Mother Maker Cauldron 02

Celebrating Mother Makers

Hello beautiful people!

Welcome to a little “Mother Maker Cauldron” where I get to celebrate creatives that move and inspire me in some way. This is a bi-weekly round up that arrives in your inbox for free every Sunday.

Keep reading if you want to

• be connected to some beautiful creations made by incredible mothers with a celebratory shout out to a few of them

• See who I’ve been reading on substack and loving!

• What’s coming up that I’m excited by

  If this email appears too long in your email browser, you can click through to the app and continue reading easily x

At home at sunset with my boys, and every cushion from our couch that Rafi thought would make a better couch on the rug. Ren is almost 5 weeks old, and up until yesterday when Tully corrected me, I thought he was just a huge 3 weeks old.

Many of you would already know, but for those of you new here - I have a passion for mothers who create and make.

those raising children and raising big visions, 

birthing babies and birthing businesses. 

Those dancing between mother mystic & mother maker. 

Moving with the surges of creative living, the poetry of their own lives. 

Mother maker is For 

the Artists, 

Poets, 

Writers, 

Movers & Shakers 

for the Influencers, 

Speakers, 

Coachers, 

Energy workers, 

Community creators 

& Home makers, 

For the designers 

Photographers, 

for the Entrepreneurs, 

and business owners, 

for those who create and make, intuitively, 

not as something they do, but because it's who they are, alongside motherhood.

Every second Sunday I’ll include different mama creatives I’m inspired by at the moment and what they are creating. On the alternating Sunday I publish a “Sundays are for Mothers” written interview series which are deep dives into the creative process of Creatives who are also mothering. This series is via invitation to those interviewed and I hope to bring a high calibre of conversation and stories to my community here. These interviews are also exclusive to those who are apart of the paid community on substack.

If you’d like these landing in your inbox so that you can be apart of the gathering of stories from these women (Or maybe even yourself one day) Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s $9au a month ($2.25au a week) and you’ll receive a weekly explorative essay motherhood, relationships, creativity, and philosophy, A monthly guest post, Bi weekly Cauldron posts to expand your connections, A bi weekly interview release, Access to my full Archive of articles (Over 70 from this last year) and access to community! We’d love to have you.

There’s a 7 day free trial and if you’d love to be involved by can’t make it work, please let me know hellokatriver@gmail.com

*I’m not affiliated with any of these celebrations and recommendations unless otherwise stated.

Mother Maker Cauldron

KJ STONE

One woman I’m really inspired by is

KJ Stone

. She is a mother who I first met as I walked through the forrest and parked up at a beautiful home on a stunning property. It was a bit of a casual womens morning tea, where we all sipped chai and sat on the loungeroom floor. I was not yet a mother myself, but I brought my friend Erica along with my few month old godson Leo.

As I was walking inside I had a woman - KJ, stop me and say hey! We had been connected loosely on social media but hadn’t yet met in person.

She had baby Alba on her hip and my jaw dropped when I saw her helping her tiny baby wee in a potplant while KJ laughed with us all and a cup of chai in her hand.

Since then I’ve seen KJ explore many different creative projects. She’s an advocate for slow creation and I can really feel her spirit in the things she makes.

From the delicious earthy ceramics in a little tin shed studio,

To her magnificent poetry book called “The Week Before I Bleed” which is a collection of poetry written… within the week before her bleed over a year.

I’ve also found her journey of finding a Bus, and a slow conversion of it into a home for her and her little daughter, to be really inspiring and wholesome. You can read part one here: Part 1 - Home at fig tree Lane

I LOVE her poetry book and so so recommend gifting it to yourself or a friend.

You can buy one here though This Link. All sales go straight to supporting KJ set up her bus (Think running water and solar panels).

KJ's Instagram

And Her subtack here :

KJ Stone

MADELINE HARRIS

Mads and I haven’t met in the 3D world just yet, though we first connected when I was in my early early days of pregnancy with Rafi back in 2019.

Mads was pregnant with her first too and we were on a similar time line.

