Sheltering in Place with Art Alone-Together, and Printing a Monotype without a Press

This is a post from Belinda Del Pesco’s Art Blog Belinda Del Pesco.

We are sheltering in Place with Art Alone-Together

Amidst the steady stream of sad news over the Covid 19 pandemic, there are creative, generous, kind people – broadcasting good things to all of us. Here are some wonderful examples of the best parts of humanity.

Resources Online to Feel More Connected

• The always amazing Gretchen Rubin wrote this brief, clarifying post asking if it’s selfish to worry about your own state of mind in the midst of a global crisis. The answer is both simple and more complex than you might think.

• Good news is a brightly colored air mattress – with cupholders – when the mind is treading dark seas. A few kind souls wanted to tip the scales in favor of good news:
  • Actor John Krasinski started a weekly YouTube Channel called SGN – Some Good News. Check it out.
  • A couple of Marine Biologists with an almost 6 year old who’s missing school and her friends started a free Virtual Marine Biology Field Camp for Kids. Tune into their Instagram posts twice a week for some ocean themed learning.

Being #alonetogether with Online Art Projects

• Shari Blaukopf’s post about using the Zoom video conference app for life drawing, and her resulting ink sketches, was so inspiring! Read it here. An artist’s model is holding scheduled poses on Zoom for real time sketch sessions.

• The good folks over at Textile.org are hosting a Stitch Challenge. Read about it here. Every Monday, a different stitch artist will post a directive via video. You complete the project at home, with materials on hand, and you can jump in at any time. After you’ve created a bit of stitched beauty, post a photo in the Facebook Group. Each of the stitch artists directing the challenges have been answering questions, and singing praises in the group.

Self Improvement with Online Courses, and Music

• The online learning platform Teachable is making several popular video courses available for free. Take a look here. With time on our hands, this might be an incredible opportunity to learn something new. (My courses are also on Teachable, and two of them are free.)

• There’s a new study about potent mood conversions, accomplished by simply listening to music. You can alter feelings of sadness with just 13 minutes of good tunes. (But I bet you knew that already, right?) Read about it here.

How Tendencies Affect Our Coping Skills

I’ve never been more aware that my introverted, artist-loner tendencies are a gift. While sheltering-in, and staying still is blissful to me, there’s a huge swath of the globe who’d like to punch these circumstances in the face.

The extroverts, and the always-moving, always-talking, never home folks are struggling right now. You know those friends and family members who prefer to eat out, frequently gather in numbers, and only hold still when they’re sleeping? They might appreciate a check-in phone call this week.

And for those who revel in alone-time, and work best during still, quiet days in the studio – if you are ricocheting against a house-full of kids, and tripping over a confined, frustrated spouse, I’m thinking about you. Your world must feel upside down and shook hard. I’m holding your hand, breathing deep.

One hour at a time, my friends. We’ll get through this #alonetogether.

See you in the next post -

Belinda

P.S. There are more online resources to occupy a staying-home mind listed in this post and this one.

P.P.S. Did you know that you have access to a ton of free stuff with your Amazon Prime Account? For example, if you’ve got kids or grandkids, check out all the family-friendly comics available for free here.

Art Quote

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.

Annie Dillard

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