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Your Creative Push

Your Creative Push is the podcast that pushes YOU to pursue your creative passion, even though you have a busy, full-time life. Twice a week, Youngman Brown interviews artists, musicians, writers, photographers, graphic designers, and other inspirational creative individuals in an attempt to get them to inspire you to put aside your excuses and START DOING WORK. Each artist opens up to YOU, revealing the things that hold THEM back on a daily basis, and how they FIGHT THROUGH IT. They then give you one final push, in an attempt to motivate you to start doing work as soon as the episode is over. If you have a full-time job or full-time responsibilities and WISH that you had the COURAGE and MOTIVATION to FINALLY do that thing that has been on your mind, this podcast is for you!
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Now displaying: June, 2016
Jun 29, 2016

Jane Radstrom is a figurative painter from San Francisco, CA. She is known for her unique pastel portraits of people depicted with multiple poses layered over one another, so that they appear to be moving.  Her work is shown in galleries across America, and has won awards from The Portrait Society, The Pastel Society of the West Coast and Pastel Journal Magazine.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jane

In this episode, Jane discusses:

-Her upcoming move to Berlin.

-A look into what she does as a painter and how she got to her current situation as an artist.

-How she goes about making the double exposure portraits with models.

-The role that her photography plays in the creation of one of her portraits, and how she has to sometimes make an effort to not employ all of her creativity during the shooting so she can still make decisions during the actual painting.

-How the double exposure portraits came to be, almost accidentally.

-How she tries to use an introverted moment and an extroverted moment in her double exposure paintings.

-How one of her concerns is that she wants her work to be important and express something necessary to society and art history and how she has had to let go of that pressure.

-How she wants her art to respond to the time in which she lives.

-The formula that she gives her students to combine elements of other genres and medias that they love into what they are creating to give it an original spin.

-How she sometimes tries to work everything out in her head and refine it instead of just starting and figuring it out as she goes.

-Her advice to avoid paralysis by analysis.

-The value of authenticity, and how people are able to easily recognize when you care about what it is you are making.

-One of her most triumphant creative moments, when she just decided to e-mail her favorite gallery to try to get her work hanging there.

-Her formula for balancing her time.

-How incredibly difficult it is to be a professional artist.

Jane's Final Push will inspire you to set a clear goal and determine what it is what you want as an outcome from what you want to achieve with your art and creativity.

 

Quotes:

“I really like to try to work fast because if I slow down too much then I’ll chase unnecessary details.  Working quickly helps me try to go for feeling or mood instead of pure accuracy.  The faster I can do something, the better the final result is.”

“For me, the difficulty that I’ve always had is that I want my work to be important.”

“Instead of waiting for genius or waiting for this perfect, fully-formed idea, I’ve found that it’s more important for me to just do work.  Develop the idea as I produce work and then hopefully bring it towards something which at least is important to me personally.”

“I don’t know how to get inspiration from the outside world.  The longer I wait, the less inspired I am to paint.  Momentum goes in the wrong direction.  Whereas the more I paint, the more inspired I am and the more ideas I have.”

“It started to turn around when I decided that if I wasn’t selling any paintings anyway, I might as well just paint whatever I wanted.”

Links mentioned:

New Masters Academy on YouTube

Connect with Jane:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Jun 27, 2016

Xin Li is a twenty-one-year-old photographer living in Bergen, Norway who likes to chase light.  She has been interested in photography all of her life and believes that photography is not just important to document the beauty that she sees around her, but to also tell stories with her work.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/xin

In this episode, Xin discusses:

-How she got her initial interest in photography and the journey that she took to get to the place that she is now.

-How she gets very emotionally attached to her photographs because they often come from her own feelings.

-How photography (and all forms of art) can be used as a way to get your emotions out, and in that way it can be a form of therapy.

-What it was like when she first started sharing her photos on social media.

-How she sometimes struggles with comparing herself to other photographers, and how important it is to admire instead of compare.

-A time when she was in a creative limbo, not taking pictures (and how she got out of it).

-That it is perfectly okay to take a break from your art, and that breaks, whether long or short, don't signify that you're not an artist anymore.

-How some of her best moments are when she receives admiration for her work.

