Denying the idea that women could create children but not art I found that motherhood increased my creativity. Not only did I make every single stitch that my first baby daughter wore – knitted, crocheted, sewn - but I began to draw and paint her wonderful innocent beauty. By the time my son was born two years later (1980) I began to exhibit paintings of babies and young children and continued to do so for the next ten years (and two more babies). I became better and better at creating a narrative between children and natural light. Almost all the paintings I made during that period sold but I've saved a few so that each child can have a keepsake. I began to make quilts instead. Quilts satisfied me because they were huge multi layered projects that took a long time to make and yet survived constant interuption. (I was a busy mom) Quilts could also tell layers of deep psychological stories to those who understood the woman's code of traditional pattern and colour. It's been a joy for me to return to drawing and painting the figure over the last few months in my Opus studies.
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