Motherhood is certainly one of the greatest joys of life, however, when living the life of a professional fine artist this monumental change can have a great effect on one’s work and, most interestingly, one’s choice of subject matter. Limited time at the easel can make us work faster and even influence what genre or style we are able to paint. Historically, motherhood has impacted women artists in both profound and purely logistical ways. It has also helped us gain a whole new outlook on the art world and our own work. Motherhood serves as an ever-interesting topic of discussion among artists and collectors seeking the meaning behind works of art.
When I was 30, I was known as a plein air landscape painter, going outside in the early morning or evening to capture the light. I had just been given the extraordinary opportunity to show my work at a local gallery with many of the nation’s top artists. The arrival of my son made painting on location much too difficult. Devoted to my family and to the gallery, I started painting still life works and studying the figure more from the comfort of my home studio while my son Logan napped. When Perry arrived, and the boys started to play together, I had a bit more time at the easel, but I still had to adhere to an alla prima technique of applying quick fresh paint on canvas. In order to create works in a short time I had to work in a fast but fresh manner so my style evolved into impressionism.
Curious about how motherhood influenced other painters’ subjects and technique, I spoke to a handful of professional artist friends and inquired about how their creative lives changed after having children.
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CANDICE BOHANNAN Mercy, egg tempera on panel, 9½ x 9½"
“I am deep in the trenches with children right now (two boys aged 4 and 2 and one in the womb due this October). Being a mother has changed my work and studio time, and I am now keenly aware of how precious my time is. I also don’t worry about competition anymore; it is as if the professional world of art no longer exists. I made a big change from painting in oils to painting in egg tempera to make the most of my studio time. I found egg tempera was more akin to drawing with paint, and I could squeeze in an hour or so after the kids went to bed, and get a lot done, rather than feeling like I needed an 12-hour studio day to make progress in oils.”
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JANE HUNT Looking West, oil on linen, 24 x 18"
“Like most mothers, my time became much more limited after my first child. However, after adopting my second child 18 years ago, her disabilities were so all-consuming that I was forced to stop painting for three years. Eventually, I realized that I needed to paint for my own mental health and started creating small works with the time I had. The transition from enormous studio paintings to fast, small, plein air studies dramatically changed the way that I see and paint. I learned a lot from those early years, and continue to use small, fast studies to inspire and create my studio pieces.”
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SHANA LEVENSON Sibling Bond, oil on aluminum panel, 36 x 24"
“Being a mom and an artist is a part of my identity. I am a complete person as both, although motherhood is more important. My inspiration in the early days came entirely from my children. My art career really started as I was going through a divorce so I was seeking strength by painting my children, as well as an excuse to spend time with them, since I was now splitting time with their dad and not with them fulltime. My art has evolved into a more contemporary style since I am not allowed to paint them at the moment due to family reasons. Even though they are not the subject currently they are still part of my process as they talk to me about my ideas and brainstorm with me.”
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PEGGI KROLL ROBERTS Ali on the Sand, oil on canvas, 9 x 12"
“Motherhood provided me with models of my favorite subject—the figure! There was a lot of begging and pleading for just 5 or 10 minutes here and there. I was fortunate that we were the house that all the kids loved to come to and play. We had a beautiful pool, a big back yard and I was able to create 5-minute sketches of my kids and friends from life. I had to paint quick, however, because they would not sit still. My goal was not to get a portrait but rather improve my skills of quick observation. As they grew older, the sessions were a bit longer but it also cost me big bucks!”
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PATRICIA WATWOOD Flower Girl, oil on linen, 12 x 12"
“When they were young, it was essential to entirely separate time parenting from time working, and I needed my studio to be away from the house, and have dedicated work time and not be interrupted. When they became adolescents, I moved my studio back home. They could then see what I was up to, and the progression over time, and have a better understanding of my body of work and what the life of an artist looks like. My older child is now majoring in art at Oberlin College, and I think has a realistic idea of what the professional life of an artist entails. I have also found that I work more quickly now than I did in my early years. This is both due to the lack of long interrupted hours, but also due to a change of temperament in myself. Now, I am energized by looser brushwork and more open paint handling. I am now simply faster at painting and have to be much more efficient.”
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KATIE WHIPPPLE Queen Anne’s Lace and Cosmos, oil on panel, 20 x 16"
“I stopped painting when I was about 10 weeks pregnant with my son Hewitt, and didn’t start up again until he was 9 months old. It was the longest time I had spent away from the easel since I could hold a paintbrush. However, I found the break was much needed to overcome the burnout of chasing deadlines for six years. Motherhood also gave me the glorious gift of caring less about what other people thought about my work. Easing back into work allowed me to find my footing and set boundaries with my studio hours. It was important to me not to repeat old patterns of overcommitting to deadlines. It appears that I can only paint at one speed: slow. So instead of trying to speed up my process to pack in more paintings in fewer studio hours, I just make fewer paintings and far fewer commitments. I have wanted this kind of healthy relationship with painting for many years. I am no longer chasing deadlines or trying to please galleries and collectors. I am just making things. Because I need to. Because beauty matters immensely to me. The difficult times I went through in pregnancy and postpartum have helped me restructure all the relationships in my life, including one of my longest lasting and most precious: my love for painting.”
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MARDIE REESWhole Hearted, cast glass, ed. of 10, 16¾ x 8 x 4¾"
"I’d say the hardest part to find as a mother is uninterrupted blocks of time to come up with ideas, so I found time while working out. Through my three children’s stages of growth, my perspective on life, subjects and what was important also changed. I recalled the childlike self that we all so desire to inhabit and I began to put that into my sculptures—things like playing, learning to walk, times of joy, and defying gravity. I became more adept at sculpting all ages of children so I would bring in my kids (or the neighbor kids) to have them twirl or hold a stick in the air to replicate a particular moment of joy I was trying to capture. Through being a mother of three, I feel that it increased my dedication as an artist, helped me to be a more effective passionate artist, but most importantly to not take myself so seriously. “
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ADRIENNE STEIN Demeter, oil on linen, 48 x 30"
“My son is now 16 months old, and he lives in my studio during the day and my husband (also an artist) and I take turns caring for him, and we also have other help. His arrival in my life has had an important impact on my work. I am more intentional and selective about the projects that I pursue. Since I don’t have as much painting time as I used to, I don’t have time to overthink my subject matter, so I respond to beauty more immediately and instinctively. The works that I paint are closer to my heart, and I take longer to complete them. I started this painting of Demeter, Olympian goddess of the harvest and fertility, a few days after my son was born. It is an expression of my gratitude and feelings of abundance.” —
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