Galaxy Wolf, design by Sarah Cray of Let’s Make Art, painted by Laura Strudwick
From giving myself permission to not shower, gain a bunch of weight, and loll around watching TV and hugging my blanket during the first couple of LOCKDOWN months (April-May 2020) to resolving to “get my shit together” by hiking a lot, joining Noom and back to counting my calories again, and getting an attitude of gratitude—the first half-year of Covid was a black-and-white swing from lazy to energetic. At the far end of my self-improvement pendulum, I dusted off my Artist’s Way book and got down to it, finally. I did the Morning Pages for 7 weeks, I made breakthroughs and explored my creative desires, and then I got tired of it. And that’s okay! Because what I found on the other side of doing half of The Artist’s Way was an immense comfort and inspiration in creativity again.
Purple Flowers, design by Sarah Cray of Let’s Make Art, painted by Laura Strudwick
Six years ago, almost seven, I completed my PhD dissertation. I don’t have children, but finishing that work was like giving birth to a baby—a complex, nuanced, scholarly child with big glasses and an egg for a head. She had themes running through her, oh yes, strands woven delicately into her chapters. She whispered keywords and search terms to WorldCat and ProQuest. Her eloquent voice echoed into empty halls, bombinating in a void. Obviously, I became enamored with the book, and when it was finished, it was like a heartbreaking wrenching in my soul. What a Drama Queen! But it’s true. The completion of my first book, my big Dissertation, coincided with my failure to attain a job in higher education, and creativity just shriveled up (except for SoulCollage®).
Mermaid Journey, ©Laura Strudwick, 2020
Enter The Artist’s Way work…I thought I would get so inspired to do more writing. I would write a book! I would write articles! I would get all kinds of projects going! But no. Suddenly I was painting every day. Painting? I’m not a painter. I didn’t even have any supplies. I followed my intuition, bought a lot of fun supplies, and started painting easy watercolor tutorials and tracing Haida art and painting it (form line work). I hand-painted 65 Christmas cards. I got excited. So far, I’ve made one original work. It’s super weird, but so am I, I guess.
All I can say is that now that I’m painting, other creative doors have opened and beckoned me through. Obviously, I’m writing again. I’ve made YouTube essays, and I have many ideas for more. The pandemic continues, but there’s hope on the horizon with the vaccine’s recent approval and a shift in governmental leadership. Creative expression, however, has been my saving grace during this time. I’ve created a studio in my WFH office, and each day I can’t wait to paint.
The Gwaii Haanas crest by Giitsxaa (Ronald Wilson) shows sea otter and sea urchin, painted by Laura Strudwick.
My studio/office/library loft