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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: 2017
Sep 4, 2017

Rob DiTeodoro is an artist who manages to find a way to balance his time between his art, his family, and his full-time job.  He bears his soul with his vibrant and psychedelic style, and his work ethic sets him apart from someone who is merely trying to make a hobby out of their art.

Rob is soon turning his art into his full-time profession.

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

In this episode, Rob discusses:

-A signifying moment of painting a “D.”

-The frustration that can come as a result of “The Gap.”

-The fixed mindset versus the growth mindset.

-AICT: Ass In Chair Time.

-His family’s decision to get rid of the TV and all of the time that he found as a result.

-How he makes time for himself in the morning by waking up at 4AM and working for three hours before work every single day.

-The importance of a morning routine and also setting things up for yourself the night before.

-How he balances his time between his art, his job, and his family.

-Quitting drinking and anything else that wasn’t helpful in his pursuit to become an artist.

-Dealing with imposter syndrome.

-His advice to have multiple pieces going at the same time so that you always have something that you can dive into.

-How his style began to develop when he started drawing on pieces of paper that he could just throw out if he didn’t like it.

-His advice to not bring an eraser to your sketchbook because the sketchbook is meant for you to screw up.

-How he uses binaural beats to get him in a proper mood to create.

-The role the psychedelics have played in his art and his life.

Rob's Final Push will remind you to not have any expectations for your creativity and to just play around!

 

Quotes:

“I could draw, but I still never felt like I was an artist.  Like it was a trick or something.”

“Time’s running out.  You shouldn’t be looking to kill it.”

“Little by little, a little becomes a lot.”

“Routine is everything.”

“I’ve got too many ideas to spend more than a week on one of them.”

Links mentioned:

“The Gap” by Ira Glass

Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life's Work by Steven Pressfield

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer

Cory Allen

The Astral Hustle

Terence McKenna: "Nature Loves Courage"

Connect with Rob:

Instagram

On the next episode:

Martin Thomas Smyczek II : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Aug 31, 2017

Tracey Fletcher King is an artist, illustrator, printmaker, and teacher from Brisbane, Australia.  She has been creating and selling her art for years, but after surviving advanced breast cancer, she decided to stop second-guessing the business side of her work.

Tracey has two "main arms" to her creative practice, watercolors & painting and lino prints, both of which can be found on her website.

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

In this episode, Tracey discusses:

-Her experiences at school and how they shaped her as an artist.

-How the decision-making part of your brain and the creative part of your brain are interconnected.

-How the creative path is a U-shaped curve, and how it is never too late to start up the other side.

-Being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and the deal she made with herself to say “yes” to everything.

-How she has worked on her time management as a result of going through chemotherapy.

-The way in which everyone is curating their lives on social media makes it difficult to not compare yourself to someone else’s perfect version of themselves.

-The importance of making decisions (and having them in the first place).

-Her take on creating art while you are in a dark period and whether or not it is beneficial.

-The notion of “positive censorship” and only allowing positive things to come into your life.

-Her advice for creative individuals who have had a long gap in their creative pursuits.

-The importance of keeping your old work so that you can look back to it and compare it to how far you have come.

Tracey's Final Push will remind you that you are on a U-Shaped curve and your best creative days are ahead of you, even when things get messy!

 

Quotes:

“It made me realize that all my best creative years were ahead of me.”

“The older I get, the more creative I’m going to be.  As long as I get out of my own way it will happen.”

“We all think we need these massive blocks of time, but the reality is that you never have enough time and that’s just an excuse.”

“Everyone’s curating their lives so heavily with social media that I think then when you’re doing something creative, it makes it even more high stakes.”

“Try to realize that it’s not high stakes.  A bad painting is not going to really damage you in the long run.”

“If you’ve got to just hide and do it and not tell anyone for twelve months until you’re ready to show someone, what’s the big deal?”

“Always keep your bad things, because there’s going to come a day that you’re really pleased that you’ve improved so much.”

Links mentioned:

Cressida Campbell

Connect with Tracey:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Tumlbr / YouTube

On the next episode:

Rob DiTeodoro : Instagram

What letter of the alphabet represents your creative journey?  Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Aug 28, 2017

Tara Roskell is The Idea Medic, providing first aid for your idea muscle. She lives in a world where ideas are cool and creativity is king.

Tara is passionate in the belief that everybody has the ability to be creative. They just need to believe it and learn more about the idea generation process. Her mission is to make idea generation and development more accessible to everyone.

Tara has worked in the Creative Industry as a graphic designer for over 20 years, for both national and international companies. She found that when she had to do similar jobs repeatedly she would lack inspiration. This led her to explore the world of creative thinking techniques which completely blew her mind. 

When she’s not freelancing, Tara can be found blogging, scribbling ideas for products and cartoons, reading books on creative thinking, walking the dog or practicing her not-so-high kicks learnt in her karate lessons.

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

In this episode, Tara discusses:

-The various paths she took to get to her to become a freelance graphic designer for thirteen years.

-How her fascination for idea generation came to be.

-Using random words to help new ideas to be birthed.

-At the end of your day, writing down what you did and who you talked to in order to pick out ideas.

-Having a specific goal of producing a certain amount of ideas every single day (even if they aren’t good ones).

-Her process of mind mapping and looking for Eureka moments.

-Using a website like Pixabay to use images to start generating ideas.

-How to use free writing to generate ideas.

-A recent experiment with Sandra Busby in which they tested the effects of alcohol on creativity.

-How building a habit out of your creativity (especially after 100 days) takes the decision-making process out of it.

-The importance of having an accountability, even if that means writing it down in a journal or a personal blog.

-Her hesitancy to want to put certain things out into the world.

-Getting to the first step of a creative idea within five seconds so that resistance doesn’t have enough time to stop you.

Tara's Final Push will inspire you to set yourself personal creative challenges.

 

Quotes:

“Some people don’t seem to know how to have ideas, when there are actually a lot of techniques that you can use.  You don’t have to sit there and wait for this Eureka moment to happen.”

“If you say to yourself that you’re going to do something for 100 days or longer, then it starts to no longer be a decision you’re making.  It’s something you do.”

“I have more of a resistance to putting things out there than physically starting it.”

“Stop the resistance before it catches hold.”

“Set yourself personal creative challenges.”

Links mentioned:

Creativity Workout: 62 Exercises to Unlock Your Most Creative Ideas by Edward De Bono

If Creativity Could Be Like Walking Your Dog (From Tara's blog)

Pixabay

Does Alcohol Increase Creativity?

David Zinn on Your Creative Push

How to stop screwing yourself over (Mel Robbins TED Talk)

Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques by Michael Michalko

Pictoplasma - Character Portraits

Jon Burgerman

Connect with Tara:

Website / Podcast / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

Tracey Fletcher King : Website / Instagram

What are your best methods for generating ideas?  Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Aug 24, 2017

Dan Thompson is a painter and teacher who was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and graduated from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. He earned his M.F.A. from the Graduate School of Figurative Art of the New York Academy of Art, and supplemented his training with several years of private study and studio apprenticeships along the east coast of the United States.

