Edison Rex

Studio Play

I'm just coming off a really sweet and busy studio weekend. Lots of play--time just for fun, to mess around and explore. It's rare that I make time to be creative without some kind of end result or purpose in mind. It's a good feeling. I also continued work on the storyboards for a book commission--a project that I'm really excited about and feel honored to do.

It felt really wonderful to get in a great deal of time painting, even if it meant waking up extra early on my days off, too. Four am, five am. Hours where no one else, big or small, is awake to distract me. My own personal witching hour.

I thought I'd share some quick snaps of both my play and my commissioned work. Can you guess which is which?

Happy Monday!

xoxo Maeg

New Paintings

It's here!

Over the past few months I've been hard at work on series of new paintings. You might have caught little peeks of my work in progress this fall.

Since September: I painted and painted, I test printed, I brought along a few new pieces to shows to see them out in the world, and I even held a secret early release party last week for my newsletter crew. 

Whew! That's a lot of stuff, but these seven new pieces are finally ready to leave the nest for good (meaning, go home with you!).

It makes sense that I'm treating this new work like my babies--each is deeply inspired by my experience of motherhood (more on that story tomorrow!)

I didn't set out to make a series of mama paintings; it's the sort of thing that just snuck up on me, as these sorts of things often do.

Please click here to go to my shop and see all of the new work!

I'd also (as always) love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

x and o

Maeg

Art Crush of the Week: Lee Price

This week I want to share with you the work of Lee Price. I first saw her work a long time ago, on an Iphone being passed around amongst coworkers. Even with that short (and small) introduction, the name and the images stuck with me. You'll see why.

Her self-portraits are stunning explorations of compulsive consumption, avoidance of discomfort, and unsettling glimpses into private moments. Read more about Lee Price, her work, and what it all means in this great interview, and see more of her paintings here.

xo Maeg

Art Crush of the Week: Julie Beck

 

Hello! This week I have the pleasure of interview the wonderful self-taught realist painter Julie Beck. You might remember her apple painting from a recent post. I met Julie at Twist a couple years ago and found both her work and work ethic inspiring. Read on!

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

I am an artist living in Boston, MA. I love my husband , my dog, capoeira, and buffalo sauce.

 
How do you choose the everyday objects you will paint? Do they just call to you or is there a special meaning behind them?

Sometimes I just paint for the sake of painting. The more you paint, the better you get. Meaning sometimes, I just find something around the house that is convenient. Other times, the objects I paint are very sentimental. The Lionel trains are my grandfather's trains, the bell I painted was my great grandmother's bell... I tend to explore the personal attachments to the things that serve as talismans, icons, and lucky charms of the human condition. Some of these are personal, while others are cultural.

I know from chatting with you that you are self taught, which I think is amazing. I'd love to hear as much about that process as you'd like to share. Did it come easy to you? How many years have you been painting? Methods of teaching yourself? Sage advice for others?

Technically I have been painting for like 10 years... but I really only count maybe the most recent 4. I was bad... REALLY BAD at painting for a long time.  I don't think painting comes natural to almost anyone. Recently, a friend of mine was frustrated with his painting and he said "I wish I was good at this naturally like you." So I sent him pictures of my first 5 or 6 paintings... once he saw what I started at, we both laughed very hard and said that it, indeed, made him feel A LOT better about it. 

The best decision I ever made was to start attending the Boston Academy for Realist Art. The only way you can have good paintings is by learning to draw. If the drawing is off, the painting will be too. (This obviously mostly applies to realism, portraits, etc). 

Also, practice practice practice... someone once said that the first 1,000 paintings don't count because it takes that long to get proficient at it. So get crackin!

 
Having started as a self-taught painter, what is it like to now be in art school? What sorts of new things do you feel you are getting from the experience?

I LOVE IT. The academy is an old-school style atelier... where there is a "head master" painter who over sees the school, and she has some instructors underneath her who are learning from her while teaching newer students. It's a pretty classical way to teach... and also great if you like flexibility in schooling as well as being able to dive in without any previous training.

 
Do you think your background in mathematics informs your painting, and how?

