Episodes

Amy Maricle is inspired by the connections between nature and art and adores patterns, paint, paper cutting, and putting it all together in art journals. Her training as an art therapist taught her the importance of focusing on process over product, and how to use mindfulness to tune into the moment through art. She weaves these techniques together to help her and her students have a rich and playful art practice that is both satisfying, and full of imperfect beauty. As you listen to our conversation, see if you can give yourself permission to let nature ground you and feed your art practice.

Jo York is a contemporary artist inspired by the landscape. She explores layers in the landscape and in paint, especially areas where the margins between land, sky, and sea, shift and merge and change. She lives in the UK in North Yorkshire and is obsessed with walking – and not just strolls along the beach or on the footpaths but walking during those weather conditions when the wind and rain and snow and dark gets into your bones and soul.

Iris Fritschi-Cussens is a London-based mixed media artist and recovering perfectionist. Her passion for art journaling for self-expression and self-discovery is an extension of her wish to get to know herself better and through that find a deeper connection to others. For more Iris, subscribe to her VLOG at Iris Impressions Art on YouTube.

Melissa Helene Mason is obsessed with details. She is a full-time scratchboard artist creating black and white, photo-realistic scratchboard wildlife portraits influenced by wild and endangered species from across the world. Melissa is also the founder of Color-Coded Creatives, where she empowers artists, makers, and creative entrepreneurs to create self-sustaining and successful businesses, so they are free to bring their art out into the world and make a living from it.

Caroline Storie, lover of polka dots and stripes, is a Brit living the Canadian life on Vancouver Island. Caroline makes stitched pictures using textiles and collage, adding phrases and words to create playful and relatable art works. During our conversation Caroline shares her obsession with having thoughtful and reflective chats with other artists about creativity and creating a supportive community. She writes: “If you have the gnawing or the roaring of that ‘thing’ happening inside you, I wish you a way to start your own curious adventure - to see what your thing is trying to be too. It really is worth it and totally possible.”

Rachel Ho is an extroverted ceramist from Northern Ireland living in England who has learned to embrace the solitary life of an artist. Her projects explore aspects of the human condition, particularly, grief, loss, healing and renewal. All of her pieces have a sense of mystery and beauty to them. Rachel creates beautiful objects that have the power to let others feel seen and heard.

Sandi Hester is a painter who shares her unapologetic, creative, messy wholehearted life on her YouTube channel, Bits of An Artist’s Life. During our conversation, Sandi got me fired up about creativity, talking back to that destructive self-talk, and making friends with this hot mess of a fantastic life. Be inspired to live your best creative life with Sandi!

Jo Payne lives on the North Devon coast in the UK surrounded by spectacular beaches, huge skies, and glorious coastal scenery. She is deeply moved by the coastal landscape, the effects from the rhythm of the sea and tides, and the differences in light from the constantly changing skies above. Jo shares how important it is to take the “shoulds” out of it and how when she started painting from her heart, that's when the joyful part began.

Sue Asbury grew up in Liverpool and now lives at the edge of the Peak District. Abstract works are built up over many layers and often incorporate collaged elements, while figurative works include local landscapes, with an interest in the everyday and the passing of time. Music and journeys play a large role in her creative practice. During our conversation, we talk quite a bit about trips – long distance walks, driving across the UK, and how fun it is to plot the journey. She is also half of Asbury & Asbury, a collaborative endeavor with her husband Nick, freelance writer and experimental poet, working together on projects including the A6 Notebook.

Suzy Sharpe’s practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture of landscape, wildlife, and animals with a contemporary twist. She lives in rural west Cornwall, UK, where a variety of non human animals, including livestock, pets and wildlife punctuate her days and inspire her work. Suzy explores, questions and celebrates the relationships between humans, animals and the natural environment.

Emma Freeman works in many mediums including fibers, textiles, collage, book making, cyanotype, and drawing. Her art practice is experimental, playful and tactile. Emma is a highly sensitive person who feels deeply connected to animals, nature, textures and colors. During our conversation, Emma shares her thoughts on creative languages, slow stitching, visible mending, and the power of play and experimentation.

