Wow. I thought 2019 was a challenging year, but then 2020 came along and upended the whole world. I hope that you and your family are feeling safe and healthy, practicing social distancing, and staying home.
There are so many ways to help people in need right now— sewing face masks, donating to food pantries, and helping out on the front line if you’re a medical professional. And then there’s the big one— STAY HOME. For some of us, this is not so challenging (I mostly stay home already as a semi-introverted self-employed, childless illustrator) but for many people this is proving difficult and isolating.
Sometimes it’s hard to feel like doing anything but sit fearfully on the couch as the latest news ticks out virus stats. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything for a few weeks starting mid March. I just needed to feel awful. But one thing I could do was knit. It was meditative with its repetitive nature and inherent counting of stitches. A lot of people have taken to doing puzzles for similar reasons— a singular task with a known and achievable outcome. Some people are doing more coloring, quieting their minds with the scribble, scribble, scribbling of filling in shapes.
A couple of weeks ago, Brittany Jepsen from The House That Lars Built invited me to contribute to a project she was producing— coloring pages that reflect on our current situation and maybe offer a bit of escape from the dark feelings that we might be experiencing. The end result is Picture Hope: The Social Distancing Coloring Book, a beautiful collection of coloring pages from 64 artists. And it’s available now! All of the proceeds from the downloadable pdf book will be donated to The World Health Organization Coronavirus Response Fund. And each spread shares some words of reflection from the artists. It’s really a special book, and I hope you’ll consider donating to this wonderful cause. Here is my contribution, Apart But Not Alone:
Either way, I hope you are taking care of yourself right now. Call your friends. Make a nice meal. Do some coloring. Play dress. up. Do what you can to help. And for the sake of our healthcare workers, please stay home.
Love,
Libby