Motherhood as a Creative Practice with Kallen Mikel

Introduction and Welcome

Britta: Hello folks, and welcome to Transformed by Birth, a podcast about the rite of passage of pregnancy, birth and new parenthood. I'm your host, Britta Bushnell, author, mythologist, childbirth educator and all around deep diver with a side of goofball. I'm so glad you're here. Today's episode explores the creative process and the process of creation. So grab your comfy beverage of choice or take us along for a walk as we connect with artist and mother Kallen Mikel.

Britta: Before we begin, we start the way we always do by lighting a candle. If you want to join me, please do or just take a breath as I light mine. Today's candle is in honor of creativity. Pregnancy, birth and art — all creative processes. Parenthood too, literally creating and bringing something new into existence. And yet there's this narrative that becoming a parent, especially becoming a mother, means putting your art on hold. But what if these creative forces could actually inspire each other?

Introducing Kallen Mikel

Britta: Today's conversation is maybe a bit different than some of my conversations with professionals in the field of birth and parenthood. I'm talking with someone somewhat outside the more obvious realm of birth work, but whose work as a visual artist is deeply connected with pregnancy, birth and parenthood. When Kallen was pregnant, what she shared about her creative process through her art completely captivated me. Kallen is a visual artist and a mother. Her work reflects the connection between humans and the natural world and the healing of deep emotional wounds. Birth and early parenthood have shifted her creative process and the subjects she explores. Through symbolism and the titles she picks, she invites viewers to recognize their own transformations in themselves through her paintings — creating not just for herself, but to enhance healing and vitality for others. I discovered her work on Instagram and have been an avid follower and lover of her work ever since. So welcome, Kallen. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for being here.

Kallen: Thank you so much, Britta. Thank you for having me.

Britta: It's a treat, and it's fun to kind of try something different. I mean, we're in a creative process right now together, aren't we? We're in a dance. And I just recently spent some time on writing retreat, working on a new book, and in my head, I was like, oh my god, I'm going through the creative muck. And I don't know if you experience that, but it's like — here we are, we're at the beginning of something, we have no idea what we're going to do together right now, do we?

Kallen: That's the beauty of it, right?

Britta: That's creativity. And if I knew exactly what was going to happen, it wouldn't make it very fun. Which is true in art. It's true in writing. It's true in parenthood. It's true in pregnancy, in birth — there's a lot of unknown. So I want to start — you are a mother and an artist, and probably a whole bunch of other things as well. We're speaking to this creative piece today a lot, and I'd love to hear a bit about where you are in the creative aspects of your life right now. Like, you have kids — give us kind of a "this is where I am in the world, this is what my creative process looks like." Paint us a picture with words.

Life as a Mother and Artist

Kallen: Well, as most people listening to this podcast might know, being a parent feels like a creative process every second of every day, right? You're being faced with a new thing to deal with. My oldest just started preschool, and he's coming home with all these different personalities he's trying on. And so dealing with that — that's interesting. And then I'm working on a new painting that I just started yesterday. I'm really only given a small amount of time to work during the day, but I try.

Britta: Because you have two children at home, yes, right?

Kallen: And even if I say "stay at home mom," I'm also like, running a business. So yeah, it's a lot, but it's fun and it's exciting every day.

Britta: You're running a business — I would say at least one business, because there's art, and art has the business side and the creative side, the creation part. And in many ways, those are two completely different businesses.

Kallen: Well, I'm my own marketer, I'm my own everything. So that might change at some point, but right now it's just me. But my husband does help me with my business. Andy helps me a lot at home, so I'm very blessed to have that.

Britta: And you sell your art, and you also have a thriving Instagram account, which is also a whole job in its own right. Anybody who's listening knows —

Kallen: It's my only social media. It's a lot. I always want to get back to people, so — emails, messages, all of that. I do it all.

Britta: So let's not underestimate the statement of calling yourself a stay-at-home mom. Because I'm hearing an awful lot happening in your world, even if it's happening while you're in your home.

Kallen: Yeah, yeah. I think that the stay-at-home mom thing — we need to figure out a new term for that.

Britta: I totally effin agree with that. Totally. I mean, there were a whole lot of stay-at-home moms during our quarantine days as well, who were staying home and running their whole lives.

