Creativity during the Covid Crisis
Life goes on they say. And it is true, life does go on. Sometimes not life as we know it but life does go on.
Interruption
We can now see that Covid 19 has been the great disruptor of life in 2020 and has changed the face of the way we live. Plans have been changed or thwarted, livelihoods have been put on hold and personal agendas have been skewed. For example, one has to feel empathy for couples who had been planning 2020 weddings for the past few years who, if allowed to hold the wedding at all, must reduce attendees dramatically along with hosting a socially distanced shell of a ceremony, which has only a passing resemblance to what their original event was to be. But of course all of this all pales in to comparison knowing that there are families who have lost loved ones to this disease.
PIGSY Plans
For me, I had planned a much earlier move to Spain to paint fulltime. I originally intended to be fully moved by the end of March however lockdown in Dublin put paid to that plan and I eventually was able to travel and move out to Malaga by the end of July.
Additionally I had a showing planned in Los Angeles in April 2020. That also came to an end with the advent of Covid. Unbelievably at the beginning of March I was still under the illusion that this would take place. It took time to realise that Covid was going to interrupt most plans and there was not going to be live art showings for sometime.
Every October for the past 5 years I’ve held a large solo PIGSY exhibition or event. This year not so. Again it is all thanks to Covid. But as I said at the top, life goes on. I’ve already been approached with a proposal for a showing in February 2021 here in Malaga in Spain and so I will begin to work towards that. I’ve also been really busy doing loads of other arty and creative work (particularly in regards to the business end of things). Life goes on and the art business does too!
Archiving Art Success
The business end of being an artist is definitely not as fun as the creative part but it is crucial. Over the years I’ve created and amassed a large amount of art (I paint fast!) in many different formats including sculptures and 2D works. Archiving all of these pieces is so important and it is something that you need to commit a lot of time to. Now that I am working full time as an artist I have the time to give over to archiving my work and am bringing my archive fully up to date. Coupled with the fact that I am now working more so therefore creating more work so again this reiterates how important it is to stay on top of this element of work.
Art Website Work
Again this is more of the business end of being a professional artist but in this evermore globalised and connected world it is so important for artists to have an up to date website which showcases their work. I started to redesign my website back in March when Ireland went in to lockdown. Now I am working on adding and updating content (blogs, video and artwork) along with setting up the PIGSY merchandise store and also doing some work on SEO etc.
Art Studio Time
Of course the biggest thing that a professional artist needs to do is work in the studio in order to create a body of work. It can sometimes be hard to fit that in here in Malaga with everything that is going on and all of the other work that needs to be done. Also on top of all of this I am learning to speak Spanish so I need to do work on that too!
But days are long here. I found that working the 9 to 5 is probably not the best thing. Here days start early with businesses opening early and then closing for a long lunch and then reopening in the late afternoon and staying open much later than back home in Ireland.
We have got in to a nice groove of going for an early coffee and then doing some business work with me heading to the studio from about 3pm until 8pm. And then we eat dinner about 9pm which is a big change from back in Ireland where we ate dinner much much earlier.
With my studio only being a short 5 minute walk from my apartment it all works out nicely and I get to paint and create loads. Within a very short time when I arrived, I was feeling reenergized and invigorated and have been making some awesome pieces - the light helps a lot!
Art Exhibition Planning
I’m always aiming towards my next exhibition and now having a date in early 2021 for the next PIGSY showing I have plenty of work to do. As well as creating a body of work for the exhibition there is all tof he incidentals additional to an event that needs to be planned. My last large scale event was the PIGSY Art & film Screening in Fitzwilliam. I always like to think about extra details for my events and at this event I created a signature cocktail “The Pigtail” which was enjoyed by all of my guests along with extra special canapes created by the club chef. Watch this space to see what I come up with for February 2021!!
Art Marketing and Promotion
I’ve been working on my PIGSY art brand for many years now and luckily there is huge brand awareness in regards to my art. This is essential at all times but definitely more so in a time like this. My style and brand is extremely distinctive and very recognizable. I have built a large following of collectors of my work over the past few years and they appreciate hugely what I do and will want to see what I am up to and what I next produce. I am so very grateful to all of them and love sharing my work with them. I also love to introduce my work to those who are not familiar with the art work of PIGSY - it is through my brand that I can do this during these times of Covid.
PIGSY Art Merchandise
I have been designing a range of “art wear” products featuring my art over the past few months. It was something that I wanted to do for a long time as I’ve always thought that many of my edgier artworks would work really well on T-Shirts but also because I have been asked by so many people if I would print my artwork on to merchandise. Well I always aim to please, particularly for fans of my work, so I launched a collection of PIGSY art products quietly last week on my website and it is great to see them selling now. The enamel outdoor cups, in particular, are proving to be very popular! If we weren’t living with Covid I would have been able to hold a large scale launch party similar to some of my past exhibition openings with a DJ and cocktails and a large crowd invited to a live showing of the “art wear” pieces in the collection. But for now a virtual launch did the trick with the t-shirts, bags and mugs available to buy by contacting me in order to make a special order.
Keep going and stay positive
As I started out saying in this blog, life goes on. As we can see Covid has brought great disruption but it has also brought positive changes. Families have got to spend more time with each other, we have learnt to bake bread and we have looked out for and helped each other.
Stay strong and keep going
This will end and we will prevail. Let’s support each other, shop local and support the arts (it’s never been more important for us to create at this time) and remember Art always Helps!