My Pandemic Year: How artists get inspired, create, work and cope with life at home.

May 03, 2021

Rosanna Tasker lives and works in Shrewsbury, UK.

How the pandemic affected your work and your working routine?

My partner and my mother were in the shielding category for Covid-19, so we spent most of 2020 isolating at my parent’s house in Shropshire. This led to me moving away from the city of Bristol (where I’ve lived for almost 10 years) and buying my first house in Shrewsbury where I am now! Throughout most of the pandemic I’ve been in a state of limbo between places, living out of a suitcase with my possessions boxed up. I haven’t had a dedicated workspace, so have been quite displaced, often moving around to paint in different areas of the house depending on where was free each day.

Did you learn something with this experience that changed the way you think about work?

My commissioned work was highly affected; I experienced a huge drop in enquiries as soon as the pandemic began, and incoming work has been very patchy. The plus side of this was that it encouraged me to delve deeper into personal work and gave me time to create artwork for myself. Through this practice I’ve become more in tune with my creativity and passions. It’s also improved my painting skills and elevated my process and approach. The experience has highlighted the importance of maintaining this development alongside commissioned work in the future.

What inspires you during these times?

I have been incredibly lucky to spend a lot of time in nature this past year. The Shropshire countryside is full of so much beauty that inspiration has been easy to come by. After living in the city, I have realized how important it is for me to be closer to nature, especially for its connection to my creativity and imagination.

What’s the biggest challenge?

I’m a strongly extroverted person, and I find that the majority of my passion and energy is triggered by spending time with people. Of course social interaction has been massively limited for everyone this year, and I’ve really struggled at times to maintain enthusiasm and find motivation from within myself.

What do you miss the most?

In Bristol I had been working in an artist studio which I co-managed with friends, and leaving this behind has made a huge difference to my work routine. My productivity has suffered and I really miss being surrounded by other creatives in a shared workspace. I usually love spontaneity without too much structure to my day, but I do miss simple foundational routines like walking to the studio, which help to separate work and home life.

If you have to make a drawing about the pandemic experience from your personal perspective, what would that be?

Throughout last year I created a series of twelve illustrations that I then made into a 2021 calendar. Without specifically meaning to, I think the images subconsciously captured my frame of mind during the year; a mixture of the appreciation of being able to spend so much time in nature, combined with the imagined places I was dreaming up to combat the monotony of the day to day.