Flower Drawing by Tucker Nichols posted  by @tuckernichols on Instagram

It feels as though the world changed in an instant. To flatten the coronavirus curve, most of us are staying home, trying to readjust to this new reality and taking care of our kids, sick family members and keeping the household afloat. But among all this chaos, there are those that rise to the surface to give us a little hope, take our mind off things for an instant, and make us laugh or teach us something comforting.

While scrolling through Instagram and Facebook this week, I have come across some accounts that I look forward to see every day. An artist that I never met, but truly warmed my heart is Tucker Nichols (@tuckernichols). Every day he paints different flowers in very bright colors, with child like loose strokes. Each flower is offered to people going through, or dealing with something specific during this coronavirus times. In one of his posts, Nichols also offers to send a flower to someone who is sick right now. You can read m ore about this on his website www.fowersforsickpeople.org. Thank you Tucker Nichols for what you do. May you be rewarded many times over for this awesome gesture!

Detail of John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Mrs. George Swinton, 1897. Posted on Instagram by @stephanieherdrich

Another Instagram account that I have been following for a while and absolutely love is Stephanie Herdrich (@stephanieherdrich) , assistant curator of American painting and sculpture at The Met. Stephanie announced that even though The Met was closing its doors, she would continue to post from the 45,000 photos she has on her phone, that she hopes it "will bring you a moment of respite during these worrisome times”. What I love about Herdrich posts is that she first posts one or two gorgeous close-ups of artworks followed by the whole painting, and on the comment section she tells us the name of the artist, the date and gives us a little history and information about the artwork. I enjoy looking at her posts and reading about them so much, I feel like I am back in art history class or going through a world wide museum tour.

Post by @ladylikeshiv on Instagram

An account that is very, very funny, and always makes me laugh out loud is Shiv’s @ladylikeshiv. I don't remember how I found her, but every day I make sure to go through all her posts and find myself forwarding them to my friends and family. Shiv has a very unique sense of humor that makes me choke on my drinks every day!

Three great women artists that have been inspired by the coronavirus crisis to create artwork and are worth to mention are Ann Bridget Murphy (@ann_b_murphy), Kyung Jeon-Miranda (@kyungjeon) and Alison OK Frost (@alisonok  ). I am proud to say that I know these three women personally, as we all attended the SVA MFA program together.

Drawing by Ann Murphy, posted on @ann_b_murphy Instagram

Ann Murphy (@ann_b_murphy) is sharing one drawing per day. Her drawings evoke sense of the psyche and the unconscious, kind of a blend between Louise Bourgeois and Dali.

Watercolor by Alison OK Frost, 2010, posted on @alisonok Instagram

Alison OK Frost (@alisonok ) has posted some amazing prescient watercolors that she painted in 2010. I am in awe not only in how these watercolors so skillfully rendered but also of her prophetic vision. Alison just posted a video asking for her viewers to send her images of how they deal with this moment to create quarantine inspired figurative paintings. I wish you much luck with your new project Alison!

Coronavirus Toilet Paper, 2020, Watercolor, gouache, graphite on paper, by Kyung Jeon-Miranda on @kyungjeon Instagram

Kyung Jeon-Miranda (@kyungjeon) painted a delightful image in her very unique style of a young woman on a bike, with a face mask driving a bicycle with lots of packages full of toilet paper rolls. There is something humorous, playful and at the same time scary and touching in this poignant image.

My dear friend and great jewelry designer Sarah Muse did a live Facebook demonstration of how to make her delicious homemade bread, which I have been lucky to taste it in person. I see a trend in people baking during this stay at home now. It is very comforting both to bake it and of course eat it.

My other dear friend and very talented jewelry designer Christine Lupo is doing a "get dressed challenge" for the next two weeks, because it does make one feel better to have a routine, take a shower, do our hair and makeup and put on nice clothes, rather than walk around all day in pjs for the rest of this quarantine.

Drawings by My Grandkids

On my end, I am trying to stay connected with my grandkids. So I decided to give them drawing classes through Zoom. Each day I choose a different character or an image and draw it on illustrator. I brake it up into shapes, one layer per shape, I hide all the layers and then show them one shape at a time as they draw it. As the drawing progresses they guess what the image is. Their faces light up as they see the image come together. They continue to color it and my daughters make sure to send me pictures of their drawings. What is great about this is that they get to be creative, learn new skills, they interact with each-other and we all get to stay connected through art. Here are some of their drawings. I am so proud of them!!!

Stay safe, stay healthy and stay connected with those you love, and make sure to do your part, whatever that is to get through this time, because this too shall end!