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The Art of Being a Mum

The Art of Being a Mum

Alison Newman

Singer/songwriter + Aussie mum of 2 Alison Newman enjoys honest and inspiring conversations with artists + creators about the joys + issues they've encountered while trying to be a mum + continue to create. We discuss the mental load, changes in identity, how creativity is influenced by motherhood, mum guilt, the patriarchy, feminism + more. Out Fridays.

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Top 10 The Art of Being a Mum Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Art of Being a Mum episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Art of Being a Mum for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Art of Being a Mum episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

The Art of Being a Mum - Samantha Redfern

Samantha Redfern

The Art of Being a Mum

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02/09/22 • 82 min

Samantha Redfern is a mixed media visual artist and a British expat who has made her home in Singapore with her husband and 3 children.

Incorporating symbolism such as crowns, flowers, nature, shapes and graffiti, Samantha's abstract style embodies bright colour, exuberance, fun and energy, reflecting the visual cues she notices in her daily walks around Singapore.

Samantha studied fine art at University and has a background in photography, pastels, drawing, watercolours, spray painting, and creative writing. Her art has appeared on cosmetic packaging, on swimwear and she sells and exhibits her artwork all around the world.

Today we chat about using art to survive lockdown, experimenting in art, the role of women in lockdown, patriarchy in art and the economics of a working artist, We also get slightly off topic and chat about teens on social media, the stark realities of motherhood, body image and internet trolls.

**This episode contains discussions around low mood + miscarriage***

Samantha - instagram / website

Podcast - instagram / website

Music used with permission from Alemjo, Australian new age and ambient music trio

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Julia Reader

Julia Reader

The Art of Being a Mum

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11/17/21 • 86 min

Julia Reader is a watercolour and acrylic artist, an art educator from Mount Gambier South Australia, and a mum of one.

Coming from a background in graphic design, Julia is a firm believer in following your heart, being open to new opportunities and that everything happens at the right time.

We chat about how her perfectionist trait stifled her creativity, how she used her art as a therapy tool to work through her control issues, letting go of your expectations, not just in art but in life, and allowing mums feel all the feelings they are experiencing, good and bad, without judgement.

**This episode contains discussion around infertility, post natal depression and panic attacks**

Julia - website / instagram

Follow along with The Portrait Project here

Podcast - instagram / website

Music in this episode is used with permission from Alemjo -

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Madison Foley

Madison Foley

The Art of Being a Mum

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09/16/21 • 61 min

Madison Foley is one of Melbourne’s most sought-after trumpet players. Madison began performing professionally from the age of 16 and Madison was a long-time touring member of alt-pop outfit Architecture in Helsinki and has worked with many of Australia’s greats such as Ash Grunwald, Jazzlab Orchestra and Big Scary.

Upon returning to gig life after the birth of her son, Madison faced the pressures of not only performing as a new mum but the pressures of pumping breast milk during gigs. The immense challenges she faced were evident with Madison pumping in some thoroughly unsuitable locations and experiencing a lack of support from venues and organisers. She realised the best way to engage venues and fellow musicians was to create an infographic that highlighted the challenges.

We also discuss the challenges of being pregnant and having a baby in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, and the judgement faced by gigging mums - that dads don't have to contend with, and why she doesn't get caught up in "mum guilt"

Connect with Madison on facebook and instagram

Read Madison's The Mother Lode article and infographic here

Find out more about Madison's bands Fools and JazzLab Orchestra

Podcast - instagram / website

Music in this episode used with permission

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for my guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Trailer

Trailer

The Art of Being a Mum

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08/03/21 • 2 min

Singer, songwriter and mum of 2 Alison Newman chats to artists, musicians, writers and other creatives about what it is like being a mother - and being an artist. Juggling the day to day, retaining their identity, how their work is influenced by motherhood, "mum guilt", the pros, the cons and everything in between. Episodes released weekly

Connect with the podcast here https://www.instagram.com/artofbeingamum_podcast/

Music in this trailer used with permission from Alemjo https://open.spotify.com/artist/4dZXIybyIhDog7c6Oahoc3?si=pTHGHD20TWe08KDHtSWFjg&nd=1

**There are often topics discussed that may trigger reactions in listeners. I will always put a trigger or content warning on the episode where that is the case**

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for my guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Season 1 Special

Season 1 Special

The Art of Being a Mum

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12/27/21 • 25 min

A look back at my guests during Season 1 and share a reflection on the origins of the podcast.

