Daniel José Older is the New York Times bestselling author of the Middle Grade historical fantasy series Dactyl Hill Squad, the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series, Star Wars: Last Shot, and the award winning Young Adult series the Shadowshaper Cypher, which won the International Latino Book Award and was shortlisted for the Kirkus Prize in Young Readers’ Literature, the Andre Norton Award, the Locus, the Mythopoeic Award, and named one of Esquire’s 80 Books Every Person Should Read.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/344
-What it was like to be a New York City paramedic.
-What the Jedi can teach writers when it comes to finding their voice.
-How the essence of being a writer is not what you’ve read in books but what you’ve experienced in your life.
-The importance of listening in writing and other creative pursuits.
-Making the transition from paramedic to full-time writer.
-Persevering despite Shadowshaper getting rejected 40 times.
-The support he received from Sheree Renée Thomas, Tananarive Due and Nathan Bransford.
-Writing the Other.
-Why we shouldn’t italicize other languages.
-Using humor.
-The advice that changed the entire trajectory of Shadowshaper.
-Why everyone should write a book (but not everyone should publish one).
-Why he spent the last year not writing.
-Finding comfort in writing his Ambulance Stories.
“The idea of sitting down and writing a book seemed so free. Because it was just me and the laptop.”
“That’s why I write. The world is destroyed and very much on fire.”
“The bones and blood of being a writer is what you’ve lived, not what you’ve read.”
“I feel like I’m writing to get the world to be what I know it to be.”
“I just didn’t know if it was in me to write a good enough book to be worth writing a book.”
12 Fundamentals of Writing The Other (And the Self) [Buzzfeed]
Sierra Santiago and the Invisible City - Daniel José Older - Wattpad
Website / Twitter / Instagram / Tumblr
Piper Thibodeau: Website / Instagram
Emilija Angelovska (born in Macedonia, living in the Netherlands) is an artist, educator, and change agent. She is fascinated with the popularity of community art projects and does a deep dive into creative communities in her Back to the Drawing Board podcast.
Emilija has shown her work in galleries in Amsterdam, Calgary and Edmonton, Alongside her artistic and research practice she holds professional experience from the Smithsonian Institution and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. In 2016 she was the recipient of the Kathleen & Russell Lane Canadian Art Award.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/343
-How she started her podcast as a result of having lost her creative community and wanting to make a new one.
-The ways that community informs the individual and the individual informs the community.
-Her advice for anyone looking to build a creative community.
-How art and life are so closely intertwined.
-The importance of surrounding yourself with individuals who might challenge your worldviews and experiences.
-The elitism of art galleries.
-How to create for the sake of creating.
-What she has learned from the people that she has interviewed on her podcast.
-Seeing teachers and professors as peers with individual opinions and tastes.
-Why it is crucial to have diverse individuals in your creative community.
-The symptom of quantity over quality caused by social media.
-Learning to not take what other people say about her work too seriously.
-Why adults should always be learning and exploring.
-The importance of sometimes doing absolutely nothing.
-Her love of books and why it’s fun to wreck them.
“Living a creative life is often times a lonely activity.”
“It’s very difficult to learn anything or to go anywhere if you are only communicating with people that have the same types of beliefs as yourself.”
“Whether you get bored and a new idea comes up or you are completely exhausted and your body simply needs time to settle, those moments of just doing nothing are really important.”
Back to the Drawing Board Podcast
things that art school did not teach me
Daniel José Older : Website / Twitter
Dan Berry is a cartoonist, illustrator, podcaster and educator based in the town of Shrewsbury, UK. He is a frequent collaborator with the author David Gaffney and is currently working on the follow-up to The Three Rooms in Valerie’s Head; a book called Rivers.
Since 2012 he has produced the podcast Make It Then Tell Everybody in which he has spoken to over a hundred and sixty other artists about what they do and how they do it.
Between 2008 and 2019 he was the Programme Leader for the illustration, comics and children’s books degree courses at the School of Creative Arts, Wrexham Glyndwr University.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/danberry
-His fascination with being able to create something that puts ideas and images in other people’s minds.
-Being hospitalized from the extreme stress he experienced working as a designer for a marketing agency.
-His decision to quit teaching.
-How everyone has different responses to stress, and the value in being able to determine your own.
-The large amount of work that you can get done in one hour.
-The stress level of effort and “half-assing it” to aim for a B-grade instead of an A.
-Why he called his podcast “Make it then Tell Everybody.”
-Illuminating the “grubby underbelly” of the creative process.
-The BMX story and the false belief that growth in your career has to come from the outside.
-Telling people about your work, both old and new.
-Some of the resistances that his guests have experienced.
-How he gets past “page fright” – the fear of the blank page.
-How he interacts with his ideas and why he is wary of the ones that come into his head fully formed.
-Why he draws people as birds.
-The experience of drawing an entire comic in 24 hours and other forms of “stunt drawing.”
“It was a good and fun job. Up until the point it wasn’t.”
“Creativity is not a muscle that you can just flex. It’s also a gland and you’ve got to relax it.”
“I managed to convince myself that everything else was stressful aside from the thing that actually was.”
“You could be the best artist on the planet, but if you’re only drawing in your bedroom and never showing anybody, you basically don’t exist.”
“I had this belief that any growth in my career had to come from outside.”
“Trying to remain enthusiastic about something that isn’t representative of your current level of ability is difficult.”
“If it exists, then you’ve done it right.”
“Once you have something that exists, you have something that’s editable.”
