Episodes
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Articulation, pivoting, sketchbooks, observation, and travel all play a key role in Ethan Keister’s creative life.
Graphic designer, illustrator and art director Ethan was born in Vietnam, grew up in the backwoods of Upstate New York and now calls Milwaukee, Wisconsin his home.
When Ethan isn't ruining his posture at his desk, you can find him snow skiing, water skiing, biking, hiking, traveling, and writing about himself in the third person.
Takeaways
Pivot in a way that allows for more growth and a fresh perspective.Eighty percent of drawing is seeing.When sketching people, be on the lookout for good poses and gestures.“Beautiful things don’t ask for attention.” James ThurberEthan Keister
Ethan Keister on Instagram
Ethan Keister on Facebook
Ethan Keister on LinkedIn
Ethan Keister on TikTok
Mark Manson
Paul Noth (episode 92)
Jon Horvath (episode 89)
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Idea generation, your brain on cartoons, incongruency & divergent thinking, and how to encourage your creativity are all on the mind of cartoonist, writer and artist Paul Noth.
Paul is a cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine, where his work has appeared regularly since 2004. He created the Emmy-nominated animated series "Pale Force" for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He has been an animation consultant for Saturday Night Live and developed shows for Cartoon Network Adult Swim and Nickelodeon. Paul is the author of the middle grade novels “How to Sell Your Family to the Aliens,” “How to Properly Dispose of Planet Earth,” and “How to Win the Science Fair When You’re Dead,” all published by Bloomsbury.
Takeaways
Embrace the limitations of your art form.Conscious effort impedes the incubation process.The preparatory phase of creative work requires hard work and skill, but it also requires letting go.The idea comes despite the effort not because of it.Paul Noth on X
Paul Noth on Instagram
Paul Noth on Facebook
Paul Noth on LinkedIn
Paul’s middle grade books
Paul Noth on IMBD
'Midwest nice' cartoonist for The New Yorker is ready for Chicago and the DNC
The New Yorker
This is Your Brain on Cartoons article by Sarah Larson
Roz Chast
Iain McGilchrist
Photo credits, Camila Guarda, Chicago Sun Times
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Rocker chick Paula Hare talks about no longer giving a rip what other people think, New York City, and Wisconsin’s most iconic dessert – the cream puff.
Paula Hare is a life-long artist, designer and creative director, plein air and studio painter. She brings a unique perspective to her work which includes unusual juxtapositions, compositions, and subjects. Paula's keen eye for detail and appreciation for the unconventional allows her to breathe life into scenes that might escape the notice of others. Whether it's the play of light on chrome, the wind-swept landscapes that unfold along the journey, or elements of a back-alley way, Paula captures the essence of the moments they portray and the stories they tell.
Paula’s obsession with the biker lifestyle (Harley’s, not bicycles!) spills over into all her ventures, including Gearhead Fashion, which features sustainable, repurposed, reinvented, one-of-a-kind apparel and accessories for anyone that wants to look and feel like a rock star.
Takeaways
Do cool stuff, paint cool things.You gotta jam 24/7 – suck it up and get to work. You’ve got to make yourself do it. Just put one foot in front of the other and just keep moving forward and not stop.Bundle up all your skills and energy and figure out what’s in you, and then you have a direction. Stick to that path and you’ll be successful.Paula Hare
Paula Hare on Facebook
Paula Hare on LinkedIn
The Arts Mill on Facebook, and Instagram
Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
Deadwood, South Dakota
Original Cream Puffs
Sketchnoting
Gearhead Fashion
Gearhead Fashion on Instagram
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Diving deep into your own life to find your voice, the selfish nature of being an artist, the power of observation, and reacting to marks and layers are all considered during my conversation with Victoria McDonnell.