He has been awarded two grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and has twice received the Ethel Lorraine Bernstein Memorial Award for Excellence in Painting from the Corcoran College of Art and Design. In 2001, he won Best of Show in the American Society of Portrait Artist’s International Portrait Competition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Since 2003, he has demonstrated portrait and figure drawing and served as a juror and board member for the Portrait Society of Canada’s International Portrait Conference in Toronto. He has also lectured at the Dahesh Museum of Art in New York and served as a speaker at Studio Incamminati’s Advanced Portrait Workshop and Symposium in Philadelphia.

Dan's work can be found in public and private collections throughout the United States, and in Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.

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

In this episode, Dan discusses:

-How he got to the point that he is at today as an artist and a teacher.

-The advice he gives his students who are afraid to jump into the path of an artist with an unknown destination.

-The importance of searching within to determine what success means to you.

-How the technical side of things is such a vastly underappreciated aspect of what artists do.

-How to deal with the unrealistic expectations of what it means to be a “real artist.”

-Not allowing the constant “noise” to infiltrate into something as personal as the creative process.

-Why you shouldn’t deal in abstractions, but rather set specific tasks to complete or skills to acquire and then move on to the next thing.

-Grasping, maintaining, and extending a middle strategy.

-His advice for when you get stuck in the middle stages of a piece.

-Channeling your passion and keeping it as a positive force, rather than a destructive one.

-His advice to take a break and completely disengage from something that is giving you particular difficulty.

-The importance of notetaking.

-The benefit of working on multiple pieces at the same time.

-More about the Certificate of Fine Arts at the New York Academy of Art.

-What it is like to be an ARC Living Master.

Dan's Final Push will inspire you to bring the moments that you will never forget into your creativity.

 

Quotes:

“Things have turned out so much better for me, precisely because of the fact that I did not have an exact sense of where I was going to be positioned in years to come.”

“The fulfillment that you get out of life is so much more important than anything else.”

“The human figure is the most mysterious thing ever.  We’re just completely mystified by ourselves.  By who we are, why we’re here, and what we do.  And I don’t think that’s going to end anytime soon.”

“I think it’s hard for people to commit to abstracts.  I think people have to commit to tasks.  Tasks that are fun, by the way.”

“We’re so driven by the passion for what we want to achieve, and that passion can turn on us and become not just a negative force, but a force which torpedoes the entire endeavor.”

“You’ve got to try to channel your passion and keep it as a positive force.”

“Exploration of what you want to do with those skills is just as important as mastering the skills themselves.”

Links mentioned:

Certificate of Fine Art from New York Academy of Art

Art Renewal Center Museum

Youngman Brown on The Idea Medic Podcast

Connect with Dan:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

Tara Roskell : Website / Facebook / Twitter

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Aug 21, 2017

Joby Harris has worked for the past 20 years as a designer & artist in the film, television, music, print, theme park & aerospace industries.  He now works for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Visual Strategist.

All in all, he tends to operate more like a kitchen than a drive-thru.  He aims to create work that triggers peoples imaginations so what they imagine does most of the creating.

His work has traveled to Comicon, the TED Conference, the Super Bowl & to space.

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

In this episode, Joby discusses:

-Some of his earliest creative moments, including his 21-book series, “What Ninjas Can Do.”

-Being willing to wear many different creative hats along his journey and how that all added up to him being a well-rounded creative person.

-The opportunity he created for himself to work with a local special effects artist.

-The importance of teaching, mentorship, and surrounding yourself with likeminded creative peers.

-The story of the exoplanet posters for JPL.

-How he didn’t think that many people were going to see the exoplanet posters, yet he still pulled an all-nighter to create them with excellence.

-How he responded to the posters going viral.

-Giving your audience as much possibility to put themselves into your art as you can, so that they are able to tell their own story through your creativity.

-How outer space and space exploration can help to bring people together, especially if the arts are involved.

-How he realized that he is actually more creative in the morning, whereas he used to think he was a night owl.

-The importance of being a voracious reader.

Joby's Final Push will inspire you to leave people better off than before they met you!

 

Quotes:

“You don’t have to really teach anything, you just get people around each other and they naturally elevate themselves.”

“Whatever I do, I’m going to do it with excellence.”

“These were real worlds that could exist and people imagined themselves there and they had the NASA meatball stamp on it.  So I think it was kind of lightning in a bottle.”

“It’s the thing that you do, that you don’t think anyone’s going to see, and that’s going to be what launches you.”

“I’m stoked that NASA and JPL are really investing in the arts as much as science, technology, engineering and math.”

“Arts are a powerful weapon to inspire people and to get them looking away from each other, looking away from themselves, and getting them looking up to something that we can unite and work towards as humans.  Because this is all we’ve got, this planet.”

“Like space, there’s a momentum that will naturally take you to the top.  And it’s quick, so you better be ready.”

Links mentioned:

JPL

Invisible Creature

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover

Star Talk Radio

George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones

Beautiful Dust Specks

Connect with Joby:

Website / Instagram

On the next episode:

Nikki Rae : Website / Twitter / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Aug 17, 2017

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

What can we, as creative people, learn from millionaires?

In this episode, Youngman Brown cherry picks five of the best investment tips given by millionaires and financial gurus, and applies them to the creative process and your creative journey.

All of these tips are simple mindset shifts that will drastically affect the way that you see the time, pain, and daily effort that you put into your creative passion, and how it will exponentially benefit you in the future.

The goal is to see that you are going along an exponential creative curve, and the more daily deposits you make to that account, the quicker your gains will be multiplied.

Here are the five ways that you can exponentially increase your creativity:

  1. Invest in yourself FIRST.
  2. Utilize compound interest.
  3. Stop checking your accounts/stats.
  4. Make multiple income streams.
  5. Invest in your mind.

Quotes:

"What are those projects that you want to get to some day?  Ask yourself how many days have you been putting them off?"

"Invest in your creative muscles."

"Don't trust yourself to have time at the end of the month.  Do that thing right now."

Links mentioned:

Acorns!

Youngman Brown on The Idea Medic Podcast

Tony Robbins Warns "The Crash is Coming"

Compound Interest Explained

Art, Money & Success by Maria Brophy

Links mentioned:

Joby Harris: Website / Instagram

Aug 14, 2017

Drew Brophy has been a professional artist for over 25 years.  He says of his profession, “It’s my job to make things look cool.”  A life-long surfer and world traveler, Drew’s career exploded in the late 1990’s when he began painting his edgy artwork onto surfboards. 

Drew’s love of surfing has led him down a path of studying weather, its effect on waves, and how the sun influences earth.  This has all led to a deep interest in physics and how it all interconnects.  He has studied physics extensively and it has influenced his artwork.  As such, his distinctive art style has evolved to include sacred geometry in an effort to decode the knowledge that ancient civilizations left for us.

Drew wants to share with the world the message that everything is energy and we are all connected.  He strives to create art images that help people understand the true meaning of life; that life is meant to be enjoyed.

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

In this episode, Drew discusses:

-How he felt as if he didn’t fit in at school, but how the surfing community brought him in.

-Being a talented surfer and being able to travel the world, and then coming home and feeling like a loser because nobody understood.

-Feeling devastation and anger when a guidance counselor told him that he wouldn’t have a future as an artist or a surfer.

-A synchronistic event that led him to moving to Hawaii for his perfect job of painting surfboards.

-The experience of jumping on a flight and showing up to Hawaii.

-Using Posca paint pens even though nobody else was.

-Being smart enough to say yes to opportunities and then learn along the way.

-The value in something being done rather than perfect.