Maddy’s evolution of her art and storytelling has been magnificent. She is a silversmith, a boutique and luxurious jewellery crafter and also a great story teller through photos and words. She uses esoteric symbolism not as direct meanings, but as a way to convey the power of persisting emblems and the anthropological memories associated with them. This allows the wearer to adorn themselves with their own interpretation.

She had two babies under 2 years while running her business full time. SHE is magnificent.

She lost her entire social media during this time and made a huge pivot, made peace with the internal cringe of going all in creating content, and has since built up an incredible rebrand of her craft.

I’ve been inspired watching her rise from the ashes, and many of you may recognise the necklace that I’ve worn every single day for over a year, be one of hers.

She’s currently moving through healing from an ectopic pregnancy, and working to support the family right now, so if you are interested in supporting this style of art, I more than encourage you to.

You can shop her jewellery here, This is my referral code for her shop

Madeline Harris Shop

And code KAT.

Her Instagram is Maddy's Instagram

READS

Here are some of the reads here on substack that I’ve really enjoyed in the last couple of weeks.

J.T.B

Essay, Inspiration comes at a price, after all (figuring out the worth of a creative)

Julia Rose ♥︎

Essay, We can't have it all- You're already a work of art

Tess Guinery

A lyrical piece An undefinable hot hearted thing

Full of Yourself with Erica Perry

An essay Loving women platonically, romantically and wholeheartedly is a form of political rebellion

Allegra Chapman

Essay, The parenting happiness penalty

Letters From A Stranger

A list Did you let love in

Thank you all for inspiring me in your own way over the last couple of weeks!

Things I’m excited by

(Guys, do you know how AMAZING it feels to be able to shamelessly promote artists, mothers, friends, events, etc with links and not be shaddowbanned and hidden by instagram and have a 95% Engagement drop?? It’s in my nature to celebrate others and it’s been such a cockblock on instagram not being able to truly share what I love!

Today (Sunday) here on the Sunshine Coast of Australia, we are having our first casual “Sub Club” meet up in a sweet yoga shala surrounded by big green leaves by a lake.

Not so much a co-working session and more of a “let’s meet up, discuss ideas, get excited, and share what we know” type thing.

I bought a custom song (whole production) from

Edwina

. I filled out the form, and had her create an audio masterpiece for Tully’s birthday. I wanted something that was celebrating him for where he’s at, but also feels like an expansive calling in for all that’s to come. I listened to it on repeat bawling my eyes out. I loved the little audios she included of my children… and when I had him lay down on the sheepskin, with head phones in and fully RECEIVE a song, made just for him… Tears rolling down his cheeks too.

I have an “open letter to the creative mother” Essay being published this Wednesday

Full of Yourself with Erica Perry

Is hosting a 4 hour online workshop where she uses Art therapy and storytelling to guide women through a writing ceremony of sorts -to write and hold their birth stories - perhaps for the first time. To heal, process, or gift to themselves and their children. I feel like this is SO needed in our communities. We need the space held to revisit our birth stories and not only make sense of them, but feel them, and sometimes share them. If you know anyone who would enjoy please forward them this link: Birth Your Story Event

Next Sunday the first SUNDAYS ARE FOR MOTHERS Interview will be published!

This is a deep dive into the creative process of creatives who are also mothering. This series is via invitation to those interviewed and I hope to bring a high calibre of conversation and stories to my community here. These interviews are also exclusive to those who are apart of the paid community on substack.

If you’d like these landing in your inbox so that you can be apart of the gathering of stories from these women (Or maybe even yourself one day) Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s $9au a month ($2.25au a week) and you’ll receive a weekly explorative essay motherhood, relationships, creativity, and philosophy, A monthly guest post, Bi weekly Cauldron posts to expand your connections, A bi weekly interview release, Access to my full Archive of articles (Over 70 from this last year) and access to community! We’d love to have you.

There’s a 7 day free trial and if you’d love to be involved by can’t make it work, please let me know hellokatriver@gmail.com

That’s all from me today beautiful people. I hope you enjoy these connections and can surround yourself with art.

Love Kat

Infusing our days with a little more ceremony and ritual - where we can. And romanticising mundane moments. That’s the way of the artist.