Tag: parenting

10 year anniversary of No, Mine! Studios

~ Suzanne Skaar ~ Leave a comment

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.
Picture of child in hoodie hiding behind table. On the front of the table is a large banner which reads "No, Mine! Studios; Suzanne Skaar; nominestudios.com; @nominestudios". A row of pixel art dinosaurs runs along bottom of banner.
Getting set up for Arts at the Armory 2021. Photo by Suzanne Skaar, 2021. All rights reserved.

To ten more years and beyond!

Suzanne

Staying on Track

~ Suzanne Skaar ~ Leave a comment

Keeping a 4th grade creative genius on task in remote school while also working on my own projects has been challenging at times. I am not always aware that she has an assignment due until she loudly announces, “Oh no! I was supposed to do this by [time in the past/ two minutes from the current time]!!!” Many times while I am trying to concentrate, The Child will barge in to ask questions which could have been written down and/ or Googled for later when she had time. I don’t want to ignore her, but kids at this age need to learn how to prioritize tasks on their own, and sometimes Mom just needs to finish a thought.

So we went old school. While she was sleeping last Sunday night, my co-parent installed a new 2’x3′ corkboard on the wall above her workspace. I taped cool LED lights around the edge of the board and cleaned her desk to give her a fresh start. In the morning, I gave her a stack of Post-It notes and pins. As I handed her the Post-Its, I stated they would only be used for writing down tasks, due dates, and questions related to school.

A blood oath was sworn. I retreated to work in peace, patting myself on the back for my parenting skills.

Chaos ensued. In a matter of hours, the board and her freshly organized workspace had transformed into Post-It Alley. She had perfected Origami frogs, developed an amazing new line of cartoon characters, and somehow missed even more deadlines because she was spending too much time “organizing.” To top it off, it wasn’t long before she burst into my workspace to ask this absolutely life or death question: “Mom, can I have more push-pins?”

Suffice it to say, the few remaining Post-Its were confiscated. I re-approached the drawing board, and designed a series of organizational headers and task cards for her use instead. I intentionally left a couple of blank cards in the design so she can cut out the squares and improvise as needed — ideas of projects to work on independently, plans for world domination, etc. The board looks a lot more organized, and she still has space to color and customize cards that get placed on the board.

Category headings by Suzanne Skaar, 2021. All rights reserved.
PDF available for personal and educational use at no cost.
Task card samples by Suzanne Skaar, 2021. All rights reserved.
PDF available for personal and educational use at no cost.

I am sharing the file for those who’d like to print it out here. It’s free for personal and educational use. If you find this kind of resource useful, you can contribute to studio expenses/ buy me a coffee here. You can also comment below with suggestions for additional cards/ themes. I’d be happy to post additional versions in the future. Please share this blog post with friends who might need it. And if you haven’t yet, please like and follow No, Mine! Studios on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok.

Cheers!

Suzanne

Ahoy there!

~ Suzanne Skaar ~ Leave a comment

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.

Lady Washington Crew: 6/25/2021. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.
The Captain of Lady Washington. 6/25/2021. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.

In between juggling parenting duties and documenting the experience, the outing was a great chance to learn about history,

History Talk on the Lady Washington: 6/25/2021. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.

enjoy the sea and the sun before the Pacific Northwest heatwave hit,

Bell on Lady Washington. 6/25/2021. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.

and look at our city from a different perspective.

Tacoma Marina. 6/25/2021. Photo by Suzanne Skaar. All rights reserved.

Kiddo said she enjoyed our day despite not feeling well, but our next adventure will be on a much smaller vessel: like a pedal boat.

Hat and Boots

~ Suzanne Skaar ~ Leave a comment

Never underestimate the power of a favorite hat and boots, even when it’s approaching summer. My kid’s fashion is on point.

Boots 1
Isobel on a mission. Suzanne Skaar, 2019.

Hat 1 72
My hat looks way better on her. I’m okay with this. Suzanne Skaar 2019.

Rhodies 3 72
Playing in the rhodies at Wapato Lake. Suzanne Skaar 2019.

Rhodies 5
Isobel gathered fallen flowers and brought them across the field one at a time. Suzanne Skaar. 2019

I think I’ve spent enough time on the computer today. Time to go play outside. If you’re reading this, I hope you take the time today to go do the same.

 

Cheers,

 

Suzanne