Space to Create (Part 2)

I have space! Now what?

I haven’t gotten to post in a minute! I’ve been swamped with to-dos now that I’m back to work full time. At home, I have been at a loss with all of my things moved upstairs to my son’s room. That was great for the living room area…Not so much for this blog or practice. 😬

But, lo and behold today, I have a space again!

Still…what does that even mean when this space was built for two?

Let me explain…

First off, you couldn’t have convinced me that the majority of my room would be moved upstairs so soon. It’s field day/graduation/grading season…I have an achey back…and, typically…at a time like this, my middle name would have been “Procrastinate”.

But my daughter needs me…and there’s nothing so moving as your child asking you to hang around when they’re in crisis. Beyond that, I need a space for the in-between time so I don’t get so consumed with worry about her.

While I’m fairly independent with my projects, it would’ve taken forever this time around. So, this weekend, I asked my family to lend a hand.

Everyone in the family knows what we have been experiencing with my daughter’s health. It took them no time from when I asked to get the job done. I’m so grateful for that. All of a sudden, a room that once looked like a catastrophe-a hodge-podge of my son’s bedroom furniture, tons of bedding materials, plastic tubs with mysterious contents that smelled like boy, and other oddities-is beginning to approach something like a room where I might find some peace while keeping a watchful eye on my daughter. It was just what I needed.

Actually, maybe I also needed a little faith too?

This theme has come up so often this past year. But, I digress…

Now, I know that quick of a response from my family was mainly because of what’s happening with her. They understand I have to act quickly when she needs me to and it’s easier to do it the closer I am to her. So, in a way, I guess it’s really our room.

To be truthful, I had way more grand plans for this space. But, now that so much has been moved out of it and much of my things moved in, there’s not as much space in this room as I thought…I have A TON of things I’ve collected over my years of art-making…and, there are still a few more of my things coming up to go in the closet. When it’s all said and done, this space will probably hold over 15 years worth of art-making materials. 😳

And…will I create in it?

No matter how much I’ve wanted a studio over the years, even when I’ve had one, I’ve always made art on-the-go, as a matter of necessity. Any room I had merely held all of my stuff. This way of working may not completely align with the traditional intent behind creative spaces for women. As Virginia Woolf once outlined in A Room of One’s Own, a woman needs the means to carve out a room of her own…Time, money, and space…According to Woolf, at the time of her writing, women had historically been denied these basic supports to a creative endeavor (writing, in her case), insisting that, due to societal prejudice, they came so easily to male creatives.

In my own case, I’ve always been a working mother-also by necessity. Usually, at least one of the trifecta Woolf championed was missing in my creative arsenal. Any work I made had to be done with whatever I had, whenever it could happen, wherever I was. Even now, this room serves a dual purpose since the main reason it moved upstairs was for proximity to my daughter. Furthermore, even my mindspace will be occupied to a certain extent with the caring of her health.

Perhaps, such is always the plight of a working, creative mom…to have one’s creative space-both literally and figuratively, shared. Maybe this is the mantle we must willingly take on to be creatives.

So…only time will tell if this room will ever begin to truly personify the type of space to create Woolf was alluding to in her essay. It may be that this trying time will force me into developing a true “studio” practice. But, for now, I’m going to continue making work any way I can and enjoying the fact that this space is there for me and for my daughter when we need it…and I love it. 🥰

Do you find it necessary to draw a clear line between your creative space and your responsibilities?