My first thread...finding/making time to work - Page 2

[cutic]

I am also glad that I have found this thread. I haven't touched my canvases since I got pregnant with dd1. I need at least 2 hours to get into mood to start being creative. That is no good when all I get is 2 hours in the evening when I am so tired I prefer to just kick back and relax at MDC.

I honestly hope that one day when kids are bigger I will be able to get back to it. I do have occasional moments of sadness that I am not actively involved in what seemed to be my passion at the time. However, now I feel that taking care of my dd1 and soon to come dd2 is my most important task. I had a short period of time when I started thinking of ways of organizing myself to start painting again but now with the second pregnancy my hormones are pointing me to a baby stuff.

Just curious, are some of you profesional artists, or just like me, self-thought artists? Here is a link to my website, this hasn't been updated in at least 3 years, and it contains just a small sample of my artistic endavours: http://www.monikaart.com

[AllisonR]

I'm very active in the Birthing and beyond and Parenting forums, but just discovered Fine Arts.

DS is 2, and I have painted maybe 5 paintings in the last 2 years. 1. I obviously have less time. 2. With PTSD, I ended up using my creativity to write a memoir and research birth instead.

However, the five weeks before DS was born, when I had no children and 5 weeks of maternity leave before birth, well I painted upwards of 60 small/medium silk paintings! I figured I should paint every second, because I might never again. I was unfortunately right. www.abrosenlund.com

Today is my lst day of work - then it is 8-11 weeks of maternity leave before DD is born. Again I plan to paint like a madwoman. However, after the birth I suppose it will go back down to next to nothing. Maybe when they are or 5 or so, and have their own interests, then I can find a few hours again. But like many of you, 10 minutes here and there just doesn't work. It takes me a half hour just to decide color scheme and organise paints, then 2+ hours to get any real painting done. It isn't reealistic with a 2 year old, and even less so with a 2 year old plus a newborn.

[bluebird68]

Good morning to all of you creative and artistic mamas! I am new here (well, actually introdcued myself many months ago on the main forum for art-- super excited that this one is up and going!). We just finished up having some studio space built onto our house, and I am so thankful that I have some space to create. My ds is 2.5, and I am going to try and start utilizing his nap time (about an hour) at least, and hope to start getting up early enough to do a bit of yoga and then some art before he gets up. That is hard, though, because he gets up at 7a, which means I will have to go to bed earlier enough that i can realistically get up by 5:30 (and it has been many moons since I got up that early on a regular basis!). I don't have any options set in place yet for other child-care, but am hoping to work on that. I, too, need to create to be balanced and feel truly alive. It is such a vital part of me, and feels great to be able to share it with other mamas who know what the heck I am talking about when I say that! I have found photography to be a quick fix that keeps my creative juices flowing, and one which I can do with my DS with me (kind of-- hard for macro work). I am really hoping to get into oils again, as well as other medium. THere is so much to play with and learn! Just wanted to say hello to all of you, and wish you time and space to create... Michelle

[frannyfresh]

I am very very slowly returning to art making two plus years since my DD was born. It is in the form of birthday party decorations and craft events for toddlers but it still feels creative. I have also returned to work pt ( around 28 hr/week) as a designer for a wallcovering company. My job involves CAD and I never get my hands in pant or materials but the problem solving, design and color development that I do still feels creative. My intentions when I graduated was to make handcrafted pottery. I have since sold all my equipment and given up my studio after holding on until my DD was 16 months old. I was afraid to expose her to the materials so I never went during my pregnancy. In fact I was so driven to find full-time work w/ benefits that I was hardly going at all before I even conceived her. I had attempted to start my own handcrafted tile business that could have gotten off the ground if I didn't have to work all the time just to make ends meet. I guess that this is what they mean by "struggling artist". I believe that we may work harder than any wall street broker that at least sees some compensation in the end.

[MonP'titBoudain]

subbing, bbl to read.

[xochimama]

subbing, too.

The relationship between home life and work life (painting & drawing) brings up loads of very personal issues & feelings for me. I'll be interested to see how/if this forum develops.

[mudmama]

Hello artist mamas. I just stumbled onto this thread.

