We recently connected with Chani Becker and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chani, thanks for joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

Back in 2011, I had been running my freelance design and video studio, HotHouse Design & Post and I thought things were going pretty well in terms of my creative life. I was getting exciting projects, and finishing up post-production on a three-year-long documentary video project for which I had received a grant. I was on the board of directors of a local non-profit and was active in the community. It was also the year I got married, bought a house, and became pregnant with my daughter Bella. My creative journey took a sharp turn when she was born in November. I gave up my downtown office space and started working from home to save money. Being self-employed, there was no such thing as paid maternity leave! Motherhood was all-encompassing – I resigned from my volunteer position and could no longer attend networking events. I needed to simplify life as much as possible to be present for my child and reduce stress. For someone who was a headstrong, independent, free-spirit, this life change was challenging to adjust to. I did continue working, however, but the sleepless nights and generally erratic schedule of a baby made my creative work – and life in general – feel like a chore.

Despite all of this (or because of it), something was stirring inside. I started painting. Here and there, in stolen moments between work projects and breastfeeding, I put paint to canvas and let whatever had to emerge, come out. This work was unrelated to my graphic design profession—it was only for me and not about being “good.” I didn’t post it on social media. It was unplanned and spontaneous and expressive. I also started to pay attention to my daydreams and fantasies during the monotonous times. Some of these daydreams became stories, and eventually, these stories became drawings. Three years after Bella was born, my son Carlos was born. At this point, a conscious internal shift occurred. If I was going to have another child, I would not sacrifice my creative life, but rather, I would devote myself to it.

With the arrival of my son, I could work even less because we couldn’t afford daycare for two. My business became part-time, and my income dropped. However, my creative life flourished. I painted more and more. I began meditating daily and integrating this spiritual practice into my painting work. I also started experimenting with other media. I began to realize how much I loved to work with my hands without the technological interface of a computer. I began to honor painting and drawing as innate passions that had been with me my whole life. I continued to nurture this as part of my life – again, still working and raising two kids, these were still “stolen moments” – not days or even hours devoted to art making. I was finding myself as an artist, and the stress and challenges of motherhood were directly related to this new growth. I see now that these early motherhood years were some of the darkest times, but this forced me to strain toward the light within myself, and new growth – tendrils of possibility – shot out toward the light.

Five years after my son was born, I enrolled in the MFA program in Illustration at Savannah College of Art and Design, which I am just finishing up now. It has not been easy, but it has been incredibly gratifying because I was given time and space to grow into myself as an artist and creative. I have shifted my design practice to include illustration and printmaking—a hybrid of digital work and traditional, handmade processes like block printing and cyanotype. When I started thinking about this question, I thought my “unexpected problem” was motherhood, but it wasn’t. Even before becoming a mom, I had lost touch with myself as an artist – I was making a living doing something creative and calling that success. I hadn’t found my voice, the processes that excited me, or aligned with my true creative self. The thing is, deep inside, I knew this and was ignoring it. I was forced to reckon with this only through the challenges of motherhood.

Chani, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an illustrator and designer who blends traditional and digital media to tell compelling visual stories. I started my design studio, HotHouse Design & Post, in 2008, after working in media production and communication agency environments since 1998. I have a BFA in Film & Video from Rhode Island School of Design, and am about to earn my MFA in Illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design.

As an illustrator, I specialize in illustrating for publications – book covers and interior illustrations, children’s books, and illustrated books for adults. I love designing repeat patterns for textiles, wallpaper, and packaging design. My handcrafted approach results in unique design solutions, especially when in tandem with digital tools. This process allows me to integrate interesting imperfections into the work yet achieve a polished, professional, purposeful result.

I use the same approach as a designer, though much of my design work is 100% digital. One of my design strengths is logo and identity design. Using an illustrator’s process of ideation and storytelling helps achieve unique design solutions that resonate emotionally with an audience. In addition, my thesis work revolves around basing picture-making on psychological interpretations of stories, and the use of archetypal symbols to communicate on an unconscious level has shown itself to be powerful in my design work as well. Design creates meaning and understanding, and approaching meaning-making from a psychological perspective offers a wellspring of inspiration.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and designer is knowing that I am living with authenticity – that I am contributing to the world in my unique way and hopefully helping in some way. It’s important to me to play a role in creating culture, even if it is a relatively minuscule role.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had known about my own inner resources earlier in my creative journey! If I had a growth mindset earlier on, if I had started a meditation practice, if I had realized that play is a crucial aspect of creative problem solving and design, I think this wisdom would have helped me immensely. For so many years I approached my creativity with a self-serious preciousness. I would only make something if I felt it would be a successful idea. This was a very stifling approach. Now that I have learned how critical mistakes are to creative breakthroughs, I approach my work much differently. It’s play. It’s about doing lots of work and making lots of mistakes and not getting hung up on them. It’s about trying new things and taking what works into the next project. This not only yields more interesting results, it’s a much more fun and liberating way to live and work!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.chanibecker.com and www.hothousedesignandpost.com
• Instagram: @chanibecker
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chani.becker/
• Linkedin: Chani Becker
• Youtube: @chanibecker3098