The MAN Festival Day 6 - Multi-Tasking Mother Artists

In a permanent state of multi-tasking, as mother artists we are often overwhelmed by the conflicting demands we feel from family and artistic lives. And each of these twin selves also contains its own conflicting needs and demands. Despite all these competing demands we continue to undertake creative work because if we didn`t we would be denying ourselves and depriving our children of an essential aspect of who we are.

Each feature in the MAN Festival has shown how these twin selves can also feed into each other augmenting and developing rather than dividing and destroying our parenting and artistic roles.  

As mother artists we live in an alternate time frame to the rest of the world. Everything takes longer despite the fact that you are moving faster than you have ever gone before. I am very drawn to Frank Partnoy's idea from Wait: The Useful Art of Procrastination, of  how we 'manage delay'  in order to expand time:

The best time managers are comfortable pausing for as long as necessary before they act, even in the face of the most pressing decisions. For good decision makers, time is more flexible than a metronome or atomic clock.

PAUSE AND ENJOY!

Viv in her Looking Glass project

In wrapping up this week with the BIG MAN, I have truly enjoyed spending some virtual time with each of the artists featured in the Festival and all the other artists I have come across in the process. What a rich and multi-dimensional experience! Ideas are coalescing and a Phd proposal is making its way onto paper to be submitted at a time somewhere in the future. Virtual presence is being reassesed so I too can participate in the magnificent community of artists of all disciplines who dance the weft and weave of motherhood and arts practice.

Thankyou to Jo and Lilly for providing a platform to connect, discuss and celebrate art, creativity and motherhood.

Bravery is…  accepting change

Imagination is… core to resilience

Generosity is…  allowing your self to expand

Viv juggling rehearsals for her Quiet Spirit film project

BIG Editors note:
As two mother artists we live all of it at once.  BIG was built in the sleep hours and habits of our littles. You cannot undo being an artist or a mother. You just are.  Scroll through the posts below to find a week of links to mother artists and projects inspired and true. There are many more coming. If you want to join the MAN party send us an email to info@bigkidmsagazine and we will do our best to position you in the mix of our next curated MAN Festival early next year. Here we extend our huge thanks to Vivienne Rogis who has done a wonderful job working within our immediate and madly responsive BIG process as guest editor. We look forward to welcoming you into the blogosphere Viv ;) 

The brand new issue (3) of BIG kids Magazine just been released called Game On! We have a feeling both you and your child just might love it! We also thought to point you Into The Dark in the hope you might like to CONTRIBUTE a little something side by side with your child. 

See you there, Jo and Lilly xx

The Mother Artist Network (MAN) is an initiative of Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue and BIG Kids Magazine. This inaugural mini MAN Festival has been curated in collaboration with guest editor and mother artist extraordinaire Vivienne Rogis

The MAN Festival Day 5- Artist Lily Mae Martin

Lily Mae Martin is an artist, mother of a two-year-old, and nomad who after being based in Berlin has moved four times since her daughter Anja's birth - from Cardiff, to Melbourne, back to Berlin, and most recently back to Melbourne.

In her drawing and writing project Berlin Domestic  Lily Mae, like Mary Trunk's work, has drawn inspiration from the everyday, actively seeing her life as mother & artist, weaving them together as she can, and sharing it with the world through the blogosphere. Her recent article on Motherhood and friendship appeared in Killing Your Darlings and her blogs Berlin Domestic & Lily Mae Martin explore the territory of the mother artist with insight. She was featured on The Rachel Papers just last week and here she contributes her experience to our MAN:

I think 'a Mother' is seen as something a woman becomes - 

A woman before she has a baby is everything she is then she becomes a Mum and that is all that she is. Which isn't true, Motherhood isn't an end. It's just change, a beginning.

