From the Compost Heap header. A pencil style illustration of a compost heap with flowers and plants growing around it. A bee buzzes by and a white rabbit hops by.

  • Brain Fog ☁️

    I’m entering my 7th year of parenting.

    How did that happen?

    Within a year of giving birth I started making art to process my experience. That was the beginning of This is My Brain on Motherhood.

    Seven years later, I think I’ve fully integrated the identity of parent.*

    Which means I’d like to complete this collection, celebrate it somehow, and then move on to making art on other themes (like neurodivergence or perhaps chronic illness.)

    Gold scissors and baby clothes on a blue blanket

    One of the pieces I’ve struggled to complete is a soft sculpture brain made with baby clothes. From the first little brain noodle (the white washcloth center of the left hemisphere) I had the vision.†

    But sewing through layers of fabric is hard on the hands and pretty quickly I had split my skin and it was too painful to continue. I finally realized the easy injury and slow healing was due to a connective tissue disorder (more on that soon).

    I tried every thimble under the sun and none of them were dexterous enough to give me the fine motor control I wanted. I put the project down for months on end and picked it up a bit here and there – always ending up a little worse for wear after working on it.

    Eventually I discovered the needle puller from Mx. Domestic (in action above!) and was able to sew the second hemisphere of the brain.

    But I still felt stuck. It took a while to realize why. The form was coming together, but I was lost on its purpose. I still had no clarity on what the brain was meant to represent.

    It all felt a little too sentimental to be fine art, but too weird to not be.

    Sometimes my art begins with a concept I want to represent. Other times I start with the form first and find the meaning during the process.

    Workspace with sewing machine, scissors, chunky yard, and a baby sock which has been cut in half lengthwise.

    Least week, I saw an upcoming deadline for a project about chronic illness. And I suddenly realized, with a few changes, this piece has the potential to represent brain fog. A symptom of new motherhood and hEDS (one of my new chronic illness diagnosis’.)

    Instead of a complete brain my vision is now for half wool roving to spill out representing brain fog.

    Ending with this piece feels very full circle.

    It wasn’t my first work about motherhood, but was certainly one of the earliest. This piece held space for me to reflect as I sewed scraps of newborn onesies, toddler tees, and tiny socks.

    Having a connection to chronic illness – a theme I’d like to explore next – feels right. Perhaps this will even be a work that belongs in both collections.

    Blue sewing kit on a desk covered with snippets of chunky yarn encased in scraps of baby clothes.

    This is My Brain on Motherhood was created as part of my Artist’s Residency in Motherhood. ARIM is a free open source framework anyone can participate in created by interdisciplinary artist Lenka Clayton.

    I’ve intended to write a blog post about ARIM for oh, six or seven years. At this point I’ll probably give it a few months and write a full retrospective.

    This body of work was created with the intention of eventually hosting a solo art show. A pop up where I hung my art in my house and invited a handful of friends over to see it.

    Little did I know my art would travel to galleries across the U.S. and even be exhibited in New York City.

    I have other visions now, for celebrating the collection virtually, in a form that isn’t geographically limited.

    But I’m still working out the details.

    Would you be interested in…

    • “This is My Brain on Motherhood” art book / monograph
    • set of postcards
    • art prints
    • virtual artist talk

    If so hit reply and let me know!

    This project would be slotted for autumn or winter (after the summer book launch for How it Feels to Me.)

    Soft sculpture of a brain made from baby clothes. One hemisphere is sewn from baby socks, onesies and washclothes. Scraps sit on a wooden table to the side.

    I’ll be back next week with more neurodiversity chat.

    Perhaps literally! I’ve been working on a new podcasting set up.

    If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover send me a note and let me know.

    Thanks always for your support.

    Cheers,

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S
    FOOTNOTES

    * I knew autistics struggled with transitions, but this was one heck of a transition. I did NOT expect it would take this long to exit “crisis mode” and feel like I’m a person again. Nevertheless, I’m glad that making these pieces and creating Entwined & Ember were portals for me to explore the identities of mother and parent and what they means for me.

    † Shoutout to Mindy Sue Meyers for hosting the soft sculpture workshop and for encouraging me – even when I completely ignored her instructions and took things in my own direction.

    Read more: Brain Fog ☁️

  • Entwined Blog Hop

    Entwined weaves together stories of creativity and motherhood from mothers on the west coast of America, to Canada, Mexico, and the UK. Contributors include painters, writers, potters, visual artists, musicians, poets, and multipassionates.