-One of her favorite photographs.

-How the internet and social media helped to give her confidence, as nobody in her town was out taking photographs the way she was.

-How she has scheduled days in her calendar that are strictly made for photography.

Xin's Final Push will inspire you to ignore the followers and "likes," and to remember to do your art for yourself!

Quotes:

"Throughout the years, I used a lot of disposable cameras."

"For me, photography has always been a creative and emotional outlet."

"I like to document my life and things that I see, sure.  But I also want to tell stories with my work."

"I feel very emotionally attached to most of the photos that I take, because the inspiration of it often comes from my own feelings."

"I started taking photos every time I was feeling down, and it worked like therapy for me."

"I felt really exposed, but it felt good because people saw me for my work and not the other things."

"Don't compare yourself to other people.  Look up to them instead.  Admire their work and maybe it will inspire you and push you to create something yourself."

"If you feel like you need a break from your art, whether it's a day or a month to think and to feel, that's okay.  You don't stop being an artist just because of that."

"Always remember that you are doing this for yourself, not to compete with others."

Links mentioned:

"Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer

Connect with Xin:

Facebook / Instagram / Tumblr

Jun 24, 2016

Michele Chiaramonte is a former New York City school-teacher turned stay-at-home mom, turned woodworker.  She designs and hand-makes children’s imaginative play toys for her company, Little Miss Workbench, an ecofriendly workshop out of Bellport Village, New York.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/littlemissworkbench

In this episode, Michele discusses:

-The story of how Little Miss Workbench came to be.

-How her daughter, Mali, was always trying to play with her DSLR camera, which gave her the idea to make her a wooden one of her own.

-How the camera evolved as it was being created and as more people got their hands on it.

-The support of friends and family who were interested in having the toys for themselves or someone they knew.

-How she always wanted Little Miss Workbench to be a home-grown company that stayed in the United States.

-The skills that she learned growing up from her father, who was a master craftsman.

-The importance of being able to surround yourself with people and resources that can help support, teach, and encourage you.

-How she would have to split up her time thinking and working on her projects in the limited time that she had as a mother.

-How she tries to look at "work" as "play" and what a shame it is when people concentrate on the success of what they do is based on money rather than what makes them happy.

-Her attempt to get kids (and adults) to be imaginative and to look at the world around them with wonder.

-Her "figure-it-out-as-we-go" mentality.

-How big opportunities can often be as terrifying as they are joyful.

Michele's Final Push will inspire you to figure out what it is that makes you tick, and then run with it!

Quotes:

"For my first Mother's Day, I asked my husband if he would get me a table saw."

"It's always important to think about what things are already out there.  Is it really feasible for you to make it with creating your own business, creating something that people aren't doing already."

"She was ecstatic when we first gave it to her.  She knew exactly what to do.  It was incredible."

"It evolved as it was being created."

"The whole idea was to be hand-making these things and providing something that has a story behind it.  Not just this manufactured good that gets put on the shelf for people to buy."

"It's just how you define what "stay-at-home mom" means.  You can still be a rocket and be a mom 100% and also continue to fulfill your dreams."

"When you think about what kids play with today, there's not a whole lot of imagination that's going on."

"At the end of the day, you just have to have courage.  You figure out how you're going to make it work, and if you feel that you're not capable of making it work, you have to ask for help."

"People often feel like they are failures because they weren't able to accomplish something on their own, but you really do need others to accomplish things that you set out to do."

"You become inspired to do something, but if you don't act upon it, no one else is going to do it for you."

"It's never going to happen unless you make it happen."

Connect with Michele:

Website / Instagram 

 

Jun 22, 2016

Brandyn Burnette is a progressive soul producer/singer-songwriter from St. Louis, Missouri currently living in Los Angeles. This self taught, 3rd generation musician has crafted his own sound and style that has begun to takeover the pop underground world from the inside out.  He released his first EP “Made of Dreams” in 2015, and his latest EP “State I’m In” comes out (TODAY) on June 24th, 2016.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/brandyn

In this episode, Brandyn discusses:

-The difference between State I'm In and Made of Dreams, his first EP.

-How the titles of his records are self-explanatory and their significance.