I'm not sure. I think what drew me to math is the same things I am drawn to in art. Numbers, ratios, proportions, etc all relate to composition, form, colors... on and on. It's all relativity... formulas for the right color and amount of transparency for a glaze, interchangeable with mathematics. I believe they are all related. 

What upcoming shows and projects should we know about?

Currently I have work in  gallery in Northampton, MA as well as a gallery/store in Putnam, CT. There is a show at the Boston Academy for Realist Art the weekend of December 2/3/4. I will have a couple pieces in that as well.

 

Please list all your links so we can visit you!

personal website: http://www.juliebcreative.com

etsy shop: http://juliebcreative.etsy.com

blog: http://juliebeck.blogspot.com

Thank you, Julie!

xo Maeg

 

Art Crush of the Week: Kaspian Shore

 

Sometimes wandering on the web pays off! I can't remember exactly where and how I first came across Kaspian's work, but I know I was instantly smitten. His paintings are stunning and moving, but you don't need to hear that from me! Let's get on with the interviewing and eye candy, shall we?

Kaspian, I read that you are a self-taught painter. Also, as I looked at your work I could see a definite progression between some of your older work and your new stuff--just within the last couple years. I'm curious to know as much as you'd like to share about how you taught (and teach!) yourself those amazing technical skills, and about how you've continually evolved your style over time.

It's not actually a conscious process. I always loved to draw, and it came to me very naturally. Like some kids are good runners and others have exceptional voices, I would just sit down and draw faces from photos all day. I always wanted to go to art school but they didn't accept me, so I had no choice but study other artists' work to understand their techniques and how they built up the final product we get to see.

The one thing I was lacking for most of my life was a distinct style. I've been drawing with ink for about five years but it never satisfied me. The medium felt very limited and I didn't see much progress in my work. I made my last ink drawing in September 2010, then started experimenting with a handful of different mediums. A couple of months later, I would paint my first acrylic and coloured pencil pieces, and I realised I was a much better painter than I ever expected.

What's your creative process like, from first idea to finish?

I've always daydreamed a lot. I don't doodle and I have no sketchbook, I just sit and dream, of a face, a palette of colours. Once I have a clear image in mind, I cut my paper, sometimes browse for reference photos, then make a drawing, cover it with dozens of transparent layers of acrylic washes, and add highlights and details with coloured pencil. 

Your work is not only technically stunning, but also incredibly emotional. Do you create a narrative for the figures in the paintings, and their feelings, as part of your creative process?

I've written many short stories in the past, and I sometimes draw inspiration from them. I can't say that every single boy I paint has his own biography but some of them I feel very close to, some resemble people I once knew, some I slightly alter and make them reappear in a different setting, and one of them I miss and love deeply. 

Any words of wisdom for aspiring artists starting their careers?

Be prepared to be poor and underestimated. Work your butt off and enjoy every minute of it. 

Also--please list all your links so my readers can visit you.

Website >> http://www.kaspianshore.com
Facebook >> http://www.facebook.com/art.of.kaspianshore
Twitter >> http://www.twitter.com/kaspianshore
Tumblr >> http://kaspianshore.tumblr.com/Shop                                                                     Originals >> http://kaspianshore.com/shop/originals
Shop prints >> http://kaspianshore.com/shop/prints

Kaspian, thank you so much for interview with me and sharing some insight into your work and process. Rexlets, let's give Kaspian some love, visit his links, and see more of his amazing paintings and work-in-progress.

Until tomorrow--

xo Maeg

*all art images © Kaspian Shore*

Art Crush of the Week: Adam Connor

Hey there! It's Wednesay, so you know what time it is.

Art Crush of the Week time, of course!

This week we are staying local and chatting with Adam Connor of Little Green Toaster. Adam and I were both in the LOOK! show at FOE Gallery in September. I was especially charmed by this piece (you know I'm a sucker for a narwhal!):

 

Adam was kind enough to do a little interview with me about his work, life, and the great balancing act that is being a dad, husband, designer, artist, and illustrator all at once. Let's go!

Adam, please tell us a little bit about yourself!

