Well, the short answer to that is: no.
I didn’t all of a sudden become more creative – however, like many others during these strange Corona times, I found myself with a LOT of time on my hands, and I didn’t really know what to do with it. Not only that: I was lucky enough to keep my job, but the truth is that I was bored out of my mind every single day that I was spending in front of my computer to work remotely.
At some point, in order to make my working days less atrociously boring, I looked up podcasts about illustration. The first that popped into my recommendations was The Women of Illustration Podcast. And what a shock: for the first time in my life, I realised that being an artist, or being an illustrator, doesn’t mean that your work must be hanging in a museum. Episode after episode, I heard the stories of ordinary people who were either making a living as illustrators, or were doing some illustration jobs on the side, etc. When I say “ordinary”, I don’t mean it in any negative way: I’m simply pointing out that these people seemed incredibly relatable and not at all so different from you and me.
Shortly after discovering the podcast, I started my first 100-Day project: a way for me to get back into art and practice every day. From that moment I never really stopped and made sure to make time every single day for drawing, colouring, or painting. What’s interesting is that while you’re doing it, you’re sort of in the zone the whole time, and everything seems kind of static. Then, a year later, you look back, and you realise what progress a year of constant dedication can make. Take a look below!
I’ve always been a creative person, meaning that I always need to have some form of creativity in my life, at any given time: drawing, theatre, baking cakes, knitting, and so on. However, during this last year time and routine have been key to propel me and my work forward.
Where am I at, currently? Eventually I managed to find a new job and I’ve relocated to Berlin in the last month. So the last few weeks have been filled with some personal stuff to deal with, new things to learn for my new job, and the frantic search for an apartment. You know, I couldn’t wait to get out of my hometown during the lockdown, and yet, now that I’m out, I miss the long days and the consistent routine.
Fingers crossed, I’ll be able to build a new one soon enough! Oh, and you: if you’ve read this far, you’re a brave soul and I commend you <3 Sending you lots of love, stay safe and talk soon!