A wonderful relatable artist parent interview @artist_parent with Flo Lee @florenceleeandco, an artist from Bristol, UK.
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Flo, I'm a full time Artist from Bristol. I have been working as an Artist for the past 7 years since being made redundant from a job of 13 years in Recruitment. At that time my children were 2 and 7 years old.
I studied Fine Art for 3 years at college, and I never pursued Art beyond this point, until now. I didn’t think it was something that you could make a career out of unless you were incredibly skilled, lucky or brave, I didn’t feel I was any of those things!
I didn’t start out this way, but over the past few years my focus has been portraiture. I am completely fascinated by people, in particular children as I think for the most part they represent the most pure and honest version of ourselves. I like to explore childhood memories and nostalga, memories and perception.
How has being a parent had a positive impact on your artistic practice?
For me there is a very obvious and literal positive impact, which is that I get to paint my children as they grow. Our son is 15, so he isn’t so keen these days to have his portrait painted, or pose for reference photos anymore, but our daughter is very much involved.
I get instant access to the things I like to paint most, and it also helps me to work through my own childhood memories that inspire my work. Our daughter is also very creative as well, in fact we share the studio space that we have created. I often ask them their opinion on my work, and as children they are less guarded and honest, it’s really great getting their opinion and encouragement.
What are the challenges you have faced in your artistic practice being a parent?
My children’s needs have changed considerably over the years. My daughter was 2 when I started and was cared for by myself and family, so I actually had longer working days, but less of them. Now both children are in full time education so my working days are shorter but spread over more days. At the beginning, I worked in the dining room of our home, whereas now I have a dedicated studio space. The challenge is being adaptable and flexible in your practice. I couldn’t just leave materials and artwork out when our daughter was young because of the safety risk, I also had to work mostly at a smaller scale. When the children both had the same schooling hours I then had learn to work in shorter blocks of time which meant I had to edit my process and mindset, and to a degree my artistic style.
Any advice for other Artist Parents and how they can continue to nurture their practice?
Just being adaptable, which as parents you have to be anyway. When I started working as an Artist, I couldn’t afford canvas, so I worked on paper. If you need to work in the house because of the children, then you might have to work smaller, work on pieces that you know you can block time out for, or work in stages. I find it useful having more than 1 piece to work on at a time, or at the very least I’ll have surfaces prepared so I can work on them when time allows. It can be really frustrating, especially when you are in full flow and you need to stop, I’m not saying it is easy at all, and it is incredibly hard to switch off for me. I just find it easier to make sure everything is accessible because I know my time working is very limited so I try and use it as effectively as possible.
Is there anything else you would like to say, share or promote?
I don't think I'm alone in saying that I feel a huge amount of guilt pursuing a creative career, when it is very consuming, unpredictable and a constant challenge when you rely on it as an income source as well. However, I think really inspiring for our children to see their parents pursue something they really enjoy, and that keeps me motivated.
Thank you to Flo for sharing her story and thank you for reading. If you would like to read more stories or for your work to be shared then follow and tag @artist_parent on Instragam.
Posted on Instagram 9th & 10th April2025
