Katia Wish: Finding a New Normal in Comics

How did motherhood change your creative practice?
Motherhood, but more specifically, single/ divorced/co-parenting motherhood changed my creative practice dramatically. The divorce grief was prolonged and profound, but I needed to move on and figure out my new normal. Art and comics became one of the resources that helped me to move forward. In the last few years, I started noticing small hilarious and sometimes difficult moments in my life with my kids and recorded them. The comics on parenting, which started as a personal project to help me process my situation, quickly became one of the most meaningful projects I have ever done.

My comics are not a direct representation of my life. These observations are either real or fictionalized, personal or universal, present or past. Creating these comics is cathartic and meaningful. They are done to help others, to give hope and relief even when life is hard. This new body of work has gained momentum rather quickly. So far I have been published in the Boston Globe, Cup of Jo, Mutha Magazine and Literary Mama. I have exhibited at MICE and LadiesCon.

How much time do you get to work on creative projects?
Almost no time and all the time is my answer. I do not have an opportunity to work uninterrupted for long periods of time. However, I can confidently say that I work a lot. My mind is always busy in the background of my life (whether I am on the playground, cooking dinner and even talking to a friend or my kids). I am constantly coming up with new ideas for comics and art. I am creating projects for the classes I teach and developing new workshops. I am finding fun ways to promote my art and teaching. I am writing emails to myself with daily observations of myself and my kids, funny things I or they say, interactions, emotions.

My life and creativity are completely interconnected. I do not feel overwhelmed with that arrangement (for the most part). It feels like a super fun game of bringing my life, my vision and my mindset into my art and teaching. And, hopefully, inspiring people around me to find joy, creativity and connection in their lives!

How do you avoid burn out?
The same way I avoid burnout in my regular life of a divorced/ co-parenting mom. After my divorce, I developed very strong habits in the areas of mental, physical and spiritual discipline. I practice meditation, regular exercise, kindness and gratitude, listening to self-improvement/ spirituality books and podcasts, connecting with people around me.

Rejection and insecurities are part of working in a creative field. So I just accept them as a fact and don’t spend time on staying in the disappointed state. Those things are always there, but I choose to shift my focus to my kids, my projects and moving forward. As I say to my students: “ You can spend several hours thinking how you are not good enough or that nobody cares about your work. OR. You can spend the same several hours sketching, painting and improving your skills.” These habits of mental, physical and spiritual discipline truly changed my life and my creativity.

I am very grateful for this interview! I hope it helped and inspired someone to keep on going and believing in themselves and their work!

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Fun bio: Katia Wish a dreamer, serious side hustler and divorced/co-parenting mom of 2 boys (ages 3 and 8) recording joys, humor and challenges of parenting (real and fictionalized, personal and universal, present and past).

Serious bio: Katia Wish is an illustrator, author, creativity coach and Adjunct Faculty at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Learn more about both sides of Katia at www.katiawish.com and follow her on Instagram @katiawish.

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Hi! I’m Heidi. Writer. Editor. Mother. I’m interviewing 100 creative mothers, because I believe the more we see other mothers making beauty and meaning in small moments, the more we will be inspired to make our own kind of art, whatever that may look like during this intense season of life. Support the project by sharing with a friend.