Do we not make a huge sacrifice of ourselves in order to raise our children! I'm a potter and have worked in ebbs and flows since dd 6 yrs ago. For a while she went to daycare once a week and I was able to expect that time to work (able to prepair mentally). Now I also have a two yr old ds. I have made almost nothing since he was born. Both go to a daycare for 3 hrs a week. I use that time now for grocery shopping and errands. I really feel that the only way to get creative and "in-the-flow" is to learn to work with the kids right there. When they sleep, I sleep or catch up on housework, or share time with dh
dh works alot and will occassionally take the kids for me. But why haven't I gone to my studio to work? Have I given up? I once found myself telling someone that I would get back to work once ds was in school. I have ended subscriptions to magazines that used to be inspiring to me. I've stopped sketching ideas. I'm preoccupied with other things, like cooking, cleaning, giving these my creative energy. Now that I think of it, my cooking has improved and its been fun, and my house stays pretty clean. Finding a balance, yes. I need to get back to the clay somehow. Even if I'm just pinching pots with the kids.
Thank you for this thread. I hope it keeps going. I'm subbing.

[mumkimum]

Nice to see that there are ways to get yourself working reguarly again. I had hoped to do this before getting pregnant to have a nice, working, and established practice (after being wiped out for 2 years working evenings supporting my dh who was in school) and didn't get that done since I got pregnant and was wiped out by that instead.
I have my half studio/half baby-changing room now and don't get to anything once my dd decided she couldn't sleep anymore without me. So all I've been able to keep up with is a nice envelope labeled 'ideas' and I stick little sketches of ideas for projects/etc. in there so they don't get lost.
Sigh. . .

[Arts Therapist]

most of the time i paint at night when DS is asleep. but since i use acrylics and my drying time is fast, sometimes i paint while he is up and entertained in his exersaucer or in crib playing with mobile or his feet.

I also have painted with him in my Moby wrap which is special because his energy is there too. He likes to watch what I am doing - mixing paints, moving the brushes, washing brushes, etc.

[primalmommy]

Hi! I'm Kelly. I'm a potter like mikomum, and I've given this a lot of thought!

First, look hard at time suckers in your life. If you spend any time watching TV that you could spend at your art, well, that one's easy. If you feel too tired when the kids go to bed, my suggestion is, make yourself just get started. Promise yourself half an hour. "Fake it 'til you make it". Once you drag yourself to the project and get started, you might suddenly find you're getting into it and on a roll. (Kind of like married sex)

Or, head straight for bed when they do, and get up absurdly early with a fresh start, hot coffee and peace and quiet while everyone's still asleep.

Also, consider changing the scale or style of what you do, so you can work it into the life you have. Is there a way to paint small, or in several short sittings? A way to keep materials nearby so you can grab them during naps, or in those unpredictable magic moments when the kids play quietly somewhere?

It's hard to switch gears from life/mommying/interruptions to being able to focus on something creative, but maybe it will be a push into something new and different, like when our prof set a timer and had us sketch a model's poses for 60 seconds per drawing. It looked nothing like my more careful work but it had ... something, y'know? It was alive and kept my brain working, and worked its way into my later work.

I used to take a lap board and a bag of clay on long drives when dh was driving, and make little figures, roulettes, stamps, textured beads, mini teapots, etc. I carried a ziploc with a washcloth to clean up afterward and a diaper wipe box full of bubble wrap to transport my little pots.

Miko, when I was pregnant or nursing (like 7 years of my life) I wanted no contact with barium, lithium, cobalt, manganese, and certainly not mystery commercial glazes or unvented kiln fumes. I took to working with textured surfaces instead of glazes, colored clays and earthenwares, terra sigillatas and Lana-Wilson type stamped surfaces. At first I resented the limitation but those kinds of challenges took me in directions I might never have tried, and what I learned still informs my work.

(Eventually I discovered the book "mastering ^6 Glazes" -- all tested glazes by safety-conscious chemistry geeks, with leaching levels safer than EPA standards for drinking water.)

When I had 3 under 5 I emptied out a linen closet, lined it with tarp and moved in my potter's wheel. There was just enough room for a bucket and a chair and I kept everything dust-free with a fat sponge. I could throw during naps or late at night.

My mom says, "When I look back at my life, the time with little children was just a blink". Honestly, I don't regret a single moment of my life that was spent rocking babies instead of making art. My kids are 8, 11 and 13 now, very independent, and I am homeschooling them while commuting to another state to do an MFA in ceramics.

