March 18, 2020 | By Gianna Pergamo
Art and Anxiety
Artist Gianna Pergamo Talks about Making Art During the Coronavirus Outbreak
Hey! Gianna here. I’m working from home today, because, well, I have a confession to make. I have a cold. Or allergies. Or something. I don’t think I have coronavirus, because my symptoms are a headache and a sore throat. I went into the studio yesterday, though, and I made some art. He’s not quite done yet, but here’s the little guy:
He’s a tabby koi mermaid! As I said, not done yet. Something needs to be done to his chest/tummy. I’ve been taking video of myself making them, maybe those will get edited and released soon! I want to have a video for each collage I make for the Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist show in May (which is hopefully not cancelled, or just gets postponed).
As I’m sure everyone else is experiencing right now, it’s hard to work with all the coronavirus news. It’s hard to concentrate. I’ve been able to do a little work while listening to podcasts. It’s hard to write this blog post without checking my phone to see what’s shut down or cancelled. Hopefully my studio stays open, it’s a pretty safe place (there’s only 11 of us, and probably 4-5 in there at once) and it’s a lot easier for me to concentrate there than my messy house (especially messy now since we are still moving).
I was going to say I have very little advice for staying productive and positive during these uncertain times, but that’s not true. I do have advice, from having to self-motivate because I’m self employed. I have advice from working while extremely depressed. Let’s see if some of that advice stands up now (take what you can from it):
-Make a list every day or at night of things you want to accomplish
-If you’re feeling especially low, put self care things on the list (make breakfast, shower, walk dogs, etc)
-Check things off your list!
-Take time to be outside in nature – go for a walk, rake leaves, toss ball with dog
-Drink water and eat nutritious food
-Download NON-NEWS podcasts to listen to while working. Some recent favorites: A Funny Feeling (spooky comedy), Creature Feature (about animals), Criminal (criminal stuff but not too dark), Ologies with Alie Ward (mostly science, also funny), Stuff You Should Know (learn something!), We Love Trash (comedy, pretty raunchy)
-Listen to your favorite music
-Actually do some work! If you can’t concentrate, put on some music or a podcast and put it on airplane mode (this part is hard)
-If your work involves painting, force yourself to do it! You will feel better during and after!!!
Okay, I’m going to try to list some items online now! Feel free to check out my online shop to keep artists like me afloat!