Victoria relocated from Bogota, Colombia – at the age of 28 – to the rural countryside of Norfolk, UK. The cultural change was already overwhelming, but the language barrier added another layer of challenge. It was an act of courage, driven by love, to move to a town of just over 300 people. In response, she turned to the language without words – art – which became her constant companion that has deepened over time.
Victoria offers glimpses of familiarity in her subjects, inviting viewers to engage playfully while allowing ample room for personal exploration. Working across a diverse array of subjects in oils and acrylics, she unifies them through the lens of abstraction.
Victoria’s latest obsession is ‘Chairs,’ a project of exploration, observation, and discovery. Inspired by the simple objects that are central to our daily lives and our personal connections with them, she examines the narratives they embody. Whether it's the chair in the corner that sparks conversation, the kitchen chairs that keep the family united, or the old nursing chair passed through generations, each chair tells a different story.
Takeaways
“Not having distractions is my best friend.”The more you put yourself out there, the more comes your way. Little steps give way to little successes and they all add up.“Through her eyes we organized my mind.”Abstraction requires a lot of confidence.Every chair has a story.Victoria McDonnell
Victoria McDonnell on Instagram
Victoria McDonnell on Facebook
Victoria McDonnell on Pinterest
Victoria McDonnell on TikTok
Victoria McDonnell on LinkedIn
Colombian Rainbow River
Gooderstone Water Gardens
Vejer de la Frontera
Art and Success Pro Abstract Painting
Norfolk Painting School Studio talk & master classes
Roisin O’Farrell Love to Paint, Learn to Paint
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Monumental undertakings through multimedia narrative projects, travel and deep introspection, embracing chance and spontaneity, baseball, and how people define happiness, all come up during my conversation with Milwaukee interdisciplinary artist and writerJon Horvath.
Influenced by his early formal education in creative fiction writing, philosophy, and composing music, Jon's practice has since expanded into the mixed use of photography, video, performance, sculptural objects, and other mediums brought into a combined space. He desires to share open-ended, poetic narratives rooted in an exploration of how we build personal and cultural mythologies as a way to better understand the world around us.
Takeaways
The making is driven by intuition.Let go of having to know everything about every choice to allow unexpected moments.Don’t let something that's making you fearful influence choices that you’re making.Some distance from your more regular experience allows you to have permission to entertain other possibilities.Pictures are influenced by that which surrounds them.Jon Horvath
Jon Horvath on Instagram
This is Bliss
Throughline
Slow Burn
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Listen in as Stacy Bogdonoff talks about using verbs as she works on a project, the importance of not putting too much (psychologically) into social media, slowness and control, living at the intersection of design and art, and why the media & the process – the heart and head of knowing and being known- is her authentic obsession.
Stacy is a mixed media artist who divides her time between her very messy studio in Kent, CT. and her neater tabletop workspace in NYC. Stacy works with textiles, vintage fabric, paper, paint, dyes, and found objects to explore the theme of “Home, Safety, and Shelter”, and how those change as we age and move through life. "My inspiration comes from three directions. I am deeply drawn to a wide variety of unconventional media, and I love to explore tools and new ways to use them. I am also equally driven to explore my inner world and understand my feelings."
Takeaways
Understanding the context behind the work enhances the experience.You don’t always know. You sometimes find out.Know what you like to do and clear the decks to do it.The phone works both ways.Stacy Bogdonoff
Stacy Bogdonoff on Instagram
Rick Lowe
Martha Tuttle
El Anatsui
Death of An Artist podcast
Desert Island Discs podcast
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Trauma journalism, social activism, igniting and changing conversations, and telling stories in a visual way are all integral part of Amy Putman’s life. Amy is a collagist and mixed media artist with a passion for issues of social justice. She helped create and brand the Million Mom March for Common Sense Gun Laws with her logo and slogan “Looking for a Few Good Moms.”
Amy says: “I am drawn to texture, materials pattern, and color in their own right. Working with found objects expands my visual vocabulary. These materials, each of which brings its own history and associations, give a deeper and multi-dimensional reading to the work, work I hope will ignite conversation.”
