Mamas rock: Lori Joy Smith
Filed Under Mamas Rock, Stuff | August 15, 2007
This month we’re profiling local entrepreneurial mama artist Lori Joy Smith, whose career as an illustrator and greeting card designer took a turn towards customized painting and fabric pieces when she had her daughter Sosi, who’s now two-and-a-half.
Smith got her degree in Fine Arts in Montreal, and fell into being an illustrator. Her illustrations have been licensed for everything from bookmarks and greeting cards to baby shoes for Jack & Lily. After Sosi’s arrival, however, Smith became drawn toward painting, as it relieved the pressure of combining deadlines, calls from harassed art directors and sleepless night with a crying baby.
Smith loved motherhood, but so much of her identity was about being an artist and she worried that having a child would mean the loss of that identity. Instead of losing it, however, she found it just in a different direction. One day she customized a painting for a friend, adding the child’s name issuing from an animal’s mouth, and a new niche creating custom paintings and fabric pieces was born.
To run her business Smith has found it important to find her own space. Initially after Sophie was born Smith worked from home – a small apartment – but she found constantly tidying paints and brushes up around her baby’s routine frustrating, so she’s now renting a studio which allows both room to leave a mess and space for creativity. And online space is important as well, Smith finds one of the most key ways to market herself is her website.
At first Smith and her husband juggled schedules so everyone had time to work, but when Sosi started daycare for two to three days a week when she was one-and-a-half, Smith now really enjoys both the time to work and her time with Sosi.
For Smith one of the rewards of being self-employed is the ability to both work and spend time with her daughter. “I couldn’t handle full-time parenting or full-time work, so for me, part time is perfect.” She also feels incredibly lucky that she is able to make a living from her art. “It’s something you don’t think is possible when you’re in art school,” she explains, “but every time someone pays me money to do art I’m surprised and happy, and then when they pick it up they’re happy, and that’s great.”
Find out more about Smith’s work (and order online) from her website. And you can see her work live in Vancouver at Cross, Chickpea Kids, Molly’s Furniture Salad and The Petri Dish.
Entrepreneurial tip:
Smith strongly feels that if there’s something you love doing, you should do it. It makes you feel like a better person and a better mum.
Previous mamas who rock:
- Sharon Chai from Bamboobino
Note: there’s yet another recall to be aware of, this time it’s from from Mattel.
Our Great Diaper Debate is stirring up a lot of debate. Some of you have written us directly, and some of you have posted your comments on the site. Fist we wanted to say that you’re right – cloth win out, and we’re sorry if we didn’t make that clearer, our title was misleading. And we’re been criticized for saying it’s too late for us to make the switch – to that we say that, as with all parenting choices, we firmly support each family’s right to make the best choices for them and their circumstances. And since this topic is near and dear to your hearts, we promise that in the coming weeks we will talk cloth diapers with some local experts and give you some ideas for how and where to invest in them, diaper services etc.
New today on our list of things to do around town that aren’t affected by the strike:
Weekdays from 1:30 – 2:30 pm at the Richmond and Coquitlam IKEA are Kid’s Club Days. Mondays and Thursdays there are crafts, Tuesdays they offer Storytime, and Wednesdays and Fridays IKEA throws a sing-along-dance party. They have Preschool, Kindergarten and Elementary programs, call ahead for details on how to join. IKEA Richmond – 604.273.2051, IKEA Coquitlam: 604.636.1000
Why not splurge on a roll of butchers paper at the post office or hardware store? Decorate it to use for wrapping paper for birthdays or Christmas. Wrap your kids in it. Have them lie down on the paper, trace their outline, cut it out and let them decorate it.
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