Why Art Matters to Mothers’ Well-being

I’ve often espoused on this idea on the podcast, speaking to what I’ve experienced or observed as the benefits of creating a piece of art. But not just any art, art that captures a moment in time or your overarching feelings of what it means to work and mother.

I recently read an article entitled, Four Ways Making Art Can Help New Moms, highlighting the key takeaways from a meta-analysis on how art helps new mothers. And it perfectly captured what I’ve witnessed either during the workshops or heard from our participants when they share on the podcast.

Firstly, the experience of creating art helps to bring you into the present moment - it helps you just be versus thinking about all the items on the never-ending to-do. Whether you create your piece of art solo or in a group, the activity focuses you, it calms you, and brings a deep sense of peace to the room. I’ve witnessed this countless times in our workshops; a sense and feeling of serenity and focus.

Creating art in community connects you to others and quickly. What’s unique about our approach is we are asking mothers to paint their experience of mothering and working not just anything that comes to mind. No, we are not a paint by numbers class or paint-the-same-thing-as-the-instructor-tells-you (which is still a wonderful experience, by the way). And because we are asking mothers to showcase and share something vulnerable, we are often able to dive into a richer conversation more quickly, moving past surface niceties. And to me, this matters. We spend so much time trying to suss out if someone is willing to know the often tricky and perhaps dark inner workings of our soul, we often never get the chance to really share and feel authentically connected to someone else. Our paint experience is set-up to enable and encourage this kind of sharing and the results are remarkable. We see a freedom and an openness take shape, enabling rapid and deep connections, often with a group of acquaintances or strangers.

Spending time contemplating and showcasing a moment, experience, or feeling about mothering often leads to a deeper connection to self. This comes through most acutely on our podcast, where parents are able to share more about their art, but also, the experience of creating it and what’s shifted since its creation. Translating one’s inner life to the physical world comes with a host of benefits - it may allow one to see one’s experience differently, to reframe a challenging moment, it may create necessary distance and separation, and it may enable one to better appreciate the magic and profundity of parenting. It may ease feelings of guilt, worry and isolation, as others connect to the experience, sharing their own stories.

This is a busy world, filled with distractions pulling us away from our core, leaving us feeling harried and uncentred. Creating not only brings one into the moment during the creative process, but also afterwards, as one sees the art, a physical and constant reminder that their experience matters.

Art gives us so much. I feel grateful and honoured to be able to see the transformative and connective power of art each and every time we host a workshop.