It is no secret that the pandemic has affected everybody – from cancelling travel plans and personal events, to affecting livelihood and both mental and physical health. Whilst some of us have used the extra time in lockdown to bond with our families, pick up new and versatile hobbies, and take care of our health, research shows that most people have struggled to adjust to such drastic changes in their daily routines. The Dabloom team wanted to find out exactly how the pandemic affected creatives in particular, and thus conducted a short survey over on our Instagram stories to find answers.
Out of 39 participants, 74% identified as artists. When asked what they created, 15% stated fine art – including paintings, drawings, and sculptures; 23% were photographers and videographers; 3% were musicians; and 33% worked in other mediums, from graphics to culinary art.
Having such a large pool of artists who indulge in various forms of creation gives great insight into how essential creativity is in society, leading to our next question: has the pandemic affected them and/or their work? As a result, 39% answered that it had, and 61% said it hadn’t. Upon reflection on whether the affect was positive or negative, we saw a variety of answers, ranging from extremely negative to extremely positive, however the average answer was that 80% of participants had been affected positively.
In terms of how their art was affected, creatives stated that they mostly faced a lack of inspiration from being stuck inside all day, alongside seeing a significant decrease in their orders and commissions. Other creatives found that the pandemic had gifted them with a surplus of time to do their art. Some people stated that they had not even discovered their craft until the pandemic had hit and they found themselves bored at home.
@97ayaat, a talented embroiderer and calligraphy artist, had her own take on how the pandemic affected her. “I’m used to using art as a getaway, but all of a sudden I didn’t need a getaway. I started wanting to explore and learn new things…honestly, I did less art during the pandemic but did more reading.” This links to the lack of inspiration issue that a lot of creatives had to face. @abeecalligraphy, who paints beautiful Arabic scriptures, mentioned “I had a lot of time to do art, but not enough people to buy it, so I decided to start giving away some pieces for free. It allowed me to grow my business and get word out there, and also let me paint without overcrowding my apartment!”
Now that a second lockdown has been implemented in the UK, creatives and non-creatives alike feel more ready to take on the month spent indoors. Amazon has seen an influx of sales in items related to indoor hobbies, such as books and painting kits. People are now more accustomed to the idea of spending the next few weeks at home, and feel more prepared to take on this adjustment.
Has the pandemic affected your creations? Tell us in the comments below!
Article written by Arshi Syed, story teller at Dabloom.