Once upon a time I used to make art in my studio alone. Then I had a kid and for the last 3 years (actually 4 if you count pregnancy), she has been by my side while I create. Lately I have been doing a lot thinking about my schedule- things I can change and how I can be more productive. I know that it would be really easy to keep my studio and creative time sacred and separate from being a mom. I know it would be easy to drop Lucy off at my parents house every single time that I need to create. As an artist it can be challenging to stay focussed and a toddler in the studio is really distracting but having Lucy with me feels normal. Gone are the days of hours to myself making art and in their place are precious moments shared with my daughter. Including and inviting her to be a part of my process has been the most powerful part of my journey as an artist. I am more inspired now, even with limited time and a wild kid splattering paint on my floor than I was when I worked alone. And while I know as she gets older things will change, right now I am just grateful to spend so much time with her by my side.
28 comments:
Супер-вдохновительно!!! Спасибо большое за такой пост!!!!
Море радости и удовольствия!!! Спасибо!!!
You are such a good example on how every child should have a space in a family.
Wish all parents out there would follow you in this ! Hurray!
Sei la dimostrazione di come una Mamma riesce a fare tutto con un valore aggiunto, una marcia in più, anche se costa fatica e nulla è più come prima... ti ammiro per come riesci a coinvolgere Lucy e a far emergere in lei un senso artistico davvero unico e personale! E' una piccola-grande artista anche lei!
You are a demonstration of how a Mom can do everything with an added value, a plus, even if this is hard and nothing is as it was before ... I admire you for how you can involve Lucy and bring out in her a sense of art truly unique and personal! She's a small-big artist too!
Love everything about this!! So special and sweet that you have this time with her and the results are beautiful!! Thank you for inspiring us as a mom and not just an artist, would love for mine to be little again and do exactly what your doing with Lucy.
I also LOVED seeing the pictures of Lucy little again, it's been so fun seeing her grow up here, THANK you for sharing that part with us.
Read your post below and needed these ideas, wanting to eat better myself lately and this really helped.
Have a great day!
What a phenomenal series of photos. Thank you for sharing. The time goes faster than you can ever imagine, so enjoy every single minute. :)
I admire you so much. My grandkids are moving closer to me and I want to follow your example and introduce them to art. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
Oh my word!!!! That video of the studio mural is hilarious!!!! I laughed so much I cried!!! Thanks so much for sharing that!
Beautiful post.
What an Awesome post!
So great to see photos of Lucy as she grows!
Its so amazing!!! you are super artist and mom!!!!!
You are so very fortunate to be able to work from home and have Lucy with you. The hardest thing I have ever done and will probably ever do is drive away to work every morning leaving my little girls behind.
Little miracle.Every minute together is precious..
You never cease to amaze and inspire me, Miss Alisa! I have so enjoyed watching your little Picasso along with you. Never give that up. I wish that I had had the freedom to have a life like that when my babes were young. They grow so very fast (mine are 14 and 17) and you are making memories and connections that will stay with her forever. Not to mention the adorable pictures (I love that she was painting your chair!). Thank you for showing us all that it can be done in such an elegant and simple way to raise a child that is immersed in art. Enjoy the day! Erin
I am not by nature a squealer, but those photographs were so fun and loving and lovely. Thank you for sharing them.
So inspiring and heart warming.
It's been wonderful watching Lucy grow....to see you both paddling around in paint. Bliss!
Que imágenes mas tiernas, me alegra mucho que compartas tu arte con tu hija, de hecho ella es la obra de Arte mas grande que pueda salir de ti. Enhorabuena. Un fuerte abrazo.
What a beautiful post Alisa! Lovely to see you side by side creating as a family. I have been making art with my daughter since she was just over 1 and she is almost 5 this month. She loves creating and I do try to make my own art in my own time but it is easier letting her create too at the same time. I also have her 3 year old brother helping too. Keep up the great, inspiring work that you do.
So beautiful! You've made some lovely memories for yourself and your daughter. We both work from home and always tried to include our daughter in anything we were doing - art, cooking, DIY, gardening - and now that she is about to turn sixteen she still loves to do things together.
I rarely comment, but I read almost every post through the email subscription. I've enjoyed seeing your daughter involved with creating things. Reminds me of times with my creative daughter when she was younger. She's 11 now.
Oh my heart... memory lane!!! How lovely to go back down the road of time and see little Lucy again!!! You guys are on such a special and delightful journey... thank you for sharing!!!
What a joy to see this journey. You recognize the gift of time and are experiencing it to its fullest. I am lifted by every moment you have shared. How lucky your family is.
Our lives are so enhanced by our children....I have a daughter and what you've written here totally resonated with me! You've made creativity such a part of her life that I bet she will continue to create with you as she gets older. One day you two might have a mother-daughter art business! Always enjoy reading your blog and seeing what creative things you're up to! Very inspiring as I begin my journey to build a business with my creativity. Thank you!
This is such a gift to your little girl and to yourself too - one that will live forever in your relationship with each other. Patience and sharing are so important although sometimes difficult, mostly they are a joy. The art and creativity is the icing on the cake. Really inspiring. My days of having children are gone now. My daughter and I shared books together in a big way, and she is about to start a doctorate. That's not the point really though, it was the bonding we did that was the real lasting legacy. It was the connection we made because we found a common interest while being very different people. It can be anything. My daughter didn't show an interest in art but my other love reading, she did. I absolutely love seeing Lucy sharing her art journey with you. It makes me happy to see it.
Sara
This is such an inspiration to me! I'm currently a freelance artist and I have an 8 month old (who I get to stay home with). A few months before he was born I had to make the tough decision to close my art studio/gallery (a big dream of mine!) in order to take care of him/be mom. It was so hard to close that chapter (as were those first few months of being so consumed with a newborn I didn't create for a while).
Now I paint when he sleeps or someone watches him so I can have separate "me" time. But I love the idea of including him in my process instead of looking at it as a distraction. There is something so beautiful watching him observe the world and I can't wait to share a piece of mine with him.
Any tips for working with one that you wouldn't necessarily give paint to? (teething, everything goes into the mouth). I have a back carry baby carrier which is fun! How did you navigate a little one under a year in your studio?
Catie
Hi Alisa, I'm an artist too with two little ones and we were all creating in my studio yesterday with clay. I find it a difficult balance with the type of projects I can complete with kids around, but when I do find those projects I can create alongside or with them sometimes it's magical. Sometimes it's stressful! Do you ever get flustered!? You certainly are an inspiration, I'm going to try to be more free with the kids when they're around me doing art! We have a 'graffiti wall' in the house and I'm also painting a mural in their room and I've made a big paper mache tree in there too for them to play in. Our house is messy- but creative. I'd much rather create than clean! Thanks for your wonderful blog, I'm going to keep following and drawing inspiration from you :) I might give the kids brekky now and then get creating with them!!
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