Make It Then Tell Everybody | How artists do what they do
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
The Three Rooms in Valerie's Head by David Gaffney and Dan Berry
Dick Rivets & Other Stories by Dan Berry
Website / Podcast / Store / Twitter
Emilija Angelovska : Podcast / Website
Danielle Clough is a multi-disciplinary artist from Cape Town, South Africa who specializes in the mediums of embroidery, photography, graphic design and video art.
She has been profiled by Instagram, Colossal, CNN, Vogue and The New York Times and had her work and in various exhibitions in South Africa, The USA and Russia.
Her new Skillshare class shows the basics of how she creates so that you can give embroidery a try for the first time.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/danielleclough
-Her mindset when she made the decision to quit school and also to change career paths.
-Learning to trust our heart and our instincts when they tell us that things aren’t right.
-How we sometimes think too far into the future and put too much pressure on ourselves before, during and after the creation process.
-Her biggest takeaways from Red & Yellow School of Logic & Magic.
-Seeing herself as a brand instead of an artist and her work as a product as opposed to statements.
-Keeping her personal life out of her social media presence.
-Her perfect formula for defeating imposter syndrome (and also cultivating it).
-Her mental state while creating pieces that take longer than a month.
-How she often feels like she is the sum of the last thing that she created, for better or worse.
-Why she doesn’t like the word, “inspiration.”
-Her advice for anyone who wants to get started with embroidery.
“I stumbled into embroidery through a sequence of opportunities and mistakes.”
“As soon as you say you’re going to ‘stick something out,’ that’s probably an indication that it’s not right for you.”
“I always feel like I am the sum of the last thing I put together.”
“That motivation to actually turn something into something tangible is so much more important to focus on than those neurons firing for three seconds.”
“Trust yourself and trust what you love.”
Danielle Clough's Skillshare class
Red & Yellow School of Logic & Magic
“Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert
Skillshare / Website / Facebook / Instagram
Dan Berry : Website / Make it Then Tell Everybody
Donald M. Rattner is an award-winning residential architect and educator. As a consultant he draws on scientific research to help individuals and organizations maximize occupant creativity in workplace, residential, wellness, hospitality and retail environments.
In his new book, My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation, Donald draws on the latest psychology and productivity research to offer a practical guide to designing your home to optimize your creative potential.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/340
-Why you should have a designated creative space.
-The importance of nature in our creativity and in our mental and physical wellbeing.
-Facing your space and setting up your surroundings to make yourself more open-minded.
-How we feel more creative when we feel safe and comfortable.
-How music and sound affects our creativity.
-The best decibel level for boosting your creative process.
-The surprising benefits of napping to our creativity (and why it works).
-Idea seeding.
-How working walls can help you externalize your ideas, work through your ideas, collaborate and think bigger than you normally could.
-The debate on messiness and creativity.
-Some free, cheap and simple tactics that people can use RIGHT NOW to optimize their creative spaces.
“Creativity, health and happiness all tend to operate on the same spectrum with regard to environment.”
“Walls are for more than just separating spaces. They can be active agents in the creative process.”
“Ideas flow from the hand to the brain just as much they do from the brain to the hand.”
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina
Website / Facebook / Medium / LinkedIn
David is an internationally acclaimed and collected artist who continues to push the limits of contemporary realist oil painting.
David and his family live in Olympia, WA.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/davidcheifetz
-His early interest and later pursuit of architecture.
-His experience at the Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore, Maryland.
-The unanticipated joy that he received from painting still life in oil, and the subsequent artistic career path that it took him on.
-Finding a balance between work, art, school and family.
-Imagining painting, and how it is almost as valuable as painting itself.
-How he started pricing his work.
-The inspiration he gets from David Goggins and Eckhart Tolle.
-His method for approaching a still life.
-Experimentation and how there has to be the possibility for failure in a piece of art, or else it is not going to be interesting.
-His advice for honing in on a specific focus.
-Realizing how important it is for his mental wellbeing to use small blocks of time to get to his art.
“No matter how much time I have to create, I never feel like it’s enough.”
“It’s better to err on the side of selling your art too quickly as opposed to keeping it forever.”
“If you’re just stacking up old paintings in your studio – that’s like creative baggage.”
“There has to be the possibility of failure, or else it’s not going to be interesting.”
“Always keep the focus at a higher level of detail.”
Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
Website / Book / Instagram / Workshops
Tiffany Miller Russell is a wildlife artist and natural history illustrator. She delights in the unique and unusual, and her goal is to communicate that excitement with her viewer.
Her paper sculptures are created with found specialty papers. After drawing is carefully made, she hand-cuts the papers and forms them by hand to create a three-dimensional collage. With the exception of small 5x7s that she creates in limited editions, all of her pieces are one-of-a-kind works of art.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/338
-Her initial exposure to paleo artist Gary Staab.
-Discovering people who were combining art and natural science.
-Picking dead animals apart in a zoology prep lab.
-How some of her pieces take up to 300 hours to complete.
-How listening to podcasts keeps her in her chair while doing her work.
-Dealing with her time management difficulties by turning it into a game.
-The psychological differences between rewards and costs in your creative tracking.
-Some of the mental and physical resistances that she deals with on a daily basis.
-Drawing without reference.
-Battling perfectionism and comparing herself to others.
-The inspiration she receives by subscribing to Sketchbox.
“I like the challenge of having a challenge.”
“If you know that you can get addicted to something, why not apply that to your work?”