Molly Meng is a force for good - she’s an artist, teacher, collector, and storyteller. Molly is heavily influenced by a scrap of paper, a single word, ​opera, rap, theremins, the thick cotton of an old book page, random sentences, and an overheard statement. Molly exudes optimism and curiosity, and believes we are ALL related and connected to each other. Check out her Tuesdays at Ten IG Live videos for an inside look at her collections and her studio.

Julie VonDerVellen is a Professor of design at Carroll College and paper artist who designs and creates paper clothes, shoes, timepieces, school supplies and 2D weavings from 1/8” strips of mulberry paper. Julie talks about the similarities between cooking shows and a studio practice and how they both initiate creative thinking. Her work revolves around investigating the book structure and how we tell stories.

Documentary filmmaker Laj Waghray’s keen observation and deep listening skills are evident in her films. She produced and directed Sleepovers, and On Hands, is currently working on Searching for Sparrows and just released the short film, Together Alone. During our conversation we discuss Post-it notes, Deep Work, and the primal urge to nest, organize and make order before starting a new project.

How do you keep showing up when your insecurities live large? Krissy Stewart forces herself to go to the studio and just sketch or paint and not worry about the results.Get inspired by our conversation as Krissy talks about saying yes, freedom and constraints, cowboy boots, glass tables, and the magic of the Scottish landscape.

Stephanie Huellmann, a self-taught artist from Germany, takes natural materials and found objects and sews them on by hand for her assemblage and mixed media works. Stephanie shares how she gets unstuck, her deep connection to the environment, and how she engages so deeply and finds that flow state when, for example, she takes over 1000 snail shells and sews them onto a canvas. Amazing!!!

Tracey Downing is a painter, printmaker, mixed media artist, art psychotherapist and poet. Tracey’s work is mostly abstract, informed by observation, thought, memory, found and ready-made objects. Tracey tells us about her vibrant artist communities, taking chances, and her passion for cold water swimming.

How do you get past the self-doubt and remain passionate and engaged? Get ready to be uplifted as Carrie talks about her passion for family, friends, food and travel. Her soul is in her house: her studio, her girls, the kitchen, art, and books. Her full life – which doesn’t come without sacrifice, struggles, and a lot of self-doubt - keeps the magical moments happening.

Linda Marcus is a multidisciplinary artist embracing the traditional focus on fluidity and tactility using less traditional materials in her work. This back-and-forth between new and old, expected and unexpected, results in a distinct body of work that is distinctly fiber-based. We talk about curiosity, motherhood, failure, Project Runway and the spectacular arts scene in Milwaukee.Takeaways1. It all starts with being curious about the world.2. You can have multiple careers across different industries – all you need to do is take a chance on yourself.3. It’s worth peeling back the layers when you meet someone. There is something wonderful to behold when you take the time to look a little closer.4. Embracing failure means you are learning.5. The person that's holding you back is the person in the mirror. You need to be kind to yourself and allow yourself to have failures and missteps and learn from them and laugh at yourself and move through it. You will be more resilient…

Vicky Lentz is a contemporary mixed-media visual artist from the northwest region of New Brunswick, whose home and studio are located in a secluded maple forest. Her daily life unfolds in a direct interaction with the living environment. Vicky shares her thoughts on different types of walks, the power of silence, and mentoring.

Natalie Ergas is the creator, sole ceowoman, artist, and educator of Native Essence Art. She creates portrait collages that represent fragmented memories, experiences and places that capture the essence of a persons or pet. During our conversation we talk about collecting, curating, thrifting, languages and the tangible pleasures in life – including french fries!

Aaron Boyd has illustrated over 40 children’s books working mostly in old school watercolor. Aaron talks about the challenge of maintaining internal honesty and says that so often our fear pushes us away from our internal voice and toward security and that his greatest successes in life have been when he’s faced the fear and listened to that voice. You will want to add this quote of his to your arsenal: “Fear no longer gets a vote.”

Nick Petrie spends his time crafting great sentences for his Peter Ash crime fiction series. His first novel, The Drifter, was nominated for six awards. Nick talks about those pesky internal voices, the rules he sets, and the tricks he employs to keep showing up to do the work.

Jennifer Pazienza is an oil painter living in New Brunswick Canada who uses landscape imagery to explore personal myths and histories, to heal the physic havoc wrought by childhood loss and to celebrate the life she now has. Jenn talks about the poetics of place, the fluidity of time, trampolines and how domestic knowledge was shaped by feminism.