Images from the project Berlin Domestic 

While I was pregnant I had no idea what to expect and I was afraid I would stop making art. However when I became Anja's mother I found a new and stronger voice- I realised that art was a great way to express everything about motherhood- the pain, the joy, the fear, the sleeplessness, the isolation. I decided to start Berlin Domestic as I needed to work out a new way for me to draw, a way I could draw when I was with my daughter. It also helps me because when I feel completely overwhelmed and utterly alone, I know that someone out there will read my writing and see my drawings and connect with it.

My creative process is something I have been developing and refining for years. I'm mostly interested in drawing but lately I have been exploring painting and writing as well. Being an artist is tough, there are a lot of set-backs and it`s very undervalued, but I enjoy it. 

After I recovered from Anja's birth and could focus enough to read a book I read The Divided Heart. It was so interesting hearing about women so driven by their practices and a lot of them moving away from their families with a small child, like I ended up doing. 

I have to admit it took me some time to really understand the book. My baby was only a few months old and while I still managed to make some work I didn't have any artistic demands. When we moved back to Berlin, when Anja was only 6 months old, that was when I began to understand the division. I had to fight to get time to make my work, to get the space to make my work. And I encountered more issues with this as well. People were seeing me as a singular entity and demands were being made on me to participate in things on a level that does not work when you have a kid. I thought; there must be a better way to do this, so I left my studio space and began working from home. As a family unit we've all learned to balance this, it took 18 months to work it out!

I think MAN and BIG are great ideas and places for women to no longer feel alone. I struggled a lot with becoming a Mum and still being an artist. I felt a lot of the time Anja and Mothering wasn't something I could bring up in regards to art things. I did a few interviews after having her where I don't even mention anything about pregnancy, birth, babies, poo - you know, the things that my life mainly consists of now. So finding groups and networks that do talk about this is refreshing. Being able to connect with more parents who are artists is enriching. Being able to talk about concepts, paint, process and nappies, sleeplessness - it's a lifeline. 

Bravery is… following your gut.

Imagination is… crucial to a person`s development.

Generosity is… being able to accept things, even if it is different to you.

The Mother Artist Network (MAN) is an initiative of Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue and BIG Kids Magazine. This inaugural mini MAN Festival has been curated in collaboration with guest editor and mother artist extraordinaire Vivienne Rogis  to whom we are so grateful! 

The Mother Artist Network is a place that invites BIG ideas and discussion about creative practice and motherhood. Through a forum of ongoing blog posts the MAN will feature voices of mother-artists at all stages of artistic engagement and motherhood.  We very much hope you will contribute to the conversation by commenting below or emailing us at info@bigkidsmagazine to add your story to the mix.   

The MAN Festival Day 4 - Independent Producer/Dance Artist Sandi Woo

Mother Artist Sandi Woo is an independent producer/dance artist based in Broome WA who has had a wildly productive and creative year with many upcoming projects set to continue her amazing mix of art and motherhood.

Sandi Woo and son Eddie Mailer Photo by Kathryn Santospirito September 2012 - Broome, WA

What do I have to say about juggling arts practice and parenting? More like - what don’t I have to say and where do I begin?

I’m currently in the ‘gearing down’ phase of the busiest year of my life. I have delivered two community based projects in Broome and the Kimberley. YouTube Me Dance 2012 & Gallery Moves. Which are also written about here & here.

I am currently working on my third project for a local organisation – Theatre Kimberley – called Staircase to the Moon. A locally written, produced and performed music theatre production that will christen the newly refurbished Broome Civic Centre in early November.

Exciting. Exhausting. Exhilarating.

I have been doing plenty of soul searching about how to balance my creative yearnings and my family responsibilities. One thing I knew was my creative desires were more powerful BECAUSE of my family. But they were also the ones most affected by the ‘busy schedule fall out’ and stood right in the firing line of one frazzled and exhausted Mum.

Two young boys call me ‘mum’. Dear, sweet Eddie (4 yrs) who we think is forming strong aspirations to be a breakdancer, but is probably more of a contemporary performer. And Frank (1 year) who at this early stage is showing signs of being either a professional boxer, or just a school yard bully. Either way he enjoys moments of contact improvisation with his brother.

