A space to create
As a mom, finding a space to create can be hard. Having said that, there’s one thing I miss about college: the studio space in the Fine Arts building. As a senior, I had a shared space with other artists in a small painting studio. We could set up our little corner how we wanted and leave our paints out. We could get messy and stay there all night. I was next to a window. After graduating with a Fine Arts degree (with a painting focus), I spent several years not painting – go figure. My small apartment didn’t have a lot of space to set up a studio spot, and soon after moving to a bigger two bedroom, we found out I was pregnant. So that second bedroom would clearly not be used as an art studio.
Nowadays, two kids later and one on the way, I’m still working on finding my own space to create. At times, its been a corner of the bedroom, the kitchen table, or the living room floor. In our old house, I had a corner of the bedrom designated as my art space. I couldn’t oil paint there or get super messy but it was a small s*ace where I at least had all my stuff set up and ready to go.
In our new house, I’m currently working on setting up a part of the garage as a studio. (Tour to come when that’s complete). I also have my easel set up in our all seasons room – although that probably won’t be useful during the winter months. What’s important is that I never cease carving out that space, no matter where or how small it may be. If it needs to be the kitchen table, then so be it! Creative mamas need a creative space!
Time to create
Time… what is that? Ha! I have three kids, two of them are home with me all day. How on earth is a mom supposed to feed her creative fire? I tried something last year (2017); I did a “painting-a day” challenge, and to my surprise I actually finished it! ALL YEAR! 365 days! Some days were painting, some drawing, some just quick sketches. I posted it all on Instagram. What’s that saying?.. it takes 21 days to build a habit? Something like that. Well after about three weeks of daily art making, it just felt wrong and weird if I DIDN’T make art that day. Now, most days, the art making took place after the kids went to bed, which meant a lot of late nights, but I’m usually up late anyway, so instead of watching tv or scrolling my phone, I would grab my art supplies, turn on some music, and enjoy the me time. I’m going to try this again in 2019. It was so good for my creative practice and I felt like I started to see my style form and felt more confident in sharing my art. It may be different with an infant this time around, but what I learned that year is that if you stick to something, and commit, it ends up becoming second nature. I only stopped when the new year hit because I knew this year would be full of changes and moving, so I held off on continuing with it past the 365 days. I think it is important to find time to do what we love. Maybe for you it not painting, but working out, or hiking. And maybe it’s not something you can do daily. Maybe you can commit to doing it weekly, and that’s good too! Whatever it is, I hope you will join me in making time for it in a few weeks with the start of a new year and a new challenge!Artfully, Beata
