Quarantine Me. Hangin’ in there.
No Bookmobile Tour
By now friends, I’m sure you’ve assumed it, but the official word is here from the Brooklyn Art Library. There will be no mobile tour for sketchbooks this year. More on that in a moment.
Believe by Deanna R Meyer
Although thoroughly disappointed (as I have been with most things, most of this year so far) I understand and agree with the decision, and it is what it is. We’ll all navigate through this pandemic eventually.
As 2019 came to a close, I was heading into 2020 with super high hopes and a brand new post-surgery body! However, as life does sometimes, it took a big turn south.
Here, we’ve been keeping busy getting through it. Our area still does not have the ‘greenlight’ to reopen all the way. At my house everyone is home, and we haven’t been out in the big-wide-world too much. . It’s been since about March 12th for us, a teacher, a student, and an artist co-existing until schools re-open. This could get interesting, ha!
As I always say: Every day is a new adventure!
Honestly, it’s been fine though, and the gorgeous springtime weather we had in the Northeastern U.S. was a thing of blessed timing, indeed.
When I’m not drawing, I enjoy gardening.
Time for Updates
For now, I’m going to be editing this website and updating it, along with working on other art related projects. One thing I’d really like to do is get more card designs up in our greeting card shop. There is a design I made last year for our Sympathy section– for pets. For kitties & doggo friends, who’ve crossed the rainbow bridge.
New designs will be listed soon.
I’ve also been posting more illustration and time-lapse art recordings on our Facebook, Instagram, & Pinterest socials!
Not to leave out that our artist Dean is working on painting again after a bit of a hiatus! We will have a new vintage pin-striped handbag listed on our etsy shop really soon. It’s very stylish. He aced another!
Really, there needs to be more of me, but one will have to suffice for now!
Don’t Forget the Shmoop
Oh! And I can’t forget Shmoop! My ever-so-loveable wild, orange and white tabby, he has his own hashtag now because ya’ll love him so much. Instagram: #shmooptheofficecat
My hope is that in a month or two I’ll have the digital end of things tidied up, & can then focus more on portfolio art, new products in our Etsy shop, and also working on my sketchbook for the volume 16 of the Sketchbook Project.
ICYMI
Deanna Meyer, working hard on Believe, an Illustrated Autobiography.
One of the final sketches for Believe, an Illustrated Autobiography.
In case you missed it, my sketchbook for volume 15 of the Brooklyn Art Library’s really unique “Sketchbook Project,” arrived at the library in March. Just in time to be cataloged ( #373.26-2) before everything shut down.
Here is some basic Q&A I’ve been getting:
• WHAT IS THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT?
The Brooklyn Art Library is home to the world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks. Anyone from anywhere in the word can join the project. They offer a hands-on experience with a library that houses all the sketchbooks sent to them, and also by taking sketchbooks on a mobile tour.
You can learn more about this wonderful project here https://brooklynartlibrary.org/library/
• WHERE IS THE LIBRARY LOCATED?
The library is at 28 Frost St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
• WHERE CAN I READ BELIEVE?
Since the library is temporarily closed, due to COVID-19, for now you can read the book online!
“Believe” by Deanna R. Meyer Brooklyn Art Library Call No. 373.26-2
When the library reopens, BELIEVE will be available to be read in the library. Or if you can’t make it to Brooklyn, it will be recorded in the B.A.L’s digital library located on their website.
When it’s safe to hit the road again, BELIEVE and the other amazing submissions for volume 15 of the project will go on a mobile tour. It’s looking like we can look forward to that in 2021.
COVID-19 NOTICE From the Brooklyn Art Library:
Due to present circumstances all touring is on hold for the remainder of 2020. We will resume touring as soon as it is safe to do so and will continue sending out updates letting you know where and when your book will be out in the world. Touring is a huge part of our mission as we want to make the books accessible to as many people as possible, and we love getting to take the project on the road!
Image courtesy of The Brooklyn Art Library
Image courtesy of The Brooklyn Art Library
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Each of us has a life struggle. Mine has been illnesses: Multiple Sclerosis and Endometriosis.
MS is an autoimmune disease, and is the kind of illness where even doctors don’t necessarily know what the outcome will be.
Multiple Sclerosis is unique in how it behaves. What it affects in the nervous system is different in each MS patient. In some ways I’ve found that to be a positive thing, because I never allowed my diagnoses to give me a vision of how I was “supposed” to end up.
I feel fortunate that the avenues I’ve utilized to get well have worked so far. Although I realize that life can change in a moment’s notice– at this point in time I find myself in a good place.
These two illnesses are wildly unpredictable, and there is no known cure for either. They are both lifelong conditions. It is a definite that my health has influenced my art.
You can see more about me as an artist here.
