Sarah Kreuz is the host of the Art of the Unknown Podcast, a travel and spirituality podcast about traveling inwards, outwards & onwards.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/175
In this episode, Sarah discusses:
-How the Art of the Unknown Podcast was born when she decided that she needed to dive into something creative without worrying about the outcome.
-Some of the things that held her back from initially creating the podcast and continuing to create and share it.
-Where she is physically as well as spiritually.
-Her advice for people who might be scared of stepping into the unknown.
-How she started eating fish after being a vegetarian for 16 years.
-The importance of just trying something new, even if you are going to be bad at it.
-The power of one positive comment from someone you trust about your creativity.
-One of her toughest creative moments in her “den of sorrow.”
-The painful experience of having creativity inside of you, but not knowing the way it is supposed to come out.
-Not feeling guilty about creating for yourself, first and foremost.
-How her throat chakra is finally open!
Sarah's Final Push will encourage you to accept the fact that you are going to be scared and just go for it!
Quotes:
“I just want to dive into something creative and not really care about the outcome. Just see where it goes.”
“It’s turning into a healing process more than anything else.”
“I never used to consider myself a creative person. I just didn’t think I could do it. I shut myself off completely to even going in that direction.”
“I felt like there was something that I wanted to create and I really knew there was something inside of me wanting to come out, but I just didn’t know what it was.”
“I’ve given myself permission to make whatever the hell I want.”
“It has given me a sense of confidence, that who I am, what I have to say, what I have to think, and how I feel is worthy of having space in the world.”
Links mentioned:
“Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert
Connect with Sarah:
Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Aimée Rolin Hoover currently lives/works in southern California. Her paintings hang in collections all over the world, from the U.S. and Canada, to Europe and South America.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/aimee
In this episode, Aimée discusses:
-How she got into pet portraiture and how her art has evolved since then.
-The importance of being open to trying out new things with your art.
-How she achieved such great satisfaction from the positive reactions of her clients, but how she eventually had to concentrate on her own satisfaction.
-Ali Cavanaugh and making “micro evolutions” in your artwork.
-The importance of continuing to grow and evolve as an artist or creative person.
-The origins of her new Fly Mask series.
-The joy that comes from having a breakthrough after long periods of trial and error.
-Her “30 Paintings in 30 Days” Challenge and the numerous positive outcomes of it.
-The power in committing to do something in public and how it holds you accountable.
-The various Resistances that she has to face and how she handles them.
-The trick of cutting your big tasks and projects in halves until they are in manageable chunks that you aren’t intimidated to take on.
-The way that she attempts to battle perfectionism.
-Her upcoming show at Abend Gallery.
Aimée's Final Push will inspire you to take time every day to do the thing that brings you joy!
Quotes:
“I think it’s so important to grow as an artist and I kind of forgot about it for ten years.”
“I got really happy, really fast with that work.”
“I was really feeling equally incredibly inspired and completely fed up with my work.”
“And so I thought this is kind of the next phase of work for me. I want to continue to move away from what I know and go towards what I don’t know and see what happens.”
“If it brings you joy, it’s just worth it to take a little time every day and do it.”
Links mentioned:
2016 "26 Annual Holiday Miniatures" Show, Abend Gallery, Denver, CO (December, 2016)
YCP Episode 123 with Ali Cavanaugh
Connect with Aimée:
Renée Caouette is a talented fine artist who has lived between Boston and Paris, France for the past five years studying fine art and art history. She has traveled throughout Europe and North America researching artwork ranging from the primitive and ancient to contemporary arts.
Renée has exhibited throughout the United States and France, including Paris, New York City, Boston, Vermont, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/renee
In this episode, Renée discusses:
-How she became a fine artist, even though that was not her original intention.
-Making the decision to change her career path.
-Getting past fear.
-Her mantra “onwards and upwards,” and how it applies to her art and to her life.
-How she tries to always have two or three paintings going at a time to remind herself to keep moving forward.
-How surprisingly physically demanding painting is.
-How she attempts to use her paintings to portray important themes through the eyes of a millennial.