Well, Except for a few short periods, I've always lived in Western Massachusetts. I grew up addicted to cartoons and comic books, and after graduating high school went to study animation at RIT. After a year and half there I left and moved back home to be with my girlfriend. I enrolled in UMass Amherst and after not getting along with some of the art faculty there, found out I was halfway decent at Computer Science. I got an internship as a Web Designer at MassMutual, which eventually grew into a User Experience Design position. Today, I'm an Experience Design Director with Mad*Pow in Portsmouth, NH specializing in digital product design and strategy. I'm also a public speaker and enjoy getting out and talking with audiences about design, collaboration and process. I never did stop drawing though, and recently with the encouragement of my wife (the girl I moved back to Western MA to be with), my kids, and a few really important friends, I decided to start putting my stuff out there.
 
You've got a sweet day gig at mad*pow doing design work. You're moonlighting as a little green toaster. I'm curious first about how you do it all, and also about how each thing feeds you creatively. Do you get different sorts of satisfaction from different kinds of work?

To be honest I'm not sure how I do it all either. The balance has been, and probably always will be tricky. My first responsibility is to my family and providing them with the stability they need, by extension that goes to my work with Mad*Pow. The art is very important to me, but it definitely isn't something I can support my family with right now, so it takes a back seat, and I do it when I have free time or if I have an idea gnawing at me that I need to get out before I can do anything else.

I definitely get different senses of satisfaction from the different work I do. I try to focus my design work on creating products that improve people's life, not in superficial ways but in creating products and services that take a problem or something people are really struggling with, and making it easier and understandable for them. My speaking is all about helping people learn and getting them to try new things when it comes to design and creation. Both of these types of work are great, but their for and in the service of others, which I believe is a very important part of life, but I also have things I need to do and express, and that's where my art comes in. I do take on commissions, but for the most part, my drawings are something I do for myself.

 

I'm also curious about your training and career path.

As I mentioned, I studied Animation at RIT for a little while and then Computer Science at UMass. My time at MassMutual lasted quite a while, 8 years or so, I believe. In that time I was very lucky to work with and for a number of really great managers and mentors who taught me a lot and helped me teach myself quite a bit about experience design. In 2009 I met Amy Cueva, the CXO and one of the owners of Mad*Pow. We hit it off quite well and later that year I took a position with them. They've been great, allowing me to get out and speak, voice my thoughts about design, process and product design internally and externally and most importantly, letting me work from my home, which allows me to play a bigger role in my kids lives which is crucial for me. Where I go from here, who knows. I love speaking and teaching companies about design, facilitating workshops for them. Did I mention that for a little while while I worked at MassMutual, I also taught experience design at UMass on a volunteer basis for alittle while. I'd love to do more of that too. And do lots more with my art and design. Basically I just want to do everything I'm doing now, just maybe more of it.
 
What's your creative process like in your art and illustration work? I'm also curious if you've found similarities/differences between your illustration process and your design process.

My drawings come about in one of two ways. The first and most common is that I'll get some sort of quick mental picture of an image, usually a creature of some sort, and then I draw it up. The second way is that I'll get hooked on a concept, like a phrase or a thought that I want to illustrate and I'll work on pulling together an image of it.

There are definitely similarities in the actual process of creation between my design work and my illustration. My preference in design is to sketch a lot of ideas for how to solve the design problem at hand, then step back, critique them, eliminate some, and refine the others, then repeat the process of critiquing, eliminating and refining until I come to the one solution that I'll pursue. If I'm working on a real illustration (not a quick doodle) I do pretty much the same thing. I sketch out a few ideas and critique them, often making notes right in my sketchbook, iterate and repeat, until I get one final sketch/study and then I begin working on the final piece.

I've been talking an awful lot about creative mamas over here lately, but I think it's time to give a little space to creative papas too. I know that you're a family man on top of all the other things you're doing--what does "balance" look like for you? How do you keep the creative well full while being a husband and raising a family? Thoughts?

I wish I could say what balance looked like. The truth is, I'm still searching for it. Every time I think I've got it figured out I find that I'm wrong and something isn't getting the attention I need to give it. The worst is when I find that the thing not getting enough attention is my family. Nothing feels worse than that. One thing that has helped is my son's interest in art and illustration, being able to sit down at the kitchen table with him and his sister and draw is great. And my wife has been amazingly supportive. I have some problems with depression and paranoia and if it wasn't for her I'd probably have given up on this a long time ago.