Participating in artist groups, non-profit organizations, art community adds to her depth and breadth of the work she creates. She is a Trustee of the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey, SKIP of New York and the Trust for Trauma Journalism, a founding member of the New York Collage Ensemble, and Co-Chair of the Artists and Talent Peer Group for the Impact Guild. Her studio is in Manufacturer’s Village Artists, East Orange, New Jersey.
Key takeaways
“I have an obligation to myself to not run away from what I have to say.”You have to fill your puzzle box with all the pieces before you put the puzzle together.Being out there in the world helps you become aware of what’s relevant and is inspirational for the art.Art is an adventure. Keep growing, as a person, and bring those adventures to your art.Art is definitely therapy, whether you know it or not.Know when to say no, but remember to say YES to opportunities!Amy Putman
Amy Putman on Instagram
The Jealous Creator - Deborah Roberts episode 190, Bisa Butler episode 185
Austin Kleon
Million Mom March
NY Collage Ensemble
The Camp Gallery – The Contemporary Art Modern Project Gallery
Tish Lampert
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The effect of knitting during the birthing process, the importance of resting, felting as the wild sister of fiber arts, and the role of felting in community practices and traditions all comes up during my convo with Megan Henderson. And the always impactful practice of letting go and surrendering to the present moment. Megan is a fiber artist living on a few wooded acres in Central Ohio who is inspired by nature, our connection to it and to each other, myths, lore and symbols, shadow work and the mysteries that lay just beyond our grasp.
Key takeaways
Pay attention and notice when fear needs to be conquered and when it is our intuition giving us a warning.Don’t beat yourself up when you find yourself going down the path of thinking you’re not doing enough. But if you try and notice when it happens, those feelings might lessen.You don’t have to EARN your rest.“We are not meant to understand it all. We are not meant to grasp it. We are meant to make guesses about it.”Megan Henderson
Megan Henderson on Instagram
Megan Henderson on Facebook
Nuno felting
Insight Timer meditation app
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman
Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey
The Leftovers
ArtHoles, 7 episodes of Frida Kahlo
Pulling the Thread podcast, Knitting Together our Lives (Peggy Orenstein)
Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, Susan Cain
Antieau Gallery
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Sue Bulmer is an artist, educator, Art Psychotherapist and Inspiration Facilitator. Her expressive, energetic and colourful work is inspired by landscape and seasonal alignment. Sue believes we are all creative souls and is a passionate advocate for the well-being benefits of living a more creative life. She has a deep understanding, stemming from personal experience, of the many benefits of living a more creative life and the barriers and beliefs that stop us. We chat about paying attention to when it’s time to rest, confronting the fear that tries to keep you small and safe, being stuck and what happens when you stop fighting it, putting yourself out there even though it can be scary, the payoff is worth it!
Takeaways:
Make art just for you.Nature takes a rest during the year. Why don’t we?Categorizing things help us understand things, but they come with rules and those rules can be limiting.It’s in the spaces that the ideas come.“Stress is caused by being here and wanting to be there.”It’s never too late.Sue Bulmer
Sue Bulmer on Instagram
Sue Bulmer on Facebook
Sustain Your Creativity through Autumn & Winter, A free guide from Sue Bulmer
The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, Florence Williams
Environmental Arts Therapy and the Tree of Life, Ian Siddons Heginworth
Rick Rubin on Feel Better Live More
Sue’s Creative Soul Sketchbooks course
Kellee Wynne Conrad, Build it Remarkable
Beltane, Gaelic May Day Festival
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Feedback loops in the art world, finding ways to accumulate more moments of joy, the in-between spaces, writing vs. storytelling, not fitting into a box, and the orange couch are all part of Bela Suresh Roongta’s story. Bela is a Milwaukee-based visual artist, writer and storyteller. She has shown in solo & group exhibitions, been featured as a writer & speaker and recognized for innovation and success in art and storytelling. Committed to the rituals of drawing, journaling and traveling, Bela makes art, writes stories and curates experiences that explore identity & place, dance with memory and tradition and tell of the times we live in. Her art and storytelling honors those who came before us, our shared experiences and our differences.