It would not be possible to write about juggling motherhood and creative practice without crediting my husband as the real reason I am still standing and the family is still (relatively) happy and healthy! Seriously. After starting work at 5am, he finishes at 2pm. This allows me to get a few hours of work in at the end of the working day. He hangs out with the kids from 2pm and helps to complete a large portion of the home duties too. It frees me up for rehearsals, meetings and important bonding time with my computer. He is also the sounding board for all the good and bad twists and turns we go through on the ‘project super-highway’. Oh, he’s a reasonable copy editor too! Thanks Darl!

Karli Linaker, Susan Rush, Sete Tele Photo by Abigail Workman(Man at Work Media)Sept 2012 - DACOU Gallery, Broome 

As hard as this year has been logistically and administratively, it has been the most creatively fulfilling year of my life. Possibilities feel endless and the rich and fertile community I’ve started to work with seem at the ready. All these wonderful elements converging and I have never been more ‘time poor’ in my life! It’s amazing how much you get done in 2-3 consecutive hours of uninterrupted work time. And lets not forget all the thinking time in between hanging out washing, folding washing, cooking dinner, feeding the chooks and packing up the toys (over and over again in a day). Not a minute of the day is wasted! Hang on, is Facebook time wasting?

Really, it’s not surprising that motherhood and creative practice go so well together. Both provide amazing, life changing moments you cannot plan for. And both require a ‘concept plan’ of some sort – an overarching vision – but you kind of work out the details as you go. You ride the ebbs and flow, you find yourself in a difficult moments, which make you relish the joyful bits even more. 

My next project combines motherhood and creative practice. I am exploring the relationships between children and their parents/grandparents. I want to test my own notions of parenting by building a creative environment where the children lead the parents. Why? Because of the seemingly constant requests I make of my toddler to live his life at an adult pace. Also, I have been inspired by the work of BIG magazine. I want to provide other parents (and grandparents) an opportunity to have a creative experience that is shared, led and centred on their children.  I’ve conceptualised a project so I can play in the studio with my own children. I will be mentored through this project by inspirational and talented Mother Artist- Felicity Bott.

My stomach backflips at the thought of what lies ahead next year. And, after reading Sally Richardson’s MAN article, of what lies ahead in the years to come. I am going to the post box everyday to check if my copy of Rachel Power’s The Divided Heart – Art and Motherhood has arrived. Excited much?

Thank you BIG Kids Magazine, thank you MAN.

Bravery is ... stepping out into the unknown and enjoying the ride

Imagination is… a wonderful gift

Generosity is… putting others needs before your own

The Mother Artist Network (MAN) is an initiative of Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue and BIG Kids Magazine. This inaugural mini MAN Festival has been curated in collaboration with guest editor and mother artist extraordinaire Vivienne Rogis  to whom we are so grateful! 

The Mother Artist Network is a place that invites BIG ideas and discussion about creative practice and motherhood. Through a forum of ongoing blog posts the MAN will feature voices of mother-artists at all stages of artistic engagement and motherhood.  We very much hope you will contribute to the conversation by commenting below or emailing us at info@bigkidsmagazine to add your story to the mix.   

The MAN Festival Day 3 - Flim-maker Mary Trunk

Mary Trunk is a Film Maker with a history of creativity that also includes Visual Art & Dance. Mary has just finished her feature length documentary film called, Lost In Living, which explores the lives of 4 mother artists over a seven-year period.

As a budding film maker and social researcher myself Mary's work is really exciting. As we all know, the soundtrack, visual & physical coherence of our lives is irrevocably changed when we become parents. Film is a great way to explore & perhaps more importantly show this, in its noisy, often chaotic reality, to each other and the wider world. To see the creativity in everyday life, as Mary discovered, and to find our own way of embracing that.  Here Mary tells us about her own journey into the life of mother artist and the genisis and realisation of Lost in Living.