-Connecting with Matt Biolos and how that sent his career into a completely new trajectory.

-Trusting your instincts that what you’re doing is better than what the gatekeepers say.

-The contribution that his wife, Maria, has made to their creative journey, and how all of the lessons in her book, Art Money & Success, are lessons that they learned themselves.

-The trouble that many artists face when attempting to define themselves as artists or explain what it means to be a professional artist.

-The origin of his motto, “It’s my job to make things look cool.”

-The importance of choosing your words wisely when telling people that you are an artist or a creative person, because that is the way that you will make connections and get work.

-His studying of ancient civilizations and sacred geometry and how they all cared so much more about arts and nature.

-His interest in weather, solar dynamics, planetary physics, and sacred geometry.

-The importance of being authentic and creating things that you are interested in (and diving deep into them).

Drew's Final Push will inspire you to go after the thing that makes you happy!

 

Quotes:

“I was really a square peg in school.  I think a lot of artists feel that way.”

“I just said to him, point blank, ‘Dad, if I don’t go, nothing great is ever going to happen to me.’  And I knew it.”

“I went from Nowhere, South Carolina to Ground Zero for Surfing Madness.”

“I decided right there and then that I was going to become the best surfboard artist in the world.”

“You literally can create your life.  I wish that schools would teach you that.”

“As an artist, I’m making the rules.”

“Every time you’re out in public, you need to be training people on who you are.  And it’s very important that you choose your words wisely.”

“It’s almost like right-brained people used to rule the world, and now left-brained people rule the world.”

“I think the world would be a much better, prettier place if people would step out of their left brain and create every day and unleash it on the world.  Everybody has it.”

“I never really set out to be an artist.  All I set out to do was to be happy.  Strive for that.”

Links mentioned:

Maria Brophy on Your Creative Push

Art, Money & Success: A complete and easy-to-follow system for the artist who wasn't born with a business mind by Maria Brophy

Matt Biolos

Connect with Drew:

Website / Instagram / Store / Facebook / Twitter

 

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Aug 10, 2017

Matthew Quick is a painter from Australia who has been named in Business Review Weekly as one of Australia’s top 50 artists.

In the last 5 years he has either won, or been selected as a finalist for, more than 70 major national art awards, including the Sulman Art Prize, the Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize, and the Mosman Art Prize, just to name a few.

He’s painted since his teens but was distracted by other careers – working variously as a university lecturer, photographer, salesman, art director, copywriter & interior designer.  Matthew’s paintings have been used as CD covers in Australia, Greece and the US, and as book covers by Penguin Books & Era Publications. His work has been reproduced in many magazines, books and journals including Hi Fructose, Plastik, Juxtapoz, Empty, Colossal, Design Taxi, Communication Arts, Idea, Design World, Graphis & Novum.

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

In this episode, Matthew discusses:

-The long amount of time that it takes him to creative his paintings.

-The “naughty corner” where he puts paintings that are not behaving properly.

-How he gets through periods of time in which he “forgets how to paint.”

-The importance of the titles and descriptions of his paintings and what they can do for the communication with the viewer.

-The inspiration behind his “Monumental Nobodies” series.

-How he approaches each of his pieces.

-His “Frozen Pea Moment.”

-How he made his transition into being a full-time artist.

-The beauty of finding stolen moments and how they can add up to something big.

-Balancing what he wants to create for himself and what he needs to create for money.

-How he learned to go in sequential order with his pieces instead of having too many projects going on at the same time.

Matthew's Final Push will inspire you to know when it is the right time to reach out to galleries and to be respectful of the people that are with you in your creative journey!

 

Quotes:

“I try to write something that is the anti art-speak.”

“If the clock is ticking, what do I really want to do with my life?”

“So many people wander through life as if it’s a rehearsal for something else.”

Links mentioned:

ART/WORK: Everything You Need to Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career by Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg

Connect with Matthew:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

Drew Brophy : Website / Instagram

Want a critique or some advice?  Join the Facebook group!

Aug 7, 2017

Andy J. Miller is an American full time freelance illustrator with a background in graphic design, currently living and working in Columbus, OH.

Andy was born in Indiana, went to middle school in Western New York, to high school in Indiana, and to the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom. He teaches a self promotion for illustrators class to senior level students at the Columbus College of Art & Design. He is most known for his side projects and books; The Indie Rock Coloring Book, the collaborative Color Me _____ exhibit with Andrew Neyer, the daily drawing project NOD and his Creative Pep Talk Podcast.

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

In this episode, Andy discusses:

-Where the “pizza” part of his name came from and how he has embraced it as a part of his identity.

-His history as an illustrator and how the Creative Pep Talk Podcast started.

-The value of teaching and mentorship, no matter how much experience you have.

-The importance of thinking!

-Dealing with critics.

-The purpose of his recent “Creative Destiny” series on Creative Pep Talk.

-The hero’s journey and the role that it can play in any type of creative career that you have.

-Finding your gift and then giving it away.

-How, like in Harry Potter, sometimes our own worst enemy is living inside of ourselves.

-How political correctness sometimes holds people back from creating because they don’t want to make a mistake and then get attacked for it.

-Thinking about 11 dimensions and how our intuition might be tuned into a higher frequency that our animal instincts might be trying to protect us from.

-The idea of “gut churn” and forcing yourself to sit in the uncomfortable unknown.

Andy's Final Push will encourage you to stop looking for shortcuts and start looking for “sure-cuts.”

 

Quotes:

“You can reinvent yourself, and you don’t have to be owned by the person that you used to be.”

“I got obsessed with this idea of drawing invisible things.”

“I found teaching to be the ultimate growth hack because when you have to systematically boil down your truths, all the sudden they become so much more potent in your own life.”

“What is the true, unique cocktail that you have going on inside of you?  What is that work that just explodes and radiates from your very being?”

“All I’m looking for in my creative career is to find my gift and to find who needs it.”

“You need to be willing to make mistakes.  Always have the best intentions but don’t stop yourself before you get started.”

“In my own experience, the biggest breakthroughs come from sitting in that uncomfortable place.”

“Quit trying to go viral.  Quit trying to have overnight success.  Quit looking for shortcuts.  And just get on the journey.”

Links mentioned:

Jad Abumrad: Embrace the "Gut Churn" of the Creative Process

Deep Work: Rules for Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Connect with Andy:

Website / Instagram / Twitter

Creative Pep Talk:

Website / Soundcloud / iTunes

On the next episode:

Matthew Quick : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Aug 3, 2017

Jane Samuels is an artist and psychogeographer from the United Kingdom.  She has developed a love for the arts, politics, teaching, and animal and human rights campaigning.

Currently working as a professional artist from Hare Court Studio and an SpLD tutor in Manchester’s Universities, Samuels continues to develop work grounded in Psychogeography, which challenges the boundaries of legality, public vs. private space, and our relationship with the land.  Her work is housed in several private collections, and she continues to exhibit across the UK.

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

In this episode, Jane discusses:

-The experience of teaching in prisons.

-The factors that led to her 10-year gap in art and what finally brought her back.

-Her Abandoned Buildings project and some of the exploits that she has gotten into.

-The inspiration behind her Anatomical Landscapes series.

-The difference between the immediacy of photography and the slow-burn of drawing and her need for both.

-Her practice of landscape writing and walking writing and what it allows her to do that visual art does not.