 What new work/shows/projects are you working on right now?

Nothing big in the works right now. I've got some commissions going. Shows are a new thing for me. The recent Look show at FOE was really my first show. I'm eager to do more though. My stuff lately has all just been character doodles. I'm looking to get some time in and work on some serious pieces. My work has basically been black and white and in Ink, but I'm eager to try some new things. I've been in talks with a couple people about turning some of my characters into toys, which would be a dream come true for me, so, fingers crossed there.
 
Please list all your links so Rex readers can find you!

I'm pretty all over the place...
There's my Twitter stream at: http://twitter.com/adamconnor
The Little Green Toaster Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Green-Toaster-The-art-and-illustration-of-Adam-Connor/219478508110684
My online store: http://littlegreentoaster.com (use code BRAAAINS at checkout for 20% off thru Nov. 3)My personal Tumblr account (focused mostly on my art) at: http://adamconnor.tumblr.com/
My site, which has some of my art and my thoughts on design at: http://adamconnor.com
A blog I co-maintain that curates posts from all over the web about artists and their processes: http://creativeprogress.posterous.com
And I occasionally write on the Mad*Pow blog: http://madpow.net/Team/Adam-Connor.aspx

Adam, thank you so much for sharing with us! Please show Adam a little link love!

Until tomorrow,

xo Maeg

*all images in this post © Adam Connor*

Art Crush of the Week: Belinda Kemp

Hello and welcome to another Art Crush of the Week, where each Wednesday I become positively smitten on the work of a fellow artist. This week I'm talking with Belinda Kemp, aka Gretchen Mist, whose paintings I find to be mysterious, atmospheric, and minimal. And just beautiful.

Hi Belinda! Please tell everyone at Edison Rex a little bit about yourself.

I live in Melbourne, Australia with my husband and two little boys.
I'm a creature of habit! I love my coffee. I work a lot. I love aquas and greens. And I love to swim.

How long have you been working as an artist, and what’s your career been like? Have you always been doing art or did it sort of sneak up on you at a certain point? How did you develop your particular style?

I've been making art for 7 years. I built a 'career' {pre-kids} out of really not having a career!! I never really liked the jobs I was doing and always had the desire to make something of my creative life. The option of not being able to return to my job after having our first baby was a blessing in disguise! It really allowed me to focus on painting and making art.

My style has developed on its own just through working and trying new things.

I read that you are self taught. SO many of my favorite artists are self taught. Personally, I’ve had not a lot of formal training, so I find self-taught artists to be an inspiration at the same time I wish for more technical training.  Do you feel that being self-taught is a strength for you, a difficulty, or both, and how?

I guess it's a bit of both! On one hand I drive myself crazy when I see work that I love, just wondering and trying to figure out exactly how it was made. On the other hand not really knowing the technical stuff and working anyway helps with making discoveries about what feels right for me. I seem to accidentally figure things out by doing!

I like to learn new techniques in small doses, otherwise it' becomes too much of an upheaval! The best way to learn, I've found, is watching others work ~ it's so great when artists make and share videos of themselves working.

You’re the mama of two young boys and a working artist--what’s the interplay of those two roles like for you? How do you find your day to day balance?

I really try to find the balance!! And I try to separate the two roles but it's hard to switch off from the work, especially as I work from home. The family holiday that we recently had was great for snapping out of my work mode and really enjoying time with the kids. Organising time and activities away from home helps.

What current projects are you working on? What are your big plans for future projects?

I'm working on my paintings and drawings along with my fabric designs and patterns. I really hope to build up my pattern collection in the future. The more I make, the more I want to make, so having a bit more time would be ideal.

Your dream life, five years from now?

I hope to be working away on lots of fun and exciting projects while the kids are at school. I'd also love to travel as a family.

What are your favorite creative things to do when you’re not drawing or painting?

I love crochet and knitting!

Who are your artistic heroes?

Brandi Strickland, Leah Giberson, Camilla Engman, Kat McLeod

Any advice for aspiring artists?

Follow your instincts and make what you love! Making connections with other artists is priceless.

