10 ways to stay creative after all this quarantine

I don't think anyone expected the quarantine to last this long. True, we got some reprieve in the summer and started to cautiously open our lives again, but for most of the world, we're now seeing a spike in numbers and a return to stricter lockdown measures. It can be hard to maintain a sense of hope, proportion, or humor, in times like this. And it can become difficult to find inspiration, to maintain a creative spirit, or to actually persuade yourself to get into the studio (if you can even get to the studio!). Here are some tips to help retain the creative spark, and even to turn disadvantages to advantages. These are all good ideas to hold onto even after life returns to normal, to combat blue moods and garden-variety creative block. 

 

 

1. Embrace your new constrictions. If quarantine and social distancing rules have forced you to explore a new medium, be sure to explore it to the fullest, and remember to use it as a tool to further your “real” work when you get back to it. An artist friend used to paint with oils on giant canvases in his Brooklyn studio. Now he’s confined to a smaller space, painting gouache on cardboard, and it’s been a revelation to him. His work is freer, joyful and inspired. At first he considered these “sketches” for paintings he will someday make, but he started to post them to Facebook and Instagram and was amazed by the positive response. A couple of friends bought some, then friends of friends, and now he almost can’t paint them fast enough. Maybe you’re drawing instead of painting, working with your phone instead of in the dark room, but whatever it is, make the most of it, and celebrate the freedom you feel when you’re less pressured to create a masterpiece.
    
2. Which leads us to tip #2. Share your work. Social media might have seemed pesky and overrated before the quarantine, but now it’s a lifeline for many, and it can be a great way to engage with a community of artists and art lovers. You can share your works in progress, pictures that inspire you, pictures of your studio. And of course you can share the final product, with a link back to a website where it can be purchased. Posting the photos is an act of creativity in itself. And the accolades of fans and friends are a great motivator. (Be sure to tag Artspan!)
    
3. Find beauty in the ordinary. If you’re stuck staring at the same walls every day, take a minute to find beauty in them. Appreciate the rich colors of a patch of rust. Find faces in your appliances. Take notice of a pretty slant of light. Take a picture or draw a sketch of some surprisingly beautiful thing, and share online. This is something simple that you can do every day, and you’ll find that your appreciation of the world around you, as well as your power of observation, will grow. Create a personal documentary through photos, sketches, videos, or short writings.
    
4. In the same vein, keep a journal of things that delight you. Something silly your kids say; an overheard snippet of conversation; an interaction between a squirrel, a blue jay and a peanut. You’ll find yourself looking for beautiful happy things, and you’ll have an account of them to visit in grey times. You can create a zine, a journal, an epic poem, or an Instagram account.
    
5. One small act of creativity a day is valuable on its own, but it becomes even more so if you work each day to create something larger. It doesn’t need to be a masterpiece or a work of gravity and substance. It can be a Lego village, a long rambling story that you write a couple of sentences a day, or a pointillist landscape you create ten dots at a time.
    
6. Revel in the childish. This time last year, I was reading some challenging books. Bit of Dostoyevsky, bit of Sartre. The moment lockdown started I found I couldn’t even look at them. Instead I revisited Joan Aiken, my favorite author as a child. I read every book I could get my hands on. It’s more than just a comfort; it’s a reminder of what it felt like to have a childish enthusiasm for something. A reminder of the creativity that made me want to be creative in the first place! Look at picture books you used to love, watch cartoons that inspired you to draw, do the macramé, tie-dye, or pasta-stringing crafts you loved as a child. See if you can rekindle that spark, and carry it with you through these difficult days.
    
7. Find a way to share art with your community in a small, ongoing way. Leave painted rocks or wood hidden in the crooks of trees or on people’s porches. Put a new sketch in your window every day. Put a notebook in your neighbor’s mailbox and ask them to add a sketch or a few sentences and then pass it along. Find a community space to paint with chalkboard paint, and leave out sidewalk chalk. Create a “take a/leave a” board or cupboard where people can leave sketches, poems, or good wishes.  Create a museum or gallery in a cupboard, modeled on the little free libraries and pantires. Check out Rainworks to create invisible graffiti that only shows up when it rains. Find a place in your town or city to create a community mural.
    
8. Take this time to reset, reflect, and collect. All of this stress, day after day, month after month, can take a real toll on our creative energy and ambition. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t paint that masterpiece or write that novel. Instead use this time to build up your supply of inspiration. Take walks in the woods, read good books, watch beautiful movies, listen to new music. Photograph and sketch everything that pleases you. That photograph of a deserted street might one day become the background of  a painting. You can also take this time to clean your studio or revitalize your Artist Website.
    
9. Support your fellow artists. If you can afford it, buy local art. If you can’t afford it, share local art (or any art you love) on your Facebook or Instagram page. Check out Viral Art Project, and create or buy a poster. Check out Artspan.com to buy directly from artists around the world. 
    
10. Find creativity in all of the things you do to comfort yourself in difficult times. If you’ve been doing a lot of stress-baking, take it to the next level. Try combinations of flavors, spices, or ingredients you’ve never considered combining before. If long walks calm you, record them in photos or videos or sketches. If jigsaw puzzles are your thing, find puzzles of inspiring artworks. And always remember that listening, watching, and seeing are part of the creative process as much as recording, drawing, or writing.

 

 

 

How have you maintained inspiration and creative energy throughout Covid and quarantine? Share your story with us and we'll include it in an article to share with your fellow artists. Email [email protected].