-Some of the Resistances that she deals with, such as fear, lack of self-confidence, and imposter syndrome.

-Dealing with the things that life throws at you and balancing it with your art.

-Her thoughts on the big social media sites: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

-Some of her favorite resources for people who might be interested in pursuing similar creative outlets as her.

Jane's Final Push will inspire you to put a little time into your creative passion every day and to realize why you want to pursue your creative passion in the first place!

 

Quotes:

“There’s a very unhealthy dose of fear involved in art practice for me.  It scares the shit out of me.”

“There was all this unrealized stuff in my head and a real need to do something with it.”

“I think if you didn’t have fear, you wouldn’t produce the work in the first place.  If you’re really ever happy and satisfied with what you did, you’d just stop.”

“The beauty of it is that it is always there.  There might be jobs you can never go back to, there might be other things that just end, but your creativity and your process – it doesn’t go away.”

“The beauty of creativity is that it creates more creativity.”

“Five minutes is better than no minutes.”

Links mentioned:

Morag Rose from the Loiterers Resistance Movement: Website / Twitter
 
Fife Psychogeographic
 
Dr. Immy Smith
 
Robert Macfarlane
 

Connect with Jane:

Website / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

Andy J. Miller : Website / Creative Pep Talk Podcast

Share what you created this week in the Facebook group!

Jul 31, 2017

Kelli Klymenko embraces all aspects of art.  He is an artist, storyteller, photographer, teacher, yogi, husband, father, science aficionado and free thinker - experiencing life in one of the most inspiring and picturesque places on earth: Sedona, Arizona, where he lives with his wife and children.

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

In this episode, Kelli discusses:

-How when he was younger, he drew on any surface area he could find.

-How he has dabbled in many different forms of art, but he loves photography especially because it is so quick.

-His opinion that people should be sharing most of the work that they do, instead of only their best.

-How he is sometimes surprised by the photos that are extremely successful in terms of "likes" because of how little time he put into it in comparison to others.

-His iPhoneography course and why it is important.

-How easy it is to change the way you look at the world in terms of photography, and how easy it is to share your photos.

-How growing up, many people shared their opinion that doing art is not a way to make a living.

-How his worst moments are when all the hard work he does isn't appreciated or his vision isn't seen the way he thinks it deserves to be seen.

-How trying to please everyone is not the right approach for making art.  Just do what you love.

-How he is currently living in his best creative moment (Yes!!!)

-How his greatest inspirations are scientists, with Neil deGrasse Tyson leading the pack (Yes!!!)

-How most of his inspiration comes from around him, especially nature and Sedona itself.

Kelli's Final Push will inspire you to do something you've never tried before, even if it is simply going out into nature for a short time.

 

Quotes:

"The foundation of Kelli Klymenko as a person is most definitely built upon creative endeavors and the arts."

"I know some photographers who take months to get a photo out because they have to clean it up and work on it.  I take a picture and I share it immediately."

"I think that we should be sharing everything because it makes it more real."

"I don't like those plastic landscapes where everybody cleans it up so much that you can't even recognize the place when you actually arrive.  I like it to be real."

"At some point we won't even need the DSLR's.  We're not at that point yet, but we're getting really close."

"Just think about photos that you take and framing them as a fine art piece, even if it is something you normally wouldn't do."

"It's really very simple to change how you view the world."

"It's all about your mindset.  If you're one of those people that says "I can't" ... you won't."

"It's more about living in the moment.  I live by that."

"Just do what you love and then the people that love that are the ones that connect with you.  And you'll be reaching the right people."

"I get that with Sedona, too.  'Oh, another picture of Bell Rock.'  And I'm like, 'Yea, I saw it again today.  And it's fine by me.'"

"I really do live in one of the most beautiful places in the world."

Links mentioned:

Kelli's iPhoneography course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xywb_suJzo

Connect with Kelli:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Google+ / Twitter

On the next episode:

Jane Samuels : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jul 27, 2017

Maria Brophy has been an art agent to her husband Drew Brophy since 2001, and a business consultant to creative entrepreneurs since 2009. In her former life, Maria worked in the corporate world for two agonizing decades before she escaped the 9 to 5 grind. Since then, she’s deliberately designed her life as a non-stop adventure, traveling extensively with her husband and two kids while surfing and backpacking some of the most magical places in the world.

Her new book, Art, Money & Success is a workbook of strategies for the full-time artist.

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

In this episode, Maria discusses:

-The experience of leaving her full-time job to help her husband, Drew Brophy, with his art career.

-How you can make a slow transition into a new creative career by cutting back your work week to three or four days.

-What led her to create her book, Art, Money & Success.

-Why it took her so long to start writing her book and why it took her so long to finish after she started.

-The procrastination (due to fear) that can come when we get close to finishing a project.

-The value in seeing it as a numbers game.

-Her advice to keep creating things without thinking about the reaction that people will have to it.

-The notion that success loves speed and how ideas have the best chance for success if they are explored right away.

-The power in writing down your goals, not only for your life, but for your day.

-Making monetary goals for yourself and then making the daily decisions that will lead you closer to them, as opposed to farther away.

-Knowing your value and asking to get paid.

-Ways that she and Drew have been unconventional in their approach to licensing and selling art.

Maria's Final Push will inspire you to realize that you are on your own unique path, and you shouldn’t worry about the road that other artists went down.

 

Quotes:

“It wasn’t that easy in the beginning, but it worked.  And I think being stubborn, hardheaded, and determined really helped.”

“You can transition your way into a creative career.  You don’t have to do it all at once.”

“Create every day without thinking about who’s going to buy it or who’s going to want it.  Because when you’re thinking that, it restricts your flow of creativity.”

“You have to take action on things quickly.  You can’t sit around.”

“Often times those inspired ideas come within days or even hours of you making a declaration of something you’re going to make happen.”

“If you don’t ask, you won’t get paid.”

“Your path is your own path.  Don’t look at what other artists are doing.”

Links mentioned:

Art, Money & Success: A complete and easy-to-follow system for the artist who wasn't born with a business mind by Maria Brophy

Drew Brophy

Amanda Giacomini's 10,000 Buddhas

Connect with Maria:

Website / Book / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube

 

Share what you've created this week in the Facebook group!

Jul 24, 2017

Matthew Miller is an active lifestyle artist who paints because it puts him into a flow state and makes him feel truly alive.  Most of his artwork celebrates the human body in action, and the mental states that go along with it.

In addition to art, he also gets his fix of flow state through challenging physical activities.  As a retired rugby player, ironman triathlete, and fitness coach (his day job), it is his goal to create art that celebrates an active lifestyle.

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

In this episode, Matthew discusses:

-How art has always been a part of his life.

-The role that philosophy has played in his life.

-The importance of writing out your “perfect average day.”

-Dealing with insomnia, how it affected his life, and eventually led him to the feeling of hitting rock bottom.

-His discovery of live art.

-How artists shouldn’t wait around for a gallery to find you and the importance of going out and creating your own opportunities.

-His experimentation and plans to do live paintings at marathons and triathlons.

-The struggle of wanting to create new things but still having so many of his previous creations sitting around.

-How he struggles with having a day job that he enjoys but still wants to pursue his art.

-The similarities of flow state as it relates to physical activity and as it relates to art.

-His advice for people to experience flow state.

-His next series and where the inspiration came from.

