Comments on: Reduce, reuse, redecorate

By: Carol Barber

Carol Barber — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:49:34 +0000

Wait until she starts drawing! You will be so inspired and floored by her genius. As a tot, a red crayon is like a surprising magic wand. My three year old has an art desk with all of his supplies in my art studio area. He creates constantly and my goal is to draw like him. Big expressive shapes, great compositions and little detailed embellishments.

By: Jen Singh

Jen Singh — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:18:19 +0000

Check out the table bar at Ikea where you can add those 18″ legs to make short tables, I have a 6′ long one in my studio and my 2 girls happily make art side by side and with their mama :)

By: alex

alex — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:28:04 +0000

so happy for you and yes you are right on target! Maybe Veda will even inspire some new art pieces who knows!

By: nic

nic — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:59:48 +0000

Great idea – and I find that reorganising my studio often restarts creativity anyway.

Make sure you take time to draw Veda every now and again. I snatched a few moments to do so between being busy when my girl was little, and those drawings instantly take me back, more than a photo ever could. They are not very good, but that doesn’t matter.

Anyway, my girl is now fourteen, and she and I are still making art and having fun together, and she still has the run of my studio, although she makes slightly less mess these days.

By: Katherine Dunn

Katherine Dunn — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:38:04 +0000

Hey Miss P- I’m not a mother to humans, but when we moved to the farm my art life conflicted with my ‘baby’ – birthing a farm and livestock and fields. I never totally gave up my art, but it tok a back seat, and I had no rep. There were some days when I almost resented the farm, for lack of a better way to say it. It took a couple years to settle in, maybe three to really settle in. I had to open my mind to give up whole systems that worked before – like certain schedule didn’t work for me [of course I was newly married too]…also, even today, my studio is in constant flux to flow with what is in my life at the time – the area where I did my large abstracts now is where a whole bunch of dried floral is for our lavender business. Since I’m choosing to work smaller right now, it’s fine. If I decide to do large canvases again, I’ll change it around again. Nothing needs to stay the same. Veda will work in one area for a few months, and when she’s 1 or two, you’ll need to adjust again. Go with it. And enjoy it.

By: Carol

Carol — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:52:25 +0000

I LOVE this idea!

By: jenny

jenny — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:07:16 +0000

awesome! this is inpsiring to me, too, as i’m figuring out the same. and as for the forehead slap, “duh”, give yerself a break mama, you’ve only been a mama for 6 months! you really haven’t skipped a beat like you think. one thing i’ve been doing is hanging things from her giant tree and the ceiling in my studio. (she can also see the tree life from my studio) when the ceiling fan is on, the whole tree and all its inhabitants come to life and she LOVES it. they truly are her friends. i also hung a hammock chair for her to take naps in (a large clip secures her in the ‘pouch’) and i can swing her while i work. i need to get more puzzle piece floor mats for her to play on in addition to her rug…and i have the perfect spot under a work table to make into “her” space as she gets older — i always LOVED spaces like that when i was little…under tables, in closets, in big boxes, etc, so i think she’ll like it. let’s keep sharing ideas and supprt this full time mama/artist life! xoxojenny-mama

By: abigail

abigail — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:46:41 +0000

This post gives me a lot to chew on…before my little guy was born a year ago we converted our garage into an office/studio for my business. It has been a great escape for me because it is separate from the house so when he is with his babysitter, I feel really AWAY and able to focus on work. However it is totally not a place where I can integrate his play and creativity, mostly due to computers and printers and assorted gadgets that are right down at his level. I love your idea of giving Veda the space and the tools to work and play at your side, and it’s really started me thinking about how I can do the same. Thanks for the inspiration!

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:47:35 +0000

and the universe provides again – YES!

By: timshel

timshel — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:04:40 +0000

Hey, it’s Timshel from Roman Candle. Let me just say I love keeping up with how you are so honestly working through reconciling and coalescing mamahood and art and life and everything. I feel like this is such a beautiful and brave adventure and one that takes every step in a day to work out and adjust and jump through. It is the BEST adventure and the biggest. I read this post from backstage in Little Rock Ak where we have our two little ones on the road with us. We try our best to bring them with us into the middle of our artistic life because, well, for all of the seeming struggles..they make it better. And bigger. Cheers to all of your ideas and to the bright snap of vision you had on your walk. To more of these and the wonderful life of mixing the real with the real !