Key Takeaways:
The more personal you are, the more personal your work is, and the more universal it becomes.Find the magic in the unknown.Allow yourself to be seen so that others can be seen. The more story we know about you the more connected we feel.Art is a very self forward profession.Find ways to accumulate more moments of joy.Bela Suresh
Bela Suresh on Instagram
Part 1 | Night Country Origins with Showrunner Issa López and Executive Producer Mari Jo Winkler
The True Detective: Night Country PodcastSaint Kate Exhibition: Relief — The Stories We Carry by Bela Suresh Roongta
Robin Davisson Episode 69 on Authentic Obsessions
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Susan Lerner is a New York City based contemporary hand-cut collage artist drawn to vintage imagery and maps, evoking a sense of familiarity and nostalgia. Her work is a reflection of the power of visual storytelling and its ability to connect us to our memories and emotions. Susan’s work has been published in periodicals and books, she’s the co-founder of the New York Collage Ensemble, and she is currently licensed with Jiggy Puzzles and Jiggy Studio. Enjoy our conversation about tag sales, boundaries, trying new things, taking pauses, and challenges of selling your work.
Takeaways
“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” Twyla TharpeHaving too many options can drive you crazy.Moving your body helps with problem solving and artistic creativity.Find different outlets to sell your work.Links
Susan Lerner
Susan Lerner on Instagram
Jiggy Puzzles, City of Dreams
92NY
Hollie Chastain
Galen Gibson-Cornell
Art and Cocktails podcast
The Jealous Curator, Art for Your Ear podcast
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The feminine form has returned in Denise Daffara's latest work along with every day familiar objects such as her much loved chairs and cups of tea. Denise is an artist, soulful seeker, wild wonderer, deep listener, sacred space holder, Creativitea Time inspirer & private priestess, Intentional Creativity Guide & Certified Color of Woman Teacher.
Denise's art practice is an intuitive, light and colour fueled exploration of her life’s journey. Her paintings are filled with Australian and New Zealand botanicals and plenty of tea related moments. You’ll also find Matisse inspired feminine figures visiting her painted interiors and table settings depicted in a non-realistic, contemporary style. Her art expresses the sacred union between beauty and healing for the heart.
Takeaways
Creativity can help us hold space for our grief. Pay attention to the beginning, middle and end energy while you’re creating a piece of work.Share your art journey in an open and honest way.When it's more uncomfortable to NOT do it, creative inspiration shows up.“Your vision is stronger than your fear.” Kylie SlavikLinks
Denise Daffara
Denise Daffara on Instagram
Little dd on Instagram
Denise Daffara on Facebook
Denise Daffara on Youtube
Insights at the Edge with Tammy Simon podcast: Chip Conley: Midlife: From Crisis to Chrysalis
Gertrude and Alice bookstore and coffee shop -
The monumental labors of women that often go unnoticed, and the resilience of women under the invisible weight they carry are themes interwoven in the current work of interdisciplinary artist Nirmal Raja.
Nirmal's current solo exhibition at the Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art is titled Grace and Grit, and highlights her current authentic obsession with material intimacy. Nirmal’s keen observations and curiosity during her 3-month Kohler Arts/Industry residency resulted in an inspirational and wide body of work, including works cast in iron and brass, sound recordings and photographs. Nirmal is also part of the Paglees, a feminist collective of artists of South Asian origin living across the United states, currently exhibiting their work at the South Asia institute in Chicago.
Nirmal collaborates with other artists and strongly believes in investing energy into her immediate community while also considering the global.
