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| 2008 portrait of my sister and my mama, created from a 1980's photo in watercolor, colored pencil and ink. |
Starting this blog nearly two years ago, and aiming for a weekly studio check-in with my friends at Paint Party and Studio JRU, are two of the most influential factors in helping me to consistently create--even with the excitement and unpredictability of having two wild and irresistible preschool-princesses in my life. I can't thank you enough, my bloggy-friends! :)
As I have gradually discovered that it is possible to cultivate creativity within the dusty corners and upon the crumb-covered tabletops of mothering little children, I've had the distinct feeling that tending to this artist-life is almost like having a third child tugging at my shirt-tails and begging for time and attention! But I've also begun to realize that the real reasons I paint are because of my daughters--not in spite of them.
In answering the interview questions for my feature today at Paint Party Friday, I made this connection: both watercolor and collage became the "media of my heart" because my choice to pursue each of them was also a parenting choice. It just blows me away to think about it this way, to remember all my über-frustration in the early days of parenting, the struggle to find time just for me and for my art. And all along, all of it was meant for my good. Parenting was changing my heart and teaching me things that would help me to finally find my "voice" as an artist!
Of course, I struggle with it still--the demands of parenting; that won't ever go away. But now, even my work is the practice of being mindful of blessings in disguise. It's finding joy in tattered pages, or cutting beauty into pieces so I can glue it together again and make it even better. I like to say that my daughters taught me the art of "loving a thing to pieces," that sometimes we need to just jump and splash in life's "puddles" because joy comes when we abandon ourselves to the mess!
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