Joy during Covid Times
I am writing this as a newly vaccinated 38 year old mom of two who has been in quarantine since March 2020. It was a HARD year. I was 3 months pregnant in March and not able to be as active as I was in my last pregnancy. I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and was having to crawl up the stairs. My body had new disabilities and my home did not have enough space to work in the way I was used to working in my studio…which means I wasn't able to make large paintings, run workshops, or create art kits. I didn’t get to see my family that I had been living with before the pandemic happened because it wasn’t safe to live with people who would need to go out into the world due to my asthma and heart condition and the fact that I almost died from pneumonia when I was younger because of an unusual immune response. There were so many more hard things that I won’t go into here, but let’s just say there was a lot of crying. I let myself cry and mourn my old life, but then I focused on what I COULD DO.
Here are the joyful things that happened:
I learned a new skill! I took the plunge and invested in ‘Immersion’, an online course taught by Bonnie Christine. I had been interested in surface design and licensing and went to a surface design trade show in 2017, but was finding it difficult to learn about how to get into this world. I was sitting in my studio in February of 2018 when I got a call from The CEO and the lead designer from Bloom Daily Planners asking me to design the cover of a planner. It was going to be for their giveback line, so part of the proceeds were going to go to a charity of my choice. I chose Women In Transition, a local non-profit here in Philly because when they called me with this opportunity, I was in a big scary transition in my life and definitely resonated with the women they provide support for. Anyway, that is what helped me believe in my ability to license my work and take the plunge to invest in this course. So I spent the pandemic pregnant on the couch learning how to make repeat patterns in Illustrator. It was hard for me to keep doing the course and making art that I was not good at at first. I was so tired from pregnancy and stagnancy and in pain and missing family and feeling like I was in the twilight zone, but Bonnie encouraged me to just do 1 thing a day. I knew that once I got comfortable enough with making repeat patterns I would become obsessed and that would give me the energy I needed to push through. Now I have my first collection that I am honestly proud of and feel confident enough to start sending it out to the companies who make items I would love to see my designs on! Soon enough, the time I spent doing this will create another income stream for my family doing something that I love. That brings me JOY!
2. A couple years ago I drove to the Delaware Estuary and collected leaves and other bits of nature to make a 10’ x 10’ painting for the main reception of Christiana Women and Children’s hospital. After I made the painting it was scanned professionally. I digitally cut out circular forms focusing in on the beautiful details and sent it off to the team I worked with. A few months into the pandemic I was texted pictures of the design printed on industrial vinyl being installed in the hospital. This was a 3 year project in the making from when I was offered the opportunity to pitch to seeing it installed. The other part of this that brought me joy was when two mommies I knew gave birth to their babies during the pandemic and texted me photos of the joyful and calming main reception on their way out of the hospital.
Thank you for the photo Michelle Askin!
3. I had a sweet baby girl! Being pregnant during a pandemic is no fun, but having a sweet new baby to cuddle with brings love into sharp focus and blurs out the rest of the world like nothing else. Seeing my amazing partner hold and care for his first baby brought me an unfathomable amount of joy. Of course, THE moment I was most looking forward to after she was born was when my amazing son met his sister. Almost 7 months later and I am happy to report that he is amazing with her. He lets her have what she takes out of his hands and always includes her in what we are doing. When her dad took her out for a walk without us he said, “Hey you can’t take her for a walk. She needs to stay close to her mommy”. My sweet boy truly brings me the best kind of JOY!
4. One of my big dreams in life was to be able to sell my ideas and inventions to people who could get them out into the world in a really fun way! Well, I finally did it! I can’t tell you much more because I am sworn to secrecy for now, but if you are subscribed to my mailing list and you follow me on instagram you will be the first to know!
