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| "Solidifying" |
How many children do you have? What are their ages?
I have one daughter, and she is
13 years old.
Does she inspire aspects of your art?
How did your artistic career begin?
When I was young, my mother would
sign me up for art classes at the Danforth Museum in Massachusetts. I enjoyed painting, and it came easily for
me. As a teenager I spent hours drawing and painting on my own. I painted self-portraits,
still lifes, landscapes, and copied reproductions of John Singer Sargent’s
work. When it was time to decide what to
study in college, I thought that majoring in painting seemed too good to be
true; however, I figured, since it was what I did best, I would be most likely
to succeed in the face of competition and challenges.
What is your Parenting/work/art situation?
Despite my optimism going into
college and graduate school, once I graduated I realized that the job
opportunities in New York City for an artist were limited. I found a job as a
graphic designer instead of the teaching position I had envisioned myself
doing. My daughter was born in 2001, and I continued to paint in my free time
for a few years. But in 2005 I took a four-year hiatus from painting after feeling
isolated from art world and not knowing what direction my art career would
take.
What inspired me to start
painting again was the vibrant art community I discovered on Facebook. After discovering
all the talented artists whose work I admire, I realized I couldn't let go of
my passion. I currently work full time as a Production Manager at a financial
company, but this gives me the freedom to paint what I want and not worry about
making a living exclusively by selling my art.
When do you make time to do your art and do you have a
regular art routine?
I paint approximately one
painting per month in addition to smaller alla prima studies. Since I juggle
many responsibilities being a single mother, I let my mood dictate what I work
on. I usually work on a painting for a
week or two, devoting all my free time to it until it’s complete. Then I’ll take a break from painting and focus
on my daughter, friends, and other interests.
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| Sleeping Child 30x24 |
Does your child get involved with your art?
Before 2005, I mostly painted my
friends in narrative compositions. I
have a few paintings of my daughter as a toddler, but it wasn't until 2010 that
she became my primary model. She was
nine years old at the time and had a knack for performance as well as a natural
ease posing for me. “Child Sleeping” was the first painting out of a series
where she is the main figure.
Does she inspire aspects of your art?
My daughter has a great ability to
position herself in precisely the way I envisioned. Of course, being a child,
it was sometimes hard to keep her engaged while I fussed with perfecting the
setup. Recently, however, I witnessed a
new change in our dynamic. Now she wants
to contribute her own ideas. In my
painting, “Let the Cards Fall,” I originally planned on having her sit at a
table holding cards in her hands. As I
photographed her, I could not get the composition to look the way I pictured in
my mind. So, we tried a few other ideas.
Then out of the blue she suggested letting the cards fall on her while
lying down. This couldn't have been more
perfect. I was happy to have her
rebellious nature break some of the safe conventions I had been using.
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| Let the Cards Fall |
How has having a child changed your artwork?
I would have never thought to
paint children if I hadn't had my daughter. My paintings, however, are not
about children. The themes are about human pathos and derived largely from
personal experience.
How does making time for artwork influence other household
tasks?
Since I only have a limited time
to focus on painting, I decided that I wasn't going to feel guilty about not
being actively involved in other activities. My priorities are establishing
myself as an artist and raising my daughter.
Although being more involved in my town or daughter's school would be
nice, I decided it really didn't matter in the end. I love having an orderly home because when
everything is in order I feel more inclined to paint, but once I start working
on a painting, all my focus is on it.
Have different ages of your child been more difficult to
make time for artwork and in which ways?
There were many factors which
contributed to my 4-year break from painting that were not directly related to
being a parent; however, now that my daughter is 13, it is much easier for me
to paint since she doesn't need constant attention.
How do you encourage your child to be artistic?
When she
was first born, I was determined to veer her talents away from art to math. I
would sit in the park and review a math workbook with her, hoping it would
increase her analytical skills. I thought it would be better for her to get
into a more lucrative field. She drew
very interesting pictures as a toddler, but without any interference from me, she
became more interested in gymnastics, singing, and performance.
Do you feel extra pressure as an artist to raise your
child to be artistic?
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| "The Fall" |
Since painting is my strength, I
did want to pass the skills I have on to her. A number of times, I encouraged
her to paint or draw, but she wasn't interested. She has a talent for drawing
cartoons and has a better imagination than I do, but she doesn't have the love
for fine art that I had when I was a kid.
Have you seen your child take inspiration from your
artwork?
I once heard on the radio that in
a study of identical twins they found each twin developed unique skills despite
their similar genes and environment. It
was hypothesized that when one twin was good at one skill the other twin felt
compelled to find his or her own path.
Since my daughter doesn't have any other siblings and we spend a lot of
time together, I feel like this dynamic is happening in our relationship as
well. She sees painting as my activity,
and has never expressed interest in doing it herself. She has many talents and skills I don't have,
and I believe she will go in a direction that best suits her personality.
In what ways does being an artist make being a parent harder
or easier?
Being an artist may make it harder
to be a parent because art is time consuming and often done in addition to
another job. Inadvertently, one may not
focus on the child as much as a parent whose primary interest is raising
children. I hope having my own goals and
ambitions allows my daughter to be self-reliant, and shows her the importance
of following her dreams.
Do you think being a parent affects the way you are perceived
as an artist?
At this point, most of my favorite
artists have children, so I don't think it affects one’s perception of the
artist.