Mary's Story

After a childhood full of responsibility for young children, as the eldest of 7, I had made the hard and definitive decision that kids would never be a part of my life…

Until I turned 38…

I thought I would give it a try, nothing would happen, and that would be that.  I got pregnant within a couple of months and then miscarried at seven weeks. Which is one of those experiences, much like birth itself, that you have absolutely no clue about until you experience it yourself. It threw me into a major tailspin of frantically wanting to get pregnant again.  How one can go from being dead set against children to ambivalence and then crazy desperation is beyond me, but I did. Everywhere I turned there were news stories about how difficult it was to even conceive at my ripe old age.

Then…

Two weeks after my mother died from a sudden heart attack I managed to get pregnant with my daughter, Nuala, and gave birth at age 40.  I was never so happy and so sad at the same time.  My daughter, Nuala, is now 10.  She is the utter delight of my life. The baby and toddler years were relentless, often excruciatingly boring and mindless but oddly I managed to be more productive than I thought I would. I was so afraid I would give up everything for the baby and never be creative again, not realizing that I had cultivated and nourished my creative self for forty years and that wasn’t about to disappear quickly. 

What did change was that my daughter became the priority in every way. When I was much younger, success and recognition and ego were more wrapped up in the creative work than they are now.  Creativity for it’s own sake, the act of expression and just putting the time in (when you can get it) have a value that defies outcome, product and “making it.”  Frankly, it’s a relief when I can be in that place while I’m working.  And the work seems deeper and more complex.

Lost in Living

We moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles when our daughter was one and a half. My husband worked long hours and I spent my days caring for Nuala, trying to finish a film and attempting to keep up on the domestic chores that were quickly getting out of control.  I joined mommy groups and play groups, met some other parents, commiserated about baby stuff and still felt lonely and isolated.  I was drowning and needed a life raft.  So I turned my video camera on myself.  I videotaped ten minutes of my day, every day.  Sometimes it was ten minutes of my daughter sleeping, other times it was me folding laundry, one time I was giving my screaming daughter a much needed antibiotic and another time it was my husband and I arguing.  All moments that can occur in every person’s life.  I did this faithfully for an entire year, every single day.  Somehow by sticking to this routine it occurred to me that I was finding meaning and drama in the ordinariness of my life.  I was redefining the mundane world of caring for a baby, managing a house and seeing it as art.  Not only did this help me to finish my film, it sparked the idea for my newest film, Lost In Living. How were other mothers defining and shaping their lives as parents and as artists? 

Women don’t diminish as artists when they beome mothers.  On the contrary, they see motherhood as nurturing the artist within and their art life nourishes them as mothers.  Both identities can seem like a burden or a state of grace and both are necessary to understand and feel compassion for others.

I eventually found four women who not only represent some of my own struggles and achievements but have also taught me how the richness of their lives enriches their art.  Through intimate verite scenes and in-depth interviews, this film illuminates how the choice of being a mother can affect not only one’s art and approach to creativity but also parenting expectations and failures, issues of friendship, marriages, domestic routines, age, feminist ideals, and most importantly who we are in the world.    

Having the opportunity to discuss our lives as mothers and artists with other women who straddle those same identities gives me the courage and inspiration to keep working and continue to find value in that work.

Bravery is...exposing your vulnerability

Imagination is...using your weaknesses as a source of inspiration

Generosity is...allowing others to be who they are

See Mary's blog for more on her projects, experiences and the stories of others.

The Mother Artist Network (MAN) is an initiative of Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue and BIG Kids Magazine. This inaugural mini MAN Festival has been curated in collaboration with guest editor and mother artist extraordinaire Vivienne Rogis to whom we are so grateful! 

The Mother Artist Network is a place that invites BIG ideas and discussion about creative practice and motherhood. Through a forum of ongoing blog posts the MAN will feature voices of mother-artists at all stages of artistic engagement and motherhood.  We very much hope you will contribute to the conversation by commenting below or emailing us at info@bigkidsmagazine to add your story to the mix.