    Every mother has their own creative ecosystem. By sharing our stories we hope to inspire you to entwine creativity and motherhood in your own way.

    PREORDER

    If you want to know more about this project check out these posts from our virtual blog tour!

    Blog Hop

    Podcasts

    New around here? Subscribe for updates from Sarah Shotts about pursuing creativity as a neurodivergent parent. 💌

    Shoutout to all of the contributors! 🥰

    I’m so honored to have such a brilliant constellation of mothers involved in this project. There are over 55 mothers involved from the writers and cover artists to our editor.

    Creative Team: Twiggy Boyer, Annie King, Emily Jalinksy & Jocelyn Mathewes.

    Anthology Writers: Alexa Villanueva, Anong Migwans Beam, Autumn Fox, Bethany Howard, Christina Marshall, Claire Venus, Emily Perron, Faith Shaw, Hayley J. Dunlop, Joanna Wolfarth, Jocelyn Mathewes, Lauren Oakey, Lindsey Smith, Lisa Mabberly, Mariah Friend, Marisa Pahl, Marina Gross-Hoy, Mary Beth Keenan, Megan Driving Hawk, Natalie Ward, Odeta Xheka, Shelley Wallace, Sheree Mack, Susan Chiang, Vanessa Novissimo Wright, and Zoe Gardiner.

    Ember Contributors: A. Westgate, Alexia Cameron Casiano, Amy Walsh, Catherine Fortey, Chanel Riggle, Ciara Froning, Claire MacKinnon, Daisy Thomasstone, Devon Bennet, Emma Carpendale, Erica Settino, Genevieve Beech, Grace Esteignhagen, Jordan Haley, Kati Overmier, Katie Gresham, Katherine Mills-Yatsko, Kayla Huszar, Lindsay Joseph, Lucy Beckley, Marissa Huber, Mindy Wara, Claudia Plata, Rebecca Potts, Tamsin Chennell, Melanie Webster & more. (Still accepting prompt submissions!)

    Read Entwined’s Origin story.

    The Five Year Origin Story of Entwined 🌿
    Entwined Anthology with collage of mother and child on desk with typewriter, magazine clippings, teddy bear toy and Hot Wheels car

    I’ll be turning into goo next week to recover my energy. (Like a caterpillar in a cocoon.) Even gentle book launches are a lot.

    Thanks for your patience with the extra emails. We’ll go back to our normal creative compost heaps next month. I just want this book to reach as many mums as possible.

    Cheers,

    Originally Published to Kindle Curiosity on September 29, 2024

    Read more: Entwined Blog Hop

  • The Five Year Origin Story of Entwined 🌿

    I’m so excited to (finally) open up preorders for Entwined & Ember an anthology and art journal for mums. This passion project has taken a lot of my energy this year along with 55 other mothers who submitted stories, prompts, and art.

    BUY OR DONATE A BOOK

    I’ve been working at on this book for almost five years.

    Here’s the origin story as documented on Instagram.

    If you’d rather read more details about the books you can find those here.

    It started when I was seven months postpartum.

    “Last week when I was journaling I accidentally started writing a book. It’s a creative handbook for new mums. Not a one size fits all method, but a series of reflections and prompts to help other mothers nurture their inner artist.”

    Blue journal and pen sit on a desk with sunlight coming in through sheer curtains

    I read SO MANY books about motherhood as research.

    Books that affirmed creativity is good for mental health. Books that explained the myth of equal parenting. I read about burnout and overwhelm and “the art of doing nothing.”1 I read The Artist’s Way and immediately put it down because I needed sleep more than I needed morning pages.

    I took notes on my iPhone. I journaled. I cobbled together the bones of the book I thought I needed. Starting in January of 2020 I went to the library each week to turn these notes into a book while my mom watched David.

    Then COVID quarantine hit.

    I started navigating a deep depression. I wrote my way through it.2

    By June of 2020 I had a rough draft,

    “It turns out the three months I took away from this work were actually very helpful. I’ve had enough distance it’s much easier to make cuts and changes. I’ve also spent that time doing more visual art like pottery and weaving and this is informing my book in a good way… This pandemic is teaching me to honor my creative rhythms and that’s no bad thing.”

