#21DAYSOFARTSA

Staying creative during lockdown

Creating art can be a therapeutic process in times of stress, and it's probably safe to say that the 21 days of lockdown have left most of us in need of more soothing than usual. However, creating art in times of anxiety or crisis can also be more difficult than normal, as is focusing in general. With this in mind, Cape Town artist Alice Toich created the #21DAYSOFARTSA challenge.

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A post shared by Alice Angela Toich Sanchez 🍒🍰 (@alice_toich) on Mar 29, 2020 at 2:25am PDT

The Challenge

So, what does the challenge involve exactly? Toich posts a daily theme on Instagram, with the aim of challenging participants to create artworks inspired by the theme, as well as their immediate surroundings. She has had a tremendous response from the South African creative community, with several local artists even guest-hosting the daily themes! There is no restriction placed on medium or format, artists need only create something meaningful to them.

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A post shared by Alice Angela Toich Sanchez 🍒🍰 (@alice_toich) on Mar 28, 2020 at 1:19am PDT

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@mrchandlerhouse completes his most loved Japanese Urn for Day 6 Challenge “A most valuable object” of #21DaysOfArtSA ✨💙⚱️💙✨his words below: “I know I set today’s #21DaysOfArtSA but I would never have done today’s piece if it wasn’t for Alice’s incredible initiative and starting this creative, lockdown challenge. I LOVED looking and actually seeing my beautiful Arita Urn slowly, carefully and properly. I also learnt that it’s okay not to capture its exact likeness and sometimes capturing the spirit of something, as you see it, is more important. After all, we dohave cameras. This process allowed me explore a facet of my artist-self I’ve always wanted to explore, but never really attempted - so again - Thank you Alice! Gouache is fabulous. I noticed so much more in my beloved today than I thought I knew and I can only say you’ll be seeing some new, very old motifs, in my future work. Well done to everyone who took on today’s challenge and keep the spirits up! We’re almost a third of the way through this. We can do it! #arita #kraak #blueandwhiteisalwaysright #thanksalicetoich #doingitforslummies #teamaries #blueandwhiteporcelain #japaneseporcelain #skynest cc @alice_toich”

A post shared by Alice Angela Toich Sanchez 🍒🍰 (@alice_toich) on Apr 1, 2020 at 11:23pm PDT

The Rules

The rules are simple - create an artwork a day or over two days, and participants have until 10pm every day to post their submissions, so if you're a local artist or just interested in getting involved, what are you waiting for?

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A post shared by Alice Angela Toich Sanchez 🍒🍰 (@alice_toich) on Apr 1, 2020 at 1:58am PDT

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A post shared by Alice Angela Toich Sanchez 🍒🍰 (@alice_toich) on Mar 29, 2020 at 12:22am PDT

Are you planning to join the challenge, or know of any others? Let us know in the comments! Want to get creative during lockdown? Make sure to check out these online courses!