Motherhood – No, Mine! Studios

Ten years ago today, I created the website for No, Mine! Studios. The history of this studio has everything to do with my journey as a mom just as much as it does with being an artist.

In June 2013, I graduated with my Master’s degree from the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies with a 15-month-old Izzy on my hip. I had discovered I was pregnant with Izzy a week before I traveled to Ufa, Bashkortostan, for a Critical Language Scholarship. After losing my first pregnancy in Greece in early 2011, I didn’t think I could get pregnant again. When I started experiencing worrying symptoms beyond the unrelenting morning sickness, I made the decision to leave the scholarship program early and return to the States. I couldn’t risk a second loss. I went to school in the fall, took a break for winter, and then returned to school less than 6 weeks after Izzy was born (and only four weeks after he came home from the NICU). A few months after that, I was on a plane to do thesis research on guerrilla art in St. Petersburg and Moscow. When I returned a few weeks later, I quickly resumed commuting from Tacoma to Seattle every day for school via bus.

I didn’t know what to do post graduation that would allow me to stay closer to my little one. I interviewed for a few positions, but given the cost of childcare for kids under the age of 4, it didn’t make sense for me to return to a “normal” job based on the salaries being offered (despite having a Masters degree in hand). I didn’t have family to fall back on for support beyond my coparent.

With normal avenues seemingly blocked, I decided to take the leap and start figuring out ways to make art a career. Thank you to those who have supported me in this journey. And thank you most of all to Izzy, my now 11-year-old, for giving me a reason to embark on this journey in the first place.

Suzanne working and Izzy helping: January 2014. Photo by Tim Kapler.

Toddler headlock/ a.k.a., what working from home looks like. Photo by Suzanne Skaar.

To ten more years and beyond!

Suzanne

The last few weeks seemed to be a string of mechanical failures: from the car to multiple doctor visits by two members of the family, one also kind of caused by the car. (Annual reminder: the one time you don’t tell your kid to watch their fingers when shutting the car door will be the one time you need to rush them to the ER for X-rays. Nothing was broken, but it was still a very traumatic, expensive lesson.)

Thanks to my co-parent’s brother, the car/ a.k.a. “finger smasher” is working again. In an attempt to take a break from the chaos while also doing research for a few projects, I signed us up for a family trek on the Lady Washington.

Lady Washington docked in Tacoma. 6/25/2021. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.

This was the second time I have ever been on this ship. The first was during a Nisqually Middle School oceanography field trip to look for whales. I didn’t see any. As I recall, the trio of nerds of which I was a part spent much of the day struggling with sunburns and motion sickness. It was still such a cool experience, so when I found out the ship was docked in Tacoma, I wanted to share it with my daughter.

My child threatening a random insect by the waterfront: 6/25/2021. Posted here with her permission. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.

We didn’t tell her where we were going, but when she figured it out, she was excited, too. I came prepared with an OTC children’s motion sickness med, which she and her dad decided to take just in case. I also loaded my camera bag with snacks and cans of 7-Up. Although the ship didn’t leave Commencement Bay, the little one had a rough time up until right before came back to the dock. So in essence, I did share my experience with her, but not in the way I had hoped.

My child on the Lady Washington, June 2021: posted here with her permission. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.

I need to accept that our Scandinavian ancestors were most likely landlocked farmers and not fearsome, seafaring Vikings.

Concept illustration of what the artist’s great-grandparents’ journey from Norway *could* have looked like, originally included in April 2019 Tripod Series slideshow presentation by Suzanne Skaar, 2019. All rights reserved.

The crew did their best to help make kiddo feel better and recommended hanging out in the back close to where the Captain was stationed in order to not minimize her seasickness.