First, let me welcome you to my blog. This blog is being born out of the need to create a place, where I can keep track of my thoughts, ideas, and activities that make up my creative life while being a mom. This is also a place to keep track of my daughter’s Antonia creative endeavors and to share them with whoever is interested. Who knows, maybe we’ll be lucky enough that others may read this, and find some posts and ideas inspiring.
Many of the activities I will be posting here are things that I have tried with my little one as a way of fostering her creative explorations, or just as simple activities to have fun. However, I must say that even when some activities seem to be directed at kids, I have found them helpful to loosen up when making art myself.
I won’t lie, sometimes playing with my daughter seems to me like a dreary task. Tired after my workday, overwhelmed by the things I haven’t done, stressed out about what to cook for dinner, or upset for not having creative time for myself.
So, I am not here to sell myself as “the mom who does it all”, because I am not that mom. I am here to remind myself that, the creative spaces we make together, have been great not just for bonding, but for my own sanity as a creative person.
My daughter is always inspiring me with her drawings, and the colors she chooses. And has taught me to not be so rigid when making art. These creative spaces give me a chance to make art, even when it is not the type of art I thought I needed to make.
Through this (most times “unstructured”) process, I have learned to be more appreciative of the things I can do with the time, materials, and skills I have. But also appreciative of the moment I am living through right now. An intersection of becoming a mom, losing an old part of me, growing older, and trying to figure out how to be an artist with all I have in my hands at this particular time.
In the midst of all this, I have learned that art keeps me happy, sane, and busy. And art has become a happy place for both my daughter and me.
Toninï Atelier 