Let's get positive! Upbeat stories to lift our spirits [93]

Back in March, as we all went into lockdown, we speculated about how the pandemic would affect artists. (see episode 66) This week, we are revisiting the topic to find out. The episode was prompted by Cherrie Trelogan, who asked if we knew of any positive lockdown stories and we both rubbed our hands in glee because we know of too many to list in just one hour!  Our discussion begins with our own situations, and as seems to be customary, we find ourselves in very different places. Lockdown has left Alice feeling a little out of sorts, although new ideas are bubbling up. Meanwhile, Louise has resolved what she will do with her Ted Hughes paintings and this has given her new energy and focus. But going beyond ourselves, we share just a few of the positive stories we know including fundraisers, books, virtual events, online sales, and the surprising success of art supply retailers. The conversation is really uplifting and just proves that, as creatives, we are better placed than anyone to make a go of things in tough times. We also answer a listener question about gallery relations - "what to do when a gallery returns your work?" - and Louise shares an inspiring letter. Mentioned: Carlene Bronner https://www.newartforyou.co.uk/artist=Carlene%20Bronner Rachel Davis fundraiser https://www.racheldavisstudio.com/fundraiser Abigail Bowen's Dark Days series http://www.abigailbowen.com/dark-days-part1 Gwynne Penny https://www.gwynnepenny.com/memories-of-st-ives-in-print/?v=79cba1185463 Tracy Elizabeth Downing https://www.traceyelizabethdowning.com/my-poetry-book-moems-in-mind Faye Bridgewater https://www.fayebridgwater.com/ Karen Stamper episode 63 https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/ebq61i Ted Hughes letters https://www.amazon.co.uk/Letters-Ted-Hughes/dp/0571221394 Join us Alice's Connected Artist Wait List https://alicesheridanstudio.mykajabi.com/connected-interest Louise's Art Tribe sign-up page https://thispaintinglife.mykajabi.com/art-tribe Find us and sign up for our newsletters at: www.alicesheridan.com www.louisefletcherart.com Submit a question at bit.ly/artjuicepodcast Support the podcast with a small donation at: https://ko-fi.com/artjuice Follow us on Instagram: Alice @alicesheridanstudio Louise @louisefletcher_art Credits "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License