-His experience of journaling and his analysis of his progress with his original goals.

Matthew's Final Push will inspire you to write down what you want to accomplish every single day and then put in the work to get there!

 

Quotes:

“As an artist, you need to go out and create your own opportunities.”

“Instead of waiting around for some gallery to invite you to show your stuff or competing against other artists trying to get into a particular show, why not make your own and find a venue that is perfect for your niche?”

“Things start happening when you take an action and put yourself out there.”

“I try to make art as much of an emotional, impulsive decision as possible.”

“The world will pull you in the directions that it wants to pull you if you don’t stay focused on what you want and who you are.”

Links mentioned:

Wim Hof

Power Speed ENDURANCE: A Skill-Based Approach to Endurance Training by Brian MacKenzie

The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance by Steven Kotler

Connect with Matthew:

Website / Facebook / Instagram

On the next episode:

Maria Brophy : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jul 20, 2017

Zaria Forman's large-scale compositions of melting glaciers, icebergs floating in glassy water and waves cresting with foam explore moments of transition, turbulence and tranquility.  Zaria's drawings convey the urgency of climate change by connecting people to the beauty of remote landscapes.

Her works have appeared in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and The Huffington Post.  Her drawings have also been used in the set design for the Netflix TV series House of Cards.

Her most recent achievements include participation in Banksy’s Dismaland (Aug-Sep 2015), a solo exhibition at Winston Wächter Fine Art in New York City (Sep-Oct 2015), and a four week art residency in Antarctica aboard the National Geographic Explorer (Nov-Dec 2015). Her next solo show is at Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA, opening Sept 7th, 2017. 

In this episode, Zaria discusses:

-Some of her earliest influences, especially her mother, Rena Bass Forman.

-How a trip to Greenland opened up her eyes and heart to the topic of climate change.

-Why she chooses to draw on such a large scale.

-Why she uses her hands instead of tools.

-The difficulty that she sometimes has in choosing which reference to go forward with, knowing how many hours she will be devoting to the piece.

-How she attempts to give the viewer the experience of being where she was, and why a simple photograph isn’t enough of a reference.

-Her attempt to get people to fall in love with the landscapes, because it is that emotional connection that spurs people into action.

-Working with NASA’s Operation IceBridge and the new perspectives she was able to get as a result.

-The fear that often sets in before starting a new large piece.

-Her new body of work and how she is moving in a more abstract direction.

-Her experience of being a part of Banksy’s “Dismaland.”

-Details about her upcoming show.

Zaria's Final Push will inspire you to have a personal connection with your work, because that it what speaks to your audience the best.

 

Quotes:

“I realized that I have to go as big as I possibly can to give viewers that sense of massiveness.”

“I want to be as true to the landscape that existed at that point in time as I can.”

“Things that scare me are usually a good thing.  It means I’m going to learn something.”

“It’s always a scary thing to start a piece that’s the biggest I’ve ever made.”

“If I’m drawing what inspires me most and what I feel most excited to make, that excitement is going to translate into the finished product and make it the best that it can be.”

Links mentioned:

Zaria's upcoming show at Winston Wachter Fine Art

Rena Bass Forman (Zaria's mother's work)

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

NASA’s Operation IceBridge

Zaria's TED Talk

Banksy's Dismaland

Connect with Zaria:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Vimeo

On the next episode:

Matthew Miller : Website / Instagram

Share your recent work and join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jul 17, 2017

David is a freelance illustrator and street artist from Ann Arbor, Michigan, specializing in small-scale, improvised and (mostly) light-hearted chalk art.  Most of these drawings (most notably "Sluggo") have appeared on sidewalks in Ann Arbor and elsewhere in Michigan, but some have surfaced as far away as subway platforms in Manhattan and construction debris in the Sonoran Desert.

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

In this episode, David discusses:

-How he prefers to label himself as a “someone who draws stuff” or a “compulsive doodler.”

-How his drawing stemmed from shyness as a great way to avoid eye contact with other people.

-The way in which his street art stems from his fear of a blank canvas.

-How a blank canvas stops people like him because of the infinite possibilities that it offers, and how he needs to constrain those possibilities in order to get started.

-His disappointment with the way that people assume that being an artist means being something separate that they are not capable of.

-The art brain and the science brain.

-How he has noticed that people are either more frightened by the idea of drawing from life or by the idea of drawing from imagination, and nothing in between.

-How people often think that they are not artists because they are unable to do one particular thing, even though they are very skilled at doing something different.

-The way in which parents make their children take piano lessons, yet don’t expect them to become a concert pianist.

-How his light-hearted subject matter typically comes to the surface because he is having a bad day.

-Why he doesn’t watch people’s reactions to his street art.

-His advice for people who are afraid of the blank canvas.

-The way in which your creative path was laughably obvious to you in hindsight.

David's Final Push will inspire you to JUST MOVE!  As long as you are moving, then you are succeeding in life.

 

Quotes:

“Eventually people start to get to that point where they aren’t happy with their own abilities and that blank page becomes really intimidating.”

“Now I have no time for doing useful illustration because I spend all my time drawing on the sidewalk.”

“I’m on a campaign to hopefully get people to stop using the word ‘artist’ as a career designation.”

“I think that’s where a lot of people fall off the map of having faith in their own art, is not respecting the fact that what works for you, works for you, and that deserves indulgence and respect.”

“We have this strange belief that your art has to be the primary thing in your life in order for you to do it.  It has to consume you or else you have no business messing with it at all.”

“It’s a lot like playing connect the dots, except you have an infinite amount of dots.”

“The power of art in your own life, whether it’s your job, or your hobby, or just the thing you do while your hands are feeling itchy while you’re on the phone, is to leave the world different than the way you found it.”

“From what I’ve observed and what I’ve experienced, you don’t find your thing.  Your thing finds you.”

“The narrower your expectations, the more things you can be disappointed in.”

“As long as you are moving, you are succeeding in life.”

Links mentioned:

Sluggo’s Facebook page

Your Creative Push on Patreon

Connect with David:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Tumblr

On the next episode:

Zaria Forman : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jul 13, 2017

Zan Romanoff is a writer of essays and fiction, mostly focused on food, feminism, television and books.  She graduated from Yale in 2009 with a B.A. in Literature, and now lives and works in Los Angeles.  She is the author of A Song to Take the World Apart, and her latest YA novel, Grace and the Fever.

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

In this episode, Zan discusses:

-How writing has played a part in her life since she was very young.

-The unexpected result of one of her pieces ending up in The Paris Review.

-How she tricked herself into writing her first novel.

-The idea of wanting or needing permission from other people to call yourself a writer.

-Talking about your creative passion with other people and wanting to protect it from scrutiny, jokes, or small talk.

-The similarities and differences between writing and therapy.

-How she wants to be honest with her young audience so that they trust her.

-A long period of writer’s block after breaking up with her long-term boyfriend and thus losing her long-term reader/audience.

-The process of writing her third novel.

-How ideas often come to be in strange or long-winded ways that don’t make sense.

-The notion of “coming down with a book.”

-Giving yourself permission to spend time with yourself and be creative without thinking of those end goals.

-How selling her first book didn’t solve any problems for her or make her doubt herself any less.

-Trusting that your creative successes aren’t flukes and knowing that more successes will come again.

Zan's Final Push will inspire you to GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY and give yourself permission!