Kallen: Really tough. Yes. One thing that keeps me sane is being able to go to the library and the park. Staying inside with kids will drive you crazy.

Britta: Well, and nature seems to be a pretty strong part of your life as well.

Kallen: Best thing — nature.

Nature as Muse and Spiritual Grounding

Britta: Because nature also shows up really strongly in your art, as does motherhood — at least in the current iteration of your work. So can you describe what is captivating you in your creative process, what you're choosing to create through your art right now?

Kallen: Well, you said it yourself — the connection to nature is a big part of my art, because I do believe that we so easily forget our connection to nature, and that we are nature. And I would say that motherhood has made me feel more connected to nature than anything else. Because birthing a baby, and breastfeeding the baby from my body — there's just nothing like it. I felt like a primate.

Britta: We actually are, in fact, animals.

Kallen: Yeah, we're animals.

Britta: We are animals. And yet, as modern animals, we sometimes lose connection to that. We forget that we're animals because we drive in these steel boxes on wheels and go into the sky, and we read things on social media, and we're like, we aren't animals, we're different than animals — but we also aren't different than animals.

Kallen: That's true, right?

Britta: We are animals. We're just our own animals.

Kallen: We're also people-animals. Our minds can take us to places that are so outside of reality. And something that I've realized is that the reason why I feel so connected to nature is because it's the only thing I know — other than the love and feelings that I feel — that I know is real in this world. You know, you go out and you're just surrounded by nature. There's no cars around, there's no buildings, and it's just real. And that alone feels so comforting, just to be surrounded by something real.

Britta: Yeah. And so pregnancy and giving birth and becoming a parent — it sounds like that connected you with your own nature. Is that a long stretch to say that?

Kallen: Yeah, among other things.

Britta: Among other things — being in nature, yeah.

Kallen: And I'm very lucky to live against the National Forest and be able to take my kids out into nature. That, to me, just feels like full circle — allowing me to share that with them, because that's something I've always found comfort in since I was a child. So it's just a must for me. That's why I moved out of the city, to bring them to a more natural place. And I was very blessed to be able to do that.

Britta: Yeah, and to be able to tap in with nature. And I have a belief that as animals, we crave that.

Kallen: Totally. I believe that too.

Britta: Whether we're living in a city — I mean, one of my sons currently lives in New York City, and he's lucky to live near Central Park. Sometimes when I visit him and I'll just meander into the park — you're in the middle of this massive city, but there are so many people engaging with nature in the form of a park. So I think that longing — I mean, you were fortunate to be able to move up against a National Forest, but that longing, I think, is even there for those of us who live in cities.

Kallen: Oh yeah. I lived in Phoenix — just two hours from where I live now — for 18 years, and I had to get out of there every once in a while. Be in nature. It's very powerful. And I think it's a very comforting thing to feel connected to nature, and to realize that you're part of nature. And so that is a big message that I try to portray in my art.

The Art: Symbols, Mediums, and Motifs

Britta: Yeah, and when I look at your art, I see a lot of motifs that are of nature, and then a lot of motifs that connect to the primal of pregnancy and birth and parenthood. Can you talk a little bit — have those elements always been a part of your art? Or how did those come to be part of what you create?

Kallen: That's a good question. I have always been fascinated with pregnancy and birth. I've always longed to be a mother. I mean, I didn't know for sure if I was going to be a mother, but I was privileged enough to become one. I knew that I wanted to be a mother since I was a child. So before I was even trying to conceive my firstborn, I was painting and drawing pregnancy and birth-related art. So it's kind of trippy, because it just led me into the transformation of motherhood — it led me into that chapter of my life. I do believe that art is very powerful in that way, and manifesting — it can be. And I believe that it was part of manifesting my journey into motherhood.

Britta: So do you want to share a little bit — you used some of my favorite words. Transformation. We know that's one of my words. I do love that, and I see it in your work a lot.

Kallen: I love the word transformation too. Almost every single one of my paintings has a symbol of transformation, because I believe it's empowering to remind ourselves that we can change, that we can transform — and that that's okay. And even just to recognize ways that we have transformed that maybe we haven't recognized — that is empowering, and it's comforting, and it's beautiful to me.

Britta: Oh, I totally agree with all of what you've just said. Are there particular symbols of transformation that plant their seeds inside your creative process? I started creating metaphors in my head — like seeds. What are you drawn to?

