Hi, again. Let's have a quick moment of silence for the other eight times I've started this blog. As usual, I'm on break from my actual job and so now I have ample time on my hands. Rather than, you know, sit, I'm going to take a crack at this one more time. Or ten more times. It's my blog. I'll do what I want.
So...how has Covid been for you? No really. I genuinely hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and well during these terrifying and exhausting times. Like every person on the planet I can't believe we are on the cusp of a new year and have been existing in a pandemic since March (with me in Oregon), and even earlier in other parts of the world. I hope no one takes my humor or sass as any type of disrespect towards the current situation. I grew up making jokes in distressful moments and it's a hard habit to kick.
Everything about my world (my job) has changed. There are elements of my job that taste and smell the same, but it's my favorite dish from a new restaurant. My staff went from 40 to 11. Our workshops that used to max out on seats led by an array of various instructors has reduced to myself and two other professional staff. Those workshops are virtual to a crowd of about five viewers each time. Our free in-person crafting programming has changed to weekly Craft Kits pre-packaged and hung up on a clotheslines for students to take socially distanced from each other. Where before our doors were open for anyone to enter and explore what we could offer, now participants need to make reservations and I need to email them a very long list of rules and safety guidelines. I miss the pre-Covid days, but I'm trying to find those hints of immeasurable joy during this time because I will no doubt be nostalgic for it later on.
On February 29th my partner and I built a bunch of frames and I posted my work on an Etsy account to begin selling. On March 2nd we started hearing about the possibility of a pandemic coming to our door step, so at work we bought a bunch of cleaning supplies in preparation. On March 11th the doorbell rang and we were told by my university that we would be closing until April 20th. I had all these cleaning supplies and came to work on Monday, March 16th ready to deep clean the Craft Center so our return in April would be seamless. And then by 11am on the same day I was sent home to work from home indefinitely. You think you move fast, but the world moves faster. I closed the Etsy account at the end of March under too much stress (even though the only sale I got was from my parents - Thank you Deb and Dad!).
Luckily for me and my co-workers, it wasn't indefinitely. By no means did we return to normal operations, but we did return. Sometime in June. And this past fall term we had 2-3 professional staff on-site along with 1-2 student workers at any given time. We had no known cases return back to the Craft Center. Our staff, and myself, is healthy and Covid-free (at the time of this writing) and I am so unbelievably proud of them and of myself.
The point of this update is just to say that you can plan and strategize and dream all day, but then an actual mother f-ing pandemic hits and the whole world, including you, goes sideways. And you just have to accept it and adapt to it (It's okay if you went kicking and screaming. I did too.). In the last few months I got to do things I didn't think I would ever get to. Craft kits? That was a business plan I've had for years, but didn't know if I could do it (turns out I can). I got to work with my dear friend and art colleague, Jade Lowder, to create tutorials for Compassion Project in Bozeman, Montana (virtually). Pre-Covid, I don't think I would have had time or the space to learn how to make tutorial videos. I got to propose and teach (virtually) a class on creative exploration for the Craft Center; something that's been a passion project for a long time. I got to work on my art during Zoom meetings. I got to take virtual yoga classes from studios I never got to attend in-person because of scheduling conflicts. I got to cut up handmade confetti and write notes of gratitude to all our Craft Kit takers. I got to take a few afternoon walks around my neighborhood (One of our neighbors has city chickens! I had no idea!). I did damn birthday parades. A thing I'll never do again.
That Etsy account is still dead at the moment. I'm sure the next time someone comments on an Instagram post of my work wishing that I sold my pieces somewhere, I will sit straight up and say, "Rev up the Etsy!" And maybe one day I will be able to have it work, update it regularly, sell some nice work to be displayed in nice homes. But until then, that's my Covid update and my dead Etsy update. Good luck this week!
Comments