 

Quotes:

“What’s the thing that I wake up every day and do even though I don’t have to and even though nobody wants me to?  And the answer was writing.”

“The only thing scarier than writing a novel is permanent unemployment, I would say.”

“External permission is important but it only gets you so far.  Their permission opened a door and I had to sit with it for a long time.”

“I do feel strongly that one of the major differences between me and people that haven’t written books is that I sat down and wrote it.”

Links mentioned:

Zan's piece in The Paris Review

A Song to Take the World Apart by Zan Romanoff

Grace and the Fever

Connect with Zan:

Website / Tumlbr / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

David Zinn : Website / Instagram

Share what you've created this week in the Facebook group!

Jul 10, 2017

Joel Daniel Phillips lives and works in San Francisco, CA. His work focuses on large-scale charcoal portraiture exploring the social structures in his immediate surroundings.  He is fascinated by the intricacies and commonalities that we share as humans, and he searches for moments when our projected senses of self are transparent, allowing deeper, more truthful emotions to become visible.

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

In this episode, Joel discusses:

-Moving to San Francisco and starting his series of portraits.

-The way in which the portraits began as a way for him to understand his surroundings and ended up being his way to tell the story of the people that we avoid looking at.

-The delicate way that he approaches his subjects and the vulnerability that both he and his subjects must offer through the process.

-How it became easier to get people on board once he started to build a body of work and his integrity spread via word-of-mouth.

-His process of meeting, speaking with, and photographing his potential subjects, choosing which ones he draws, and then attempting to find a way to show them the piece.

-How he has to remind himself that, through his art, he has spent more time with this person than they have spent with him.

-His definition of a successful portrait.

-How he tries to capture and portray the story and numerous emotions of his subjects.

-The lessons that creative people can learn from his subject’s honesty.

-Why he draws in such a large scale and the experience that he wants to give to the viewer.

-How to get through the “middle junk.”

-The two driving forces behind creative careers.

-Some of the other Resistances that he has to deal with (most notably, distractions).

-His upcoming show and the transition that he is making.

-Allowing himself to make mistakes.

Joel's Final Push will make you look within yourself and ask if you can’t not be an artist.

 

Quotes:

“The series of drawings started out as my way of trying to understand this neighborhood that was a very foreign space and honestly very terrifying.”

“I fell in love with these people as soon as I started making these portraits.”

“It’s a way of seeing through the tip of my pencil.  For me, drawing is primarily an act of observation and it’s almost less about the finished product than it is about the process of seeing while I’m creating it.”

“For me, art is a way of responding to and understanding the world around me.”

Links mentioned:

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Freedom: Internet, App, & Website Blocker

Neil Gaiman – Commencement Speech at the University of the Arts 2012

Connect with Joel:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

Zan Romanoff : Website

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jul 6, 2017

Al Marconi is a Spanish guitarist and composer who has been a professional musician since 1997. During that time has managed to notch up over 30,000 sales of his independently marketed self-produced recordings, Equilibrium (1997), Monument (1999), Esperanto (2001), Terra Nova (2007), Insomnia (2011), and his latest album, Alchemy (2015).

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

In this episode, Al discusses:

-His early musical inspirations growing up.

-How he initially was interested in heavy rock and heavy metal.

-The contributing factors in his transition from heavy rock.

-Patrick Woodroffe’s advice to pursue what you’re most passionate about, not what you can do best.

-The instantaneous feedback that you get from playing music and how that differs from drawing or painting.

-Being inspired by classical music, but also realizing that he didn’t want to simply replicate what other people had created – he wanted to create himself.

-Being open to taking inspiration from many different sources and fusing it into your own style.

-How Alchemy was the first album that he made that contains music that he wants to listen back to.

-Creating what you want versus creating for money.

-How ideas are often not ready until the time is right.

-How musicians can make a living in a digital world.

-The challenge and the joy of busking in the street and why he still does it to this day.

-The differences between writing and performing.

Al's Final Push will inspire you to pursue the thing that you are passionate about – as long as you have a penny more than you need, then you will be okay.

 

Quotes:

“Music, like many of the arts, is a calling.  It’s something that chooses you.  It’s something inside of you and you just have to do it.  You don’t think it through like a career.”

“I was interested in creating and the guitar was purely the medium that I choose to use to create.”

“The more things you try in life, the more fingers you put into a pie, the more chances you have of pulling out a plum.”

“I remember one morning, two of my biggest hits came about in half an hour.”

“I’m a very slow worker because I like to get an idea and I like to live with that idea for days, weeks, sometimes even months.  I like to let it tell me where to go rather than force it.”

“I try to play every chord as though it is the first time I’ve ever played it, and that it might be my last.”

“It’s wonderful that we can inspire somebody or lift somebody’s mood through visual or audio creativity.”

“I think with any art, it’s not meant to be hidden in a cupboard.  It’s meant to be shared.”

Links mentioned:

Al's Music

Patrick Woodroffe

Gordon Giltrap

Sandra Busby on Your Creative Push

Connect with Al:

Website / Store / iTunes / YouTube / Facebook

On the next episode:

Joel Daniel Phillips : Website / Instagram

Share what you've created this week in the Facebook group!

Jul 3, 2017

Alatar is a genderfluid digital artist who creates character-driven adult illustrations. Their work includes both fanart and original content, and attempts to explore a wide range of body types, ethnicities, gender identities and sexualities. They are also the host of the podcast Blue Magic, where they interview other creatives in the erotic field.

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

In this episode, Alatar discusses:

-Their origin story and how they first became interested in the idea of sexuality in art.

-Dealing with religious guilt and how it contributed to artistic block.

-Their “depressive fallout” and the drawing of Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris that had been waiting to be drawn.

-How they didn’t consider their adult illustrations to be “real work” because it was not safe for work.

-Their advice to feed those ideas that have always been in the back of your head/heart and to pay attention to how it makes you feel.

-How giving in to a long-term creative urge can make you go Super Saiyan, where overcoming a low emotional moment can give you a great deal of power.

-The power that you can gain from choosing a new identity.

-Their advice for people who don’t know which direction to go – they only know what’s not working.

-Like in video games, some things in life need multiple attempts before you can succeed, and how those victories are always sweeter.

-Dealing with imposter syndrome and perfectionism.

-Treating your creative calling as the most important thing in your life – your Calling with a capital ‘C.’

-Why they started the Blue Magic Podcast.

-How magic comes from honesty, and how shedding the ego and being vulnerable can lead to a much more powerful connection with your audience (and yourself).

-Some of the opportunities that came as a result of starting Blue Magic.

Alatar's Final Push will inspire you to dig deep within yourself to find the thing that you’ve always known that you are supposed to do and then do it no matter what anyone else thinks!

 

Quotes:

“I went through a phase of religious guilt where it was a bad thing and I fought it in myself.  Interestingly, during that time I also had pretty bad art block and couldn’t get myself to draw much at all.”

“Something clicked.  This is what I wanted to draw all this time and I haven’t let myself.  And it’s about time I do.”

“I said, you know what?  I really love erotica.  I really love things that are arousing and that explore that side of human emotion.  And it’s about time that I took that seriously.

“If you have this thing that your heart is just aching to do, if there’s a way for you to give it it’s time in the sun, then do it and just see what happens.”

“It was this moment where I realized this is what I’m here to do.”

