Hi there!
Unless you are completely new to the world of ‘Lauren May SK’ (in which case: welcome!) then you probably know that I had a baby in April last year. It was kind of a big deal. Subsequently, I took most of last year off from trying to produce artwork in favour of getting the hang of this ‘being a Mum’ thing. And not to toot my own horn too much, but I think I’m doing alright so far.
However, it is a new year (actually, we are already into February) and I have been eager, excited and even successful so far in finding time for myself each week to spend drawing, painting or planning how I can manage wearing both the ‘artist’ and ‘mother’ hats. It’s tricky! Even though I have been making time to do some artwork, it is not enough time to really be producing anything substantial. In fact, even though I had planned to prepare works to exhibit in London within the next year or two as well as offered an opportunity to exhibit in Singapore I’m pretty sure that those aspirations and possibilities have gone out the window, as exciting as they are/were.
I guess this blog post is just to explain to you where I’m at as an artist. I am as passionate as ever about art-making, improving my knowledge and skills and discovering where I want to take them (or where they take me!). I am just going to have to be patient during this time in my life when I will not have the amount of time that I need each week to gain much ground (or any!) in striving towards my career goals.
I feel that it is important for me to say at this point that this post is not at all a complaint! I am SO grateful that I even have cause to write this blog post. Some people are not parents when they so deeply wish to be, whereas I have been blessed with the most darling of baby girls! And yet other people are parents but have no choice but to return to the workforce before they would like to in order to continue providing for them. If I get to be fulltime Mum to my beautiful little girl AND still get to draw and paint, even if the latter is sporadic and disjointed for years yet, then that is enough for me right now.
That being said, I’m still very interested to know how other Mums manage to wear both hats! (I know I just said that I’m content with my current situation, but it’s also great to learn from each other, right!?) I follow a number of women on Instagram who have little ones to care for and still manage to run their creative businesses! I’m guessing they have more baby-free time than me to be able to get a substantial amount of work done. Possibly via baby-sitters, daycare. Etc. But as I say, I’m just guessing. Maybe they have a whole day full of sing-songs and nursery rhymes, visits to the park and playtimes and the usual cooking, cleaning, feeding and bathing, and THEN they work their butts off all evening to keep their business afloat. If so, you guys deserve a medal.
Well, that’s my update, findings and ponderings on this subject. If you’re a Mum and a creative person I’d love to hear from you! How have you found/ are you finding the combination works for you. Did your art business retreat to ‘hobby’ status for a while? Are you working while your kids are in day care? Did you wait until your kids were grown up before you picked up a paintbrush again?! Perhaps leave me a comment or flick me an email and tell me your story.
Cheers,
Lauren.