Fall Newsletter 2025

Mothering and the big picture.

Sep 22, 2025

Open mixed media art journal. A layer of collage — an aged book page, large black handwriting, and pink and brown papers — are topped with horizontal scribbles in blue oil pastel and splatters of bright pink ink splatters.

Hi friends,

The last week of July, my husband and I welcomed our daughter, Sophia, into the world. What a sacred gift and responsibility it is to be this little one’s caregiver and safe space! It’s been an all-consuming love and a masterclass in being present.

As you can imagine, my online presence ebbed as we prepared for Sophia’s arrival. In the last months before her birth, I finished another art journal (though did a poor job of posting spreads). The pages reflect the wonderings, hopes, fears, and unknowns of becoming a parent to a daughter.

Two mixed media art journal spreads and one detail. The first is dark, with collage and paint and the words "body and soul." The second is a close-up of a painting of a girl staring to the right. At right is a full spread, in teal and light green, of ballet dancers.

The night of her birth, while laboring through contractions, I finished stitching a new art journal and on the inside cover stamped what, hours later, would become Sophia’s birthday. This, my eighth art journal in this format, may well become the most special one in its series.

A newly bound art journal, with map covers and blank pages.

I haven’t managed to work in this journal yet, but have saved so many pieces of wrapping paper and ephemera from baby gifts to use inside. And, as Sophia enters her third month, I can see a light at the end of the newborn tunnel. I am so excited to jump back into art journaling and, eventually, being creative together. There really is nothing better than kids’ art!

Here's what I've been thinking about since the last newsletter:

Despite profound sleeplessness, I’ve been keeping up with my logbook, albeit through notes on my phone rather than in a physical book. Most days currently look like “Little sleep. Lots of nursing. I showered!” This logbook (inspired by Austin Kleon) is one of the best practices I’ve ever adopted, and I’m proud to have kept it up for five years!
These beautiful hand-illustrated animations from 1924us are a gentle and profound reminder of what is important.
In thinking through how to parent a human, I’ve been going back to one of my most favorite videos: Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk on creativity.
I ordered The Mother Artist and am excited to dive in once it arrives.
Keeping a tidy home (and really, most of everything else) is necessarily taking a backseat to my daughter’s immediate needs right now. I’m trying to give myself grace and remember Oliver Burkeman’s lessons in 4000 Weeks: choose what is important, be fully present, and let everything else go.
I now have two art complete art journals that I have yet to film flip-throughs of. Soon/eventually!
This summer, I dove into a bunch of classic books, including 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. In a world that feels like it’s crumbling around us, unplugging and taking part in analog activities feels refreshing. Reading about dystopian worlds is a guidepost to this moment in time, too.

As I put together the list above, I realized that motherhood is leading me to think about the profound things in life: lineage and ancestry, and what comes after; mortality; and meaning and presence. What a gift it is to be alive.

Thanks for reading and sharing this space with me. This newsletter goes out quarterly — the next one will be published the first day of winter. Til then, you can find me at my blog or on Instagram.

Take care,
Ingrid

Ingrid Murray

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