-The story behind his song, "State I'm In" and the serendipitous discovery of something that he wrote when he was fifteen.

-How each of the songs in State I'm In were lyrically created in different ways and how he learned to stay open to different ways of writing songs.

-The role that destiny plays in his life, as well as the new record.

-The freedom that he felt after leaving his first label, when he was the only person listening to his songs and he could do it for himself.

-The power in listening to your heart over your head, and especially over what other people tell you.

-How important it is for him to take both the positive and negative aspects of his life and put them into his music, and how all artists should be attempting to do the same.

-How we are constantly putting the best version of ourselves online and creating a persona that is in contrast to who we actually are.

-The story of his American Idol audition, and why he decided to leave the competition.

-The story behind his song "Karma."

Brandyn's Final Push will inspire you to take baby steps and never give up!

 

Quotes:

"I wanted to reign in the sound with this one because I felt like I figured out what I wanted to say as an artist."

"This project really made me feel like an artist moreso than the last one."

"It was really an exciting time to go back and find some lyrics from the past that were wiser than what I could have written now."

"We go through these things as people, and we're always trying to figure out where we're at and who we are.  But if you have faith that you're going to get there, it reveals itself."

"Continuing to write and to not need any validation but myself -- those completely saved my artistry."

"When I was at Warner, I learned who I wasn't.  I learned who other people wanted to be."

"Stay authentic to what's in your heart.  At the end of the day, that leads you better than your head and your gut."

"I used to write as if I had no problems.  I used to try to cover up every bit of my sadness in my music."

"Take whatever is in your life, whether it is positive or negative, and heal from it through the music."

Connect with Brandyn:

Website / iTunes / Spotify / YouTube / Soundcloud / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Jun 20, 2016

Picolo is a traditional and digital freelance illustrator based in Brazil.  He took the internet by storm with his 365 Days of Doodles project, in which he blessed the internet with a new complex and detailed drawing every day for a year.  He used that success to build an incredible following on DeviantArt, Instagram, & Facebook, where he continues to generously open up his sketchbook as well as his words of advice for defeating procrastination. 

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/picolo

In this episode, Picolo discusses:

-His self-taught artistic past and how comics, anime, and manga.

-What inspired him to start his 365 Days of Doodles project in 2014.

-How being able to draw every day comes down to having the right mindset.

-How the first month of a long-term goal can often be the hardest one, but once you get past that initial period, it becomes much easier to do it every day.

-The first step is hardest for him is breaking the ice and sitting down to put them on paper.

-How you can start out with “doodles” and then get more complex as you continue to grow as an artist and challenge yourself.

-The power that comes from setting a longer-term goal with your art.

-How carrying a sketchbook can change your mindset, but also give you an opportunity to get all of your ideas down.

-How ideas might not make sense when you first put them in your sketchbook, but it is still important to get them down and flesh them out at a later time.

-What it’s like to have such a large following on Instagram.

-Why it’s important for him to continue create challenges and projects for himself and his fans.

-How he is always amazed by the amount of people that join his challenges.

-How he has defeated procrastination, but he still struggles with putting things down on paper and getting started.

-How he starts out by working on the things that are boring and mundane for him (like backgrounds), and then moving on to the fun things.

-His favorite drawings, “What I Think, What I Say,” and one of the first drawings of Icarus and the Sun.

Picolo's Final Push will teach you to find what inspires you and what triggers your own creativity.

Quotes:

“I used to draw one drawing every month or so.”

“One of my new years resolutions was to draw every day of the year.”

“I think it’s about mindset.  I was always waiting for some inspiration to come.  For me, it was okay to draw only when I felt inspired.  And that’s not okay.  You can wait for a month.  You have to make it a part of your life.  That’s why I started drawing every day.”

“I felt strange if I didn’t draw something on a particular day.  It felt like it was a lost day.”

“What really helped me was committing to a long-term project.  It doesn’t have to be a year-long project.  A month is totally fine.”

“Sometimes it’s just a silly concept.  Just write it down and leave it there for a month or two, and then it comes back like a big masterpiece.”

“It’s important for me to learn, improve, and create something new in the process.”