Please take a moment to visit Belinda's website, read her blog, or visit her shop!

Thank you, Belinda, for doing this lovely interview with me!

*all artwork in this post by Belinda Kemp*

Art Crush of the Week: Stacey Rozich

When I first discovered Stacey Rozich's work last year via The Working Proof, I was instantly mesmerized. I love the mystery and power of the figures in her paintings. Much of her work draws from the folklore and traditions of various places including Yugoslavia, Russia, Scandinavia, and the Pacific Northwest. 

Stacey oh-so kindly granted me an interview to give us a peek into her growing career, body of work, and process. Read on!

Wow! Your career has totally taken off since I first came across your work through The Working Proof last year--you quit your day job this past winter and seem super busy with gallery shows, commissions, etc. Congratulations! I think that behind most success stories is a whole lotta untold hard work. Can you tell us the story of how you got to this point in your career? Any sage advice for other artists?

Hard work is right! I think over the past four years — since I left art school in San Francisco in 2007 — I've become a champion of the old saying: "Hard work pays off." My dad would say that to me when I was a teenager and still says it today. How true it really is, at least in terms of my art career. 
When I was in school for Illustration I was immersed in this amazing environment of artists, working faculty and the fact I was on my own in one of the best cities in the world was pretty cool. At 20 years old this was a total dream situation for me. But something tugged me home to Washington and before I knew it was back living with my parents in Seattle trying to figure out my next move. I had a little pity part for a minute but got on my grind: I rented a studio in a(locally) well known artist loft building and got to work. I've since moved on from working there and gone back to school for design at Seattle Central, graduated, done freelance for record labels, magazines, publishing companies and started doing a bit of work with a small design firm in town. Hard work really does pay off. 

I love your illustrations and am amazed that you work in watercolor (did i read that right?) I love that you’ve built your own universe filled with these powerful, intimidating, bold masked figures. Do you ever find it difficult to come up with new pieces, or does the constraint of having a theme make it easier? What do you do to generate ideas and inspiration for new work? 

Sometimes, like any artists, I get derailed by a creative block. I find they are most prevalent when I'm working on other projects besides my illustration. The only time I feel like I truly tap back into a creative force is when I have to sit down and create a lot of work.  I look to a few sites for inspiration, namely Bibliodyssey, and a rotating list of Tumblrs. Sometimes I feel like I'm searching for hours and then one, one image does it. It's like a levy breaking and all of the sudden I go full-force into a new narrative which is handy when I'm working on a solo show. The difference in technique, composition and idea of the very first piece in the series to the last is usually so different. Many might not see it, but I can look at both in a show and point out to you how different they are, but I won't because that would be too revealing. It's kind of like dusting off my skills and once the wheels get greased it's like lightning! Grease lightning, even.

Your style is so recognizable. What was the process of developing and defining your own style like?

I am really honored my style is recognizable. I'm not quite sure what happened in the beginning of this style four years ago until now, I think it might be my personal love of bight colors, neutral tones, animals, strong patterning in textiles and weaving, cultural folklore and fairy tales all brought to life with saturated watercolor, gouache and acrylic ink. I think a defining moment for my style is when I started getting offers from bands to do album artwork, to do commercial illustration (which is still my largest goal to do all the time) and to bring my work to life via animation [release date TBA]. Seeing my work cross over from being viewed in a gallery to a larger audience of viewers was a large factor in my realizing what I've spent so much time on was going to another level. 

Your studio: neat and tidy or messy and cluttered? In your home or out of it? A place for late nights or early mornings?

I spent two years working exclusively in a studio and when I went back to school I just couldn't foot the bill. I took my operation home and it's been pretty successful ever since. Though I will say not having a computer or Internet connection at that studio really forced me to do research in books and magazines which was nice. Now that I work about a foot away from my computer my day takes a bit longer to start sometimes because I get lost looking at blogs and that cursed Facebook. 
When I do get working, my space is usually cluttered and I always work mornings until the afternoon. Sometimes late depending on how much time I've wasted on the Internet. 

Do you have any habits or rituals to get you in the zone before you start working?

