The Vermont Cynic asked its illustrators to paint, sketch or draw what their life is like now during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is what they came up with.

Eleni Papas

“I’m currently living in Katonah, which is a small town about an hour north of New York City. For this painting, I tried to go back to how I used to paint in high school, which was the last time I painted buildings. I wouldn’t use outlines, and I purposefully wouldn’t paint with much accuracy so that the buildings weren’t so rigid. It’s been a while, but it was still a fun experiment.”

Izzy Pippa

“The illustration was mainly to describe how I feel being locked up doing hours of homework every day. Outside seems more and more appealing as time goes by, and windows seem to be really thought provoking sometimes. They are a catalyst for procrastination.”

McKenna Black

“I began by cleaning off my desk, a place I have not sat at in a year, intending for that to be my ‘remote learning space.’ I soon discovered that I could not sit there all day, so I sought out different ways that I could convert my bedroom into an entire campus of classrooms, not to mention my gym and dining hall. A number of my classes were hybrid courses already, so switching to online learning was not a huge stretch, and in those cases, I find that I am actually more productive at home. All is well, except that my bedroom cannot become a ceramics studio overnight.”

Savanah Tebeau-Sherry

“Something I miss from before COVID-19 struck is running with my team. After coming off an injury from the fall, I was really looking forward to starting training with the women again this spring. They are the most hard-working, kind and positive bunch of gals to be around, and I am missing their supportive and motivating energy.”

Cole Fekert

“This bunker is supposed to represent the isolation/social distancing that’s required to weather the storm of COVID-19. The computer has Blackboard open, and the user is surrounded by papers, yet they sleep – perhaps unable to motivate themselves after so long in isolation. The TV tuned to a U.S. Civil Defense announcement represents the constant media backdrop to this whole situation. And finally, the date posted above the door represents an estimate for when a vaccine can be expected to be mass-produced.”

Adam Hinkley

“I have trouble finding the motivation to do any creative or school work now. Especially school work because it’s on a schedule where you can do it whenever, a procrastinator’s worst nightmare.”

Kate Vanni

“As I sit in my bed doing school work, I constantly find myself getting distracted as I daydream about things that I miss. I still live on campus, so I don’t miss the school or the buildings. I miss the people who filled these now hollow structures with laughter. I miss seeing the flow of students walking towards central campus after their 12:55 p.m. class is let out. Most of all, I miss my friends.”