Kallen: Seeds — or something that sprouts. Yeah, that's something I've been thinking of for years — a piece about a seed that sprouts. But I paint a lot of butterflies. I love butterflies.

Britta: Yes — she's got a butterfly on her hand, folks! She just showed it to me.

Kallen: Yeah. And snakes are actually a symbol of transformation. They shed their skin.

Britta: Majorly a symbol of transformation. And we tend to think of snakes as something evil or dark or scary —

Kallen: Let's be real, they're pretty creepy.

Britta: They do have a cool factor though. And there's an element of that primal fear of them that makes a lot of sense. And as a creature that outgrows its skin — that image is one that I love. Because don't we all do that? Don't we all outgrow our skin? Yes, and need to size up. Grow new skin that fits us better. And then it's not just done — you have to do it again and again and again. So butterflies and snakes — are there other symbols that really speak to you and show up in your work?

Kallen: Sometimes scorpions, and sometimes moths. But mostly I really like painting snakes. I don't know why — I just do.

Britta: Well, they're speaking to you right now. And you do kind of live in a high desert environment.

Kallen: I do. Rattlesnakes.

Britta: Yes. I lived in a chaparral space. I raised my kids in the chaparral mountains near here, and we had snakes. I mean, I raised toddlers who knew how to watch out for snakes. It was just part of our reality.

Kallen: Near my house it is kind of cool to see one from far away on a hike.

Britta: Agreed. I got rattled at last year sometime, and that was terrifying. I literally jumped. It was very intimidating.

Kallen: Yes, I can feel you on that, absolutely.

Britta: So when you use these symbols and you integrate them into your paintings — paintings is the main medium, right? What mediums do you use?

Kallen: Yeah, so all of my art thus far has been done by hand. I use a lot of gouache paint, which is like an opaque watercolor paint. And then I really, really like iridescent paints and iridescence in general.

Britta: So they kind of go right along with the whole transformative aspect — and like, transcendent, spiritual. To have some of that iridescence, it's like it captures that vibe.

Kallen: Yeah, yeah. Also it's just magical to me. You know, you see iridescence in nature a lot — sparkly things. I'm always like, ooh, a sparkly rock shining in the sun, or the sparkly ocean, the water. I just love that. So it just feels magical to me.

Britta: And I agree. And there's something magical in your art. I mean, art is magic.

Kallen: Yeah, I believe that. I do. Art is magic.

Britta: Art is magic, just like parenting is magic.

Kallen: I really don't think — I know that I'm the one painting it, but I really don't think that it's fully just me. I feel like it's coming through me. Does that make sense? Yeah. So it really does feel like magic sometimes, because I'm envisioning one thing, and then it turns out to be different. But it's like, oh yeah, of course it turned out that way. It's really weird.

Britta: I feel similarly when I'm in the zone writing. I can feel the difference between when I'm open — like an open channel. That word might not resonate for some folks, but where it's like I've opened and it's coming through me, and I'm a vehicle — rather than when I'm sitting down and I'm like, okay, now I'm going to write. And that's just a lot harder. And I think there's actually some intersectionality between some of that and parenthood too, because there are times when it's like I need to get out of my own way in this parent dynamic thing that I'm doing right now, and let it flow, rather than try and force something to fit an image that has been gifted to me by society, or the over-culture, as I sometimes refer to it as.

Kallen: Yeah, that makes sense.

Openness, the Body, and the Yoniverse

Britta: So you've got these symbols, and you've got these beautiful mediums that you use. And a lot of your art that I see has connected those motifs with aspects that really feel like they connect and represent pregnancy, birth, parenthood, nursing, sex — those real strong life force elements. Can you talk about the intersection for you of those motifs and these elements of the childbearing journey?

Kallen: So — yeah. Like, tell us a little bit about some of your images. Since we're on the mic — it's tricky, right? Because you're a visual artist, and here we are talking.

Britta: Yeah, it's tough. We're like, let's try and bridge this world and this world through this one on the mic. So if you can help give us a sense of — tie some things together, tell us the story about some of your art.