Takeaways
Despite all the restrictions, I am strong.“Share your excitement for your practice and your own work.” Jason Yi“There is mud and there is the lotus, and you cannot have the lotus without the mud.” Thich Nhat HanhPush against restrictive boxes we put ourselves in.Links
Nirmal Raja
Nirmal Raja on Instagram
Nirmal Raja on Linkedin
A Brush With… Cornelia Parker
Portrait Society Gallery of Contemporary Art, Grace and Grit- solo exhibition
South Asia Institute, The Paglees: Between Reason and Madness
Grace and Grit Catalog
John Michael Kohler Arts Center Arts/Industry Residency Program -
Stones, learning, confidence, pattern and line, expressing beauty, and promoting your work are just a few topics artist Rena Diana covers today.
After retiring from a fulfilling career as an educator in Baltimore, Rena started focusing full time on her artwork. She worked every day in a studio at the Art Students League in New York City, where she began painting abstract landscapes. Rena is fortunate to divide her time between Baltimore and her home on Lake Champlain in Vermont, which is the source of much of her inspiration.
Rena on art journals and sketching: "Throughout my adult life, I have kept notebooks chronicling my observations and experiences. Gradually these became art journals, filled with sketches and collages, along with personal narrative and remarks about the creative process. As these notebooks evolved into more formal exercises, I realized that they were distinct art forms in themselves. At that point, I began creating larger, single pieces. These art journals remain a core part of my studio practice."
Takeaways
You develop confidence as you learn to trust yourself and the process. Believe in yourself and that what you have to share with other people is valuable.It’s a marathon. A long game.Learning is the best antidepressant.First think about who YOU are before you decide how and where you’re going to promote your work.Links
Rena Diana
Rena on Instagram
City Arts and Lectures, Ann Patchett
Mary Lynn O’Shea
The Art Students League of New York
Last Light, How Six Great Artists Made Old Age a Time of Triumph, Richard Lacayo
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The challenges of creating on a deadline, having faith and trust in the thing you’re doing, and the feelings that arise when switching from the act of writing to marketing and promotion all come up during our conversation.
Nick Petrie is the author of 8 best-selling Peter Ash crime fiction novels, including The Price You Pay, out February 2024. His debut, The Drifter, won both the ITW Thriller award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, and was a finalist for the Edgar and the Hammett Awards. He is also an excellent husband (mine!) and father (to our son Duncan).
Takeaways
Winnow down and lean into the thing that is interesting to you and that you really want to pursue and then let go of the outcome when it gets out into the world.“Keep a clean antenna."Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.Seamus Heaney on the hardest thing about writing: “Getting started, keeping going and getting started again.”Links
Nick Petrie’s website
Follow Nick Petrie on Instagram
Follow Nick Petrie on Facebook
Follow Nick Petrie on X
Your Brain on Art, Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Mystery Tribune, The Cleveland Job
Bill Schweigart
Boswell Books
The Poisoned Pen Bookstore
Murder By the Book bookstore
Kaye Publicity
Michael Mann, Blackhat and Collateral
The Great Creators with Guy Raz episode 67 with Andy J Pizza of Creative Pep Talk
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Carol Paik, a New York based artist, is interested in many different media, but really found meaning working with repurposed textiles. After years of buying expensive and often toxic materials for her work, her goal now is to create art exclusively out of the unappreciated, overlooked, landfill-destined stuff she finds around her, of which there is never a shortage.
