Self Care as an artist-mother

Tonight, I have the evening to myself. The boys are gone, they went to a concert an hour away.

I stayed in. My to-do list is miles long. Things to do for the gallery, paintings to stretch and work on, vacuuming, gardening, I haven't mopped the kitchen floor in weeks. yuck.  But I realized more than anything that I needed some self-care, some me-time. Moms really need this and so do artists.

My two jobs these days are to be an artist and mother. There is a lot of giving that takes place in both roles. A lot of emotional energy used to communicate and connect in the process of painting and parenting. It is physically challenging, carrying these ever heavier babes and stretching large canvas.

So instead of tackling my to do list right away. I took a hot shower, ran to the store to buy a frozen pizza and watched an art documentary. My heart, and my introvert tank got a little bit filled up. I then took some time in the studio. Shortly after, I painted my nails, even though as a painter, a manicure is pretty useless. Painting my nails is a great practice that I try to keep up, because it guarantees that I don't accomplish anything with my hands for a good 30 minutes. I am not able to pick up anything, or work on anything, hold a baby, or clean anything.

I just have to sit and wait for the paint to dry. sigh. relax.

Thanks for reading lovelies,

What do you do to re-energize?