Blasting "Eye of the Tiger" and doing a lot of high-kicks and air punches. Not really, I suppose I do research and bookmark things I should come back to that might fit into a future narrative. Drawing, always drawing. 

What’s day in your working life like?

Waking up later than expected, a little breakfast and answering e-mails and checking blogs. Maybe I'll get dressed. Depending on what I have to get done for the day, I usually work through the afternoon. If I'm good and have got a lot of work done I'll allow myself to go out and meet with friends, get a drink, see a movie. If not then I better not leave that desk!

Your dream life, five years from now?

I'd like to be showing in large galleries all over the world and making my living solely on that. Maybe have a book or two published. I'd also like to be art directing music videos or short films by then. I've recently gotten a taste of seeing my work animated and I'm kind of addicted now. I want more! I'm not sure where I'll be living, I love Seattle so much but I do think I need a change of scenery for a while. So I could be doing any of these things in San Francisco, LA, Chicago, New York...stay tuned!

 

Thank you, Stacey! 

Please visit Stacey, see more of her work, and read her blog at staceyrozich.com.

 

 

 

 

Creative Mama Roundtable // The First.

Here we are. The very, very first Creative Mama Roundtable.

Every month on Edison Rex I'll be hosting a discussion for creative mamas to share their experience on topics unique to being both an artist and a mama. For our first month, I posed this question to the group:

How has your creative work changed since you became a mom?

Maybe you've taken a break, hit your stride, switched gears, started new projects or mediums, honed your focus, widened your scope, found it easier or harder to be inspired. Whatever is true for you, please share!

I love all of the responses I received. Initially I thought I'd go in and take bits of everyone's answers and collage them together. But while there are similarities, everyone's experiences are also very different. Trying to create a unifying narrative from each of our stories made me feel a little like a reality show editor splicing together my film.

Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but I still felt the best way to honor the collective wisdom here was to share each contribution in its entirety, and uninterrupted. The creative mama monologues!

Let's get to it! I'll go first.

Maeg:

My work has changed in unexpected ways. I've found my relationship with my son appearing in my imagery, unintentionally and all the time. Eggs. Nests. Parent and child human-animal hybrids. Themes of protection. When I put it like that, it seems obvious. But while I'm sketching or painting I have no idea that I'm recreating us. It's usually not until much, much later that I see the connection. 

The way I work is also different. I understand the value of an hour so much differently. I'm more productive as well as more choosy about how I spend my time when I'm working. I'm more focused. If something is going to keep me from myself or my family, it had better be worth it! While I no longer have as many hours to work, I think overall I get so much more out of the hours I do have.

I no longer worship multi-tasking. Trying to do anything that requires attention while also parenting is a recipe for miserableness--I'm far happier being totally present in one or the other.  Sometimes I need to take a deep breath and remind myself of that, but it's the truth.

Marisa:

Creativity, what's that? When i was pregnant, I remember fantasizing about my maternity leave. I looked forward to being home with my sweet baby as I made art, grew flowers and veggies as he stared at me and the world with such delight and wonder. Then reality set in. My baby cried, nursed constantly, hardly slept and wouldn't let me put him down. Any minute I had to myself would be spent eating or trying to catch up on my own sleep. All of a sudden he was 3 months old and I was going back to work part-time.

So here I am today with a 7 1/2-month old and I'm still trying to figure out how to balance my creative side while being a mother and a wife. I feel proud of myself on days when I do laundry, wash the dishes, de-clutter, and get a fresh/healthy meal on the table all while making sure Forest is happy. Where is my award I sometimes think? So maybe this is where my creativity is used now. I'm trying to master the balance of making my home life peaceful and satisfying while my son enjoys life. But do I feel truly satisfied with this? No. Of course, I want Forest to be happy but I'm also trying to figure out how to make myself artistically satisfied.

I've been taking Forest with me to art museums and galleries. I'm trying to expose him to a life I feel like I've lost. I used to feel that my art defined who I was. But now for me being a mom has become the most important part of who I am. So maybe it's not as big of a priority as I once thought. But I have a hard time believing that statement. I'm hoping this gallery-hopping stirs an interest in Forest or somehow subconsciously affects him. I hope I can teach him about something I've been so passionate about. And I really hope I can figure out how to make my own art too...one day soon.