It all will wait while the kids are little... no experience is wasted for an artist and it will all be reflected in your work one day. But if your life is opening up a little from the needs of babies and you really want to work, you'll find a way.

That's my little pep talk for the day Sorry...

(my stuff is at primalpotter.com)

[primalmommy]

Mudmom, are you a member of clayart?

[mudmama]

Thanks for the pep talk. It's good to hear ideas from another potter-mama. I really like the idea of waking early to work. I'm gonna give it a shot. Now that I have my work space in the garage which is attached to the house, I feel better. I used to have to walk around the house to the back yard to the shed. I never want to leave my babies in the house alone sleeping or not.

Once, when dd was 3 I tried throwing on my potters wheel and she walked right over and stuck her finger in the motor, nearly cut the tip off. I think then I decided that I couldn't do it.

Gotta go

[mudmama]

Clayart? No.

I really like your work and your webpage has great information! I've gotta try that chores chart for the kids. You must be organized quite well to get so much accomplished. Thanks for the inspiration.

[primalmommy]

Originally Posted by mudmama

I've gotta try that chores chart for the kids. You must be organized quite well to get so much accomplished. Thanks for the inspiration.

The truth is, I am completely DISorganized, quite flaky and forgetful with a side of ADD. It's just that after 13 years of parenthood I have learned to compensate and adapt. If I can set up the chore chart once a week it saves me day after day having to nag and remind and be the bitchy mom...

I can barely remember to brush my own teeth and find my car keys most days, much less ask kids whether they fed the rabbit or practiced saxophone...

Thanks for liking my site ;0)

The one thing I have appreciated from being back in school, after years in my own studio, has been critique! I haven't had much feedback, or if I have, it's been from friends or family, and it was always positive (which doesn't always help). I just set up a "crit please" link on my page, asking folks to pick the best and worst of a bunch of unfired ewers I made this weekend. Anybody with an artistic eye is welcome to put your two cents in! (nothing's for sale, they are all for my MFA -- so I'm not pimping my stuff, really.

Believe me, my profs are brutal and I have a scary mid program review this friday with the art department, so you can't hurt my feelings. If primalpotter.com doesn't work, try primalmommy.com ... stuff's glitchy lately.

[mm72873]

I sort of turned from painting to photography after my son's birth. that has allowed me to be creative aside form the loss of presonal time.

I have also tried painting with my son (2.5) around and now he's interested in painting too......I guess I could try to paint with him and slowly set up some routines that establish that he does not touch my painting and vise versa.

Miriam
see some of my photos at : www.mm72873.etsy.com

[Edwardia]

Professional artist

I am new here. I joined this forum just because of the fine art thread. I am a stay-at-home mother and part-time professional painter. I have been able to produce a number of works and continue exhibiting at galleries. I find I just had to get on with my work without any procrastination, which was hard at first, but soon became easy. It's sometimes frustrating having to wait 24 hours in between sessions to work on problems. I often forget what it was I was doing, but for the most part it is working well.

[xochimama]

Edwardia, I admire your persistence. I have only finished one painting (tho' a quite large one) in the last two years since my daughter's birth. Not only am I very skilled at procrastination, but also I have tended to be a painter who spends a lot of time sitting, thinking, looking...

Well last month I lost my painting studio and everything is packed in boxes. I was able to set up a small drawing studio in the house, and have been slowly working with cut paper. (I am wary of oils in the house—I am not a tidy painter.) Something very new for me. It has actually been a relief to focus my energy and thoughts in a different way.

Your work is lovely—hints of Gwen John and Courbet. I have a homepage only at http://www.cristinagonzalez.com One of these days I will get the rest of the website up and running!

Welcome to the MDC!

[Edwardia]

Thank-you xochimama. I like the painting on your homepage very much. You should post more paintings on your website. I would love to see them.

I paint in my kitchen. I can keep relatively tidy there, and everything's on hand to clean up, and the surface are really easy to get oil paint off.

[Euromom]

Wow! Both of you have a amazing work! I am so inspired. I'm slooowly teaching myself to paint (an expert procrastinator ). Both of your styles are right up my alley! As soon as I figure out how to create a link to this thread I'll share my lastest and you can tell me what you think. I'm supose to get one night a week where I go the the basement right after dinner and work late into the night. My dh is super busy right now but after Sept. I hope to increase my time to three night a week, I hope.