The Pandemic Unleashed the Painter in Me

January 4, 2021
Posted in blog
January 4, 2021 Areej Jehan Nasir

I realised how important dividing time for certain things is! Before the pandemic began, my daily routine was intricately aligned with the most time given to academics, and very little time given to anything else. It was when the pandemic struck when I truly began to ponder over things such as what I used to take for granted, what I devoted little time to and whatnot(My time used to be divided between school classes, academy class and extra coaching classes for art – these classes left me with little time to apply the knowledge I learnt or improve on my art skills, which also aided in leaving me burnt out at the end of the day).

Along with these certain realizations, I concluded that I had more free time than I knew what to do with, this is what made me feel obsolete after a certain period of time. Amidst all of this, art is what kept me going.Art is what gave me hope, art is a subject with never-ending lessons, and you learn something new from it every day! That is what truly gave me hope. Another detail I would like to point out is that our fears have truly elevated during this pandemic, especially our fears regarding affecting loved ones unknowingly – that fear has truly affected us and has made us more cautious, from my observations. I believe that we’ve also found new sense empathy for others – I believe other artisans have also experienced this, but the pandemic has really opened our eyes and we can now identify and help out anyone who is in need of assistance through spreading the word online or within our social circles.

The pandemic, while being an equally horrific phenomenon, also played its role as a method of escape for me. I was able to draw and paint freely without having extra pressure of having to travel from venue to venue for the purpose of classes or tests! The whole situation, while being vague, also helped me in putting down my thought on paper in the form of a creative expression.How we cope with situations as large and serious as this definitely varies from person to person! In my case, had I not had any major exposure to art or discontinued drawing, I know I would be at a seriously negative and unstable position. My activities changed drastically – from studying when the sun came up till when the sun set to drawing and experimenting within the comforts of my home. Though it is to be considered that not everyone was able to have the same experience as mine, at the end of the day, I’m glad that I was able to express myself in the ways I was comfortable with and that I had the opportunity to do so as well!

– Areej Jehan Nasir, Volunteer from Eye on Ivy