“It’s so much fun to watch these kinds of challenges develop.  It always blows out of proportion.  I never expect the amount of people that join.”

“I try to tackle the most challenging stuff, the most boring stuff first when I’m at the peak of my energy.  Then, I move to stuff that I naturally love to do, and it’s easier that way.”

“Whenever I get this connection using my drawings, then I just won the day.”

“It doesn’t have to take long.  It doesn’t have to be complicated.  You just have to draw something.  Create something.”

“Don’t wait for some magic source of inspiration to come.  You have to chase after your own source of inspiration.  Art is all about self-knowledge, so it’s your job to find what inspires you and what triggers your own creativity.”

Links mentioned:

Discworld by Terry Pratchett

Neil Gaiman  2012 Commencement Speech "Make Good Art" (YouTube)

Amanda Palmer Commencement Speech "The Fraud Police" (YouTube)

Connect with Picolo:

DeviantArt / Patreon / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Jun 17, 2016

Eyoälha Baker is a Canadian photographer who is spreading joy one jump at a time.  With her Jump for Joy Photography project, she travels the world taking photos of people from all walks of life in mid-air as they jump for joy in an attempt to showcase the beauty of the human spirit.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jumpforjoy

In this episode, Eyoälha discusses:

-How she first got into photography.

-The story behind the Jump for Joy Photography project.

-How she was frustrated with the way that media seems to only capture negative images.

-Her fascination with the idea of "groupthink" and her desire to make it work for positive emotions and outcomes as well.

-The various opportunities that have come from starting the Jump for Joy Photo Project.

-Her decision to make a mural and the synchronistic way that things seemed to come together for her (with the help of others).

-How approaching the bad neighborhood that her mural was in from a place of joy made her see it in a new light, and helped the people she interacted with to reciprocate that joy.

-How once she made the decision to do the mural, it was almost like alchemy how help came in so many different forms.

-How she handled seeing her mural being taken down and what she did afterwards.

-Where she intends to go with the Jump for Joy photo project.

Eyoälha's Final Push will inspire you to see the final project as completed, and then just take the steps to get it done.

Quotes:

"All the sudden, photography was magical to me."

"The way images are presented in the media has always irked me."

"I started focusing on creating images that really captured positive energy."

"The news was intended for informing people of things.  But who decides that death is more newsworthy than life?"

"My life has really really changed since I started this project."

"Being creative is such a vulnerable thing."

"Seriously magic happened.  It was so synchronistic the way things fell in place.  It almost seemed like it was alchemy."

"As the project grows, my vision for it is growing and falling into place."

Links mentioned:

Eyoälha's TEDx Talk

"Interesting Vancouver" Talk

Connect with Eyoälha:

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Jump for Joy Photo Project:

Website / Facebook / Instagram

 

Jun 15, 2016

Jacob Dhein is a painter from San Francisco whose paintings capture the modern world with the nostalgic nature of the past.  He works across multiple disciplines including figurative, landscape, and plein air painting, and his talent is founded in his desire to teach others as he also continues to learn himself.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jacobdhein

In this episode, Jacob discusses:

-How he got started as an artist growing up.

-How he is always striving to grow and become a better artist.

-The difference between workshops and undergraduate art programs, and how it might surprise you how much you can learn in well-run workshops.

-If you are at an intermediate level, to maybe start thinking about teaching at a beginner level.

-How the type of painting he does simply depends on his mood.

-The challenges that come from plein air painting.

-The various ways that he has held himself back at different points in his life.

-His advice for dealing with critics or negative comments.

-His best and worst creative moments.

-How there's never a moment where you can't go back into an old painting and fix things.

-How he loves the freedom that art brings to his life and he could never do a 9-5 job.

-Li Hu, one of his biggest inspirations.

Jacob's Final Push will help you realize that the amount of time you put into something is the amount of time you're going to get out of it.

 

Quotes:

"If you get into certain workshops, you can learn in a week what some people learn in a year."

"The first thing that really held me back was myself."

"It's just something that all artists have to deal with is the critic side of their artwork."

"Just keep going forward.  Just keep painting."

"As long as the paintings are in my studio, I don't know if they are ever completed until they get shipped out.  They're usually at 98% finished."