Kallen: So a lot of times — one thing that comes to mind — I tend to paint, first of all, a lot of times I'm painting a female person or being. And sometimes people ask me — usually men will ask me — why don't you paint more men? Because I'm not a man, and that's not my life experience. So when I create art, yes, I am looking to sell my art because that's how I make a living, but I'm also painting it from my true experience. So I love being a mother. The spirituality in my art comes from what I feel when I'm in nature. A lot of times I will paint the figure open, with an open body, with plants growing out of the body. And that, to me, visualizes: you are part of nature. You are one with nature. You're not separate from it.

Kallen: But there's also the postures of the figures that I paint — they are open. Another thing that really inspired a lot of my art, when I really started doing it every single day and taking it more seriously, was that at that time I was doing yoga every day. And that was big for my transformation as well. I just felt immense healing from the opening of my body. And right now, as I'm saying that, I realize I need to get back into doing yoga, because it feels so good to kind of let go of all that stuff that we hold in our body — the breathing, the opening up. And just being open to things that you want in life, because that's a huge key. When you're trying to get things in your life that you want, you first have to be open to it. And that sounds so obvious, but sometimes we don't realize that we're not actually open to the things that we want.

Britta: Yeah. And there's a connection with what you've just shared and what we were also just talking about — about being open to have vitality, life force, creativity come through us to be able to put it out. And opening is kind of the key thing we're doing when we're giving birth.

Kallen: That is very true.

Britta: We are opening. We are opening our minds to be able to see things in new ways — to understand things, imagine things, imagine ourselves being able to do things differently. We're opening our bodies, obviously, one way or another, to birth a human. We're opening our family to the world. We're opening our relationship to the world. We're opening our heart. It is an act of opening.

Kallen: Totally. That's very true.

Britta: As is art. And I love that your imagery — it's interesting, because until you said that, even though I'm really familiar with your work and have — is it right to say — stalked your art on Instagram for years now? Because I just find it really captivating.

Kallen: Thank you. Isn't that kind of the point?

Britta: But I hadn't put two and two together until you just said it — that so much of your art communicates openness. I mean, it's just, yeah.

Kallen: I mean, some of my titles are literally "Open to Expanding," "Open to Abundance." So yeah.

Britta: And there are a number of your images — what I mean is, like, vulva, yoni, vagina — I don't know what word works for different people to talk about it — but you have that kind of portal of the female anatomy involved in them. And so is that part of opening as well?

Kallen: I would say that is part of opening. I would say that it's symbolizing that there's like a whole universe in us. You know, when you give birth, you're giving birth to a whole universe, because that is a person — and they have their own universe. And there are so many possibilities in there. So it's like — it's a yoniverse. You know, a yoniverse.

Britta: Yeah. And I love how you said that when you're giving birth, it's like we have a universe inside us, because we are actually birthing a human who is a universe unto themselves. And we are a universe unto ourselves. And when we are birthing, we are also the portal for others into a universe. There's so much overlapping there.

Kallen: Yeah, absolutely. And the person that you gave birth to might become a big part of a lot of other people's lives. It's just amazing to think about.

How Motherhood Has Transformed the Art and the Artist

Britta: Yeah. And it's also touching on that shared favorite word of ours — transformation, transformative. So can I circle back to that with you and ask how has birth, conception — let's start from conceiving to gestating to birthing to now parenting — how has that journey transformed you? I'm very aware of the fact that that's a lofty question, but is there some aspect of it that you can share?

Kallen: Yeah. I definitely have noticed that my whole perspective on life has changed. Obviously, my priorities have changed. I think that it has transformed me completely because of that — because it's changed my perspective. And really, your perspective is everything, like, in your own universe. So I think that has been the biggest thing for me, is just seeing my whole way of thinking, my whole way of life change. And it's been very freeing, I would say — which sounds opposite of what you would think. But it does make me feel more free now, as a mother, somehow.

Britta: And has it transformed your art in any way?

Kallen: I would say yes and no. I think it's definitely transformed things that I want to portray in my art in some ways, and it's transformed my literal process. But I think that my art is kind of like my first child, in a way — it's very much like a part of me, and it always has been. And it's interesting — I think the pieces that I've made during pregnancy and motherhood feel more special to me, especially the ones that I've done when pregnant, because it's almost like my baby was painting it with me, kind of thing. And I'm very, very connected with my babies. And I think that now it's almost like they've become a part of my process, in a way.