The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Sculpture-Step-Step-Guide/dp/1564963292
Level Up Your Life: How to Unlock Adventure and Happiness by Steve Kamb
Website / Facebook / Etsy / Instagram
Nick Ulivieri is a photographer who likes his verticals parallel, his skies wild, his colors bold, and hanging above Chicago. Shooting structures & architecture is his profession.
He is a commercial photographer based in Chicago who specializes in shooting architecture, real estate, food & hospitality.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/337
-How a trip to Italy sparked his interest in photography.
-His family friend asking him to take photographs and how that led to him starting his business.
-What it was like in the early days of his photography career.
-The importance of design, messaging and consistency of voice.
-How he got clients when he first started out (and how he gets them now).
-How he fell into taking photographs of architecture and how he finds ways to give the same structures and landscapes a new feel.
-The experience of shooting aerial photographs in a helicopter.
-The process of choosing which photographs he shares on his Instagram and Twitter feeds (and in what order).
-His thoughts and advice for growing a following on Instagram.
-How the business end of photography actually ends up being a resistance to his creative side.
“Sometimes ignorance is bliss when you’re learning something new.”
“I was indirectly promoting my services just by practicing my craft around the city and sharing the photos I took.”
“You can do it. You may be surprised with what you can do if you have a passion for something and you work hard at it and aren’t afraid to take that risk.”
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Flickr / Twitter
Tiffany Miller Russell: Website / Etsy / Instagram
Karan Bajaj is a #1 bestselling Indian novelist with more than 200,000 copies of his novels in print, both optioned into major films.
Karan's first worldwide novel, The Yoga of Max's Discontent was inspired by Karan's one year sabbatical traveling from Europe to India by road and learning yoga and meditation in the Himalayas.
Karan has also worked in senior executive roles at companies like Procter & Gamble and the Boston Consulting Group and was named among Ad Age's "Top 40 Under 40 executives" in the US.
-The "4, 1, 4" rule and how it helped him to thrive, not only in his career, but in his life.
-His "conscious goal-lessness" during his time off, especially when he is so driven during his working years.
-His advice for someone who struggles to get to the point of realizing that they are already equipped for life and don't need to concentrate so hard on improvement.
-The idea of taking mind- or self-dissolving vacations, where you actually try to change and better yourself as a person as opposed to simply going to a new location.
-How he kick-started my meditation practice with a 10 day silent vipassana retreat and how a vipassana retreat is actually quite accessible for anyone who is interested in trying it (it's free!)
-How his 10-day silent retreat helped him to see that he had been in a constant mode of wanting, or feeling as if he was lacking something instead of living in the moment.
-His one year sabbatical and how he spent the time.
-How living extremely simply for a long period of time helps you to realize that you really don't need much in your everyday life to survive and it helps to make you stronger when facing tough situations.
-The benefits that his retreat gave to his creativity.
-His suggestion to always start with concentration-based meditation approaches.
-What to do when other thoughts begin to creep into your consciousness while you are meditating.
-The joy and inspiration that comes from seeing yourself on a hero's journey. Even if you don't reach the goal, the act of trying is a success.
-How art fixes the world for him.
"What I have learned through this period is that my sabbatical year has to be almost the complete antithesis of my working years."
"I'm always shunning this idea that I have to constantly be better than who I am."
"I just try to operate with this idea that I am complete and I have enough depth to tap into, versus wanting to be more than I am."
"You can't help but to be different after those ten days."
"It's not like some instant moment of enlightenment. You start understanding the endlessness of our thought waves."
"I almost feel that every artist is creating out of a sense that this world is incomplete and they need to create a more complete and idealized version. Art fixes the world for me."
The Yoga of Max's Discontent by Karan Bajaj
"My 4,1,4 rule, or why you shouldn't feel the pressure to become an entrepreneur" (From Karan's blog)
Your Creative Push Ep. 2: Approach the first brush stroke with ENERGY (w/ Karl Mårtens)
Just a quick update as to why there hasn't been a new episode in the past month and plans for the future of the podcast!
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 (with perhaps slightly more attention paid to abs). They are also the host of the podcast Blue Magic, where they interview other creatives in the erotic field.
-What their Miracle Morning has looked like recently.
-Realizing that they might have ADHD and some of the methods and hacks they have been using in order to stay more focused.
-How working on yourself is the greatest creative act you can embark upon.
-The way in which the creative process has become a religious experience for them.
-Writing your own Gospel and living your own Myth.
-Their recent experience with magic mushrooms.
-Taking the “Journey to the Imaginal Realm” course with Becca Tarnas.
-Cultivating a relationship with our unconscious.
-How SESTA/FOSTA changed the landscape for adult artists.
-Dealing with the emotional despair of sites changing the landscape for adult artists.
-Bugs Bunnying your way through any situation.
“Working on yourself is just another creative act. It might not be a pretty piece of art, but it’s YOU. And you are your best work, when you come right down to it.”
“To me, pursuing art has become the path that teaches me how to pursue life.”
“Our unconscious is extraordinarily powerful. What we think of as the self is the tip of the iceberg. And it goes all the way down to the root.”
“What are you waiting for? This is your chance. You don’t know if tomorrow is going to come.”
“Take one step right now. Your soul is on the line. This is the most important thing you can do for your life. So just do it, already. You have permission. Go.”
The Disorganized Mind by Nancy A. Ratey
Organization Solutions for people with ADHD by Susan Pinsky
Journey to the Imaginal Realm (Becca S. Tarnas)
Becca Tarnas on Rune Soup [1] [2]
Website / Newgrounds / Podcast / Instagram / Tumblr / Patreon / Twitter
Nick Ulivieri : Website / Instagram
Nick Runge grew up in Colorado. Coming from a creative family of professional artists, he was always interested in drawing and imagining ideas visually. After working as an illustrator full time from 2004-2015 he shifted focus to more personal work using oils and watercolor.
