How do I get back into art

[changedagaid]

Feeling sorry for myself. I’m up with DD1 & I’ve logged into my old Pinterest to start wedding planning.

All of my pins are from 10 years ago. I was so full of life. I loved art and architecture, I’d spend most of my time in galleries and painting. I’m so bogged down with a boring HR career and child rearing. I yearn to be who I was, I’m now so jaded by the world.

Everything looks brighter in the daytime …
can you just go to museums / cities with architecture, or grab crafts etc - either as a hobby for just you or for with your partner / DD too?

I agree with the PP, don’t listen to negative thoughts in the middle of the night, they’re not to be trusted. The problems are still there the next day but you feel slightly more equipped to face them.

Be kind to yourself, motherhood of small ones is extremely draining but it is a temporary season.

Maybe you can resolve to make a plan with a cup of tea or coffee about how to nurture that part of yourself. Some of the things you could do might be…

• sign up for a class
• start taking DC to galleries and museums
• connect with a like-minded friend to have some painting sessions together, you could put on some music to love and paint a still-life while chatting together.
• do an online course in a specific technique you’ve been interested in
• plot a trip to a beautiful place where you can be inspired and surrounded by the kinds of things you have on your Pinterest board
• look up local arty groups on Facebook or similar, sometimes there are groups who do things like plein air painting together in the local area

I was like you and I lost myself for a good ten years or so. It is just really hard when children are young and needy and you’re working, the energy is not there. I am now joyfully finding myself again and have done most of the things in my list above which helped.

it’s normally to lose yourself for a bit after having a baby. Many years before I did I asked my mum why she had kept a specific box of my old work and bits and she told me, ‘one day you’ll probably lose yourself for a bit, when you have a baby etc. It’s good to have little reminders of who you were and where you’re from.’ I totally didn’t get it until i did have kids and it was so lovely.

I watched lots of art documentaries online whilst breastfeeding, took them to galleries from an early age but also went without them,
Our house is full of art and materials anyway but making time for creativity both as a family and on my own. Over the last few years i’ve prioritised music over painting but still visiting lots of exhibitions and watching shows about art and art history.