In two weeks time Colin and I are marking the anniversary of social distancing (notice I didn’t use the word “celebrate”… who knew we would still be distancing a year later?). We decided a year ago on March 11th that we would just distance as much as possible as there were so many unknowns. I started that journey with making several fabric masks for ourselves and friends and neighbours who did not sew. I added a few masks in the summer but must confess that I am pretty tired of those vintage 2020 masks. The first batch seemed too big for my liking and impaired my vision. And while the second batch was more fitted it often inhibited my breathing, when I inhaled the fabric would get too close to my face. I had been looking for a new pattern for a while but the studio was not set up at the time and I was just not going to buy more fabric when I knew my stash was about to be unearthed.

I immersed myself in the studio for the afternoon yesterday and tried this origami mask pattern I found on the internet. I used three layers of cotton fabric and with the sizing there is space to add another layer in the form of a tissue. Before I knew it I had made about 20 new masks for Colin and myself and any friend I encounter who does not sew. This was by far the easiest pattern I have tried. There is a source for elastics in the pattern post as well. I didn’t need it because, thanks to the move and unpacking my stash, I was well stocked with the perfect 1/8″ soft elastic.

Speaking of Covid Fatigue Busters: I am so thrilled to share that the Virtual Creative Cluster announced in my last post is going ahead on Tuesday. The group is capped at 12, thus far we have 10 participants but there are a few more hours to register. If you missed the blog post, here is the link! I have heard from a couple interested people who would like to meet another day and at a different time due to previous commitments due to work or volunteer duties. If you are interested but cannot make the Tuesday afternoon time slot please email me and share your objectives and possible times for an alternate session with me directly. Thank you.

The slideshow above is comprised of a few images I captured yesterday afternoon at the bottom of our garden. My timing was impeccable. Within 30 minutes the tide came in and all these amazing ice formations had been submerged. It just proves that one must strike while the iron is hot. I also wanted to share that we have snow and ice here…

Wishing everyone a great start to the week and a new month. Welcome to March, it will be spring very soon!

Stay safe and stay creative, Anna

28 Feb This entry was published on February 28, 2021 at 7:18 pm. It’s filed under Contemplative art practice, Contemplative Photography, Creativity Update, In the News, Journaling, Motivational, Nature's Art, Networking, Special Project, staying in touch, Workshop Opportunity and tagged cloth masks, connecting across the miles, Covid Busters, ice photography, mask, online learning, Photography, Virtual Creative Cluster. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.