People ask how I paint with a baby, and the honest answer is: very slowly, and with a lot of flexibility. My studio is in our home, which helps. But what really changed everything was learning to work while wearing her.
She's six months now, and some of my best pieces have been created with her nestled against me in the wrap. There's something about the rhythm of her breathing that centers me. When she's awake, she watches my brush move across the canvas. When she falls asleep, I keep working.
The wrap has become part of my creative practice. I put it on the same way I prepare my palette - methodically, intentionally. It's become a ritual that signals to both of us that it's time to make something.
Motherhood and creativity aren't opposing forces. They're intertwined in ways I never expected. My daughter has made my work more urgent and more joyful. She doesn't take away from my art - she's become part of it.
To the creative moms wondering if they'll ever work again: you will. It won't look the same, and that's okay. Your new work might be even better.