Finding Joy in Difficult Times

Hello, my friend. How are you doing? Are you hanging in there? Are you riding the rollercoaster of ups and downs that it seems so many of us are feeling?

This is a difficult time and it’s ok if you’re struggling. Let’s all resolve to go a bit easy on ourselves. To allow our feelings. To do what we need to do in this moment.

I had to remind myself last week to look for JOY and filled my sketchbook with a Joy List* and page of funny rainbows.

It helped.

One day last week instead of doing any work, I sewed a dress. I had been feeling unsettled, overwhelmed and unfocused. I couldn’t sit down to work on what I wanted to work on. I couldn’t focus. So I didn’t. I put everything on my to-do list aside and instead, I sewed.

And it was just what I needed.

And at the end of the day I had a cozy new dress.**

Monday morning I ate leftover chocolate birthday cake for breakfast. It was just what I needed at the moment, too.

This week I have been obsessed with painting Pattern Ladies after I took a class on Skillshare with Alison Kolesar.

I NEVER paint people. Seriously, I don’t think I ever have painted a person as an adult. I rarely sketch people in my sketchbooks. It’s not my thing. But for some reason I couldn’t stop painting these ladies. The backgrounds and tops were either gouache or gouache and acrylic (with a bit of metallic paint marker on one).

The faces and hair were watercolor. I have SO MANY ideas of how to progress from here. It’s quite a departure for me and other than play in my sketchbooks I haven’t tried anything very different like this with my art. it’s exciting to imagine the possibilities and I am so glad I took Alison’s class.

Making, being creative is helping me through these days.

I’m sure you’ve noticed so many people sharing free offerings right now. My friend Dana made a list on her blog and Karen shared some distractions on her blog, too. I’ve also seen that Flora Bowley hosted a live painting party with Emily McDowell (and she’s planning more to come). Alicia Paulson’s offering her Miss Maggie Rabbit sewing pattern for free right now. And Ann Wood has a whole slew of fun things to make on her blog, like this and this and this. Make It In Design is offering the class The Gift of Creativity for free, too and the Loving Healing Creating Summit is running again right now. Many musicians are sharing live music recorded at home, like Andrew Bird who’s posting a video everyday on Instagram.

In some ways, even though so many of us are sequestered at home right now, we’re finding ways to connect more than ever. I’ve been texting friends and family more than usual and two of my best friends (whom I’ve known since first grade) and I even did a video chat this week, something our busy selves haven’t been able to schedule for years.

This is all GOOD. It’s a silver lining of these dark times, but my friend Ruby recently shared feelings of being under pressure to CREATE. I’ve been thinking about it all week. Oh, gosh yes, the overwhelm, the need to keep up, especially if our livelihood depends on our art-making. But creativity and the energy to be creative ebbs and flows, often outside our control. I don’t think this means if we’re feeling uninspired or overwhelmed or otherwise unable to create that we should give up on making altogether. Instead, try something different. Grab supplies you haven’t used in a while. Get out your stack of fabrics or basket of yarn or, as Abby Glassenberg shared this week in the Craft Industry Alliance newsletter, a brand new box of crayons. Let’s not put ourselves under any extra pressure.

I would love to hear how you’re doing. If you feel you can, share your story in the comments or send me an email. My Skillshare students*** have been sharing their stories in class discussions lately. These connections with people from all over the globe give me hope for humanity. One student lives in Italy and was creating with her five year old son as they’re both quarantined. She said “Skillshare is really helpful to spend time in a good way and to keep fear out of my mind.” Another student said: “I'm from Barcelona, Spain, just lost temporary my job because of the Corona Virus epidemic and quarantined in my house with my pets. It's being tough, but being able to put mind in other things and learning new skills, like gouache has keep me going.” Another student left this note in one class discussion: “Let us all stay connected through our art during this difficult and isolating time... Stay positive by focusing on the good and everyone do all you can to keep yourself and families safe and healthy!!”

I couldn’t agree more.

*Although a sketchbook, a journal or a random bit of paper are all perfect places to write Joy Lists, don’t forget that I have a set of printable Joy and Gratitude Lists that you can download and use to capture your little glimmers of Joy, too.

**Pattern is Dress No. 2 from Sonya Philip. I lengthened it a bit. I love Sonya’s patterns and her classes. You can learn how to make this dress through a class with Sonya on Creativebug and get the pattern for free. This is the third version of the dress I’ve sewn and the second one in plaid flannel (Kaufman Mammoth Plaid). The flannel versions are so cozy. I’ve already worn this one four times since I made it!

***Right now on Skillshare I’m having a contest with a year’s Premium Skillshare Membership as the prize. Simply watch any of my classes and upload a project to be entered. I’m drawing the name of the winner on March 31st. The more classes you watch and projects you upload, the more chances you have to win.