As a portrait/figurative painter, Nick works from life as well as photography, describing his art as something close to “abstracted realism”, with an objective of expressing as much of the realistic human element of life as possible through a limited and often simplified approach to his rendering or brushwork, giving an illusion of realism while, at the same time, breaking shapes and form down enough to have a close balance with abstraction.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/335
-Why he came back to drawing and painting.
-Balancing personal work vs. client/commission work.
-Finding a love for painting with oils and watercolor.
-The experience of making the movie poster for “The Death of Superman Lives.”
-His advice to become obsessed with things that you enjoy doing.
-His advice for selling your work on social media without feeling slimey.
-What a typical day looks like for him.
-The fear of showing old work or failures.
-Getting past ruts.
-The power of secret sketchbooks.
-Putting aside your five favorite pieces of art to open your mind to making new “favorites.”
-Dealing with shyness.
“You have to hold that initial excitement for art like a fuel through all of the tough times.”
“Drawing has felt like I’ve been cheating on normal life. That’s why I love it. It seems forbidden -- especially in America – to draw or create. It’s seems great, but how do you make money at it?”
“If you find a specific painting or a subject matter that you really do just enjoy, maybe just obsess over it a little bit more.”
“I find that any time I think ‘I need money right now so I’m going to paint this thing,’ it almost never works.”
“If you want to paint or draw, do just a little bit every day and it really will get to be more of an addiction.”
“Start” – Nick's piece that was unfinished
Marie-Noelle Wurm on Your Creative Push Ep. 320
Watercolor Workshop in Seville Spain (May 16-19 2019)
Alatar on Your Creative Push Ep. 232
Alatar on Your Creative Push Ep. 296
Alatar : Newgrounds / Podcast / Instagram
Jeff Wright is a storyteller and a podcaster. He specializes in “edu-tainments”: storytelling with depth and message AND presentations enriched through entertaining story. His podcasts, Odyssey: The Podcast and Trojan War: The Podcast are now available everywhere.
Jeff's live show, "A Whack on the Side of the Head: A Concussion Story" tells the autobiographical story of his personal journey through concussion and invisible injury. The one-hour show comes complete with Jeff’s amusing anecdotes, good humor, insightful take-aways, and inspirational messages.
Contact Jeff personally at jeff@trojanwarpodcast.com, or Jeff’s agent info@perfectnotespeakers.com for show information and booking details.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/334
-How he got interested in theater and public speaking.
-Dealing with the unrelenting standards placed upon him by other people and eventually by himself.
-How suffering from a concussion changed the trajectory of his life.
-If some major life issue forces you to start from scratch, build on something that you are already good at.
-How the Greek Epics were what “stuck” for his lectures.
-Transitioning from a full-time teacher to a shorter-term guest speaker.
-The changes that he had to make in his presentation when he took his “act” from small classrooms to large auditoriums.
-Watching tapes of himself and evaluating, but not being too critical.
-Gaining power over your demons or monsters by learning their names.
-Using a damaged brain to try to figure out what was wrong with his brain.
-The unfair feeling of wanting to justify his invisible injury to other people.
-How we overly value the negative reviews and comments.
-Not being able to see his audience due to bright lights (and having no physical audience during the podcast).
“I think an awful lot of creative people or high achievers get so much of their self-concept tied up in the work that they do.”
“The thing about these stories is that they’re humanities original Game of Thrones.”
“When some life event throws your life off of its nice intended tracks, if you can build on something that you know you already do well and you are passionate about, then at least you have a few aces in your hands as you start on the parts that are going to be new and difficult for you.”
“The journey to success is paved with failures.”
“When shit happens and your life is turned upside down, don’t deny it. Don’t try to go it alone.”
Website / E-mail / Facebook / Twitter
Nick Runge : Website / Instagram
If there is one thing that Youngman has learned in the three years of creating this podcast, it is the fact that the best creative output comes when you share your own story.
Often times, it takes time and effort to figure out what that story is.
In today's episode we are going to explore the fact that your story doesn't have to reach a completion for you to start sharing it. You simply have to share what’s inside of you. The closer you can get to that message, the better it will be… not necessarily in quality, but in the weight that it carries for you and for others.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/tellyourstory
“That’s the glory of sharing your story. It doesn’t have to be a story. It simply has to be what’s going on inside of you. As concrete or as confusing as it may be to you.”
"There are a million ways that you can get off-track from telling your story. And all of them are very quick derailments."
"Sharing your message is THE THING. That's the focal point and the guidepost that will put you on the right path."
"When we're talking about using your art to tell a story, what better story is there than the story of your life?"
The Art Marketing Project Podcast
Kick in the Creatives Ep. 33 Using Art to Convey a Message or Story
Daniel Robinson is a television writer for ABC’s hit drama How to Get Away With Murder.
He’s self publishing his first novel, First They Ignore You, a deeply personal work of fiction that explores the decade it took for him to establish his career in Hollywood and the lifetime it continues to take for him to battle with his personal demons who mostly manifest as an intense desire to drown anxiety and self-loathing in a sea of fast food.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/danielrobinson
-How the skills of a basketball player translate to the creative realm.
-Seeing things being done at a professional level, and what that did for his mindset.
-Embracing failure.