Britta: Yeah, absolutely. Where they are a universe unto themselves. And yeah, there's a co-creative process. When you are a parent — when you are pregnant or a parent — there's a way in which they are living inside.

Kallen: Yes. I will say — it's so interesting. I have given birth to two, and I've noticed that after my second was born, and while I was pregnant with him, I felt very much more adventurous with the things that I created. Like, let's use a neon color, or let's try something different. And that's very much like his personality. Which is interesting.

Britta: So that is interesting — that co-creation.

Kallen: He just knows how to have fun.

Britta: It's really good to have people around who know how to have fun. I have a rather serious side — I mean, I have a goofball side, but I'm serious even about play. And it's good to have somebody who's like, "Let's just be weird." And I'm like, oh yeah, that's good for me. Can I have some of that too?

Kallen: It was perfect for our family. I really felt that — I was like, this guy, he's gonna really balance our family. And he has.

Art as Spiritual Practice

Britta: I love that. And there's — I'm hearing, and you mentioned it a little bit earlier — that there's a real kind of spiritual connection that you have in your work, in your parenting, and it comes through in your art. Can you help us with that? Does creating art feel like a spiritual practice, a spiritual process?

Kallen: Yeah. I am not a religious person, but to me, being in nature and making my art — that feels spiritual to me. That's all I know. It makes me feel connected to everything.

Britta: So and giving birth — yeah.

Kallen: Even when I'm breastfeeding, it just feels spiritual.

Britta: And is it spiritual, in part, because it connects you to nature, and it connects you to other? What does it mean to you, to have it feel spiritual?

Kallen: It feels like you're just connected. I don't know how to explain it — you just feel connected to the source, or the universe. And also, when I'm having sex with my husband — and he is someone that I really trust and feel safe with — it's like, it's almost psychedelic. You know?

Britta: Which can also be — one, really great sex, and two, very similar to what people will talk about in the journey of birth and parenthood. There are elements of it feeling quite psychedelic. And that can be both profoundly transformative, profoundly spiritual, and sometimes on the edge of scary — yes — because it's outside the familiar. When it's on the other side of what's familiar, that can elicit some energy of fear, yeah, nervousness — and transcendent.

Kallen: Yeah, for sure.

Britta: Totally.

Kallen: There is a psychedelic aspect in my art. I have done psychedelics in the past, but not for a long time. I don't know if I ever will again, to be honest, but —

Britta: Well, sometimes when we're in parenthood, we don't feel like we need it anymore, because living with psychedelic children — they're bringing us into that altered reality on the regular.

Kallen: Yeah, we don't need it. We're good. I think the fear for me is feeling like you're not in control of what you're doing and what you're seeing. And that feels scary.

Britta: It feels scary. And it's also one of the ways — I've had people in my classes, we'll be talking about preparing for birth and this otherworldly experience, and they'll often say, "I kind of feel like it's a little bit like preparing for a journey, a psychedelic journey — that's the only thing I can think of." And in my mind, I'm like, mm-hmm. There is some truth in that — that there is that dismantling of the structural systems that we think we know.

Kallen: Yeah. We think we know.

Britta: I said it very intentionally — that we think we know. And having people around us who support us is really important.

Kallen: Yes, absolutely. Definitely. That's huge. Yeah — and people that we feel comfortable around.

The Creative Unknown: Pregnancy, Birth, and the Creative Process

Kallen: I was just going to say that I love that you talk about being okay with the unknown, because that, to me, has been a big realization in my transformations — am I okay with not knowing how things are going to happen? And that's something that I deal with in creating art — am I okay with not knowing how this is going to turn out, and where this is going to go?

Britta: So there's a real overlap between the creative process of not knowing where this is going to go in the form of creating a piece of art, as well as the journey of pregnancy, birth, and new parenthood.

Kallen: That one's even more of a mind fuck. Yes, geez. Yeah. Like, this time last year I was very pregnant, and I was like, what's gonna happen? Stop thinking about that. It's okay. Just stop obsessing over that. But you can't help it.

Britta: No, you can't help it. It makes me tender and warm at the same time, because it really is kind of the point of the creative process — saying, "I am strong enough, I am courageous enough, and I am surrendered enough to step into this vast unknown," and be held by it.

Kallen: Exactly. Yeah. You're just like, I don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be what it's going to be.

