"We looked for land with a view to build studios on for three years. When we were looking, I had a ridiculous notion of having an outdoor Christmas party where all the trees are decorated outside, we would all wear snowsuits, and eat outside. Our property is an old 17-acre tree farm with hundreds of 20-year-old councilor firs, which look like big Christmas tress. Right when we saw it we knew it was the right spot. I haven't hosted that party yet, but every year I decorate another tree on the property. Eventually they'll be enough to have a proper party. Because we go back and forth to the city, we needed to find a place that is no more than a 2-hour drive. We hadn't been to Hillsdale before finding the land, so it's been fun discovering a whole new area. We've always planned to build studios, but thank goodness the land we loved actually had a little ranch house on it. I couldn't stand the beige siding and green shutters, so I got hundreds of cans of spray paint and painted it silver."

"This is a 'soft room' we made for Bruno. We put a mattress on the floor and piled the room with pillows and stuffed animals so he had a place to roll around in. When the weather started to get cold, I wanted to make a place he could be more physical."

"Since the ranch house was built in the '50s, it made sense to bring it back to a mid-century era. I'd say it's modern, but I always think it's funny to have a few dissonant pieces, too, like a 7-foot gilded mirror. Country houses are all about collections. The city is too small not to be efficient, but in the country you can really have fun. I got really into dishware and glassware and have a collection of hideous glassware. When all together they look kind of beautiful and it's fun to pick out the right glass for the person or drink. I never leave a thrift store empty-handed. Even if you don't find anything else, you can always find an ugly glass."

All smiles.

"I like everything is my life to have been used before me. We wound up finding all of the furniture secondhand. We found 14 Saarinen Tulip chairs in the garbage on the street in the city during hurricane Irene. A neighbor threw out a Vignielli couch, and my father-in-law made all new leather cushions for it. We even got an old Sub-Zero refrigerator and Viking stove on Craigslist. I made all the pillows out of Kente print outfits I found at the Salvation Army. Everything had some life before."

"My husband made an orange-red credenza to house a vintage '70s Sansei stereo. He hung a beautiful Trevor Paglen photograph above it. Playing music really loud is the other fun thing about being out of the city."

"My view of kids stuff has totally changed after having Bruno. I never understood how parents could let it take over their house, but now that I see how much toys are at the core of development, I think of it differently. I think the key is to pick toys that you think are beautiful. I actually had all of my toys from when I was a kid and it's been sweet to play with them again. I try and stick to wood or things that feel nostalgic to me in some way. I just got an '80s Yamaha keyboard. If it's going to be plastic, it should be old plastic."

Colorful room upon colorful room.

"Bruno's room used to be my sewing room and a 'garbage room' or the place you put everything that doesn't have a place. I needed to radically change the identity of the room, so I painted a mural. The mural is made up of a lot of different vignettes with smaller scenes inside. Some of them are from my favorite children's books and others were just different activities or things I thought he might like. In the last weeks of being pregnant and anticipating him, it was nice to think about who he might be and what he might like. I also made a bunch of mobiles before he was born and they have been really helpful."

A close-up of the mural.

And Francesca's mobile.

"I got a huge sheepskin rug. It's so important to have a comfortable place to be when you are sleepy or feeding him."

"Bruno was born in the winter. I was 10 days late and used my anxiousness to sew him clothes, hats, and booties. I was looking for something soft and warm to put on him, so I went to all the Salvation Armys in the city and collected cashmere sweaters to deconstruct and sew into new outfits. As he has gotten older and less fragile, I started using cotton and linen and wool knits. From one sweater I can make him a pair of overalls, a hat, a sweater, and a pair of boots. I also felt a strong urge to declutter once I had him. I have really cleaned out my closet, repurposing clothes I don't wear anymore. I just went through all of my vests and made miniature vests. And in the summer made him lots of crazy printed cotton onesies. I must have made 10 pairs of shoes from one leather skirt. I was disappointed with the clothes out in the world and felt I had to make them myself. It's been nice to be able to customize clothes for usability, too. When he was tiny, I would wear him a a wrap and sew all day. During those blurry weeks where days would have no beginning and end, it felt amazing to complete a task even if it was just making a tiny hat. It was the perfect scale project for the early weeks. Now, I can't stop. If I could live a few lives, I would love to makes a children's clothing line, but I'm not sure there are enough hours in the day."