-Writing for a television series with a team versus writing for yourself.
-Being a mercenary with your creative skills.
-How everyone has their own story to tell.
-Putting himself on the page via dialogue between his characters.
-How his editor was able to bring out the best in him.
-Pushing himself to “dig deeper.”
-Calibrating his sensitivity to make it a tool.
-Guarding your attention and dealing with distractions.
“I was fortunate in that I was consumed by this almost pathological belief or vision that I could accomplish anything.”
“Storytelling is such a powerful thing. Once people feel like they’ve told their story, it can lift so much weight off of their soul.”
“Those dopamine feedback loops are so addictive.”
“As an artist, you have to guard your attention. There are so many distractions nowadays that it’s hard to push those things aside, channel your inner voice and do that work that is so important.
“You have to free yourself from any expectation of what this thing is supposed to be, where it’s supposed to take you, what it’s supposed to do.”
“What the world needs is charged up, thriving, vital people who are passionate about what they are doing.”
First They Ignore You by Daniel Robinson
Kick in the Creatives: Using Art to Convey a Message or Story
Suzanne is an asexual woman with a great love for writing erotic romance and enjoys spending her time confusing people with that fact. She believes there is a need for heightened diversity in erotic fiction and strives to write enough stories so that everyone can see themselves mirrored in a protagonist.
Her new book, Playing Around, is available April 15!
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/suzanneclay
-Writing erotic romance as a way for her to investigate the wide range of sexualities and sexual behavior.
-How she was able to see sexual interest and activity as a form of character motivation.
-Why she felt it was important to start writing queer romance.
-How and why she began sharing her work.
-The experience of working with NineStar Press.
-How she lets her characters explore and tell the story (and how that affects the editing process).
-Being a “Plantser.”
-The initial fear and guilt because of her religious upbringing.
-Aphantasia and how that affects her writing.
-Her strategies for dealing with depression and anxiety.
-Using programs like Omnifocus and Habitica to help her manage her time and organize the tasks that she needs to get done.
-The rewarding experience of writing commissions.
“Sometimes I’m waiting for a reader to stand up and say, ‘You know, it’s really not that serious and you’re putting way too much thought into all of this about your characters.’”
“As I began to research into possibly publishing some of my material, I realized exactly how big the small press and independent queer author community was.”
“I think if I had been exposed to more works like that when I was younger, then it wouldn’t have taken me until I was 25 years old to recognize my identity and my place in the queer community.”
“It’s very hard sometimes to trust my characters and believe that they are telling me what I need to hear.”
“You’re going to bring breathless, beautiful, boundless, bountiful life to your creation – the kind that brings people to tears when they realize they are not alone.”
Playing Around (Rough Play Book 1) by Suzanne Clay: NineStar / Amazon / Books2Read
Website / Goodreads / Amazon / Facebook / Twitter
John Wentz is a contemporary painter whose work is an exploration of process and technique. Working within the classical idiom of the human figure, his goal is to reduce and simplify the image to it’s core fundamentals: composition, color, and mark making.
John was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has had 3 solo exhibitions in San Francisco and numerous group exhibitions both nationally and internationally. His works have appeared in many publications and have won multiple awards.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/johnwentz
-How he landed in fine art after his foray in illustration.
-How a Gerhard Richter exhibition changed his life and remapped his brain.
-Art being about discovery and experimentation.
-The power that comes from disconnecting in order to do some soul-searching.
-Cave paintings and how we have always been creating art, and even risking our lives to do so.
-How he has struck a balance from his former lifestyle of a donut a day and being disconnected from friends and family.
-How he picks his subjects and how he paints them.
-How he was taught that he should never paint anybody that he knows, and why he is rebelling.
-Why he purposely doesn’t analyze certain aspects of his process in order to maintain some of the magic.
-Why and how he started creating his assemblages of his art, photography and reclaimed items.
-The story behind his series, “Navigation Unknown.”
-How he chooses which ideas to move forward on.
-The dark ways in which social media platforms are controlling your creative process.
-Dealing with anxiety.
-Turning your list of priorities upside down so that you get to your creative passion before all of your other “needs.”
-His new course at the NOH/WAVE Academy.
-The differences between living in Paris and the United States.
“For me, making art is about discovery and experimentation.”
“Just unplug and take time for yourself. It’s okay to not be connected.”
“There are certain aspects of my process that I don’t analyze too much because I want to keep that unknown to it.”
“Making it is only fifty percent. The other fifty percent is getting it in front of an audience and creating a dialogue.”
“On paper, being a painter is the worst business plan imaginable.”
“The people that I end up working with and being friends with are great people to be around and they ignite something inside of me.”
John's course on NOH/WAVE/ACADEMY
Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Suzanne Clay : Website / Goodreads
In the ever-evolving landscape of today's music industry, Nashville-based independent artist Ron Pope has plotted his own course. Uncompromising and relentless, Pope has evolved into one of the top grossing independent acts in the business while garnering a legion of devoted fans the world over.
Taking the industry-road-less-traveled and holding fiercely to his independence has proven fruitful for Pope; to date, he has sold out shows on three continents and in more than 20 countries, sold over 2 million digital tracks, had over 290 million streams on Spotify, 700 million plays on Pandora, 150 million views on Youtube, and has more generally crushed every metric used to measure what is possible for independent artists.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/bestof13
-His creative origins and how he got to the point he is today as a songwriter and musician.
-His involvement at the inception of “The District.”
-How he writes such a large quantity of songs because he knows that not all of them will be good enough to make a record.
