Melbourne: In order to stave off the boredom during the self-isolation period because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Australia women cricketer Ashleigh Gardner has taken up painting.
Gardner, who was part of the T20 World Cup winning Australian side in February and March, has turned her hand to the Indigenous style of dot painting.
“I said to my mum that going into lockdown I’m going to need a hobby to do because I know how bored I get easily and I thought why not painting,” Gardner was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“Having an aboriginal background, I have a connection with that and people have said while I’m not a natural artist it is in my blood. It’s pretty cool that people even like my work to be honest.
For the past few weeks, the 23-year-old has created pieces for her friends, including Mel Jones, Moises Henriques and Nicole Bolton.
“When I first started doing it, I didn’t think anything was going to come out of it, I just did a little piece and put it on social media and it got a little bit of traction which was quite funny because I’m nowhere near being an artist.
“I did a piece for Moises Henriques and when I posted that I had a lot of people asking for pieces and it blew me away, people actually wanting my work,” she said.
Gardener revealed that painting has enabled her to fill her time constructively between maintaining fitness levels for when cricket does eventually resume once the situation improves amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s almost like a therapeutic thing,” she said.
“It’s so different to my normal life which is why I think I’ve enjoyed it. For so long I’ve had a schedule and been told what to do day-to-day and this is something I can do off my own back. It’s quite relaxing, you need to concentrate to make sure you don’t ruin it but I put some music on and get painting,” she added.
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