Jewel Opens Up About 'Silly' Relationship with Son Kase, 12, as They Pose in Rare Photo Together (Exclusive)

"It's changed over the years," Jewel tells PEOPLE about motherhood

Jewel is proud of her relationship with her son.

In an interview with PEOPLE ahead of the May 3 VIP opening of her new exhibit, The Portal: An Art Experience by Jewel, at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the musician, 49, opened up about her close bond with son Kase, 12, saying that her approach to motherhood has "changed a lot over the years."

"I'm a lot more present. I think I'm a present mom now, which I really worked hard on. It wasn't easy in the beginning for me to be really present," Jewel says, referencing her divorce with ex-husband Ty Murray, with whom she shares Kase.

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"I'm very silly. I think if you asked my son what I'm like, we laugh a lot. We're very, very, very silly," the proud mom continues. "We're ridiculous. We wrestle a lot, my son and I. I didn't think that's the type of mom I'd be, but we play fight every day. It's so funny."

While the mother-son duo have a lot of fun together, Jewel says she also prioritizes being there emotionally for Kase.

"I'm definitely a teaching mom, whether he likes that or not. I'm the kind of mom that wants to explain probably too much that might be on the negative list, but that's the kind of mom I am. I want to break things down. I want to help him understand. I hope I'm a good listener."

For her art exhibition, Jewel painted a portrait of her son, which she says represented "mothering and my devotion to mothering."

"Mothering is not given a whole ton of credit in our world. We're just expected to be brilliant mothers and brilliant at work, and it's not given a lot of space and time to be celebrated," adds the singer.

Not only does the painting of Kase honor motherhood, but it also helps document her near-teenage son at the age he's at.

"I have less mothering ahead of me than I have behind me, and it's so sad, so it was a way of me dealing with my own feelings about my son getting older and the transitions we're going to both be making in our life," Jewel says.

In September, Jewel spoke with PEOPLE at Project Angel Food's annual Angel Awards gala, where she confirmed that her son Kase had gotten into music. "He is. He plays drums. He has a really beautiful voice," she shared.

Though she shared at the time that her son had inherited her musical genes, the musician said she didn't think Kase would pursue a career in the industry, adding "He's not obsessed with it, so I don't know if that'll be his thing, but he sure has a natural gift."

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