-An intimate view into her newest painting, “Searching for your roses since you’ve been kissing the sky.”
-The trust she places in her process to allow things to evolve organically.
-The magic that sometimes happens when everything falls into place.
-The role that travel plays in her life.
-Some of the daily resistances that attempt to hold her back from creating her art.
-How the loss of her father influences her mindset, her motivation, and her art itself.
-How she balances her time and attempts to “organize the chaos.”
Quotes:
“Fear is what holds us back, and if you’re fearful in life then you won’t enjoy it and you won’t do the things that you’re probably brought here to do. So just keep going.”
“I went through a really hard time because when you’re eighteen and you’re just starting to think of the possibilities of what you’re going to do for the rest of your life, you kind of have a little existential crisis.”
“Sometimes I need to see it first before I can actually understand what I’m completely making.”
“Everything is always a positive thing, even if you don’t know it yet.”
Connect with Renée:
Cat Rose is on a mission to help other creatives to get over their fears of self-promotion and to get their work seen and shared.
She does this through 1-to-1 coaching and an online members community called the League of Creative Introverts. It's a safe, quiet space for creatives to share their work openly, learn from others and get all the support they need on their journey.
Cat, first of all thank you for coming on the show, I wanted to let you start out by expounding upon that intro and really getting into what your kind-of personal mission is and what your mission is with the League of Creative Introverts.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/172
In this episode, Cat discusses:
-How The League of Creative Introverts started and her mission behind it.
-How many creative introverts might be comfortable creating their work, but sharing and promoting it is very difficult for them to do.
-Some of the “icky subjects” that she helps people to think about.
-The value of being able to commiserate and work through problems with other people and to realize that you aren’t alone with your creative shyness.
-Why people squirm so much at the thought of self-promotion.
-The power in finding your niche.
-Understanding the different types of fear and realizing that the fear of self-promotion isn’t the same fear of potential death.
-The difference between “dipping your toes” and “diving in.”
-Dealing with the fact that you are going to not be good at something when you first start.
-The gulf that sometimes exists between our “online self” and our “real self.”
-Dealing with the inner critic and imposter syndrome.”
-Reasons why you might not be reaching your creative goals.
-Breaking your goals down into daily metrics and then evaluating yourself on a 1-5 scale.
Cat's Final Push will inspire to realize that ACTUALLY, YOU CAN!
Quotes:
“Doing the work wasn’t actually the biggest struggle. It was getting people to see it.”
“Your audience finds you in a way.”
“It’s really hard for our ego to take the fact that we are going to suck when we first start something. Can I take that initial “sucking” for the long-term benefit of actually being pretty good at something?”
“It takes a lot of guts to say what we are or what we aspire to be. Because that inner critic is saying to us, ‘who are you to say that you’re an artist?’ or ‘Prove it.’”
“Remember that people like Tom Hanks and Neil Gaiman still claim to have imposter syndrome. So that really reassures me that if they still have that then my inner critic means nothing.”
“Actually, you can.”
Links mentioned:
The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
7 reasons why you might not be reaching your creative goals
Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
Connect with Cat:
John Allison is the writer and artist of the webcomics Bobbins, Scary Go Round, and Bad Machinery. Having launched Bobbins in 1998, John is one of the true pioneers of webcomics, and he has continued to evolve to remain one of the most popular webcomic producers today.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/johnallison
In this episode, John discusses:
-How he got the point he is today with his webcomics and his career.
-The importance of keeping your creative passion fun.
-His advice for how to get back to the place of fun with your work.
-How and why he started Bobbins as a five-day-a-week project.
-The difficult balance of being able to produce a great deal of content, but also maintain social relationships.
-A one month gap that he experienced in his work, and how it made him realize the meaningfulness of what he was creating.
-The importance of momentum.
-The notion of achieving a trance-like state or a flow state when you are creating.
-Taking care of your mind and body, and how that positively affects your creativity.
-How he allows his subconscious mind to work out the details of many of his creative problems.
-His first creative memories.
-The interesting way in which sloth helped to set him on the path of being a professional artist.