A sample of Bruno's handmade clothing collection.

"We just got the floor beneath our place in Chelsea and we are about to begin a big renovation down there. It's an old tiny brownstone from the 1840's, so it's really different from our place upstate. Because everything is quite modern in the country, we are planning on doing the total opposite in the city. Since I began working in ceramics I can glaze the tile myself. I am planning on making a whole blue and white tile delft room for the kitchen. I am also making custom relief fireplaces for each room. It is going to be really intense."

A hand-painted fabric ruler to mark Bruno's height, alongside his fox costume (made out of a faux-fur Zara bomber jacket) that he wore for Halloween. Check out his and Francesca's adorable mommy-and-me fox getups here.

"I am excited to be a kid again. Excited for Halloween and costumes, Christmas, and all kinds of play. I love that it gets you outside of yourself. You think of someone else. I am excited to slow down on life and to learn everything all over again."

"Health and injuries. Love makes you more vulnerable."

"I haven't really read anything. I found whenever I did, it made me feel anxious and as though I wasn't doing something right. It felt like getting homework, finding things I needed to be doing and haven't been. I much prefer paying attention to Bruno and trying different things. You are more creative when left to your own devices and you have a more custom approach when you are responding to the moment. Babies are all so different. I found it best to problem solve in the moment rather than try to apply another person's strategy for another kid."

"It gets easier. I remember breast-feeding in the first few months and never understanding how women did it for a year or even two. I eventually found out they were able to do it because it gets much easier. I found the painful thing about early motherhood is all the newness. Nothing is rocket science and we are all certainly able to master how to fold up a stroller or how to wrap a swaddle, just not all at once. Each silly task is using different pathways in your brain that haven't been used before. It's painful. My advice is to take it slow. No need to do it all at once. I started using only one carrier and didn't even attempt the stroller until months later. You have to protect yourself from getting overwhelmed."

The aforementioned "ugly glass" collection.

And Trevor Paglen piece.

"Years ago I spent a week in the South of France with the gallerist Max Wigram and Phoebe Philo. They had their first baby with them, who was probably 6-months-old or so. Phoebe had just left Chloé and wasn't sure what was next, but she was so sure of where she was then, spending time with her baby. She spoke with complete calm and confidence that it would all happen when it needed to and she seemed so content and present in the moment. I'll never forget that. There is a time for everything and there is a true grace in being able to recognize where you should be when. I have struggled with that and constantly feel I am not working enough since having Bruno."

Francesca wears a shirt and jeans from Salvation Army and Céline shoes. Bruno wears clothing made for him by Francesca.

"His name is Bruno Billings Weiser. We wanted his middle name to be a place in Montana, where my husband is from. Billings isn't the prettiest place in Montana, but we liked the two B's."

"I was the second kid in my family. By the time I came along, my mom was very clear about how things were going to be. I was going to go to sleep, I was going to eat my food. There was not a lot of time for negotiating. I always felt comfort in my mom's firmness. It is hard to do, but I have tried to be unwavering, clear, and consistent with Bruno. I really want to raise Bruno like he is the second kid."

"I'd love one more."

"I am an artist. I make paintings and sculpture."

Into the veggie garden.

"I grew up in Chelsea, in New York City. I actually live in the same building that I grew up in! I went to Cooper Union—where I met my husband—for undergrad and then got an MFA from Columbia right after."

Francesca wears clothing from Salvation Army and Sven clog boots. Bruno wears overalls made from an old dress of Francesca's, a handmade cashmere sweater, vest, and shoes.

"Yes. Because it is harder to get time to yourself and certainly your hands free, work became so special. Before having Bruno, I'd procrastinate, but now I get right to work and I am grateful for it."

"Hard to tell now, as Bruno is only 11-months-old, but I can already sense that it will be motivating. He makes me want to be better and work harder."

"I tend to do things myself and never had help around the house or anything like that, so it took me longer than it should have to figure out I needed a babysitter. As an artist, I had a lot of flexibility and it was up to me to decide when to start working again. I felt ready to work again when he was 4-months-old, but it probably wasn't until he was 6-months-old that I figured out how to make that happen. Having help was probably the hardest thing to adjust to, but I think it will be the best result of having a kid. I certainly haven't mastered it yet, but learning how to delegate different tasks so you are doing what you should be doing is key. Since having Bruno, I no longer mow our lawn and do the weed whacking, so I can be in the studio. You realize you just can't do everything anymore."

