Art, Motherhood, and the Tension Behind Creative Devotion

There’s a unique kind of tension that lives in the body of a mother who is also an artist — a push and pull between personal devotion and creative calling. It’s not just time that’s divided, but energy, attention, and artistic instinct. What does it mean to raise a child and a body of work — to mother a soul and a studio?

For me, this question is not theoretical. It’s lived. My original mixed media pieces — especially my newer work with metal leaf — are born in the cracks between feedings, in the early hours, and in the fierce moments of quiet between roles.

Motherhood and art-making both demand full devotion. They ask you to show up, to give everything, to surrender parts of yourself so that something else can take shape. That experience can feel like fragmentation — but when I lean into it, I find something else: integration.

The Nature of Preoccupation

The hardest part is the preoccupation. Biologically, mothers are wired to center their children — to keep them alive, safe, and held in mind at all times. It’s an intense focus, but it’s beautiful. Nature designed it this way.

And maybe it designed creativity this way too. Maybe the obsessive return to a visual idea or a half-formed concept isn’t distraction — maybe it’s nature ensuring that idea is nurtured into existence.

I’ve started to honor that kind of creative preoccupation instead of resisting it. Because art, like children, needs care before it can stand on its own.

The Myth of Either/Or

Still, there are days I feel torn. Like one role must take from the other. My ideas get fragmented. My focus is split. There’s a temptation to believe that I can only be fully present in one identity at a time.

But that’s the scarcity myth.

Since becoming a mother, I’ve made creative leaps I could never have imagined before. The perspective it’s brought — the emotional depth, the ability to hold complexity — has expanded my work. These aren’t two separate lives. They’re part of one story.

Integration is the Work

I’ve stopped chasing balance and started practicing integration.

Some days it means painting with a baby monitor on. Some days it means stepping away from the studio and trusting that the idea will still be there. But through all of it, I keep weaving — blending life and art into something whole.

This is the artist’s life: not compartmentalized, but synthesized. Not driven by scarcity, but rooted in abundance.

Devotion to Both

So I stay devoted — to both motherhood and my practice. I believe in the tension. I believe in the wholeness it can create. And I believe it’s possible to nurture both life and art from the same soul, without compromise.

There’s more to come. I’m still exploring this idea in both my work and my life. But for now, I know this much:

The tension is real. And so is the beauty that comes from holding it.