-Coming to terms with the setback caused by long or short gaps in your creative passion.
-His best and worst creative moments.
-The experience of seeing the importance of your work from outside of your body.
-Dealing with criticism as well as doing something that your fans aren’t initially on board with.
-How he balances his time.
John's Final Push will inspire you to not be afraid!
Quotes:
“There are layers of fun. It’s like a swatch, you know? You find new colors all the time.”
“I realized in that month that I’d lost a lot of self-worth through not creating.”
“I realized that it was perhaps the first thing of value that I had created in my whole life.”
“Self-consciousness is the worst thing about art, especially when you first start.”
“You’ll never arrive at the point that you think you are going to arrive at. You’ll arrive somewhere else altogether. So you might as well just go. You think you’re driving the car, but really the wheel is moving and you’re not really controlling it. It’s the forward motion that’s the important thing.”
“The more I’ve treated myself like an athlete, in terms of my creativity, the easier it has become to channel the things that I want to do.”
“You should look at your creativity as a crutch rather than an obstruction when things aren’t so great.”
“I’m as thin-skinned as any creative person and a critical review is brutal to me. I believe it far more than I believe praise. Over the years it’s caused me to course-correct too hard.”
“It’s a betrayal of yourself if you’re not willing to put something out there. The only question is one of volume. How much of it do you want to put out there?”
Links mentioned:
Connect with John:
Peter Draw is an artist from Singapore whose art has touched the lives of people across Asia and around the world. He has achieved 4 Guinness World Records: Largest Caricature, Largest Art Lesson, Longest Drawing, and Longest Drawing by an Individual. Peter has devoted his entire adult life to drawing to protect children who cannot protect themselves.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/peterdraw
In this episode, Peter discusses:
-How he uses his art to protect children who cannot protect themselves.
-How his mission is less about being an artist but more about what he does as an artist.
-What he has learned from the children that he has met and helped in disaster stricken areas around the world.
-How the “sweetest gift” is something we all have, and it is the important things we already have in our lives but perhaps take for granted.
-The importance of taking the first step of loving yourself more and more every day so that you can love others more.
-What his four Guinness World Records mean to him.
-The story of the Red Sweater and why he continues to wear it.
-The lessons that his grandfather taught him, and the way that he keeps reminding himself of what he promised him.
-The importance of starting everything with love.
-Some of the resistances that hold him back on a daily basis.
-The one thing that keeps him up at night is the fact that people think that the problems of the world are too big for them to make an impact.
-What we can learn from the children that he helps every day.
Peter's Final Push will inspire you to approach everything with LOVE!
Quotes:
“My dream is not just about being an artist. My dream is more about what I do as an artist.”
“It doesn’t matter what you are going through now. Make the rest of your life the best of your life.”
“All the other roles are taken. The only role that is not taken in this world is the role of being yourself. All you need to do is be the best version of yourself.”
“Sometimes we don’t understand the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Sometimes later becomes never. Sometimes if you hesitate you may lose the chance to do something forever.”
“Each time I draw on a blank piece of paper, I feel like anything is possible. I can turn something that is otherwise empty into something that really puts a smile on my own face and eventually to other people’s faces.”
Connect with Peter:
Website / Facebook / Instagram
Saddhasura is an artist, illustrator, and musician who is procuring and creating to then connect creative works to people who love them. He has also taught meditation and mindfulness for over fifteen years.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/saddhasura
In this episode, Saddhasura discusses:
-His creative upbringing and a brief overview of his life so far.
-Why certain creative pursuits have bubbled to the surface and then fallen away.
-Doubt and indecision and the role that they can play in pulling you away from your creative passions.
-The imposter syndrome and how it especially seems to creep up just as you are about to actually become the thing you are trying to be.
-Inconsistencies and how they help to bolster the imposter syndrome.
-What the Buddhist teachings can tell us about the ever-changing nature of humanity and how that can relate to creativity.
-Starting each day with clear intention.
-The idea of writing down nuggets of inspiration to go back to when you are feeling defeated.