"Balance and a babysitter. A day that I have a morning with Bruno, a good work day in the studio, and then in the evening, dinner, fire, music, and bath with the whole family is a perfect day."

"We figured out a great working rhythm in the country. A babysitter comes and all her kids come over after school so Bruno has a full house of ladies when I come home. I love having my studio on the same property, so I don't waste time commuting like I do in the city. I have yet to figure it all out in the city, but that is next month's project."

"Being an artist is a rigorous job and it's really competitive. Having a baby takes energy and so you have to work that much harder to participate. It's a hard job. Extremely rewarding, but hard, as is being a mother. Both are the kind of hard that feed each other. They aren't draining. They are regenerative, so in the end I think they each will energize the other, but neither is for the faint of heart."

"I like that it requires me to develop all interests to their furthest extent. I really feel I use all of myself to the fullest in my job. I also love being in conversation with a huge community of artists that I may know or not even know in person. It's an elastic discipline that develops over a lifetime."

Tools of the trade.

"Since I started showing, I have worked from deadline to deadline and I've been dying for the chance of time for experimentation. Given all the new adjustments, I thought it'd be good to take the right amount of time to develop the new work. My next show in New York will be at Salon 94, a year from now."

"I do all my shopping at the Salvation Army and wind up looking for pieces that are different than the rest in the rack in some way. Balloon-shaped pants or overly furry sweaters. I'm drawn to dramatic shapes. In my closet I have collections of crazy-shaped pants, simple black tank tops, chunky wooden platforms, capes, men's suits, and all shapes and sizes of scarves, belts, and clutches."

Francesca wears a Norma Kamali coat, Rick Owens tunic and boots, and leggings and a skirt from Salvation Army.

"Yep. I must admit, not for the better. Having to pull out one's boobs, squat down at any moment, and also be able to make room for a baby carrier can be quite limiting, style-wise. I love tailored suits and structured shapes, but somehow it's just not the right look with a baby. Lately, I've been wearing a simple black stretchy catsuit with dramatic capes or shawls. Flowy things seem to feel more maternal. I still wear heels, but they tend to have a wedge or a platform so they are more comfortable and easy to move around in."

Bruno wears a hat and booties made from one of Francesca's sweaters and leggings made from discarded fabric from cut-off shorts.

"I must have clogs in every style and shape. I either wear a turban or braids. And no matter what, I can manage a red lip and a little heel."

"Balmain, Norma Kamali, Rick Owens, Céline. All are dramatic and extremely well made."

"My mom always wore clogs and wooden Dr. Scholl's when I was growing up, so I grew up wearing clogs. I am grateful to have all these new designers perfecting the classic these days."

"I shop for everything at The Salvation Army. Clothes, housewares, and kid's stuff. I shop on eBay for shoes or any specific kid's toy. I go to Craigslist for furniture."

"Pretty simple. I always felt the less you give your body, the less it expects, so not a lot of lotions and potions. I do my hair once a day and put lipstick on, but that's about it."

"I have a little routine, 'my ups', that I do every night. It's a kind of a pilates ab workout. I add to it when time permits and do workouts online. I also do a lot of work on the land upstate and that is the best exercise.”

"It is so important to have a history with one another. We have been together for 17 years, so we already have experience doing hard things together. I think it's so important for men to acknowledge the inequality in the beginning. Just because it is a biological form of sexism doesn't mean the men shouldn't say thank you. Every time, my guy said 'thank you' when I fed Bruno and put him to bed, and it made all the difference."

"He gets the best of both worlds. In the city he gets to be around people and excitement, he has a stroller, play dates, and amazing parks. In the country he has grass and quiet and can experience weather and space. I grew up in the city during the week and the country on the weekends, so it feels normal to me."

"Nope. I can't see myself ever leaving the city."

"While I've lived in Chelsea forever, it's taken me having a baby to truly enjoy the neighborhood. We go on long walks with Bruno to galleries and the High Line. Galleries are the perfect outing for babies. You keep moving and it's stimulating for everyone. My favorite thing to do in the city is go to thrift stores. Some of the best Salvation Army stores in the country are in the city. I also love Goodwill, Housing Works, Tokio 7, and INA."

Peek-a-boo!

For more on Francesca and Bruno, you can follow along on her Instagram feed here.