Being a self-employed artist with kids isn’t just a lifestyle—it’s a full-blown performance piece. You’re assembling earrings while waiting in the carpool lane, sketching booth layouts while reheating last night’s pasta, and somehow still showing up with snacks for the school field trip. It’s creative multitasking at its finest, with smudges on your fingers and post-its in your pockets.

• 🖌️ Creativity on the go: Your ideas don’t wait for studio silence. They arrive in grocery lines, on playground benches, and during late-night laundry folds. Your sketchbook lives in your tote bag, nestled beside “pretty rocks,” half-eaten lollipops, and band-aids. Sometimes, your child joins in—doodling beside you, asking to help sort beads, and reigniting your own excitement for the simple joy of making. My Scratch Art collection was born from one of those moments—revisiting scratch art paper with my son during the pandemic and rediscovering the thrill of bold lines and hidden color.

• 💍 Studio time = sacred time: You carve it out like a sculptor—early mornings, late nights, or those rare golden hours when the house is quiet and the muse is loud. Whether you're soldering, setting gemstones, or sanding and polishing, those moments are golden. But they don’t happen by accident. You learn to prioritize—what needs to be done now, what can wait, and what might just have to be done in the car. You keep lists, rearrange them, and somehow still manage to finish orders on time. And when your child wants to see what you created today, it’s magic—rediscovering the thrill of color, texture, and creation through their eyes. And of course my son would have some suggestions for the next piece “for him”. 

• 🚌 Field trip chaperone by day, artist by night: Flexibility is your secret superpower. You can be there for every school performance, every museum trip, every “Mom, I forgot my lunch” moment—and still make it to your studio to finish that custom piece before the deadline. You show your kids that creativity isn’t confined—it travels, adapts, and thrives in the in-between. You’re living proof that art doesn’t need perfect conditions—it just needs heart.

It’s not always graceful, but it’s always real. You’re building a business, nurturing a family, and proving that art and motherhood can dance together—sometimes in wrinkled laundry, sometimes with paint on your jeans, but always with love. And in those quiet moments, when your child proudly shows you their latest masterpiece from summer camp, you remember: this is the second time you’re falling in love with art—and it’s even sweeter than the first.