"I just wake up and walk right over to the studio.  My studio is right across from my bed so it's not very far."

Links mentioned:

Artist Li Hu

Antonio Mancini: Nineteenth-century Italian Master

Connect with Jacob:

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Jun 14, 2016

Noah is a songwriter and member of the band, The Horse-Eyed Men with his brother, Dylan.  They play original disgruntled Americana and country music.  Raised by musical humans in a former candy store outside of Providence R.I., their music mixes spaghetti-western themes with cabaret, ragtime, and post-partum punk. Grave Country, their latest record, was recorded in Copenhagen on a grant from the Danish Arts Council in the summer of 2013.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/107

In this episode, Noah discusses:

-How sometimes the ideas you come up with won't make sense until a much later time.

-To take the pressure off of yourself -- what you create does not have to be a masterpiece.

-Just like your dreams are created, it is okay to use pieces of yourself and your daily life in your art.

-The importance of having fun while creating.

-Terence McKenna and the idea that nobody knows the answers.

-Thinking about the possibilities of the things that didn't happen to you.

-To not worry about originality, because you are so unique that you are the only person that could make the thing that you are going to make in the way that you are going to make it.

-An exercise that he does as a songwriter in which he writes new lyrics to an existing song, then changes the melody.

-How you have to go easy on yourself when it comes to creativity.

Noah's Final Push will inspire you to start small and start steady!

 

Quotes:

"You use the material of the world to reflect on it."

"For a creative process to really be meaningful there has to be an element of searching in it.  You actually can't have all the answers."

"We're all these really unique constellations.  There's no way that it won't be original, whatever it is that you make.  You're the only one who would do something like this.  There's no other creature that would make it in just the way that you would."

"You have to be so gentle with yourself with creativity.  There's no rule book which determines whether a drawing is legitimate for the reason it was made."

"Start small and start steady.  The Muse is fickle and she has a lot of lovers."

Links mentioned:

Terence McKenna - "Nobody Is Smarter Than You Are" (YouTube)

Your Creative Push Episode 77: You're IMPOSSIBLY RARE.  So DO SOMETHING! (Alex Hofeldt Part 2)

Connect with Noah:

Bandcamp / Facebook

Jun 13, 2016

Noah is a songwriter and member of the band, The Horse-Eyed Men with his brother, Dylan.  They play original disgruntled Americana and country music.  Raised by musical humans in a former candy store outside of Providence R.I., their music mixes spaghetti-western themes with cabaret, ragtime, and post-partum punk. Grave Country, their latest record, was recorded in Copenhagen on a grant from the Danish Arts Council in the summer of 2013.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/noah

In this episode, Noah discusses:

-How The Horse-Eyed Men came to be.

-The creative relationship he shares with his brother, Dylan.

-The role that humor and storytelling plays in his songs.

-How humor can often unlock things in people that you wouldn't normally be able to tap into.

-The role that travel plays in his life.

-A strategy that he uses to help him to "shake up" his orientation and to see the world in different ways.

-Another trick that he uses to find new ways to explain the same thing.

-How all writing is is "ass in chair."

-How creating a large piece of work should be taken piece by piece.

-How you can look back at the things you create and remember what mood you were in when you made it or what the weather was like on that day.

Noah's Final Push will inspire you to start small and start steady!

 

Quotes:

"For me, humor is a quick way to the heart."

"Storytelling is an important element of my songs.  I'm always looking where something begins, where it goes to, and where it ends."

"You can really tell as a performer when you surprise someone and they are surprised by their own laughter."

"Traveling can be a really good thing to open up different paths of thinking and different parts of yourself."

"We're just a weird combination of organic molecules and experiences and memories and the thing doesn't last too long.  And it's mysterious.  We don't know where it comes from and we don't know where it's going."

"It's so easy to get tunnel vision and rely on a pattern that we had yesterday or the day before or the week before and not open up."

"I think that with creativity, it's a kind of muscle.  It's a practice.  There are concrete small things you can do on a daily basis to open up that capacity within you."

"Inspiration is like a candle that burns quickly."

"All writing is is ass in chair."