-The belief that if you want to be a songwriter, you just have to sit down, shut up, and write songs.
-How he doesn’t really believe in writer’s block. It is just accepting that some of the stuff you write will be garbage.
-The importance of working harder than everyone else if you want to excel to the highest level of your creative field.
-One of the times that he was having a very difficult time writing a song, and then all of the sudden he was struck with the song in its entirety.
-How doing the hard work every day and getting used to what the work feels like puts you in a better position to capture inspiration and put it into its “physical” form, even in just one take.
-The role that music played in his life when he was younger to make him feel more connected and less alone.
-The profound connection that comes when people play his music during special events.
-How his song “I Do Not Love You” played a special role in Youngman Brown’s life as his first dance at his wedding.
-How art is subjective and it doesn’t matter what the artist thinks about it once the viewer or listener has given it his or her own meaning.
-How hard it is to comprehend large numbers of listenership, and the power that comes from one-on-one connections.
-What he has been up to creating and touring his new album Ron Pope & the Nighthawks.
“That songwriting circle was really the difference for me. If I hadn’t joined that group, I don’t know if I would have been able to become a professional songwriter.”
“I just feel like I’m not good enough to sit down and write ten songs and have all ten of those songs be bangers and have that be the record.”
“For my last album, Ron Pope and the Nighthawks I wrote 150 songs. We recorded 40 of them or so to get to the 11 that we have on the record.”
“Really almost everything is like this. If you want to do it, and you want to do it at a high level, you’re going to have to work harder than everybody else.”
“It was like I got hit by lightning. It was into my brain immediately. The song in my bones just existed. The whole thing. The melody, the lyrics, the chords, the whole thing.”
“You put yourself in a much better position to have chance favor you if you do the right kind of work.”
“It made me excited when I stumbled upon music that made me feel something. It made me feel much less alone.”
“I very rarely share the stories behind my songs because I want you to take them home and make them your stories.”
“It’s still a really powerful feeling to know that whatever you’re creating is a part of people’s lives.”
“For me it’s the singular achievement of my life as an artist.”
“You’re going to have to work hard on something eventually whether it’s something you choose or something that people make you do, so if you have to pick, you might as well work hard at something that you love.”
“It’s worth it to work hard on things that you love.”
Website / iTunes / Spotify / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
John Wentz : Website / Instagram
Johnny Anomaly is a spoken word poet, author and public speaker who has been entertaining audiences with the emotionally charged storytelling of his life for the past six years.
He is also the creator and host of The Creative Coping Podcast, where he and his guests discuss the trauma that has acted as a catalyst for their creativity.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/329
-How he turned to writing and spoken word poetry after the loss of his son.
-How your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt.
-The way in which his motive changed from wanting to be a rock star to wanting to help other people realize that they are not alone in their difficult situations.
-Getting past the denial phase.
-The importance of producing finished work with the tools that you have.
-Dealing with procrastination.
-His process of creating a spoken word poem.
-How he used ten song titles as the basis for his first album, Inspired by Tragedy.
-The art of sublimation.
-Personifying pain.
-Why he started the Creative Coping Podcast.
-Having an alias.
-The experience of interviewing his wife and daughter.
-How easy Anchor makes it to podcast.
“There’s a lot of healing involved with being able to say what I want to say.”
“I was saying things that probably shouldn’t be said in front of an audience, but I felt that was the way I had to grieve and get things out.”
“You have to personify that pain. Give that pain a face.”
“I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t able to express myself in my writing or in my performance poetry. Oh my gosh. I’d probably kill someone, man.”
“As insignificant or insecure as you may feel, just remember that you have a voice and you are worth being heard.”
Dare To Be Different with Nevaeh LeBoeuf
Marriage & Mental Health with Jammie LaBoeuf
YCP Ep. 325 w/ Alisa Kennedy Jones
Creative Coping Podcast / iTunes / Spotify / Soundcloud / Instagram
John Wentz : Website / Instagram
Andrew Tischler is an artist from New Zealand who has been a professional artist for the last fifteen years. He was born in the United States and moved to Australia when he was 10 years old, where he studied his craft for more than twenty years.
In 2019, he and his wife Rachel will be opening their gallary, Tischler & Co Studio Gallery.
-How his father encouraged him to pursue art when he was young.
-Growing up in the United States, New Zealand and Australia.
-How there is beauty everywhere and it is just about having the eyes to see it.
-Dealing with introversion.
-How his father had time for only his art and his family.
-How his wife has allowed him to accept himself and to also flourish into who he needs to be.
-The way in which we distract ourselves from the things we are supposed to focused on.
-How we are all here for a purpose or a calling.
-The way in which we are being raised to be cogs in a machine (and why people feel like they don’t fit into that system).
-The incredible power of the internet and social media for artists or anyone who wants to share a creative message.
-The importance of writing down goals in all aspects of your life and referring to them every day.
-His issues with anger in the past and how he has conquered it as of late.
-The ways in which you can distract yourself with goals that aren’t aligned with the things you actually need.
-Taking the life philosophies of the thought leaders you admire and plugging them into your own life where they fit.
-How he flags certain aspects of life (like the news and negativity) as distractions that are trying to keep him off of his mission.
“People have more power than they give themselves credit for.”
“Get on with it. Do it now. Don’t wait. Stop the excuses. You can do something small, now.”
“We’re slowly being prepared to be these cogs in a machine, and I feel like that’s why people feel like they don’t fit with the current paradigm. They’re punching in and punching out.”
