It’s often found that people are the most productive when they are alone, isolated from their outside worlds.

In the case of senior Sloane Ross and junior Jackie Wydysh, personal space has a huge impact on their creative processes and the results that emerge.  

Ross said the personal bubble in her home helps her develop her artistic style. While her art ranges from sculpting to sketching, Ross’s main focus is graphic design.

Her work fills the walls of both her living room and bedroom. “It makes me feel proud of myself, that there’s something that I’m good at and that I’m passionate about it,” she said. “I can just come into this room on a bad day and feel comforted.”

Ross, who is double majoring in English and studio-art considering moving from graphic design to interior design, she said.

Living in an off-campus home, Ross said having her own room gives her more freedom to decorate and create her own area. She said being isolated avoids any possible distractions.  

“It’s important to enjoy your own company and go within your own creativity,” Ross said. “You need to rely on yourself and be proud of yourself and your own imagination, because that’s all that you have in that moment.”

Wydysh, a public communications major with a minor in classical civilizations, also lives off campus.

She is a singer and formerly sang for the Burlington band “MELON,” comprised entirely of UVM students.  Her attic room and her car are important creative spaces, Wydysh said.

Wydysh was initially worried having a roommate would prevent her from having her own area, but “we have our own little nooks,”she said, making it easy to escape into her own space.

Being located in the attic of her house helps Wydysh as a performer.  

“I listen to all my music up here,” she said. “You can’t hear anything from the other parts of the house, so it’s nice knowing no one can hear me when I practice.”  

Ross and Wydysh agreed that as developing artists, being alone is a crucial part of their routine, a type of self-care.

“My friends say I’m very outgoing and social,” Wydysh said, “but I also need my isolation and my solitude, and some people don’t expect that.”

Although being surrounded by others around can be creatively stimulating, Ross said, “ you need to find a balance between the two.”