Love, Creativity, and the Covid-19 Pandemic

In Chicago we’re onto week three of the Stay home, Save lives order, and our city, along with the rest of the world, is a changed place. And while much of this has been awful and scary and bewildering, I am in awe at the outpouring of creativity and love that’s being shared. Artists everywhere have stepped up to shelter us from this near-dystopian experience. Never before have so many people stepped up to support each other online like this, and today I want to share with you a few of my favourites:

First, and this is pretty much a PSA, Sir Patrick Stewart is reading sonnets on Instagram daily. 

A voice you want to hear these days

            Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has a series of Stay Home, Save Lives ads that make me laugh. They follow a series of very Chicago-specific memes that quickly became a city favourite.  

My favourite of the Mayor Lori Lightfoot memes

            Amanda Evanston generously hosts Instagram Live painting tutorials that are fun, easy-to-follow, and colourful.

Make your own beautiful art pieces with Amanda Evanston

D Nice hosts Club Quarantine on Instagram Live, and like many other people, I've never gone clubbing so much in my life.

"This is a reminder of what love can be"

Haunted Paper Co. has a very fun painting tutorial I highly recommend if you want to create a haunted house (or a neighbourhood full of ooky, kooky, spooky homes!). AAAANDDD, you can now participate in a larger neighbourhood project and contribute your own house!

My WIP Haunted House Neighbourhood

The Jealous Curator Podcast rocks my world, and (full disclosure) I haven't been able to get into podcasts until this one. 

The Winchester Mystery House (which has been on my bucket list for far too long) now offers online tours! And if you poke around their website a bit, you'll also find free colouring book pages and crossword puzzles. 

I'm planning a trip when the pandemic's over.

On March 31^st a whole bunch of us celebrated Quarantineoween! You can find the photos under #quarantineoween on Instagram and enjoy the March Halloween silliness.

A few of my tiny porcelain pumpkins

The Getty Museum Challenge is giving me life. Find the creative submissions under #gettymuseumchallenge. I'm determined to complete one.

We should have this sort of fun in normal life

I’ve had this as a someday project for years, and now finally seems like the right time to print out and build the free “Escape from the Haunted Mansion” board game.

Who doesn't want this board game?