"My situation is unique since her mom and I aren't together as a nuclear family. So I lead two lives really, working artist in existential crisis and then rad dad mode. They are parallel but it doesn't mix in my situation when I have my daughter I'm in dad mode. My time with her needs to be extra special to me, This means my schedule needs to be flexible. I have no advice, I have no idea what I'm doing. My advice would be if your daughter asks to make the stuffed animal talk just make the thing talk because that's all she wants right now." - Mark Pernice
"When I first was pregnant my creativity all but disappeared. Other artist mamas I talked to at that time said their creativity was through the roof - they’d never been more creative as when they were pregnant, but I had such a different experience. I felt like mine had completely abandoned me. And I felt like I was alone in that. And that combination was so hard.
But after I had my daughter, it ever-so-slowly started to come back. Especially as she grew enough to hold crayons or a paint brush. I saw how unencumbered she was with art - there were no rules in her head. There was no judgment about what was good or bad. She was wild and free. Seeing that helped start to break down my artist’s block and breathe new life into my art." - Penelope Dullaghan
"Having a kid has actually made me better at time management and in turn I have become much more productive. It's that whole thing where when you're busier you get more done. It has helped having her in part-time preschool and also having a partner whose schedule is more flexible than most. For me it's imperative to make lists. Both lists of long-term goals and daily tasks are very important." -Katie Vernon
"I’ve been painting consistently for a few years before having my first daughter. After she was born, I felt a surge of inspiration and creativity. I became much more purposeful with my time and the direction of my art. I knew that raising the girls was going to be my primary focus, so I needed to find a way to fit my passion and career into that. One of the biggest changes since having children has been the limited hours to create. I’ll be in the middle of a piece, inspired and in the zone, and I’ll have to walk away to focus on family life. I think that as mothers, we are always adjusting to the changing daily demands and needs of our children. Understanding this fluidity has helped me both in my studio practice and in creating art." - Karina Bania
