DISTILl Creative Blog

Thoughts regarding Josh Kline’s essay New York Real Estate and the Ruin of American Art in October and more.

2025 was a difficult year for me because I gave birth to my second baby. I had to learn how to be less ambitious. I stopped taking on client work and I did not go into the studio for many months. Instead, I stayed close to home and off Instagram for the first forty days after giving birth. I

Every Tuesday I paint inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I am a participant in the Met Copyist program, the longest running program at the Met. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday there are artists painting in various galleries throughout the Met. Copying a master painting is a tried and true way to learn. Anyone can draw with pencil inside the Met, but only through the Copyist program can you paint or use wet media. 

I recently created artwork for The Razor Literary Magazine’s July edition. I created artwork for their August 2023 edition (for the writings Jack and Jill Get Up and Go by Diana Mullins and Mucking About by Jennifer Brown). 

I recently did something for myself, by myself. I joined five strangers in a dark bar, a fifteen minute walk from my house, to discuss the novel Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino. 

I have been a part of a local parents group bookclub Signal chat for possibly over a year and have read each month’s book club pick but have never actually gone to an in-person meetup. Prior to a week ago leaving my house, alone, to do something as frivolous as discuss a novel felt, and actually was, impossible. Just reading the book was an accomplishment.

Fuzzy wheel: a simple machine in forward motion becomes blurry, plush, and playful. From a distance, all logic falls apart and crisp legibility melts into loose impressions. The ten artists presented here share an interest in the indeterminacy of edges (physical, psychological, temporal). They think about the limits, mysteries, and possibilities of vision, and embrace a tension between utility and play. They have a common inclination to see the inherent strangeness of all form, embodied by the soft architecture of a fuzzy wheel.

Much of my recent work explores the themes of motherhood, family, and the passage of time. As a mother, I've been balancing the everyday tasks of raising a child with the emotional complexities of life, and these experiences have deeply influenced my art. I often start with quick sketches based or referencing my ultrasound printouts, which then evolve into more complex pieces. Whether it's turning family stories into clay sculptures or using cochineal ink to create paintings, I’m always searching for ways to connect the past with the present.

Earlier this year I was approached about doing a custom artwork for a tequila brand. I, of course, said yes. I love Mexican ancestral spirits and projects that take me a bit out of my comfort zone. This project was in collaboration with the Powerhouse Arts Print Shop, which is an amazing professional printmaking shop. I had never worked with the print shop before, but I am a member of the Powerhouse Community Ceramics Studio and have been very impressed with the organization.

Last year I made a series of paintings about my matrescence (the complicated emotional and physical process of becoming a mother) called Postpartum Paintings. This work was very autobiographical, raw, and made up of what I would call experiments in acrylic painting and ceramics. I was figuring out how to make art out of and during a very difficult personal experience. After -- and while -- I was making the work I did a lot of research, see my Suggested Reading List: Postpartum Paintings, and looked at other artwork about motherhood, along with watching numerous tv shows and movies, having lots of conversations with other moms, and birthing and raising a baby. My baby is now two years old. 

This past year was my first full year as a mom and artist. I did not know what to expect and have made many big and small changes throughout the year. My husband and I have adjusted as needed, but we are still figuring out how to make the most of our time as business owners and parents. 

I am very excited to be a part of this upcoming holiday art sale! Come shop original artwork by Brooklyn parents in Gowanus. Support artists who are making work despite all the challenges that come with raising a kid (in a city and in my case, with no family nearby). I honestly did not expect to be a part of a holiday sale this year because it has been very hard to keep everything going. But then, I got invited by another artist mom (Molly McIntyre @brooklyn_rabbit) who saw my work at my Postpartum Paintings exhibit at Tin Cup and I knew I had to participate.