Art survives, and artists are unique in that they only need to create. Or maybe they need to need to create! This year, soon gone, has created that need in many and it is one of the few positives of 2020. We lament the losses, and they are huge but perhaps they should have been less surprising.
I only had one quilting store in my area. It was a great place but it went the way of the Dodo long before 2020. (They got me quilting! When they pulled up stakes I said I’d follow them anywhere!)
There are a lot of small business that didn’t make it and many of the ones that hung on before did so by teaching classes and selling on-line during what we will look back on as unprecedented prosperity. Boom times the big chains opened mega stores, not even far apart and squeezed Mom and Pops out then closed too once they ate the competition. Real Estate prices put the final nails in their coffins. This isn’t just fabric stores and specialized quilting stores, lots and lots of business.
They say year three is the crunch for most small businesses. Truth is, even without the pandemic lots of them would have disappeared if only to be replaced by some other hopeful entrepreneurs.
The thing about 2020 is the process was accelerated across the board and so is more obvious and disturbing. Some were just waiting for the last death rattle, like the family restaurant I had gone to since I was a baby. The owners’ kids and grandkids didn’t want to keep it going, too much work and not enough $ return before covid.
As soon as the first lockdown ended I sold my house and I left the neighbourhood. Covid 19 made the insecurities of my trying to hold on so very obvious, not the least being that I am getting old and brittle. I would have had to come to terms with that eventually. It’s like the spring. Everyone is shocked when the snow melts and you see how much poo is on the ground, but it was there all along, it was just under the snow all winter. The inequities and insecurities and the shit were all there just waiting to be exposed. And Boy! They have been exposed!
But it’s also true of the joyful stuff that survives. Like flowers on the tundra. Art survives and takes on new importance.
That is how colour and fabric make me feel. In my new home I am just setting up a sewing table and a new adjustable chair. Finally no more back ache from sitting improperly! For Xmas my kids got me every colour in the rainbow of embroidery thread. I can’t wait to start a new project!
It’s been very hard and there have been losses and suffering and it will be a long time before grief loosens for many. I hope people invest in shoring each other up and fixing what was always broken, just perhaps hidden. I hope everyone finds what is important.
WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU DISCOVERING FABRIC ARTS!
Quilting is My Addiction 