Links mentioned:

Terence McKenna - "Nobody Is Smarter Than You Are" (YouTube)

Your Creative Push Episode 77: You're IMPOSSIBLY RARE.  So DO SOMETHING! (Alex Hofeldt Part 2)

Connect with Noah:

Bandcamp / Facebook

Jun 10, 2016

Randy is a talented artist who has been working as a freelancer for the past several years in the animation, gaming, and publishing industries. He has a passion for storytelling and his talents include character design, illustration, visual development, storyboarding, and more. He has worked for Dreamworks Animation Television, Axis Animation, Flauth Productions, Edge of Reality, and Pocket gems, just to name a few.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/randybishop

In this episode, Randy discusses:

-How he got to the point he is at today in his career.

-The pros and cons of working as a freelancer.

-How he is constantly trying to learn and devoting his free time to practicing and getting better.

-His advice for putting in the time to doing the work when you are feeling burnt out.

-How sometimes you have to work your way through a rut.

-One of the hardest things for him is working on a project that doesn’t pique his interests, like drawing comics or a story that doesn’t excite him.

-The struggle of working at home and balancing the work/home life and his advice for achieving that balance.

-The importance of getting and staying in the zone.

-One of his hardest times when he committed to too many projects and how to learn the appropriate amount of work to take on.

-How it is hard for some people to understand the importance of being in the zone.

-How you are twice as productive when you are in the zone.

-How he works best if he has a really big chunk of time to do work where he knows he won’t be interrupted.

-If he wakes up early, those first hours are the most productive.

-The reason he initially became interested in art and creativity is the emotionality that it can bring to people, especially with effective storytelling.

-How art and creativity make people feel things, unlike many other jobs.

-The X-Men drawings that he is doing for fun.

-How his personal work also has some business strategy behind it, as it usually leads to commissioned work.

-One of his favorite recent commissioned works and why he loved it so much.

Randy's Final Push will remind you that your creative pursuit has to be something that you are passionate about and to push through the struggles that come with it.

 

Quotes:

“Working freelance is great and awful at the same time.”

“A hard thing for a lot of creatives out there is that you love to create but only when it’s convenient or when you have time but the hard part is finding a real passion for it and deciding that it is something that you want to devote most of your time to it.

“What helps me is immersing myself in other people’s creativity.  That helps motivate me.”

“For me, reading fiction and watching cartoons is legitimate research.”

“If you sit and work for long enough, you can get your rhythm back.  It’s just a matter of determination and patience.”

“Sometimes you get into this place where it seems like you can do no wrong and everything you put down is just gold.”

“Your mindset and the way that you feel affects the way that you work.  Like, big time.”

“The whole reason behind art is to make people feel things.”

“Art is the epitome of productivity.  Because you’re doing things that hopefully will make a difference to someone somehow.”

“If you can devote the time to sit and just work at art, the payoff is huge.”

 

Connect with Randy:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

 

Jun 8, 2016

Michael C Hsiung is characterized by: large mustache (one of the few remaining facially hairy Asians surviving today) with all of the species capable of reaching one ton or more in weight; herbivorous diet; and a thin yellow protective skin, 1.5-5 cm thick, formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure; and a relatively small brain for a mammal of his size (400-600g). . Michael is prized for its mustache, sometimes his art. Not a true mustache, it is made of thickly matted hair that grows from the skull without skeletal support. Michael has acute hearing and sense of smell, but poor eyesight over any distance. Michael C. Hsiung will probably live to be about 50 years old or more.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/104

In this episode, Michael discusses:

-The inspiration behind his image of a man observing two deer hugging.

-How he developed his style on his own and how he was somewhat self-conscious as he began to hone in on his own style.

-The guidance that his sister gave to him on his artistic path, while still letting him figure things out on his own.

-The concept of self-doubt and the complications of doing art full-time.

-The importance of putting yourself in a good mindset if you are feeling too much pressure to create.

-How a lull in his professional life led to him starting taking drawing seriously.

-The mermen and having the courage to dive back into the things that he was interested in as a kid.

-The daily battle he has with Resistance as a freelancer.

-The balance of trying to stay ahead of the curve, but also not worrying too much about the future.