Britta: And my job is to show up for it in whatever way it asks me to show up. So in the creative process that can show up in different ways, and in the pregnancy, birth and parenthood ways — you know, my kids are a lot older than your kids now. Mine are grown adults. My bonus daughter's in her mid-thirties, and then I've got two in their mid-twenties. And they're still — parenthood is still asking me to step into the unknown. Who do they need me to be today? And who do I need them to be for me today? That's one of the things that's also changing and shifting — really starting to identify the ways that my needs really matter too. So it's not just how am I showing up for them, but how am I showing up for myself in the role of being their parent?

Kallen: Totally. Yeah, that's a good point to bring up. Sometimes we tend to think, "Oh, my needs don't matter, and it's all about what they need." But that's not true.

Britta: No, it's not true.

Kallen: It's important to me to model to my kids — "Mom and dad need time alone. Mom and dad need to do these things."

Making Time for Art in Motherhood

Britta: Yeah, well, and so let's before we start wrapping up — I'd love to hear, how do you as a mom find time for your creative process? Because it is a lot. Clearly, making art is a wildly important part of your life. And then there's the practical. So —

Kallen: You know, obviously the kids come first. And I will say that becoming an artist who is also a mother can be very difficult, because I used to be able to just paint all day long. But that's not the case right now in my life. I'm constantly reminding myself that this is a small time of my life. I know I'm always going to be a mother, but someday I'll have more time as well.

Britta: The intensive period — you're in it.

Kallen: You're in it. Yeah. I love it. I love it. It's very, very difficult sometimes, but I do love it. And I'm always reminding myself — they're only going to be this little for a very small amount of time. I'm going to know them as adults longer, much longer. So I do a lot of brainstorming and writing down ideas in my notes for later.

Britta: I love that. It's like capturing berries and putting them in your basket, not knowing when you're going to cook with them. But they don't go bad.

Kallen: So I do that. I have a little notes app on my phone where — I'll be playing cars, but I'll be like, "Oh, I just got an idea."

Britta: I love that. Even in the midst of playing cars — I raised two little boys, so I definitely know the playing-cars thing.

Kallen: I'm wearing a fireman costume, and I'm like, gotta write this idea down real quick. And I get a lot of inspiration from all the children's books that I'm reading all the time. That's really inspiring to me. There are just so many beautiful children's books out there.

Britta: I feel like they're always getting better. They're just getting more beautiful.

Kallen: Yeah. So as far as time — I don't have much time to actually sit and paint. But the gift that I've given myself as an artist who's been doing this for quite a few years is that I've learned how to do my art more quickly. So that's very nice.

Britta: Yeah, yeah. And do some of your pieces take multiple days, weeks — is it a multi-day meditation of sorts? How does that work?

Kallen: Yeah. So it really depends on the piece. Some of my pieces can take up to like a year, because I take breaks from it. I don't necessarily work on it all the time, and sometimes I'm just not feeling it. You know what I mean?

Britta: Oh yes. Mine's the writing, but yeah. I did that this past weekend. I wrote like half a paragraph and I was like, okay, it's not horrible, but I'm done with you right now. I'm gonna put you in a different folder and we'll see what happens with you later.

Kallen: Yeah, sometimes you just have to put something to the side for a little while, because it starts to drive you crazy and you kind of hate it. But some pieces go quickly — I get them done in like a week, and some take a lot longer. Some of them never get done. Maybe I'll finish them later, I don't know.

What Art Means to the People Who Receive It

Britta: And how do you — do you hear from people who buy your art about what it means to them?

Kallen: Constantly, constantly.

Britta: Yeah. What are you hearing?

Kallen: So when people order my art on my website, they can write a note. And a lot of times people will tell me what they're going through. Just the other day, I had someone tell me they're going through a transformation, or a self-acceptance journey, a self-mothering journey, their motherhood journey. And then some people just say, like, "Your art just really called to me," or "really touched me." Stuff like that.

Britta: What do you think it is about art that elicits these kinds of messages? Art feels like it transcends the linear and touches people differently.

Kallen: Yeah. I think it's a matter of seeing yourself in the art in some way. It's almost like a visual for something you're going through that you can't really explain. Or a song, you know — I love music, and music has helped me get through some really dark times in my life, as it has for many people. And it's just something you can't quite explain. It's like you just feel seen in a way that you can't quite explain. It just speaks to you.