The seeds for this podcast were sown early in 2021 when I had a lot of time on my hands, and more than the usual number of children in my home. I was finding it really challenging to create the ideal space which I needed to be able to make my music,

Realising that I needed a little bit of a shift in my perceptions, and perhaps a little help, I decided to reach out to an artistic mum who was a friend of mine and find out just how she was doing it. From them I thought, I wonder if other mums would like to hear how other mums are doing it ! Thus the podcast was born.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my chats with creative mum, and a few dads too, over the course of these past 6 months. I have found it incredibly interesting and insightful, having learned so many new things about topics that I would never have learned about, and meeting some amazing people too. And I have managed to change my perception and shift my thinking on a number of issues, and I hope this has been the same for you.

Here’s a little wrap up of some of my favourite quotes from the episodes which made up Season 1, 2021 I hope you enjoy.

Podcast - instagram / website

Music used with permission from Alemjo, Australian new age and ambient music trio.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Alicia Lis

Alicia Lis

The Art of Being a Mum

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07/14/21 • 41 min

My first guest is Alicia Lis is a Melbourne based singer, songwriter & guitarist, high school teacher, and a mum of 2 boys.

We chat about how she manages the different 'compartments' in her life, how important support is from others and the importance of modelling hard work to her children.

Alicia - Soundcloud /Youtube / Instagram -

Podcast - instagram / website

Music used with permission. https://soundcloud.com/alicia-verso/shape-up

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for my guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Julie Denton

Julie Denton

The Art of Being a Mum

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07/29/21 • 51 min

Julie Denton is a creator of a different kind, having worked in the fitness industry since her teens and more recently as a yoga teacher.

A mother of 3 adult children from Mount Gambier SA, Julie talks about how society's view of the mother changes as we age, the unique perspective she has now her children have moved out of home, and we finish the podcast with a beautiful Metta Karuna mediation.

**This episode contains discussion around an eating disorder**

Julie - instagram

Podcast - instagram / website

Music used by permission in this episode from Alemjo -

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for my guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Jen Lush

Jen Lush

The Art of Being a Mum

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07/22/21 • 66 min

Jen Lush is a singer, songwriter and passionate performer from Adelaide, South Australia, A mum of 3, we chat about the shock of becoming a mother in a way she never expected, how her children inspire her and manifest in her art, and how guilt can serve a purpose.

**This episode contains discussions about birth trauma, infant illness, grief and postnatal depression**

.

Jen - website

Read The Divided Heart - Art and Motherhood by Rachel Power

.

Podcast - instagram / website

.

Music used by permission from Jen Lush, Suvome and Cat Bird Dog

.

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for my guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Rachel Power

Rachel Power

The Art of Being a Mum

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08/05/21 • 63 min

As Susan Ruben Solomon wrote, perhaps the greatest struggle for a woman artist who has or desires children, is the struggle against herself. No amount of money, no amount of structural change can entirely resolve the fundamental dilemma for the artists mother, the seeming incompatibility of her two greatest passions. The effect is a divided heart, a split self, the fear that to succeed at one means to fail at the other.

Rachel Power is a freelance writer, editor, and artist, and mother of 2 from Melbourne, Australia. She has contributed to many publications including Mamma Mia, The Big Issue, Kill Your Darlings and The Age. She has worked as a court illustrator for Channel Nine, production editor of Arena Magazine, and is currently communications manager for the Australian Education Union Victoria.

