Thriving Parent Artist?

From my visual dream journal comes this surreal steampunk-inspired vision of caffeine chaos. Born from the subconscious grind of running our old café, this artwork captures the absurd machinery and relentless energy behind serving endless cups of coffee. It’s a tribute to the madness, sweat, and steam of hospitality life, transformed into a bold, design taken straight from my dreams.

Perfect for anyone who knows the true cost of a good brew, or just wants a quirky, conversation-starting pillow on their couch.

What are you doing this evening?

As a parent artist the majority of my evenings are spent with my family. However there are a couple of pockets of time when I get to illustrate. It’s interesting, since I’ve decided to blog using the prompt questions I’ve had to think and sometimes re-think how I do things. Asking myself how would a thriving (parent) artist spend their evenings and asking myself the hard question of why aren’t I doing that.

Sometimes after work and school the kids take to crafting and drawing. Sometimes I involve myself in what they are doing and other times I pull out my sketchbook or iPad and work on my art. This often gets interest from the kids, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but the work that I do around the kids I basically class as a bonus. As I’ll be disappointed if I try to get too much done or tackle anything too challenging.

Sometimes we hang at the cafe and I’ll make an early dinner. While the kids do their own thing, which hopefully doesn’t involve them sneaking biscuits. Then we take off and get the kids ready for bed, bath time etc. usually by the end of the day I’m pretty exhausted. I’ve been up since 4:30am opening up the cafe for the early morning workers rush. And by the time the end of the day comes around, sadly I don’t have much energy left. Something that I’m working on, by getting my diet and exercise back on track.

So sometimes I draw or write while the kids are settling down for the evening. Often it’s a complete lost cause, as the kids are often tired and crazy by the end of the day. Sometimes I question if I’ll ever get anything done and trying to be an artist is just a lost cause and a complete waste of time. Then they fall asleep and I’m so exhausted that I’m not far behind. Sometimes I get them to fall asleep by falling asleep first.

So the only time I ever get any time to myself to create art is when the kids wake up in the middle of the night. I go and help them get back to sleep, and then I work on my art uninterrupted. I try and keep it to no more than an hour so I’m not too tired the next day. But that’s as good as I’ve got at the moment. I’m not sure it’s the way a thriving parent artist would spend their evening, but it’s the best I can manage at the moment.

Are you a parent artist? How do you spend your evenings?