-One of his favorite creative moments when he got to design ads for an umbrella.

-How he schedules his work time based on his wife’s work schedule.

-What art and creativity brings to his life.

-How his sister is still his greatest inspiration.

Michael's Final Push will inspire you to concentrate on the present and not worry too much about the future!

 

Quotes:

“There’d be periods of time where I was just so conscious of what I was doing and the process that it would be hard to make stuff.”

“I’ll try to recreate an environment where I enjoyed drawing when I first started.”

“Just start out with a stupid idea and let it blossom.”

“If you’re bored, just draw something.”

“It’s nice to try to keep some kind of schedule because if it’s too flexible, you probably don’t get a lot of work done.”

Links mentioned:

"Vagrant Viking: My life and adventures" by Peter Freuchen

Connect with Michael:

Website / Store / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Tumblr

Jun 6, 2016

Edward Westerhuis is a multidisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. His work moves between visual art, video, and performance--often collaborating with other artists and working within the community. He creates imaginative worlds that play with an epic sense of scale, forming allegories that reflect the places he lives. Whether he's making sci-fi cardboard puppet shows, or music videos with giant dancing cats, Edward uses humour to create the unexpected and to carve out space for new perspectives. Edward has presented his work across Canada, from coast to coast, including the Yukon Arts Centre, the Banff Centre, and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/doublecat

In this episode, Edward discusses:

-How he got started down the creative path that got him to the point he is at now.

-How he came up with the idea for his "Double Cat" video.

-The deeper meaning behind the "Double Cat" video.

-His Tedx talk and the differences that performance art brings to the creation process.

-The hilarious story of one of his first creative moments.

-The creative lull that came into his life when he moved back home from school and how he got past it.

-The power that comes with mapping your creativity out to find out what works for you.

-Moving around, taking a walk, or doing some "lighter" creative work in order to clear your head when you need it.

-The idea of taking the pressure off of yourself by not worrying about the final product.

-One of his lowest moments, when he attended a film festival while in a creative drought and feeling like an imposter.

-The way he got out of his drought by working as Sook-Yin Lee's Director's Assistant.

-How Sook-Yin Lee was a role model for him and gave him the courage to be able to move between disciplines and art forms.

-How he likes when art can bring people together to form new types of interaction around the artwork.

-What art and creativity bring to his life.

Edward's Final Push will inspire you to find ways to shut out the anxiety of being overwhelmed by your creative end goal.

 

Quotes:

"Over time, I've been able to recognize my own process and see how you develop an idea from a glimpse of an image to a fully thought-out project."

"It was this slow-burning idea that was just creeping over time."

"When I work on a desk, I can't have anything on my desk except for what I'm working on that very moment because I get way too distracted."

"You're always trying to remove the anxiety from your process.  You don't want to be anxious while working because then you just get suffocated."

"When I'm making art now, I really think about my audience.  I think about creating opportunities that exist outside the artwork itself."

"I really love the opportunities for the face-to-face social interaction that can happen around artwork."

"One of the reasons why I love collaborating so much is because I can see people on a much deeper level.  We are able to build a communication that is very specific to an art piece but also has reverberations beyond that on a human-to-human level."

"Don't make it so big.  Make it small and make it an opportunity to learn about who you are."

"Find ways to shut out the anxiety of being overwhelmed by that end goal."

"Allow yourself to explore and embrace not knowing where you're going."

 

Links mentioned:

Double Cat Video

Edward's Tedx Talk

Ramshackle Theatre

"The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life" by Twyla Tharp

"Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Maria Rilke

Your Elusive Creative Genius” – Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk

Your Creative Push Episode 082: Interview with Li Chen of Extra Ordinary Comics

Connect with Edward:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Snapchat

Jun 3, 2016

Mitch Bowler is the founder of Pencil Kings, an online professional art teaching institution that provides top-flight instruction at an affordable price to those who are unable to attend traditional art schools. Formerly a 3D technical artist with work experience on top film and game projects, his focus is now on building and growing the Pencil Kings brand to provide art training and support to enrolled artists.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/mitch

In this episode, Mitch discusses:

-A bit about his creative history and what led him to create Pencil Kings.

