[creativity + motherhood] curated by Austin Kleon

Once upon a time, I co-hosted a podcast called Crafty Ass Female and for episode 69 (which I always thought was kind of funny) we interviewed our first (and only) male guest: Austin Kleon.

I love how celebratory he is of women, and in talking about his interview with us said, “We talked about a bunch of stuff, but my favorite part of the conversation was when we talked about how feminism is the way out of the nightmare of being a man. (A strong belief of mine!)”

Yesterday for Mother’s Day, Austin shared a zine comprised of quotes that represent the intersection of [creativity + motherhood] - a topic I am very much into due to the fact that I am deep in the toddler trenches of motherhood, trying to figure out where my creativity fits + folds alongside it.

The double-page piece below was my favorite in the zine, talking about how men artists get to go to their studio + work…period, end of story. In contrast, women artists have to find pockets (“snatches” they’re called below) to do whatever was possible.

I’m laughing because I am trying to write this very quick + easy post (that uninterrupted would probably take me about 10-15 minutes) and it has taken me over an hour now…LOL. I’ve had to stop to change a poop diaper, stop to marvel at a pufferfish puffing up on TV with my son, stop to turn the pages of a book that my daughter brought over…

We mothers trying to mother while still staying connected to our creative selves, we are constantly interrupted, constantly needed away from the art (see this post I wrote a few weeks ago). It is a frustrating and confusing adjustment to say the least…yet, like Eleanor Coppola above, I do feel my children are my greatest artwork and wouldn’t trade this special + chaotic time with them for all the creative success in the world.

But still: I want to create. It’s wild.

Perhaps the reason why is rooted in the quote below…

…it’s the redemption art brings…much like the intense, transformative love being a mother brings.

Yeah, let’s go with that.