Lilla here. How are you doing? How are you feeling? I’m excited to share my third free Arty Assignment with you today and I wanted to reach out to you and check in. Like many of us, I’ve found myself feeling the need for connection even more than usual during this time, and I’ve enjoyed chatting live in our free MATS MBA (Money BadAss) Facebook group and my recent free WebinARTS with six of my artists (find details on my site here).
Art by Make Art That Sells student Socorro Vega, illustrating a quotation by our co-founder Beth Kempton from her book Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life.
My free Arty Assignment this week is all about what makes you feel sad. There’s a lot of sadness right now and those feelings are important to acknowledge. Which isn’t to say that we do or should feel sad all the time. For me, a lot of things haven’t changed – like many of us, I work from home, I can still go to the store (although now I have to go during what I call geezer hour!) – and other times the changes will catch me suddenly and I’ll feel the sadness wash over me.
What makes you feel sad right now? Illustrate or write about whatever it is for you. Use whatever media you like. I’d love to see what you come up with!
What am I feeling sad about? Obviously there are bigger things, like how people across the world are coping with the pandemic; but there are more personal things too. For example, my husband is a dedicated Emergency Department doctor in Boston, and I worry about his health, even though I know he’s doing everything to be safe. He’s completely covered from head to toe with PPE, even bringing a change of shoes: I call him a spaceman! As I write this, he’s there at the hospital, which has 60% Covid patients. He loves to learn and has been reading everything he can get his hands on on how to give good care to people suffering with this horrible illness. How do I cope? I envision a future together where he is fine and healthy.
Again like many of us, I’m also worried about my mom. She’s 96 and her health is good, but she is alone, and that makes me sad. I call her every evening and tell her how much I love her and stay on the line until I make her laugh, and then I’m good with ending the conversation, knowing she’s feeling a bit better.
How about you? What makes you feel sad right now, in this strange inbetween time? Drawing or writing about what you’re feeling most deeply can be cathartic, and can make a wonderful portfolio pieces that reflects our time and helps others who share your pain. They can also be a powerful illustration for editorial (illustrations for books, magazines and websites, all of which need your art right now).
If you’re able to share, I’d love to see what you do: remembering all the things we have in common can help us feel connected at a time when we feel so disconnected. If you want to, tag @makeartthatsells so I can see!
Lots of love,
Lilla xox