“If all you know is what’s not working, then you know what you shouldn’t be doing.  And that’s a step in the right direction.”

“I see my art as my Calling.  Capital ‘C.’”

“You will have the thrill of finally lining up with that calling of yours and taking action on it.”

“Let your fear have its voice and then tell it to step aside, because you’ve got work to do.”

Links mentioned:

Blue Magic

Blue Magic [iTunes]

Connect with Alatar:

Newgrounds / Instagram / Tumblr / Twitter

On the next episode:

Al Marconi : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jun 29, 2017

Dani Ives is a self-taught fiber artist from Arkansas who has developed a beautiful and unique technique, which she calls “painting with wool.”  She creates two dimensional works of art directly on fabric.  Her inspiration comes from a love of nature and science, which has an enormous influence on her work.

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

In this episode, Dani discusses:

-How she became an artist in a roundabout way after getting a degree in biology and conservation education and then worked at a zoo as an educator.

-How she first became interested in needle felting.

-The challenge to do something new every week for one year, and how that led her to start doing wool paintings.

-Her transition from working at the zoo to creating art full time, and how pet portraitures helped her to generate income.

-How her process is different than traditional wool felting.

-How people are often surprised by how her art mimics traditional paintings and drawings.

-The effect that nature has on her art and her inspiration.

-The way in which she chooses between many different ideas.

-Her self-imposed challenge to fill a sketchbook and all of the things she learned as a result of her success.

-The importance of determining what you don’t like.

-How much she enjoys teaching other creative outlets to people.

-Dealing with imposter syndrome.

-How she balances her time.

Dani's Final Push will inspire you to be proud of your creativity!

 

Quotes:

“There was always a part of me that wanted to be a maker and I needed to fulfill that creative urge that I was having.”

“What I like to do is create the most realistic pieces I can with this medium.”

“I like the challenge and I like being able to surprise people about the medium.  That’s the most fun part for me.”

“It’s really important to me to introduce other creative outlets to people, because you never know what will help somebody flourish or build up their creativity.”

“It doesn’t really matter what you think and sometimes it doesn’t matter what other people think, either.  If you want to do it, you just do it.”

“Really cool things can happen when you step out of your comfort zone and when you push boundaries.”

Links mentioned:

Dani’s Courses

The Jealous Curator: Art for Your Ear Podcast

How I Built This Podcast

The Action Army Podcast

Connect with Dani:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

Alatar : Instagram / Newgrounds [NSFW] / Podcast

Share what you've created this week in the Facebook group!

Jun 27, 2017

Lori Richmond is a corporate creative director turned picture book maker.  She is the author-illustrator of Pax and Blue and Bunny’s Staycation, coming in 2018.  She is also the illustrator of A Hop is Up and several other picture books.

Lori is also a runner, and she documents her race training by drawing what she sees on her runs, in the same amount of time as each run via the hashtag #ViewFromMyRun.

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

In this episode, Lori discusses:

-How she started with her illustration and picture book making as a hobby and then slowly transitioned into making it her job.

-Her advice to not quit your job before you know that you can make money from your “side hustle” and also that you would actually enjoy doing it.

-The story of how Pax and Blue came to be.

-Being observant of the world around you and maintaining a childlike wonder.

-How and why she started running.

-How she was struck with the idea for #ViewFromMyRun

-The overwhelming positive response she got from the running community that encouraged her to continue #ViewFromMyRun.

-Getting picked up by Runner’s World and making friends with running legend Hal Higdon.

-The reasons why she limits the time she spends on each image to the time she spent on her run.

-The many benefits of using a timer.

-Some of the lessons she has learned from running.

-How your creative habit doesn’t have to be a daily one, because that often puts too much pressure on yourself.

-Friends Work Here and why it is valuable for her to surround herself with likeminded, driven, creative individuals.

Lori's Final Push will make you realize that the only thing holding you back from taking that first step is yourself.

 

Quotes:

“As artists, we need to be observers and listeners.”

“It was just like a lightning-strike moment – I should paint it, but let me see if I can paint it in the same amount of time that I’m doing this run.”

“I’ll put it on Instagram, and Instagram will be my accountability partner.”

“It was just so funny how all these things wound up coming out of this side project.”

“I was noticing so many overlaps between running and making art.”

“It’s more of a visual journal of my runs and my training for these races.  If I leave one out because I don’t like the drawing, it’s almost like I’m not respecting the run.”

“You are only one decision away from starting that thing that you’re thinking about.  The only thing holding you back is yourself.”

Links mentioned:

Friends Work Here

Connect with Lori:

Website / Instagram / Twitter

On the next episode:

Dani Ives : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jun 22, 2017

Sarah W. Goldhagen taught for ten years at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and spent many years as the Architecture Critic for the New Republic. She’s written about buildings, cities, and landscapes for publications all over the world. Sarah’s new book, Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives is a thoroughly entertaining, eye-opening manifesto arguing that the buildings we live and work in deeply affect us, physically and psychologically, and that we can’t afford the soul-crushing architecture we mostly subject ourselves to. 

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

In this episode, Sarah discusses:

-How her book, Welcome to Your World is a shift from the work she previously did.

-“Blindsight” and how we take in information subconsciously or nonconsciously.

-How there is no such thing as a neutral built environment.  It is either helping you or hurting you.

-The story of when she had to change her setting while writing her dissertation.

-What creative people can do to put themselves in a better environment while they are creating.

-Complex natural light, views of nature, and tactile experiences.

-How her interest in cognitive neuroscience and inspiration from Alvar Aalto is what drove her to write the book.

-Some of the big challenges that she was faced with in taking on such a big project.

-Her advice to someone who is thinking about taking on a project that requires a large amount of research and learning.

-How she was slammed by her colleagues after an early presentation of material from her book, and how she courageously went forward with the book anyway.

-The traveling and photography that she did for the book.

-The pros and cons of using pictures of architecture.

Sarah's Final Push will inspire you to think about why you create and to strive less and teach more!

 

Quotes:

“People should recognize that the built environment and its quality and design, has a far greater impact on people than anybody previously realized.”

“There is no such thing as a neutral streetscape, building, or landscape.  If it’s not doing something good for you, chances are it’s doing something really not good for you.”

“Creativity is such a demanding cognitive state that you don’t want anything in the built environment that’s going to be tugging at you in any way.”

“I ended up delving into a lot of different fields and then it was up to me to figure out what the paradigm of how people experience their environments actual is based on these studies, most of which didn’t have much to do with the built environment.”

“It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you just have to do what you believe might help or might bring people to new ideas and new places.”

Links mentioned:

Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives by Sarah Williams Goldhagen

How Nature Resets Our Minds and Bodies - The Atlantic

Alvar Aalto

Connect with Sarah:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Linkedin

On the next episode:

Lori Richmond : Website / Instagram

Where do you go to create your best work?  Join that discussion at the Facebook group!

 

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Jun 19, 2017

Tyler Thrasher collects found objects and deceased creatures, and grows delicate, gorgeous crystal clusters on them.  His unique talents for combining chemistry and artistry have gained his work some much-deserved attention.  He is also an artist, music producer, traveler, rare plant collector, and photographer. 

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

In this episode, Tyler discusses:

-How he decides what he is going to use as a creative outlet on a day-to-day basis.

