We’re back with a BONUS episode this week!
This episode was originally published in 2022. Listen here or search “episode 34” wherever you prefer to listen!
If you’re new here, UNRAVEL your journey is a biweekly podcast where we explore what it means to build life outside the confines of conventional work and motherhood.
Let’s talk about creative space and capacity for caretakers.
In this Season 1: Episode 34, we welcome Claire Venus to the podcast!
Claire Venus is a Creative Producer and Mentor. She lives with her husband and two children on the Northumberland Coast in the UK. Claire is passionate about time in nature, making space for the slow-lived life, and helping people find their authentic voice and rekindle their creative flow.
She supports her in-person and virtual clients in using creativity to up-level their wellbeing (and she provides support to creatives new to Substack!)
During the pandemic, Claire’s project Creativity Island was funded by Arts Council England and designed specifically for Mums. The project engaged over 7000 participants worldwide and helped create a sell-out journal to support mums with little ones to capture memories, kindle creativity, and consider their own wellbeing.
In this episode we talk about Claire’s creative projects and what it’s like to engage in creative work as a mother and caregiver to a chronically ill partner.
More specifically, we discuss -
Creative space in everyday and real-life environments
The challenges to maintaining a creative practice with and without social media
How to balance boundaries around creative practice - with flexibility
Key Moments:
3: 43 - how motherhood reawakened Claire’s creative energy
21: 29 - how to create environments to prioritize creative energy and flow
31:27 - creative practice + social media
48:57 - resilience + balancing our grief with our hope
We invite you to listen here on Substack (or wherever you normally listen!)
You can also download this episode + listen directly on your device.
SUBSCRIBE and share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!
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We invite you to SUBSCRIBE for free - or for $5 per month ($55 per year) if you’re willing and able. This helps subsidize production costs so we can focus on creating!
We publish an hour-long(ish) episode biweekly on Tuesdays to support your conscious creation of a life built on what you value.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE.
Claire is a contributor to the book Entwined: An Anthology of Creativity and Motherhood.
This is an anthology that weaves together stories of creativity and motherhood by painters, writers, potters, visual artists, musicians, poets, and multi-passionates from around the globe.
(Its sister-project Ember is an art journal companion.)
The project’s curator, Sarah Shotts, says:
“This anthology’s purpose is to inspire mothers to create, to reframe what ‘counts’ as art, and to hold space for rest and ideation within the creative process. This isn’t just a book about making art. It’s about the whole of motherhood and how that impacts our creative process.”
This is a crowd-funded project, so your support can help make it happen!
We invite you to preorder your copy of Entwined + Ember before September 30 (that’s the FINAL day to contribute).
Have thoughts about this episode? Share them in the comments below.
Here’s a few questions to get you started:
How did your introduction to motherhood or caretaking (re)awaken creative energy… or not?
How might we want to share “magical mundane” moments with each other and the internet?
What’s your experience of using social media to share or promote your creative work?
How might we “balance” sacred boundaries with sacred flow and flexibility?
LOVED this episode? SHARE this post with a friend!
QUICK LINKS.
Connect with Claire Venus on her website and through her Substack newsletter.
Preorder your copy of Entwined + Ember. This crowd-funded project weaves together stories of creativity and motherhood by women around the globe - and your financial support will help make it happen!
Read the 5-year origin story of this project (and take a peek inside the books!)
Connect with Sarah via her website and Substack newsletter.
Expand Your Creative Capacity Within Motherhood with Claire Venus