Before we started this series My Art Wears a Mask, rabble.ca podcast producer Victoria Fenner sent a shout out on rabble inviting emerging artists to share their experiences doing art in the time of COVID-19. Here is one of the responses she received:

"My name is Tricia Robinson and I'm a a 30-year-old female illustrator in Montreal, Quebec. I'm also a labour organizer and founder of a labour union in 2019 with my previous part time job. Since the pandemic lockdowns started unravelling, I hit over-drive on the art production. I started producing loads of illustrations daily on my social media, and being laid off and then fired from my part time job, was really not sure what my income and financial state (which was already unstable) would look like. Art didn't only become a coping mechanism for me, but it became more of a survival tactic than it ever was.

It's been a really wild ride, and doesn't seem to be slowing any time soon."

Tricia describes herself as "an activist who often likes to contribute her skills and resources toward fundraising and awareness-raising efforts for organizations like Pride, Rock Camp Montréal, her own non-profit initiative: The Hair Project, women's shelters and other community organizations throughout Canada."

You can see her artwork and read more about Tricia Robinson here.

Music: You Gotta Die by Tricia Robinson. Used with permission.

Artwork: Tricia Robinson. Used with permission.

Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.