“I was already a professional artist for twelve years before I started my YouTube channel, and I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner.”
“I think it’s time that we dispel that myth that we need to suffer.”
Why Beauty Matters? - Roger Scruton
Painting Outdoors in Paradixe - EPIC EN PLEIN AIR
The Creative Endeavor - Ep. 3 - Dr. Demartini
Website / Shop / YouTube / Facebook / Instagram
Johnny Anomaly : Podcast / Facebook / Instagram
Vanessa Vakharia is the Founder and CEO of The Math Guru, a boutique math and science tutoring studio in Toronto with a unique approach that works - like actually!
She is also the co-founder of Goodnight, Sunrise, an indie-rock-and-roll-superfun-party band based in Toronto, Canada.
Vanessa is also the author of Math Hacks, which is designed for kids (and their parents) struggling with math anxiety and looking for a new approach to homework, studying, tests and marks.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/327
-How her life started when she failed math twice.
-The way in which we define ourselves as “good” or “bad” at something and then live that narrative.
-How her tutoring organically grew into The Math Guru.
-How the focus should be in doing something new, creative and enjoyable as opposed to profitable.
-The power in outsourcing.
-Her realization that taking the time to get to one of her pursuits must come from one of her other endeavors.
-Taking a Time Inventory.
-Her lifelong dream of becoming a singer and the stumbling blocks along the way.
-How one man called her “the worst singer he had ever heard,” and how she took it as a positive.
-Growing immune to rejection and how that allows her to try for crazier opportunities.
-How anything is possible, but getting small examples of that for yourself as proof.
-Her take on the experience of opening for Bon Jovi and all of the synchronicities involved.
-The story behind her book, Math Hacks.
“Where I am today started with this grand failure.”
“It takes a lot for someone who is ambitious to realize that part of what needs to happen is slowing down a little, but also being creative and outsourcing.”
“I’ve always liked being underestimated because it gives me the opportunity to surprise them later.”
“It’s all about mindset. Cultivate a mind that is a hotbed for creative magic because it’s so full of possibility.”
“None of the things associated with failure are as bad and scary as never trying to achieve your dreams. That’s the scariest thing.”
“The hustle is in your control. The luck isn’t. You’re trying to get to that perfect pinnacle where the two meet and you’ve done everything you can to take advantage of the lucky moment.”
Math Hacks: Cool Tips + Less Stress = Better Marks by Vanessa Vakharia
The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah Knight
Jia Jiang: What I learned from 100 days of rejection | TED Talk
The Math Guru / Instagram / Spotify / iTunes
Andrew Tischler : Website / YouTube / Instagram
Canadian emerging Artist, Teresa Coulter lives in Calgary Alberta Canada. She is known for her Abstract Expressionism. Her portrait series called “ Sock Drawer Stories” forged a new pathway to address the social stigmas associated with Mental Health in the workplace. What started as a small artistic venture to heal herself, as well as Paramedic colleagues, has since grown into a narrative on a national stage. Teresa has been awarded several awards such as: The ATB financial Healing Through the Arts Award in 2017, Hometown Hero Award , and a Public Service Award through TEMA.
Teresa’s art raised awareness of Mental Health well beyond her Art studio, and first-responder network. She is honored to have participated in and collaborated with: Calgary Police Services, Legacy Place Society, The Other Side of the Hero documentary; the #nowimstronger 60 day campaign with Canadian Mental Health; White Coat, Black Art with Dr. Brian Goldman; and Uptalk podcast with Sean Conohan . Articles of her work have published and can been seen in: Global News, Challenger Magazine, Link magazine, and Live up Magazine.
Since 2000 Teresa Coulter has been a Practicing Primary Care Paramedic and continues to work at building resilience in the First Responder community.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/teresacoulter
-How she got into emergency services but always had a desire towards creativity.
-How she became a nude model because she wanted to see herself through somebody else’s eyes.
-The vulnerability that holds us back from asking for help.
-How she uses her art to help her interpret the world and to interpret PTSD.
-The way in which she came up with the title for her Sock Drawer Stories series.
-Her experience of opening up and cleaning her “sock drawer.”
-How she appreciates when people have a reaction to her art, whether it be positive or negative.
-The ways in which PTSD causes you to lack the words to describe what you are going through (and the way that art can help you to express yourself).
-The value of long-form conversations, and how social media has taken that from us.
-How creativity allows us to be present in the moment.
-The idea of your mind being a garden.
-The power of the story that we tell ourselves and the boxes we put ourselves in.
-How Bob Ross changed the course of his life through art.
-How people can have more comfortable and safe conversations about struggles with mental illness.
-How to handle a situation in which someone is suicidal.
“I became a nude model and would sit for these incredible artists because I wanted to see myself through somebody else’s eyes.”
“A photograph captures one second, but when you are sitting for an artist, there are multiple seconds that are passing and being captured into one final product.”
“I don’t paint for people to love everything that I do. I actually appreciate if somebody is strongly disgusted by my art.”
“Art is this incredible thing that you can use for change. We need it in our lives.”
“People want to see your growth. There’s something beautiful in the process of growing. Why wait until you think that you’re good enough because that will never be achieved.”
“We have the ability to change the course of our lives whenever we want. It’s just about connecting to that internal compass and honoring it, feeling it within the depths of ourselves.”
Mental Health First Aid Courses
Website / Facebook / Instagram
Vanessa Vakharia : The Math Guru / Goodnight, Sunrise
Alisa Kennedy Jones is an American memoirist, blogger, novelist, and awkward public speaker. A regular contributor to NPR, her wildly popular blog Gotham Girl has amassed nearly 50K avid followers worldwide. She also writes for television and theater and lives with the absurdly titled "ecstatic epilepsy" which she's less than ecstatic about.
