Artist Trina Collins was preparing to deal with the hit her business would take from coronavirus - she just didn't realise it.
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Ms Collins runs Anchors Aweigh Art Studio in Church Street, Wollongong, where she specialises in screenprinting and spraypainting, and also runs workshops during school terms and holidays.
This year she had started looking towards establishing some online courses to cater to people out out the area or who couldn't get to the courses due to time constraints.
And then coronavirus came along and made her think 'quick! Get it done!"
COVID-19 saw her business take a hit in terms of clients, many of whom were bands and festivals looking for screenprinting.
With events shut down for the time being, there aren't any bands knocking on her door looking to get posters or T-shirts printed.
But she could do something to address the loss of her popular on-site workshops.
So, with the help of the graphic design and multimedia skills she learned while studying at university - and $500 in software - Ms Collins has started transferring the lessons normally held in the studio to the online world.
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It has prompted a different approach to the lessons; she has to keep in mind the supplies students learning at home may or may not have.
"I've got to go through and figure out what will work for people at home," Ms Collins said.
"People might have come in here to do something like emulsion screenprinting but they're not going to have that equipment at home.
"Also, with spraypainting I've got a lot of students who are in apartments, where spraypainting is not an option. So I'm going to have a mix of courses, like drawing or painting, that you can easily do at home in a small area.
"Then there will be the other classes as options for those who have more space at home, or access to materials."
The timing is crucial with the school holidays fast approaching; Ms Collins said the all-day programs she runs for those weeks are a huge part of Anchors Aweigh's revenue.
"School holidays are big business for me," she said.
"People need to fill up all that time for kids who aren't going to school, so I do full-day workshops in the school holidays.
"People can sign up for a day. It's a huge hit for me not being able to do the school holidays, but you've just got to roll with the punches."
Which is just what she's doing. By the end of the school term she's hoping to have all the art courses up on the Anchors Aweigh website.
For more information visit www.anchorsaweighartstudio.com
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