-How creative people have a baseline to create and then they pick an outlet to do that creating.

-The importance of pursuing your curiosities and scratching every single itch.

-Remembering that the reason we started doing something creative in the first place wasn’t to become the greatest at it or to try to make money from it, but because we were curious about it.

-How his crystallized natural art started.

-How his interest in caves started and his analysis as to why he loves them so much.

-The importance of writing down all of your ideas and attacking them.

-Some of the opposition he has encountered from other people, and how it motivates him to prove them wrong.

-How he first began producing electronic music and photography.

-Losing everything in his recent house fire and the incredible support that they received from fans, followers, friends, and family.

-The synchronicity of titling his new book The Wisdom of the Furnace.

-Another synchronicity of J.A.W. Cooper’s Phoenix being the only piece to survive the fire.

-His advice to put all of your work on the cloud.

-How he got back to his creative work immediately after the tragedy.

-How he found ways to turn the fire into something positive by using it as a backdrop for a photo shoot.

Tyler's Final Push will inspire you to TAKE A HIKE and to pursue your curiosities!

 

Quotes:

“I have a lot of interests and I just make time to do something.  I don’t really pick what it is I want to do, I just use three hours to create.”

“I think curiosity is a huge component in being a human and creating.”

“From my childhood, I’ve always been an avid supporter and admirer of nature and what it has to offer.”

“I went into my first cave and fell in love immediately.  It felt like home.”

“It went from scientific curiosity to just mad science artistic expression.”

“If you’re lying in bed and your subconscious starts screaming DO THIS COOL SHIT, get up, write it down, go back to sleep and then wake up and at least attempt to begin that idea.”

“A thing that artists should learn is to ignore that voice and boldly run in and at least give it a shot.”

“It was a weird juxtaposition.  It was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve experienced coupled with one of the most human-embracing things I will ever experience.”

“I had lost everything for the book in the fire, but in return I kind of just got the book.  In the end, the book had realized itself and came out of the fire.”

“I realized that I can’t talk about alchemy and transformation until I experience it first hand.  And that’s what happened.”

Connect with Tyler:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Soundcloud

On the next episode:

Sarah Goldhagen : Website

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

Jun 15, 2017

Yellena James is an artist who uses pens, inks, markers and acrylics to combine complex abstract forms into dazzling images which take on lives of their own.  Her colorful arrangements of organic shapes and tangled lines are at once floral and alien, organic and sci-fi

She has participated in shows around the U.S. and overseas including solo exhibitions at Giant Robot, the Here Gallery, and the Hijinks Gallery and she has done illustration work for Anthropologie, Crate and Barrell, Relativity Media and many others.

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

In this episode, Yellena discusses:

-Growing up in Sarajevo during the Bosnian War.

-How she developed her creativity despite the conflict that was happening all around her.

-Her family’s move to Florida and where she went from there.

-How she started doing pen and ink work in her sketchbooks because she didn’t have studio space.

-Her decision to post her work on Etsy and where that led her.

-How bloggers began to notice her work and how that enabled her to be in shows and obtain illustration gigs.

-How many of her jobs seem to come out of nowhere and at the perfect time, but how that all comes from her work being out there.

-Her advice to put all of your work out there and to reach out to bloggers.

-Letting go of your internal dialogue that constantly asks if you are going in the right direction.

-How she balances her time.

-Her new book, Star, Branch, Spiral, Fan.

Yellena's Final Push will inspire you to stop listening to your excuses and start listening to your own heart.

 

Quotes:

“It was kind of intense art-learning and I was very fortunate to be in that environment even though everything outside was very hectic.”

“It felt almost like somebody knew when I would finish one job and something else would come along.”

“Put it out there.  Make sure people know about you.”

“I think if you work really hard and put your whole soul into it, you’ll eventually get to the point that you’re really happy with your work.”

“Don’t listen to your excuses because they are lying to you and they’re not worth listening to.  You’ve got to follow your own heart.”

Links mentioned:

Star, Branch, Spiral, Fan: Learn to Draw from Nature's Perfect Design Structures by Yellena James

Connect with Yellena:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

On the next episode:

Tyler Thrasher : Website / Instagram / Soundcloud

Share what you've created this week in the Facebook group

Jun 12, 2017

Christina Mrozik is an artist from Michigan who uses pen, ink, marker, and watercolor to compose semi-surreal visions of nature that are very different from the usual paintings of serene landscapes and friendly animals. 

She is currently based in Portland, Oregon and enjoys working with arts education nonprofit groups.

She is currently being shown at Antler Gallery until June 26th.

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

In this episode, Christina discusses:

-How there is no clear-cut path for artists and creative people, and how each one needs to walk their own path.

-How art acts as a mirror in which you can learn more about yourself from what you create.

-The importance of pursuing your curiosities.

-Embracing the idea that you will learn more than you will be able to create.

-How everyone has a finite capacity, and it is just a matter of utilizing that capacity over and over so that it can grow and so that you can grow.

-Looking back to work you made very early in life and seeing the core that has existed throughout your life.

-Her advice to young people to explore any genre or style that piques their interest and to continue to create things that they enjoy or think they might enjoy.

-How she makes most of her money doing commercial illustration for various companies, and how she balances that with her personal work.

-How she meets and has conversations with her new ideas.

-The fact that people curate their social media to appear as if a creative life is easy, but how most people struggle to make it work and have much less time than it appears.

-Finding ways to be creative in everyday life.

-How she is unafraid of white paper and approaches her pieces without a plan.

-Pieces that sometimes hang on her wall for years until something else will inspire and inform her to complete it.

-How her understanding comes first from movement, then imagery, and then language.

-How learning to draw feels like learning to play an instrument whereas working with clay feels like singing.

-Her show at Antler Gallery and her feelings about the pieces in it.

Christina's Final Push will remind you to be kind to yourself as you battle through your creative journey!

 

Quotes:

“I feel like art acts as a mirror.  It is revealing the parts that are inside of you already and you’re just putting them on paper.  Then you have something to look at that informs you about your inner world.  So it’s this back and forth process.”

“We’re constantly dividing ourselves into categories and I think what I’m really trying to do through my art is figure out how to merge all those things back together into one complex being rather than to divide all those out into digestible pieces.”

“I think something every artist should do, no matter what stage they are at in their life, is pull out everything that they’ve made as far back as they can go and have everything out at the same time.”

“Your art should be a reflection of yourself and the only reason it should stay the same is if you do.  If you’re on a path of growing and shifting, your work should grow and shift with you.  You should feel like you have permission to allow it to change.”

“Make sure you get lost in something that you really like and feels really good, because if you’re hating what you’re making because you think it’s what you should be doing, you’re doing yourself a double disservice.”

“If I really want to have a good creative day, there will just be no noise anywhere and it will just come find me.”

“There are so many times where I don’t really have a clear idea at all, I just know that I’m feeling creative.  I’ll just sit down at a piece of paper and see what’s in there.”

“For me, so much of the making is the thinking itself.  They’re not always ideas that have been hashed out and put together.  They are the hashing out.”

“It’s like the actual process of moving my hand is what helps my brain think or understand.”

Links mentioned:

Christina Mrozik at Antler Gallery

Ann Hamilton “On Being”

Connect with Christina:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Tumblr / Twitter

On the next episode:

Yellena James : Website / Instagram

Join the discussion in the Facebook group!

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