CONTENTS Preface by Clare Bowditch ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������v Introduction by Rachel Power. 1 Claudia Karvan Actor . 11 Tara June Winch Author . 25 Holly Throsby Musician. 35 Jocelyn Moorhouse Filmmaker. 47 Del Kathryn Barton Artist . 57 Brenda Walker Author . 69 Felicity Bott Dancer and choreographer . 81 Deline Briscoe Musician. 93 Cate Kennedy Author . .103 20150203_Motherhood_Internals_FA.indd 13 3/02/2015 4:46 pm Rachel Griffiths Actor . .115 Tegan Bennett Daylight & Beth Norling Author & Artist and illustrator . .129 Sarah Tomasetti Artist . .145 Clare Bowditch Musician. .155 Lisa Gorton Poet and author . .167 Pip Lincolne Craft maker and blogger . .177 Joanna Murray-Smith Playwright and author . .187 Nikki Gemmell Author . .203 Lily Mae Martin Artist . .215 Alice Garner Actor, musician and author ������������������������������������������������������������������������������223 Martine Murray & Sally Rippin Children’s authors and illustrators ������������������������������������������������������������������233 Notes on Contributors . .243 20150203_Motherhood_Internals_FA.indd 14 3/02/2015 4:46 pm Claudia Karvan Actor or women of my generation, Claudia Karvan is the actor we have grown up with. From her movies High Tide, The Big Steal and The Heartbreak Kid, to her Froles in some of the country’s most successful television series, including The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way and The Time of Our Lives, her characters’ lives have mirrored ours across the years. The fact that she has largely remained in Australia throughout her career makes this particularly the case. Claudia is the mother of two children, Audrey and Albee, with environmental engineer Jeremy Sparks, and stepmother to his daughter, Holiday. As a child, Claudia’s mother and stepfather ran the ultra-cool, bohemian nightclub Arthur’s, in Kings Cross, and the family lived in a part of Sydney considered so dubious that her school declared it permanently ‘out of bounds’. 11 20150203_Motherhood_Internals_FA.indd 11 3/02/2015 4:47 pm Claudia Karvan Having been brought up in such colourful circumstances, I ask if her childhood has had a strong influence on her professional life or on her parenting. ‘Both,’ Claudia answers. ‘I think what I got to see through my childhood was human beings with their facades removed a lot. So there was no suburban pretence; it was all on show. That absolutely helps you as a performer, because you get to know human beings and you get to see drama. But as a parent, it’s made me realise how important consistency and security are. ‘It’s funny, I’m talking to you as a parent, but I feel more like a daughter now, at this stage of my life. I’m at least halfway through the major parenting years, but now my role as a daughter is becoming the competing or dominant one, and probably will be until my mother’s mortality kicks in.’ ‘Before having children, I imagine all that that time you spend just waiting around on film and TV sets might be a kind of luxury,’ I suggest, ‘but once you’ve got kids, and your time becomes so precious, it must be really irritating.’ ‘That’s a very good point. Because one of the gloriously indulgent natures of acting, particularly when you’re in your twenties, is that you have all this down time just sitting around in your trailer. I read so much! Now it’s frustrating, because if you’re not working you want to be with the kids. It’s as black and white as that. Or even if you are working, you often just want to be with the kids. And the longer you’re not with them, the less sense the world seems to make. 12 20150203_Motherhood_Internals_FA.indd 12 3/02/2015 4:47 pm Motherhood & Creativity ‘I bring them on set sometimes, so they can just get bored with me. You just want to touch them and hold them and look at them – it’s a chemical reaction that you get addicted to and that you need.’ ‘Has that made you more discriminating about what you’ll take on?’ ‘Yes. I’ve always been discriminating, but when the kids were little the absolute non-negotiable was that the work had to be in Sydney, because I didn’t want to be away. I don’t want to move them around a lot and my husband, Jez, has got his work. So Love My Way and Spirited were created specifically for Sydney. Time of Our Lives is the first gig I’ve done outside of Sydney and that was really very hard. It takes its toll, being away. I was away a maximum of three days a week for two to three months, and it’s just not worth it.’ ‘Why – what was the impact? And was that impact on you or on your family?’ ‘No, totally for me. I think it’s really good when I’m away from them. The dynamic changes – Jez takes on a lot more and Audrey steps up to the plate and becomes the woman of the house. Mothers do kind of rush in to fill the vacuum, sometimes to our discredit. They’re great when I’m not around! I love that. I think it’s a sign you’ve done a good job. If you’ve got a really needy kid who can’t survive without you it might be flattering or nice for your ego, but I think that’s a warning bell.’ ‘Do you remember what it was like during those early months, working on The Secret Life of Us with a young baby?’ 13 20150203_Motherhood_Internals_FA.indd 13 3/02/2015 4:47 pm Claudia Karvan ‘I do, and sometimes I regret it – just the stress. It was six months, from when Audrey was seven weeks old until she was about eight months. And she wasn’t sleeping – she would wake every forty-five minutes – so it was pretty full-on.’ ‘Is that regret also about feeling that you didn’t get the time to just be with her?’ ‘No, I don’t regret that, because I also remember days and days of just wandering around the house, just me and Audrey, feeling lonely and isolated in the seven weeks before recording began. I always say that I wouldn’t have had kids if I didn’t have my career. If I’d had to choose, I would have chosen my career, definitely. Then when I had a stable job withThe Secret Life of Us and realised I could have both – that I could have a baby and work as well – I organised to get pregnant. Cheeky!’ ‘Wow – are you really that sensible?’ ‘I’m a planner! So I don’t regret it for myself, but sometimes I wonder, “Did Audrey have a stressful first year?” But then I think most first kids would have a stressful first year, because us parents don’t know what we’re doing! It’s all trial and error. So it’s just the odd moment that I think that.’ When Claudia got together with Jeremy in the mid-1990s, his daughter, Holiday, also became a part of her life. I ask her whether having some responsibility for a child played a role in her career decisions even then. ‘Yes. It meant that I did jobs all over Australia, but I didn’t commit to doing the LA thing that everyone was doing then, because I would never encourage Jez to be away from 14 20150203_Motherhood_Internals_FA.indd 14 3/02/2015 4:47 pm Motherhood & Creativity his daughter. I wasn’t deeply inclined to that environment or culture anyway, but if I wasn’t with him I probably would have followed that same well-trodden path. ‘To be honest, there were times when the relationship was in trouble and she kept us together. My stepfather would often say this to me as well: “I was going to leave your mum but you were so cute!” And I feel the same way about Holiday. Sometimes I’d think, “Jeremy is really giving me the shits, but Holiday is so beautiful – I can’t leave Holiday!” It’s funny how kids keep people together. You’re loving them together so then you’re loving each other and it’s a continuous cycle of loveliness.’ ‘As a mother, do you feel like you’ve had to make tough choices about what you’re willing to sacrifice and what you won’t relinquish?’ ‘I don’t think I’ve sacrificed anything – I think I’ve gained everything. I’ve sacrificed loneliness and purposelessness, and the kind of unknowingness of being in your twenties – but I wouldn’t call that a sacrifice; I think it’s a relief. As a performer, as someone creating things, you can only draw on your own experience – and, for me, kids have created a really rich life. The self-knowledge you gain when you go through those major life milestones, you then bring to your work. ‘I’ve become a little bit more hands off – a bit more relaxed – about work. I’ve realised how much you can do on minimal sleep! You realise that you’re capable of a lot more than you ever thought possible – that your resources and stamina are almost infinite.’ 15 20150203_Motherhood_Internals_FA.indd 15 3/02/2015 4:47 pm Claudia Karvan I suggest that the physical demands of performing must be pretty tough during those early years of parenting. ‘When Audrey was about six months old, I was in a freezing cold pool doing scenes with mastitis. That was pretty intense. TV sets are pretty flexible working environments but the hours are just stupid, really. But acting is a series of sprints and then blocks of time off.