life imitating art

FIGTREE ILLUSTRATOR AND MUM OF TWO, ALI GERRITSEN, HAS TAKEN CREATIVE INSPIRATION FROM HER DAY TO DAY, CELEBRATING THE HUMOUR (AND MONOTONY) OF PARENTING.

Illustrations: Ali Gerrisen @alifishart

Photo Eleanor McNeill

Tell us about your background…

My artistic journey began with a regrettable stint in creative arts at university, followed by a somewhat more useful but very expensive Master of Art Therapy. Shortly after I met my husband, Tom, while travelling. Soon after, we started our family, welcoming our two girls, Mina (7) and Rorie (3).

How did your parenting illustrations come about?

In an attempt to keep some semblance of identity during the murkiness of young children raising, addled by what I can now recognise as a hefty serve of post-partum depletion, I started penning some slap-dash drawings. I promptly uploaded these to Instagram for a good dose of dopamine and discovered people could relate!

What inspires your illustrations?

My illustrations draw inspiration from the rollercoaster of parenthood, portraying both its highs and lows, injecting humour into the often-gruelling reality of motherhood.

Why do you think they resonate with parents?

My drawings resonate with parents due to their raw honesty. Whether I'm depicting the terror of a first post-partum poo or the internal struggles of guilt and mental load that parents face, my work speaks to the challenges and joys of parenting. Some of my more sombre-themed drawings have seen a big response and I hope it’s affirming for parents. What I’m saying is - it is really, REALLY hard to do everything well!

Tell us about your creative process…

I was not creating for a long time, it felt like a mountainous effort to squeeze out some creative energy and pack up again within a nap time, which could be as long as 2.5 hours or only 10 minutes, who knows which?

When I let go of everything looking good and being perfect it was very freeing for me. You will see that the drawings themselves are a little bit rough, I could do them better, but they would lose their essence. My creative process is anything but glamorous. I've filled four notebooks, countless scraps of paper, and even the back of envelopes with my drawings. Ideas often strike (unhelpfully) during the sleepless nights.

Plans for the future?

I have compiled my drawings into an order that makes some sense and have written a narrative to accompany them, and I’m in the process of working out how to publish it. I envision it as a tidy little number for the bedside table of a parent-to-be, new parent, or the coffee table of your grandma. It will offer a candid glimpse into the realities of parenting that no one talks about.

It will feel very good to launch something into the world that may help equip the parent-to-be and possibly even make a few people laugh!

Check out more of Ali’s art at @alifishart