She most enjoys taking something that is overlooked, and looking at it closely. Or, taking something too frequently seen, and looking at it slightly differently. She is interested in the emotions that we bring to the things we discard: nostalgia, guilt, desire, and loss, and her goal is to give these objects--and, by extension, ourselves—new possibilities.During our chat, Carol talked about the idea of leaving a mark without marring a landscape, specifically in relation to her cairn projects, but it got me thinking of that in a broader sense. And she also assured me that sometimes finishing a project is overrated.
photo by Sharon Schuur
Takeaways
Ask yourself: Why do I need to do it THAT way?Keep your eye on the road because wherever you’re looking is where you’ll end up.Take a closer look.If you limit yourself, you’ll look at things in a different way.Look around for things you can reuse for your projects.Links
Carol Paik
Carol Paik on Instagram
Heidi Parkes
Nina Katchadourian
Natalya Khorover -
K. Woodman-Maynard’s obsession with emotional expression comes out not only in her graphic novels but also through anger journaling and diary comics. She loves tree time, cold water swimming, running and cross-country skiing. Katharine is a sequential storyteller and an artist who writes (as opposed to a writer who draws) and loves to mentor other creatives. Her debut, The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Novel Adaptation was called, “hugely rewarding” by The Wall Street Journal.
Takeaways
Be present and enjoy yourself.What can I do for social media, not what social media can do for me.Get some tree time.Bring in people for feedback during a long term project.Links
K. Woodman-Maynard
K. on Instagram
K. on Facebook
K. on Linkedin
K. on Pinterest
Great Gatsby Graphic Novel, K. Woodman-Maynard
The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks
Healing Back Pain, John Sarno
Art Matters, Neil Gaiman -
From chenille bedspreads & fringe vests to mosaics & ceramics, Andryea Natkin shares her journey as a seeker, always on the lookout for what is truly hers so she can express it. She was born into a family of artists, which gave her that foundation of permission to trust herself. Andryea persevered and eventually received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, all along working in a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, printmaking, mosaic and ceramics.
Takeways
Be wasteful and make ugly things.Make a lot of mistakes.Don’t judge yourself while you’re making.Inspiration comes from my heart, not my head.Turn the fire up. It’s time to get going.Links
Andryea Natkin
Andryea on Instagram
Andryea on Facebook
Your Brain on Art, Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Artery Ink -
Joanne is an artist and photographer whose work is “based in semi-abstraction, purposefully balanced between representational and the imagined. in my role as an artist, these two elements have become an integral part of my motivation to create, with the ‘doing’ often as important as the outcome. I firmly believe that natural curiosity and creative pursuits are essential to healthy living, regardless of age or education.” Jo shares her experiences and how they impact her daily life and her long term connections. Her obsession with fragility and delicacy is linked to her fascination with awe and transience, resiliency, and mortality.
Takeaways
If you really listen to people, you hear more. If you really look, you see more. If you care, you get more.A piece is finished when it stops talking to me.Resilience is tolerating emotional discomfort.Ask yourself, “And what’s so bad about that?”Accept limitations that some things just can’t be changed. We can only change our bit.Links
Joanne Olney
Joanne Olney on Instagram
Joanne Olney on Facebook
Joanne Olney on Pinterest
AWE: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, Dacher Keltner -
Weather, layers, inner worlds, thick living and 10,000 folded paper cranes. Brianna’s work is driven by world-building. She’s interested in exploring possible and impossible landscapes that may or may not exist on this planet, in this dimension, in a memory, a dream, or a vision…they may never have existed anywhere — until now. Her creations convey an architectural/organic world which thrives in paradox and ambiguity; it’s a place that gives voice to so much more than can be articulated with sound or words. Each piece she creates is an earnest translation of the feelings, ideas, images, landscapes, and visions of her inner world — for Brianna, the ultimate goal of her creative life is to ardently impart to your inner world what she can from her own.
Takeaways
We are all complicated nuanced onion layers of humans.We are all works in progress.The lessons are everywhere.Sharing of the art is just as important as the creating of the art.There are no mistakes in art. If you think it’s not right, it’s just not done.We are little time tornadoes creating our own weather.Links
Brianna Martray
Brianna on Instagram
Brianna on Facebook
Brianna’s YouTube Video: "The Making of a Public Art Installation at Denver International Airport" (June 21, 2011)
Tim Hecker
Lee Bontecou
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