Rachel is the author of Alison Raffish - A life for Art, The Divided Heart, Art and Motherhood and Motherhood in Creativity. After having Rachel's second book, The Divided Heart recommended to me from a number of guests on this podcast, I frantically tracked down the book and read it and was blown away. I was intrigued to meet the woman behind the stories that had resonated with myself and so many others. I reached out to Rachel and she was generous enough to give me this time. Rachel is a mother of two. And in this chat we talk not only about her books, but the challenges she faced in making them. The divided heart is a collection of interviews with artistic mothers, including musician Clare Bowditch and actress Rachel Griffith. Rachel's interviewees had such diverse experiences when combining motherhood and art making.

Rachel’s book “The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood”, has suported and inspired so many of my previous guests, and I just had to speak to the woman behind the book.

We chat about the book, why motherhood absolutely has to change you, the importance of having your sense of experience validated, why mothers are shamed for sharing their struggles and negative experiences, and breaking the patriarchal stereotypes around the way artists create.

Rachel instagram

Podcast - instagram / website

Quotes spoken throughout this episode are taken from Rachel's book 'The Divided Heart - Art and Motherhood'

.Music used with permission from Alemjo., Aussie new age and ambient music trio.

When chatting to my guests I greatly appreciate their openness and honestly in sharing their stories. If at any stage their information is found to be incorrect, the podcast bears no responsibility for my guests' inaccuracies.

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The Art of Being a Mum - Dr Erica Ball

Dr Erica Ball

The Art of Being a Mum

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04/06/22 • 70 min

Dr Erica Ball is a contemporary classical music composer, violinist, pianist + educator from Portland Maine, USA and a mother of 2 boys.

Erica received her PhD in music composition from the University of Pennsylvania where she studied with Anna Weesner, Jim Primosch, and Jay Reise.

Translating everyday life into music is at the heart of Erica whimsical and playful works. Inspired by the natural world, a childhood spent dreaming of becoming a ballerina, and studies of 20th-century American avant-garde music,

Erica is equally at home writing lyrical melodies that sweep across an orchestra and collaborating with animators and circus dancers. With an affinity for layered complexity, Erica’s music portrays clouds building up on the horizon as a summer thunderstorm approaches or the busy sounds of passengers in a subway station.

Erica's music has been performed by numerous ensembles including the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Daedalus Quartet, pianist Blair McMillen, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Network for New Music, and the American Symphony Orchestra. Her works have been heard across the country in Chicago, Boston, New York and Philadelphia, and internationally in Germany and New Zealand. Recent commissions include Riding the EL and The Spotted Lanternfly for Relâche, and a thread run through which was commissioned by a consortium of advanced youth orchestras to be premiered in spring 2020, and now postponed to 2022. In addition to her work as a composer,

Erica remains active as a violinist, pianist, and educator with a special interest in bringing contemporary music to new audiences.

Today we chat about the lack of representation of women in the classical music canon, the way that arts are undervalued in our culture and how amazing it is to have an artist mother who gets what you do.

Connect with Erica

war no more commissioned by Network for New Music

9 lives - performed by Daedalus Quartet

révérence

Let's Be Spoken mentorship

Read about Irelands basic wage for artists

Podcast - instagram / website

Erica's music used throughout the episode with permission:

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Art of Being a Mum have?

The Art of Being a Mum currently has 107 episodes available.

What topics does The Art of Being a Mum cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Podcasts, Relationships and Arts.

What is the most popular episode on The Art of Being a Mum?

The episode title 'Scott Shriner - Father's Day Special' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Art of Being a Mum?

The average episode length on The Art of Being a Mum is 72 minutes.

How often are episodes of The Art of Being a Mum released?

Episodes of The Art of Being a Mum are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of The Art of Being a Mum?

The first episode of The Art of Being a Mum was released on Jul 14, 2021.

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