Is Creativity Relevant in Lockdown?
Author’s Bio - Angela of Ange B Designs, is a sustainable jewellery designer and maker based in West London. Alongside her jewellery design business, she teaches one-day jewellery making workshops for beginners and also works part-time as a physiotherapist.
With the advent of COVID-19 my life, like nearly everyone else’s in the world was thrown into disarray. Unable to go to my day job in the conventional way (I had to conduct my physiotherapy consultations via Zoom), I found myself with many more spare hours in my day than I’ve ever been used to.
Once I’d got past the manic stage of over-production and accompanying insomnia, I found myself drifting towards my ‘happy place’, my workshop (aka ‘The She Cave’). I’ve always had a drive to create, and the process of making jewellery has always been a way of calming my mind. I found the process of hitting metal and handling my tools very soothing, especially in this time of social and emotional turmoil.
At the start of lockdown, I made the conscious decision to close my website shop - I felt that the very least I could do was not to add to the risk of virus transmission by traipsing to the post office. I also felt guilty ‘pushing’ trivial purchases like jewellery, in a time when many had more important things on their minds.
In an attempt to make my creativity feel more relevant, I signed up for a lovely collaborative project started by Spanish jewellers. The Hand Medal Project called on jewellery-makers worldwide to make as many of these 5cm metal hands as they wished to. The finished medals would then be distributed to caregivers and healthcare workers around the world. With all of my usual suppliers temporarily shut, I pledged to make two medals a day using my stash of brass and copper.
Many hands make light work…
In tandem with making the hand medals (which have become a daily, almost meditative practice), I started to use my scrap silver and recycled silver to make new jewellery pieces. Without the burden to make for commerce, I found in the same way that many were cobbling together creative meals from the contents of their cupboards, I was making more freely and prolifically using my meagre silver and gemstone stash. I love geometry and the influence of this on my ‘lockdown’ designs is very evident.
Lockdown Ring Collection
A few weeks into lockdown, I decided to re-open up my website shop. Inspired by a lovely email I received a few weeks prior, in which a customer had said how happy she was with her new earrings and “how nice it was to have something beautiful in these dark times”. This simple communication made me feel that if my jewellery can make someone feel special, when the rest of their day might not be going so well, then the least I could do was to show up!
So, to answer my own question: yes, I think creativity in lockdown is vital - you only have to look at all of the amazing ideas that have sprung up in the past couple of months to appreciate the benefits of a lot of extra time and a little imagination. Whether as a maker or someone looking for a gift for a loved-one, or treat for oneself - we all need to express our playful side!