My saviour in lockdown has definitely been painting. At first it was something for me and my housemates to do, just to pass the time and something a little different. But the more we started to paint, the more it became such an important part of our day. 

Just like most people in lockdown, it has given me an excuse to binge as many Netflix series as possible completely guiltlessly. But I found myself doing university work all day on my laptop. Then spending all my evenings watching TV shows or movies on my laptop because there was nothing else to do. We couldn’t go out to the pub or round to a friend’s house. But the time we paint every day is a time we completely switch off and get away from screens. It gives us a time to be in our own world away from social media and distractions.  We often get into debates and interesting discussions as we paint as it gives us a time to talk about how we are feeling, our mindsets and plans to help us through the week. 

We started small, with paint by numbers. Something we thought would be easy and not take a lot of time. My first piece took me 5 weeks to complete. Although at the end it got a bit tedious, when you would spot tiny squares that were missing or some of your paints had dried. The finished result was so worth it. From a distance you wouldn’t even know it was a paint by numbers! It was also incredibly rewarding seeing the finished product. Straight away I ordered another one as it was so easy and enjoyable. 

As my confidence in my painting grew, I started trying out different styles and freehand drawing. Inspired by my favourite artist Sophie Tea, I ventured into nude drawings. In lockdown 2, Sophie Tea did a live Instagram art class that me and my housemates were so excited to participate in. None of us had really done much painting since we were at junior school! So, we had little expectations for ourselves, we just wanted to have a fun afternoon. We set all the supplies up on the Sunday ready for our lovely relaxing day completely in the art zone.

We were so impressed by the end results, the class gave us the confidence to try out new styles, colours and shapes. For the next week after university work every day, I would sit for a couple of hours in my own world drawing and painting different nude pieces.  I found a new appreciation for art, different textures, shapes, colour patterns. I also felt really proud of myself that the more I practised and painted, I could see progress and my paintings were actually okay. My friends even started asking for them as Christmas presents! It gave me so much confidence that I found a new skill and one that I could be proud of. 

I found that it is very easy at this time to feel like you are not really living, just existing. University work is your only identity because that is all you are doing all day, every day. But it is so important to factor into your day an hour or so for you to take a break and immerse your mind into something else. Something that makes you happy or laugh. Whether it’s a skill you’ve never tried before or something you did once upon a time but haven’t done in years, just go for it. Be adventurous, be creative and the effects of that will be bigger than you know. 

I have so many happy memories with my housemates sat laughing while painting. That to me, is what I will remember and take away from lockdown. 

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