Our Mission: Stop Dreaming, Start Doing
We exist to help people turn creative intentions into real action — particularly when it comes to making room for art in a busy life. Community sits at the heart of everything we do: we champion others (especially women), bring people together, and nurture a warm, supportive space for creatives who want to honour this part of who they are. Through open conversations, helpful resources, and the reminder that no one has to go it alone, we keep that mission moving forward.
— Marissa + Heather
Photo Credits: Madison Short
Meet the Founders
Heather Kirtland
Heather is a painter who earned her BFA in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Today she leads encaustic workshops while continuing to develop her own studio work. Her honours include a Maryland State Arts Council Grant and a residency at The Holt Center, and she has more recently joined the West Elm Local artist roster. Her pieces have shown across the Mid-Atlantic region as well as in Italy and Wales, and have been featured in Modern Rustic magazine and Country Living UK. The Make-A-Wish Foundation and a Montessori school have commissioned her work, along with numerous private collectors. Heather recently relocated from Baltimore to a quieter corner of Maryland, where she lives with her husband, their two children, and their dog. Away from the easel she enjoys reading, running, and inspiring other mothers to make space for creativity — an effort she launched with Marissa through Carve Out Time for Art.
Marissa Huber
Marissa is an artist, connector, and creative instigator for the Carve Out Time for Art community, and co-author of “The Motherhood of Art”. She works mainly in water-based mediums and digital drawing, with the occasional foray into linocut printing and silk dyeing. Her work draws on the colours, patterns, and plants she notices in everyday life — details that capture a memory or a passing moment. Her art has appeared at the Brooklyn Art Library and in HGTV Magazine, Design Love Fest, Minted, Create! Magazine, and Makers Movement. Her greatest joy, aside from her children, is connecting with kindred spirits over a shared experience, a funny story, or a common dream, and feeling genuinely lit up by it. She takes her dreams seriously while trying not to take herself too seriously. Alongside her creative work she holds a day job as a Sr. Occupancy Planner and spends ten hours a week commuting, which is where most of her ideas take shape. She lives in South Florida with her painter husband Mike East, their two kids, and her mom.
Visit Marissa's website · Follow Marissa on Instagram · See Mike East's artwork
Our Story
We connected on Instagram back in 2015, united by a shared ambition: to create a book that would serve as a resource for artist mothers, and to build the community that has become Carve Out Time for Art. What people may not realise is that we've only spent time together in person three times in total. Thank you, internet, for making it all possible. xoxo.
