause, I think they’re more likely to get thrown in the rubbish bin.

These are going to be one of those reluctant souvenirs you’re guilted into lugging home, and end up at the bottom of a cupboard.

I know I should just let these shoes go. But one of the biggest quarantine atrocities is the amount of plastic ending up in the landfill. We have 3 food trays per day and 3 sets of plastic cutlery, and 2 plastic water bottles, the 5 rolls of bread are individually wrapped, and the bread, water and cutlery are delivered in a plastic bag.

You can tell I have time on my hands. Enough to bother calculating out my daily landfill contribution; how much I will have contributed by the end of 10 days; and, what’s going in the landfill when they have a full quota of 500 residents. And that’s without counting the yoghurt pots and Ayran containers. It’s puts the environmental cost of quarantine in perspective.

So yes, I’m taking my imitation crocs home with me. And my recycling efforts aren’t going to end there.

Food Tray

I’m hoping I have enough room in my carry-on for one of my dinner trays. Yes I know, an odd acquisition, but this dinner tray is what makes souvenirs so appealing. It’s a constant reminder of the time spent in quarantine, and it’s really useful.

When I knew I was going to spend time in quarantine, I decided to approach the time as a 10 day Art Retreat and not waste my time streaming mindless programmes. Watercolours have been the backbone of my quarantine activities. I get lost in the process, and I’m repeatedly surprised when I hear the 5pm knock on the door announcing dinner delivery.

Usually when doing watercolour you have a couple of jars, one for clean water and one to rinse your brushes between colours. Having 4 bowls of water is handy. Plus every time I look at it, I’m going to remember these 11 days when I painted prolifically.

I also repurposed one of the water bottle into a brush holder. But that’s going into the landfill, not my luggage.

Salt and Straws

I’ve been stockpiling the individual salt servings and straws that were attached to our peach fruit juice. They’re small, which when you have limited space in your bag is an important souvenir prerequisite.

The salt and straws are useful tools for watercolour, and I’ve been experimenting with sprinkling salt onto blue and aqua paint to simulate sparkles on the water and splashes of surf.

You let the salt dry and then brush it off. It absorbs some of the paint and creates an erratic texture. The straws are good for creating splashes or dragging thin lines of paint across your pages. Both of these technique are a work in progress, but now I have the portable tools to practice no matter where I travel.

Time to paint.

Only one hour and 19 minutes until the next meal is delivered.

Read More about my Quarantine adventures