Renee Romero Visual Artist

I’ve always thrived on having some sense of accountability and community in my art practice. Something that I’ve missed dearly since completing my degree.

I have been trying to find other ways to learn, push myself, and find community since.

I spent most of last year living in New Mexico, and during that time began attending monthly Artist/Mother Practice meetings originally started by artist Mira Burack and later hosted by Danila Rumolds . It was there that I began to understand that there were so many artists who are mothers, and how they navigate having an art practice alongside Motherhood.

It was through this group that I was introduced to resources like the Artist Mother Podcast that I will be participating in their next critique group. And the Artist Residency in Motherhood founded by artist Lenka Clayton.

This week I decided to begin my own Artist Residency in Motherhood.

I’ve always viewed care taking and my domestic life as an obstacle in my art practice. I can’t have un interrupted studio time and work for six hours straight, or stay up well into the night like I used to. But I also can’t keep working with the frame of mind that I didn’t get some type of studio work done because of my role as a mother, or wife.

I’ve made a goal of having atleast four studio hours each weekday. Something I don’t think I achieved each day this week, but I have been kinder to myself in my progress and process.

I began monday by waking up much earlier than I normally would, and prepping paper to make some cyanotype tests throughout the week.

Prepping Cyanotype Paper for the week

I cut down several sheets of watercolor paper to 6x6 inches, and coat them with the cyanotype chemicals. Once dried they are sensitive to sunlight so I store them in a light tight black bag until use.

A month or so ago, I began photographing the things my 18 month old daughter left on the floor, and wanted to incorporate that into my work somehow as they are objects that I’m constantly interacting with. While on their own, they may be insignificant to most, they are still part of our lives and my daily routine.

I began by making 4x4 inch inkjet negatives from cell phone photographs of the objects where I found them. I exposed them on the treated cyanotype paper for 10 minutes in the sun. Once dried they became darker than I would have liked, but I was still able to see how the objects looked with this process. For these pieces I’m considering how a larger grid might look of all of the objects I pick up each week, and will be keeping the prints themselves at a smaller scale.

The following few days, I created more cyanotypes without the negatives, placing other objects I encounter in daily domestic life such as eggshells, an overwhelming amount of dog fur, a produce netting bag, and dryer lint. I’m really happy with how most of these objects texture and shape rendered.And will be experimenting a lot more for final pieces. Ideally I might like to make them a little larger than their current 6x6 inch size.

The print on the left was a net produce bag, and the print on the right, crushed egg shells. I’m really pleased with the texture I received from the produce bag and pattern of the eggshells

In addition to creating these cyanotypes, I’m still making my ongoing film work of my family life, and was able to develop some film in my newly made home developing space. And tried to document more of our life digitally with some self portraits around the house, too.

Overall, my first week within the framework, and headspace of a residency was really successful. I started each day by writing in a journal what my intentions for the day were, evaluating what was working for me and what wasn’t, writing down my ideas, and more importantly putting down what I was thankful for that day.

My first day being.

“I am thankful for the time to create, the space I have to work, and the support from my family.”

I hope to continue this residency for as long as possible, be able to make new work with more intention and explore my daily life with inspiration.

In the future I will be exploring funding opportunities to continue my work. As of now I’m relying on the materials I have on hand as much as possible. And the small amount of donations I receive through Patreon.

If you would like to support my Artist Residency in Motherhood,consider becoming a Patron. Through the generosity of my patrons each month, I am able to pay for this website, or purchase film to make more work.

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