-Having the instinct to protect his moleskin over his phone and his iPad.
-The power that comes when you set aside bad habits and make a clear decision.
-How he maintains a positive attitude even when things are going poorly.
-Some of his ideas for his future.
Saddhasura's Final Push will remind you that you are not a human being on a spiritual journey, you’re a spiritual being on a human journey.
Quotes:
“The things I’ve missed out on are the things I haven’t kept my eye on.”
“The human being is inconsistent by its very nature. Everything about us is constantly changing.”
“I’ve got a choice. I can either crumble and let this all really get the better of me or I can just see it as a really great opportunity.”
“Here and now is not bad. The past is just a string of proteins that are lined up in my brain. The future is a possibility based in fantasy and projection. Neither one of those alternatives are a useful place to plan anything.”
“In the manure of this experience, a rose can grow.”
Connect with Saddhasura:
Do you blame your family, friends, and loved ones for your creative shortcomings?
If you do this subconsciously or consciously, you are not alone.
In this episode, Youngman looks back to past (and future) guests who had something to say about dealing with that difficult balance of pursuing their creative passion or career, while still fulfilling their roles as a husband, wife, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, or any other role that requires their time and energy.
You will also learn how you might be taking your role as a parent, spouse, or friend and using it as a crutch to let yourself off the hook from pursuing your creative passion.
Finally, you'll see things from the other side of the spectrum and learn what to do if you are spending too much time with your creative endeavors and not enough with your family.
This episode has profanity, so don't listen around your children.
But don't blame them.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/family
YCP Episode 71 with Suzanna Schlemm
YCP Episode 79 with Jake Parker
Zachary Petit is editor-in-chief of the National Magazine Award-winning publication Print, author of The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing: How to Write, Work, and Thrive on Your Own Terms, and a lifelong literary and design nerd.
At one point in time, he was the senior managine editor of HOW magazine, Print, and Writer’s Digest, as well as executive editor of many other related newsstand titles. His words also regularly appear in National Geographic Kids, National Geographic, Mental_Floss, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, just to name a few.
Most recently, Zachary has curated the book Treat Ideas Like Cats, which unlocks the secret of creativity as it collects the inspiring and insightful words of artists, writers, designers, and thinkers who have had the courage to create.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/zacharypetit
In this episode, Zachary discusses:
-How his new book, Treat Ideas Like Cats, came to be.
-The amount of wisdom that can sometimes come from so few words.
-The idea of one quote per page, which helps to slow the reader down to really take it in.
-The importance of being able to interpret motivational stories and apply them to your own situation.
-One of the quotes from the book that influenced him the most.
-His creative journey and how he got to the point he is at now.
-How difficult it can be to do your creative work after eight hours at a job, but how good you always feel after you’ve done it.
-Working for National Geographic and National Geographic Kids.
-Some of the fears involved with public speaking and teaching.
-Some of his experiences as an interviewer for Writer’s Digest.
-His advice for people to create their own collection of inspiration.
-The lost art of conversation.
Zachary's Final Push will inspire you to keep chipping away!
Quotes:
“Some of these quotes to me are equivalent to reading an entire book on something. They just carry so much power in so few words.”
“Whenever I wrote something or created something, I felt more alive than if I had not.”
“I’ve always been driven by finding the weird side of things.”
“That inescapable creative drive is really what you need to embrace. Yes, it’s terrifying, but if you have no choice but to do it, you’ll figure out a way to do it and to put it out into the world even though it may be completely terrifying to you.”
“That, to me, is where it takes the most courage and the most drive – to come home from working 8-9 hours and having the courage to walk down those basement steps and sit yourself down at the computer no matter how tired or fatigued you are. It’s never easy but once you’ve done it, you always feel better.”
“The big challenge is finding balance between your life, your creative passions, and your day job.”
“I think it’s good to be slightly uncomfortable and to not settle into only what you’re good at and what you’re comfortable with, because you learn a lot by doing things that terrify you.”
Links mentioned:
Treat Ideas Like Cats: And Other Creative Quotes to Inspire Creative People by Zachary Petit