Find Joy by Faith Tabalujan

About this project: "A hand-made cross-stitch project made lovingly for my sister, as a reminder of her brief (cut short by the not-to-be-mentioned crisis!) but transformative university exchange experience based at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, where she rode her blue bike everywhere without a care in the world!"

Scroll down to see this entry and to find out more about the contributing artist.

About the artist: "I am a first-year BA student from Melbourne hoping to complete a double major in History and English and Theatre Studies, as well as a concurrent language diploma in French. Sadly, this course structure doesn't leave a lot of freedom to pursue more creative breadth subjects or electives, so I like to channel my creativity through my hobbies including cooking, baking, knitting, card-making and recently hand embroidery. This piece, 'Find Joy', was my first proper cross-stitch project which I gave to my sister (whose name is actually Joy!) for her birthday. I'm glad to say that I've discovered a newfound passion for this calming pastime thanks to this period of staying at home."

We asked, our artists answered: why does creativity matter now? "I think that life should never be without some form of creativity, because so much pleasure, reflection and pride comes from creating something yourself. I'm glad that one positive of this lockdown period has been an awakening of people's creative sides, often with the benefit of bringing families and friends together in the process. Personally, my creative hobbies have encouraged me to get back to the simple things of baking bread, putting pen to paper, and reflecting on all the things for which I am grateful."