    Mother Maker Manifesto first draft typed document with giant bulldog clip holding pages together.

    I made it through one round of edits before I crashed into burn out. Whatever resilience and hyperfocus had propelled me through the early months of the pandemic vanished. My world shifted into survival mode and my manuscript got set to the side.

    When I picked it up again it was like a different person had written it. But that space let me see that my manuscript was actually 2-3 books crammed together.

    I took the first chapter and expanded that into my first book Discover Your Creative Ecosystem. I launched that book in autumn of 2022 and met my goal to break even with self publishing costs.

    Overhead shot of my desk adding library pockets and red maple leaves to the inside cover of my book Discover Your Creative Ecosystem.

    I still wanted the book that I needed as a new mum.

    I just wasn’t sure I had written it.

    Over the next year I considered a lot of avenues for reviving my “creative mama” book. Meanwhile, I was cautious of centering my own narrative because every mama needs different things. Early on in the process I knew I wanted alternate voices in the book, but I wasn’t sure how to weave them in.

    Then I considered an anthology.

    It was the perfect solution! I completely scrapped 30,000 words of my own and started reaching out to mothers I’d like to collaborate with. When Twiggy Boyer agreed to be our cover artist my vision snapped into place.

    The visual team expanded to include Annie King as cover artist for the workbook, Emily Jalinsky for interior illustrated elements, and Jocelyn Mathewes for cyanotype textures.

    Truly a dream team!

    Ember: an art journal for parents. The cover is a burned piece of wood layered with transparent white paint.

    It was my honor to curate the stories and prompts that came rolling in for Entwined & Ember.

    The last year I have been hard at work creating this book, designing the layout, printing proofs, preparing for the crowdfunding campaign, and sending sooooooo many emails to my collaborators.

    This book baby has been gestating for almost 5 years and the last year has been one big “push” process.

    I am so excited (and exhausted) to reach this phase.

    Now I need your help.

    Here are the best ways to support.

    1. Buy a copy. 📖

    Your preorder signals “social proof” that this is a trustworthy project. The first 30% of preorders almost always come from people who know you directly. Then pledges tip into friends of friends. So it’s more important to pledge now and share later.

    1. Donate a copy! 💞

    If you don’t need a copy you can donate a book to your chosen library or nonprofit. This was a huge hit for our picture book project last year so I’m offering it again. You can also donate a copy to be made available to a mum in financial hardship.

    1. Write a review. 🔥

    After reading the the best way to help books reach new readers is to post a review on Amazon (even if you didn’t buy it there). Once a book has 100 Amazon reviews it gets an algorithmic bump which will help new people discover it. If you don’t have an Amazon account you can tell a friend, write a blog post, or ask for a local bookshop to carry it.

    Entwined ebook mockup on iPad

    Yes, there is an ebook version! It is free for parents in financial hardship.

    Shoutout to all of the contributors! 🥰

    I’m so honored to have such a brilliant constellation of mothers involved in this project. There are over 55 mothers involved from the writers and cover artists to our editor.

    Ways to Support drawing of a white rabbit hopping into flowers

    We need your help to bring this project to life!

    Here are the best ways to lend your support: preorder, donate a copy, or share!

    buy or donate a book

    Brownie points for interacting with posts on social media. Every comment, heart, emoji, or save helps signal to the algorithm that this is worth reaching more people. If you don’t have capacity to write a thoughtful comment I welcome a string of celebratory emojis! 🥳🌿🥰💫

    I’m really excited to bring this to life! If you’d like to chat with one of the mother artists on your podcast, Instagram Live, or blog please reach out. I’d love for this project to reach as many mamas as possible.

    Cheers,

    Sarah signed with a swoopy S

    P.S. If you haven’t watched the crowdfunding video yet do it now! It took 7 hours to edit and was a hyperfocus delight. There are dozens of short clips of everyday life woven together with a peek at our newest proof.

    Screencap of video editor for Entwined crowdfunding video

    1 Are you interested in a creative parent reading list? I have all the titles saved here.

    2 Shoutout to my fellow hyperfocus buds Alexander Hamilton and Lin Manuel Miranda. (Also, why do GIFS only move half the time Substack?!)

    Gif of Alexander Hamilton in musical singing "I pick up a pen, and I write my own deliverance." while cast members dance around him.

    52 Likes∙

    12 Restacks

    Read more: The Five Year Origin Story of Entwined 🌿