This is very difficult for me, but today I give a brief message for you all as to why I decided to slow down the pace of the podcast in a major way.

Yana Zorina, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist with a lifelong passion for the arts.  In her scientific career, Yana has always been attracted to microscopy as a means to take a closer look at the beautiful structures that compose the mammalian brain. 

In her microscopy-inspired artwork, she uses her neuroscientist training to accurately recreate scientific images into 3D-beaded renderings of cellular structures to bring the beauty of scientific research to a wider audience.  In viewing beads as analogs of pixels observed on a screen, Yana turns microscopy on its head by transforming ultra-thin optical sections into 3D structures. 

Beyond being passionate about the breathtaking beauty of microscopy images, Yana uses them to serve a greater purpose of communicating science to a wider audience and initiating conversations on difficult topics, such as neurological conditions.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/367

-How she got into both art and neuroscience.

-Her realization that she needed to bring art back into her life after many years of pursuing neuroscience and raising a family.

-Finding alone time both in art and science.

-Some of the resistances she faced of turning her art into a business.

-Having to be creative in terms of putting out content on social media when her projects take her several months to complete.

-Letting go of the fear of not being 100% scientifically accurate in her art.

-The Beholder’s Share.

-How art can be a bridge to communicate what is going on within the scientific community to those outside of it.

-Finding connection in the SciArt community.

-How she schedules her day and how she chooses which idea to move forward with.

“I’d rather be dealing with test tubes than with people.”

“I became a wife, a mother, a scientist, and I had the sense that the true me was somehow missing.”

“I’m not ready to give up the pipette.”

“I enjoy the process of making my art.  It is meditative and it is meticulous work that allows me to escape from daily life.”

“No matter how crazy you think your idea is, no matter how crazy it may seem at first, just go for it.”

Website / Etsy / Instagram / Patreon / Twitter

Kasey Golden is an illustrator and YouTuber with the dream of illustrating children's books. She shares her illustrations, challenges and process as an artist on her YouTube channel where she has over a million subscribers following her journey.

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

-How her YouTube channel and the schedule she made for it kept her accountable for creating art.

-Why she initially started her 500 Drawing Prompts challenge (and why she decided to tone it back).

-Incorporating her community in her own challenges.

-Her advice for getting past art block.

-Making a schedule and lists.

-The experience of doing challenges such as “how small can you draw” and painting with her own blood.

-What she has learned from her community.

-How she honed in on her style.

-How to get past “same face syndrome.”

-Why you shouldn’t wait until you’re “ready” to put your work out there.

-Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.

-Her take on nudity in art.

-How to deal with negative comments and criticism.

-Her passion for sewing.

-How drawing and painting traditionally helps her to embrace her art, her mistakes and her confidence.

-Where she finds inspiration.

“I hate quitting and giving up on things.  I will torture myself mentally to finish any art project, it seems.”

“I am not unfamiliar with art block, unfortunately.”

“My art style is definitely a Frankenstein monster of all the influences and things I enjoy in life.”

“If you wait until you’re ready, it’s probably never going to happen.”

“Go for a hike.  Go out and see the world.  I think the biggest inspiration you can get for your art is having experiences.”

“If you’re not going to do you, then who’s going to do you?”

500 Drawing Prompts Notebook

Nobody cares that you started.  They care that you finished

Jake Parker on Your Creative Push

Website / YouTube / Instagram / Twitter / Storenvy / Patreon

Talia Jackson : Spotify / Instagram

Pascal Campion is a prolific French-American artist, illustrator, concept designer, character designer and animator whose clients include: Dreamworks Animation, Paramount Pictures, Disney Feature, Disney Toons, Cartoon Network, Hulu, and PBS.

Passionately inspired by his wife and kids, he is best known to his tens of thousands of fans and followers for “Sketch of the Day”, a ritual of drawing a new image first thing in the morning from his home studio in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/pascal2

-How he started his "Sketch of the Day" project.

-His advice to anyone struggling to do the work every day, to take it one step at a time.

-How if you are impatient with your art, it is something that you can work on with your daily practice.

-The importance of finishing a drawing, because your brain starts to recognize the beginning, middle, and end of  creating a piece of art, and if you don't finish the piece, you don't recognize those landmarks.

-How as you create art and get better, your goals change as you continue to learn more and more.

-How many of his less-favorite pieces end up being more popular than the ones he loves the most.

-How you can compare yourself to other talented artists, but they might be comparing themselves to you as well.

-His advice for people who might be afraid to draw or paint everyday scenes.

-A story about the time he watched a duck for 20 minutes.

-How when you are younger you want to be someone else, but as you get older you grow to accept who you are.

-How hard it is when you are young (or even older) and you are told to “be yourself,” when you don’t know exactly who you are.

-The beauty of being able to recognize that you are changing as an artist and a human being.

-Being able to let go of things you are good at for the sake of progressing, especially if those things found success.

-What it is like for him to get into the “zone,” and how it is like deep-sea diving.