-More details about Pencil Kings and what it offers to his members.

-How one of his biggest messages is to DO SOMETHING instead of continually just absorbing information.

-How the Internet has brought us a wealth of knowledge and teaches us how to do things, but the important thing is to actually do something with that knowledge.

-The power in setting a goal of making a new habit for 30 days.

-One of the most profound things he has learned through the Pencil Kings podcast -- finding a space where your competition isn't and dominating that space.

-When he finds it difficult creating, simply remembering what enticed him to draw and create in the first place -- what was fun.

-The power of outsourcing.

-How mind maps can help you to organize a large amount of information or ideas.

-Finding the things that are pain points for yourself, and being able to hand them off to someone else.

-The importance of looking at "outsourcing" as building a team.

-The ebbs and flows of balancing his own creative projects with the Pencil Kings project.

-How art and creativity (and Pencil Kings specifically) is like a puzzle box that he is constantly trying to figure out.

-How if you hear a recommendation two or three times, it is a signal that you must look into that.

Mitch's Final Push will inspire you to establish the good and bad things that can happen on your path to pursuing your creative passions.

 

Quotes:

"I wanted to create a resource where people could connect with professionals and distill the knowledge and also bring people together so they could support each other."

"It's scary to post your work and have haters."

"You can listen to a podcast, but when you go and do something, that's when the magic happens."

"It's hard to get the ball rolling in the beginning, but if you start to look at where the competition isn't, it's not as difficult."

"I think this is the key: No expectations."

"It's like this balance of having fun and building skills.  But you should weight it more on the fun."

"Where I see so many people get outsourcing wrong is that they hand it off and expect it to work on the first go."

"Sometimes if you are unsure of your direction, life will give you signs."

Links mentioned:

Pencil Kings

"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho

Connect with Mitch:

Website / Podcast / iTunes / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

Jun 1, 2016

Joanna Sternberg is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist living in New York City.  She primarily plays the double bass, but also plays electric bass, guitar, and piano.  Joanna sings and writes songs, and regularly performs her original music.  She plays folk, country, blues, rock, ragtime, classical, gospel, funk, rhythm and blues, klezmer, and jazz (ranging from the style of the 1920's to the present day.)  Joanna is also currently in a band called "Fraydele" as well as a talented visual artist.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/joanna

In this episode, Joanna discusses:

-How and why she chooses to write, sing, and play so many different styles of music.

-That the inspiration for the songs usually comes from personal experiences that she needs to get out into the world.

-Her band "Fraydele" that plays music that her grandmother, Fraydele Oysher, sang in the Yiddish Theater.

-How it is sometimes necessary to take a break and "fill the tank."

-How drawing and visual art is less draining and taxing on her than songwriting.

-How she has only been singing for two years (which is one of the most shocking things that Youngman Brown has learned on the show).

-When she first started to sing, how she sang in a lower voice because she thought it would be harder for people to make fun of.

-Her advice for everyone to get singing lessons to have someone help them find their voice.

-The importance of being able to have someone to help you with honest feedback, but who will also be supportive.

-Her struggles with self-image.

-How performing the songs aren't nerve-wracking to her, and how she is grateful that she doesn't write complicated lyrics.

-Even though her songs have a very specific meaning to her, how music and art are a way for people to communicate universal truths to one another.

-How she uses calendars to help her balance her time.

-Joanna's upcoming residency at Sunny's Bar on June 2, June 9, and June 16, 2016.

-Her biggest inspirations, Roz Chast and Randy Newman.

Joanna's Final Push will inspire you to pursue your creative passions and put it out there because you never know who it might affect.

 

Quotes:

"Not to be cheesy, but I just really feel the music I play.  So it didn't really take that much learning as opposed to just doing it and having fun."

"It usually is just something in my life I need to get out."

"It was definitely something I always wanted to do but I just never thought I could."

"Find people you trust who could help you.  Because it's hard to do it all alone."

"Sometimes I'm proud that I can take stuff in my life that's negative and write a song about it."

Links mentioned:

Dr. Katz Professional Therapist (YouTube)

Connect with Joanna:

Website / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Facebook / Art / Art Facebook

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