WILMINGTON, N.C. - People are picking up old and new hobbies during the pandemic to fill their time. A recent retiree rediscovered her passion for art just a few years ago, and now finds that it's helping her cope with the stress this year has presented.

Janet Johnson is a local pastel artist, but she wouldn't have called herself an artist until recently. She paints and works with canvases, not for the money, but because it makes her happy. And lately, happiness is all that many people are seeking.

“Especially now with COVID and all the political and social unrest going on now, we all have so much buried stress and so many buried emotions,” Johnson says. “And we have to let that out some way.”

Johnson has found that working with pastels filled a hole in her life she didn't know she had.

She says painting is like pouring stress out through her hands and she finds herself escaping into her studio for hours at a time where art can consume her thoughts. She is able to set aside the stressors of life and completely focus on creating something beautiful.

“I get so focused in on what I'm doing, I can spend an entire day working on a painting and I don't have to think about all these horrible things that are happening right now,” says Johnson.

She encourages anyone who is looking for a mental break to invest in art supplies and take advantage of the free resources online. Many artists have taken to holding free virtual workshops and posting tutorials on YouTube in place of holding lessons in person.

Trying something new can be hard, and Johnson says it's easy to compare yourself to other people. She admits it's intimidating, but says you won't find a more supportive community than that of the art world.

“Every single artist is different and every person expresses themselves in a different way,” says Johnson. “You can never compare yourself. Because if you just start, you will learn and you will grow. And that's the joy of art. Everybody's different.”