Paper artist Liz Goins’ creativity was paralyzed by the covid crisis. “It changed my focus and concerns to my health and the health of others. Art was the last thing I could think about,” she explains. It wasn’t helpful that she was in Florida and wasn’t allowed to leave. So what did she do? She grabbed her sewing machine and began to make masks for her family and local nursing homes.
“I could focus on that and could see what I accomplished each day. I could help,” says Goins. She also began making one-of-a-kind cards to send to friends and family. Some were popup and small sculptural pieces and they were much appreciated. She found getting out in nature to be healing. “It made me feel safe,” so she and her husband biked nearly every day.
Finally they were allowed to leave Florida to return to Charles Town. Still she was having trouble focusing so she began cleaning out her home studio and went to great lengths to give unwanted supplies away to people she knew. Closets that were hopeless became organized.
What now? “I want to continue experimenting with mixed media altered books where you make windows, add papers, draw, use all sorts of found materials. Anything goes.” If you’ve seen her wonderful works of paper cutting, you know the detail and perfection her work demands. “Now I’ve given myself permission to be messy. Covid has given us a respite to try new things.”
Why is it so important for her to make art? “Because I have to,” says it all. Liz is a valued
member of the community of Over the Mountain Studio Tour artists.