New Baby, New Work on the Horizon

How do you raise a family and continue to nurture yourself and your passions? It's obvious that in order to be a good parent you must continue to take time for you but that's easier said than done.

Each time I've been pregnant and raising an infant, I have turned inward with no desire to pick up a camera or converse with that part of who I am. My focus is always so intently pointed at one thing and one thing only, this new life I've created. I don't make a conscious choice to let it go, it just happens. This time was no different. In fact this time, it was worse. Thankfully, my desire to focus on a new body of work is beginning to stir inside.

I can't pick up my previous work from where I left off though, because my life feels drastically different. The focus of my previous body of work was on a very tumultuous time in my life and thankfully, the pieces seem to be slowly fitting back into place. For now, the health scare we fought for two years, is now being managed with excellent care.

So how does one manage to continue to develop creatively when raising a young family? For me, I will need to shoot more often until a new body of work reveals itself. At that point, I can begin to research my ideas and shooting again with purpose. For now, I'm not putting any pressure to make that happen too quickly. Instead, I'm allowing myself to shoot with an instamatic camera of sorts. I've recently joined the plethora of folks using instagram. I'm shooting snapshots and loving the freedom of shooting without boundaries. It's stirring up my passion and it's, dare I say it, fun! For me, it's just a way to let loose. I don't plan on publishing any of those shots here, I'll save this venue for my "real" work. (That statement is a can of worms just waiting to be opened.)

If you are using instagram, I'd love to follow you. Find me with the user ID, mothervsartist.

Call for Artists

Recently, I adopted an old trick to begin shooting more regularly. I decided to use the take-one-great-shot-a-day method, as a means to a more consistent daily practice. (This is why you've seen so many more postings from me.) My process has been almost excusively limited to working on conceptual bodies, years in the making, and I think I stopped simply snapping photos for the shear joy of it, many years ago. I hope you've enjoyed looking at these images: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

A running coach I used to work with liked to say, "Somedays you'll run like Carl Lewis, and some days you'll run like Jerry Lewis."

I think that's true for a photographer too.

So... throughout the next year, my goal is to feature one or two photographers, other than myself,  for a five day stretch every month. As the featured photographer, you will be asked to shoot and post one image a day, M-F. (The rule is, they must be shot that day.)

I'm hoping each of those featured will enjoy the assignment and that the audience will gain a unique insight into those participating artists. Honestly, I hope to see just as many amazing images as I see bad ones. We can all learn a lot from each other.

If you are interested, please send a link of your website to: mothervsartist@gmail.com

In the subject line write: one-shot-a-day