CHARLOTTE — Like a lot of businesses right now, the pandemic has hit the art community pretty hard. One Charlotte artist came up with an idea so the public could still see his art in person.

David French said 2020 has been a year of silver linings.

“For everything, you lose you gain something and this year we gained people coming to the studio,” French said.

French said his business was at a bit of a standstill earlier this year due to the pandemic. But he didn’t want to stop painting so he had an idea. He posted a video on Facebook saying “We have no festivals, no shows, but that is no problem because we want to invite you to our open studio.”

“We built walls for the openhouses to showcase the different prints,” French said. “We put 30 to 70 [art pieces] up on these different walls throughout different stations in the studio.”

It was something he hadn’t really done before, but he said overall it was a big success.

“I would say about 200 or 300 people through two days would come to the studio,” French said.

During the openhouses, French said he would ask people to wear masks and made sure they were socially distant while viewing his art.

French said it was a great opportunity to talk to customers in person again. Some of his paintings are landscapes that simply don’t exist anymore. One painting is of East Boulevard by Scott Avenue.

“When you look at a street like this and particularly this street, 131 is gone," French said. “East Boulevard Bar and Grill is gone. Starbucks is about to be gone.”

It's one of the reasons he’s so happy to still be able to share and sell his art.

“This is about what you love and the places you go,” French said.

French isn’t sure when he will hold his next openhouse, but said people can follow his Facebook page for updates.