In her new book, Gotham Girl Interrupted: My Misadventures in Motherhood, Love and Epilepsy, she shares a collection of comedic essays about life with epilepsy as a single mother in Manhattan.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/gothamgirl
-The story of her first seizure and being diagnosed with epilepsy.
-Learning in television and film that “nothing is precious.”
-The lesson that can be learned from improv acting: “Yes, and…”
-When it is time to move past the denial stage.
-How our brain’s function is to tell a story.
-The way in which it felt like she had a blank slate after every seizure.
-How she wanted to make her narrative different than the typical ones that involved suffering and alienation.
-The differences between writing a book and writing for television.
-How she had to push to express how she was feeling “right to her edge” in her writing.
-Dealing with the ultimate imposter syndrome of not recognizing yourself in the mirror.
-The importance making room for neurodiversity in our world, and why that was a major reason for her writing Gotham Girl Interrupted.
-How she wrote the entire first draft stream-of-consciousness.
-The experience of meeting the people who have read her book.
-How neuroplasticity helped her to find her words again.
-How boredom can actually be useful.
“You can be doing things in the way that you think that you are most creative and then suddenly the world rushes in to tell you that you have some more thinking to do.”
“What was happening around me wasn’t that I was dying. For me, it was like being trapped in a Van Gogh painting.”
“Denial works until your head is really hurting.”
“It was the ultimate reboot, in a way. It was like waking up with a new brain.”
“I wanted to get at something more than just complaining about this thing that had happened. I wanted more invention. I wanted more imagination. I wanted more.”
“I think that our world is better for a space that allows for neurodiversity. Everyone is very differently wired. I want us to make room for all different kinds of brains.”
“Don’t be afraid to write or speak to the edge of yourself, of your fears, of everything.”
Gotham Girl Interrupted: My Misadventures in Motherhood, Love and Epilepsy by Alisa Kennedy Jones
Teresa Coulter : Website / Instagram
-Her history as an ultra-marathoner.
-The similarities between ultra-running and creativity.
-“Binging” in the studio.
-How she first got interested in making jewelry.
-Dealing with her own feeling the being a jeweler is less legitimate than other forms of art.
-How calling herself a “maker” allows her the permission to try out other forms of art.
-The importance of remembering that art is meant to make others feel happy.
-How writing her artist statement gave her a backbone and motivation.
-The story of getting through a major injury.
-Her vow to find her true self after realizing that she didn’t know who she was.
-The difference between her killer instincts in racing versus her shyness to “win” at art.
-The need for creative individuals to find their tribe.
-The various ways that she is attempting to get in the back door of the industry.
“I cannot stop being creative. It’s like this fountain that’s just overflowing. And the cool thing about it is that I feel like it’s never going to run dry.”
“I do not have to apologize for how I choose to thrive.”
“I’m thinking of all these backdoors and creative ways to get into the industry that other artists aren’t thinking about.”
“You cannot flourish if you are living with shame.”
Alisa Kennedy Jones : Website / Twitter / Blog
Jason Polins graduated from Boston University’s Visual Arts Program then attended Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. After graduating, he returned to Boston area to pursue direct studies with notable painters such as Nelson Shanks, Thomas Dunlay and Gary Hoffmann. All of whom Jason remain closely connected to as mentors and friends.
Moved by the beauty of nature and our modern world. His genre of expertise include portraiture, figure, still life and landscape/cityscape. Jason works in graphite, charcoal and oil paint.
Outside of Polins Atelier, he also teaches art classes in oil painting, drawing at Northeastern University and several local art centers.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jasonpollins
-Studying in Florence using the sight-size method.
-The “reset” that he got through working with Nelson Shanks.
-The innate search for truth that art allows us to investigate.
-His advice for people to stop stewing in their own angst and let go in order to get to their art.
-His mantra of “Make a mark to adjust a mark.”
-Just how much of an artist’s time is spent practicing.
-The importance of separating yourself from your preconceptions of what you are painting (and how to do it).
-How his mind works with straight lines and angles versus curves.
-His attempt to keep his brain more engaged than the moment that just passed.
-Looking at the world scientifically, through a series of theories and proofs.
-Gathering, organizing and presenting.
-Being mentally present in your decision-making.
-The various ways that he makes money.
-His friendship with Alexander Soukas.
-The importance of not just seeking out mentors and teachers, but also gaining as much wisdom from them as possible.
“Visual art is a conversation that I don’t think that I’ll ever figure wholly but always endeavor to understand better.”
“It’s not about your skillset. It’s about how you use it.”
“The idea of, ‘Make a mark to adjust a mark,’ is just a fundamental starting point to clarify that you have to do in order to do better.”
“People don’t practice enough. We get pushed ahead to create masterpieces.”
“What’s the measure of success? I don’t like it to be money. I don’t even like it to be that I finished something. I’d like it to be that I showed up and put in time. If I can do that I think that I’m moving forward somehow.”
“It’s not ‘in it to win it’ with art. Forget that. It’s just being in it.”
“It’s really important to be able to be impressed by a student that you might have and to also impress upon them. Something excellent comes out of that.”
“It’s too big for us to connect individually. Life is short and art is long. We don’t get to see the whole picture.”
Alexander Soukas on Your Creative Push
Website / Polins Atelier / Instagram
Sada Crawford : Instagram