Britta: Well, in your art — I think your art, because of the elements that we've been speaking to, really touches people in that place of great change, because you've very beautifully and thoughtfully combined images of transformation, of new growth, of universality, of new beginnings. Incorporated all of those things into a representation that isn't necessarily logical. I mean, having plants growing out of your shoulders, a universe exposed between the legs — it isn't necessarily connected to the literal. But the symbolic, and the magical, the spiritual, the transcendental — it's like there's a way in which it captures something of the ineffable, of that which cannot be named.

Kallen: Thanks for sharing that. I love to hear other people's perspectives, because I see my art a certain way, but everyone sees it differently.

Britta: But that's kind of the point, right?

Kallen: Yeah, yeah. And people will be like, "Can you explain what this means?" And I'm like, well, it's kind of up to the viewer what it means to them, because everyone's on a different path. Everyone's in a different world, honestly.

Visual Storytelling and the Language of Symbols

Britta: And it's interesting, because I think one of the reasons I was so drawn to want to talk with you — because this is such a different kind of conversation than ones I've had before on the podcast — is that my main medium for that place of seeing oneself through something symbolic is storytelling.

Kallen: Yes. Storytelling is so powerful.

Britta: I love that medium. And yet, visual art kind of does the same thing — where you can see yourself through art, you can see yourself through story. And all of these are language of symbols, language of that which we cannot name or explain but that matters.

Kallen: Yeah, totally.

Britta: And so I see your art very much as visual storytelling — a language of visual symbols and communication that people can see themselves in.

Kallen: Absolutely. I think that's kind of what I'm trying to do with my art — speak to — I said we're all in a different world, but we're also experiencing a lot of the same things. And it's really about how you connect with it. Some people connect with it in ways that I never thought, like, whoa. Well, that's cool.

Britta: I mean, I've unpacked some stories hundreds of times, and someone new will hear the story and pull a thread that I've never seen before. And I love it.

Kallen: Yeah. That's really interesting.

Britta: So I think we're speaking a similar language of letting people know themselves through different mediums.

Kallen: Totally. Yeah, I love that.

Where to Find Kallen's Work

Britta: Yes. So I'm so grateful that you came and joined us. And I know people, after hearing this, are going to be like, "I gotta see her work." So where do people find you out in the universe?

Kallen: I do have my own website. It's kallenmikel.com — K-A-L-L-E-N-M-I-K-E-L dot com. That's where I showcase all of my available art, and I have a lot of art on there to look at. And then my Instagram is @kallenmikel, and my Facebook is Kallen Mikel Art.

Britta: And I'll make sure that all of those are linked in the show notes as well, so you can go there, folks, to see and track down Kallen's art. And I'm telling you — you gotta follow her on Instagram, because it is like a palette cleanser while you're scrolling. To see the beauty of what you have put out there, and to take a breath with it and feel yourself be moved and touched by it — even on our little phone screens, it really moves me.

Closing: One Thing for New and Expectant Parents to Know

Britta: So I like to end my conversations with one question. Are you ready for a final question? What's one thing you feel passionately about that you want new or expectant parents to see, feel, hear, or know about this profound period of their lives?

Kallen: I feel passionate about just being in the moment and the magic with your kids. I feel passionate about seeing the world through their lens, and just admiring them, and just being with them. That's what I feel passionate about. And there are so many distractions around us all the time. But every single day, I try to really look at my kids, look them in the eyes, and show them that I see them and I'm here with them. And I think that's something that people can really benefit from in life — just being totally admired and seen.

Closing and Outro

Britta: Yeah. To be admired and seen. The magic of being present in the magic of your children. It's very moving. Beautiful. Thank you, Kallen. And thank you listeners for sharing this time with us. If something shared today impacted, supported, or moved you, please share this episode with a friend. I produce this podcast myself, and your support makes it possible. To show a little love for the podcast and these conversations, please follow, rate, and review. If you'd like to continue the conversation with us, please follow us on Instagram at Transformed by Birth. I look forward to being with you again on the next episode of Transformed by Birth. And now let's gather what we want to take away from this episode — with an inhale, and with an exhale, I'll blow out our candle. Until next time, bye friends.