I have a BFA in painting, work as a graphic designer and live in easthampton, ma with my husband, son, stepson, our 3 kitties, and pretty things.  Visit Marisa's blog, Bikes and Birds.

Maryam:

I became a mother in June of this year so I'm still learning to find time for my creative self.  That being said I don't think I've ever felt more inspired.  I feel like my brain is just overflowing with creative ideas and I can barely keep up!  I make sure to keep a small notebook with me so I don't lose all this great energy.  I've become more focused on what I want to do and how I want to do it and although I feel like I don't have the time right now I'm starting to put the pieces together that will make up the big picture. 

Maryam is a wife, mother, photographer and blogs at Pamplemousse1983.

 

 

Tamara:

When Scarlet was born, the change was instant.  I had always been a struggling writer/photographer and I mean struggling in the emotional sense and not the financial sense.  I wasn't creating enough work to get to even get to that point!  I had a beautiful, still in the package Canon DSLR that I had kept in its original box for years.  Literally a day or two after we brought her home from the hospital, I started shooting. And then I started improving on my skills and my equipment.  It's been a work in progress but I've learned so, so much.  I've seen many new moms start buying fancy photography equipment to capture the beauty of their children. For me it was more important to collect technical skills and the equipment has (painfully) slowly followed.  The love I felt for Scarlet also inspired me to start a blog and revisit my first artistic love - writing.  I was rusty at best but am now getting syndicated at BlogHer every now and then, pouring my heart out about love, life, parenting and work. It's more rewarding than anything I've ever experienced - raising her, while writing about it and photographing it.  Although now that she's two, the challenge is finding the time to write and take pictures.  I have to get creative with time...to get creative in general.  It's been working so far but it's a constantly changing challenge.

I am a Freelance Photographer, Writer and Social Media Consultant as well as a Full-Time Toddler Mama living in the best town I've ever known - Northampton, MA.

Visit Tamara's blog, Tamara Like Camera.

Audrey: 

The huge change for me in becoming a mom is that my thoughts now always go to my kids before my own creative work. Before I can think about a design, a color scheme or a theme I want to explore, my brain has to let go of who has been fed recently, what clothes we need the next day and whether we have the stuff we need to get through the next two hours.

I recall preparing for a grand and pivotal event in my personal life, in which I needed some quiet time to reflect and think quietly in order to prepare. I retreated to my “studio”, which was primarily a storage space in the middle of the house with a door that closed, telling my then four-year-old daughter that I needed some private time. She peered in the window, knocked, came and sat as silently as she could, bumping my body and interrupting all of the concentration I’d been able to muster and said so innocently, ”I’m having private time with you.”

That’s what being an artist now means for me. I share my private time. OR… I schedule and strive to carve out that private time, from puny little bits of scraps left around the school day, the work day of my partner (who works nights and evenings), my cleaning, cooking, thinking, exercising..my life. It means I re-evaluate my thoughts on creativity and express them in my table settings, my kids clothes (when they were little), the ways I move my body- adding in swimming and circus and biking-whatever ways I can experience something new and different counts. It’s all good, and my patience is what gets me through towards that empty nest that awaits me.

Audrey Hyvonen is a fiber artist living in Easthampton MA. She blogs at hinkypinkie.typepad.com and sells stitched stuff at hinkypinkie.etsy.com.

Ladies, ladies, ladies, thank you for sharing. Much love.

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xoxo Maeg

Studio Weekend

 

Happily, I got some extra time in the studio this weekend! For a couple days I dropped all other work to draw and paint. It felt so good. A lot of my painting was done well before dawn (right after my morning ritual) so I didn't get great in-progress shots of everything. Still, I thought you'd enjoy these--first, the paintings from these sketches, and the progression of a nearly-completed new piece.

I'll be sharing a lot more work in progress in the coming weeks as I get ready to release some new work!

By the way, Sarah of Desirous of Everything is hosting a super special giveaway this month--and the prize is $50 to spend at Modcloth! So if you're looking for something new for your fall wardrober, head over here.

And Happy Monday. I hope your weekend was swell--what were you up to?

xoxo Maeg