The name "Art Monster" comes from Jenny Offill's Dept. of Speculation: "My plan was to never get married. I was going to be an art monster instead. Women almost never become art monsters because art monsters only concern themselves with art, never mundane things. Nabokov didn't even fold his umbrella. Véra licked his stamps for him."

This, fellow art monsters, was also my plan.

Art Monster Magazine (this publication) aims to inspire other writers to write about motherhood in ways that feel truthful to them. Here we are fine with contradictions and welcome transgression. We don't want any woman to be any one thing.

I write about all forms of care, desires to be mothered, questions about having children, mothering as a form of self-love, embracing imperfection, and looking for the divine both inside and out. In what ways is mothering an arts practice? In what ways do artists — women artists who are mothers, in particular — need extra care? Who folds our umbrellas?

My offerings are regular essays about the topics above as well as weekly dispatches from my “artist date” practice, which is a part of Julia Cameron’s chapter book on removing creative blocks.

Publication Schedule (subject to change TBH)

• Wednesdays: 2000-word post about a three-hour solo artist’s adventure AKA the “Artist’s Date.” Free subscribers receive the opening half; paid subscribers get the complete narrative.

• Additional Posts: Book reviews, writing guidance, and theoretical explorations of women, wellness, and technology, distributed to free subscribers, paid subscribers, or the full readership.