Everyday Creative People

Everyday Creative People


Carving out time for art with Heather Kirtland and Marissa Huber

April 09, 2019

Heather Kirtland and Marissa Huber are two artists and mothers, who happen to be the dynamic duo behind the Instagram community Carve Out Time for Art and blog by the same name (COTFA for short). The goal of COTFA is to cultivate a positive and nurturing community for creatives who want to find time to satisfy this part of their identity – a perfect match for Everyday Creative People! Some of the things we talked about included: * The power of self talk and the importance of choosing to claim your own creative identity * How motherhood impacted both Heather and Marissa as artists* How to make art amidst a busy life, even (especially) if you don’t have a dedicated space to do it in Marissa founded Carve Out Time for Art in 2015 after the frustration of being told she’d never have time to create once she had children. She didn’t want to give up on her own dreams and felt being a mother made her a better artist. She set off to interview women who were making it work, and unintentionally created a community of artists. She teamed up with Heather Kirtland that same year to start writing a book on artist mothers, and they became partners in writing and in creative shenanigans for their COTFA community. Marissa Huber is an artist, writer, designer, connector, and mother who lives in South Florida with her husband and two children. By day, she uses her interior design background as an Occupancy Planner, where she plays Tetris with space and is a friendly hostage negotiator for offices. You can visit her at marissahuber.com or follow her on Instagram and Pinterest, both @marissahuber. Heather Kirtland currently teaches encaustic workshops and is focused on her own studio practice. She was awarded The Maryland State Arts Council Grant and was a resident artist at The Holt Center. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, abroad in Italy and Wales, and in Modern Home and Country Living UK magazines.  Heather recently moved from Baltimore to a more rural part of Maryland where she lives with her husband and two children and Luna their rescue dog.  When she is not painting she loves to read, run and encourage other mothers to find a creative outlet through Carve Out Time for Art. You can check her out at heatherkirtland.com or on Instagram @heatherkirtland.