Finding time for art — and then forgetting to use it

I typically put a lot of thought into my posts to make them informative and strike up curiosity. This one is more of an off the cuff – stream of consciousness version.

---

I rarely write about my family, but I am a mom of 2 girls – currently 16 and 11 years old. Despite the 16 years of parenting under my belt, I still regularly feel overwhelmed by managing a family. You would think that things should be getting easier as the kids grow up, but that’s not the case for me.

When my older daughter was little, life felt simpler. Not easier — there was plenty to do — but simpler. Of course, there was a lot more take care of when she was a toddler ( as opposed to trusting a teenager to roam around Manhattan on her own). But there were fewer demands, fewer expectations, fewer preferences. She would eat the breakfast that I prepared and put on the clothes that I gave her. Now, she is her own person and pleasing her is a tall order.

Reclaiming my identity

Back in 2016, when my daughters were six and two, I decided it was time to reclaim a small part of myself. For me, that meant making art again. Somehow, I managed to carve out that time. I participated in a few shows, had a sculpture exhibited in the Baycrest Foundation Brain Project, and in 2018, the SciArt Residency program allowed me to process my emotions through art — eventually resulting in the “Hope” series.

Travel memories

This February (2026), our family took a special trip to Spain to celebrate our daughter’s Sweet 16. It was wonderful — museums, tapas, long walks through unfamiliar streets. But when I came home, my mind kept returning to a very different trip we took years earlier.

In 2019, we visited Montreal during winter break. I was under a deadline for a SciArt exhibition in New York, and the project was still in progress. So I packed my bead embroidery project and brought it with me.

During the day, we explored the city. At night, after everyone fell asleep, I sat at the tiny desk in our hotel room, stitching beads one by one. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was deeply satisfying. Looking back, I realize how determined I was to keep creating, even in the midst of a busy family vacation.

Managing my time

Over the last five years, I’ve worked hard to streamline our household systems. They claim to save about five hours a week — and in many ways, they do. I now find small pockets of free time here and there. But the real question is: what do I do with that time?

Back in 2019, I carried my beadwork across borders to make art. Today, I sometimes let those pockets of free time slip by. Maybe the lesson isn’t just about finding time. Maybe it’s about remembering why creating mattered that much in the first place.

---

Here is how it turned out in the end. “Attraction” is made on a 13″ x 13″ canvas and is still available for purchase here.