-When he gets into a flow state, how it feels as if he is a conduit for something else, and how he is just there to help it along.

-The importance of staying physically fit and the relationship that it can have with your art and creativity.

"I have a hard time doing an image without telling a story."

"After a few minutes, I have this nervous energy where I just want to get to the end really quickly."

"Patience and the amount of time that you can sit down and draw is something that you can work on.  It's like running.  It's like a muscle.  The more you exercise it, the better you get at it."

"If you don't finish a drawing, you don't get those landmarks in your head."

"If you actually put yourself through the paces of finishing a drawing, your brain is going to create a grid: This is the beginning, this is the middle, and this is the end.  You'll have an idea of the trip that you're going to be taken on."

"Always finish your drawing.  The more you finish, the more you understand the whole process and the easier it is to get it done.  If you keep starting and not finishing your drawings, you will never get the map in your head of the amount of work it takes to get a drawing done."

"I get incredible pleasure from creating images.  Even if they are bad, the actual process of it is fun to me."

"As long as you enjoy it, it's going to show in the drawing."

"When I turned 30, things got a whole lot easier in my life because I wasn't trying to become something else anymore."

“The more you keep saying you’re going to do something when you have time, the less likely you are to do it.”

“There’s no better time than NOW to do what you want to do.”

“The ME of ten years ago would not do the same drawings as me now, even if we were at the same technical level.

“My best days of drawing are often when I’ve done a lot of physical exercise.”

Website / Shop / Facebook / Instagram / Tumblr / Twitter

Matt Madden : Website / Facebook

Amber Kane is an educator, textile designer, entrepreneur, and stellar day dreamer.  She received her Art Education degree from Messiah College, and earned her masters in Creativity Studies from Union Institute and University.

She taught high school Art for 8 years in the public school system, while running her textile design business on the side.  While teaching she learned that our schools are teaching creativity and dreams right out of our students, while developing an obsession for empty standards.

In 2015, she resigned from her public school position.  She now teaches online AP Art and Art History courses for PA Homeschoolers, works part time at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, and creates one-0f-a-kind textiles.

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

-Her first years working as a teacher, and the pushback that she was getting from the school.

-Her decision to quit her teaching job and move into an abandoned home.

-The early process of getting settled in the new situation that she had “flung herself into.”

-Her realization that she needed a safe space to process the last eight years of her life.

-How her textile design business started.

-The power in being a teacher and a working artist.

-How she is still surprised that she was able to convince her husband to move into their “Freedom House.”

-How she wrote herself termination letters in order to reassure herself that she couldn’t be fired for her ideas.

-How she reestablished her reasons for being an art teacher at the beginning of each school year.

-The power in telling other people your plans, even before you are fully convinced that you are capable of executing those plans.

-How she created The Unstandardized Standard.

“I think it’s actually been within the last six months that I started to feel comfortable using my voice again.”

“I realized that I could not get my daily actions to line up with my ‘Why’ anymore and that was a clear signal that I needed to get out of there.”

“If it feels really hard but you still want it, then that needs to be the thing that you put all of your focus and energy into getting.”

The Unstandardized Standard

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Paul Adshead is a Hat Wearer, Beard Owner, Crazy Golf Enthusiast, and Peanut Butter Fan.  On the rare occasions he's not
doing photography, he loves being outdoors, blind drawing, eating carrot cake and people watching.

Paul also uses old, out of date film in even older antique cameras to attempt to capture the past as he attends and photographs World War, Victorian and American Civil War events.

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

-How he never studied photography or take creative courses academically

-How he has made his transitions slowly.

-How his work is dark and cinematic, and how most clients don’t want that.

-The different types of “darkness” in his work.

-The thought and planning that goes into his shoots.

-How he likes to leave things to people’s imaginations.

-The power of brevity.

-His love for history and the way that he tries to recreate it in his art.

-Using antique cameras and what that does for his process and mindset.

-How he uses his Instagram descriptions to help to add value to his pieces and to give the viewer additional information.

-The relationship that he has with his own Resistances.

-Having multiple projects going at once.

-Using Parkison’s Law to his advantage.

“I personally never like to compromise my style.”

“For me, people’s imaginations is better than any creative out there.”

“I just find the past more interesting than the present.”

“The second you set a date, everything falls into line and the job gets done.”

“The more you do anything, the more chance it will have a positive effect on your life.”

The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind by Richard Wiseman

Website / Instagram

Amber Kane : Website / Instagram

Todd Henry teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He is the author of four books (The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Louder Than Words, and Herding Tigers) which have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he speaks and consults across dozens of industries on creativity, leadership, and passion for work.

Todd is also the host of The Accidental Creative Podcast, which has delivered weekly tips and ideas for staying prolific, brilliant, and healthy since 2005.

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

-How the pressure to be creative all day at our jobs can wear and tear at us.

-His discovery in The Accidental Creative that successful people all share many of the same habits and qualities.

-His FRESH method for finding and solving your problems quickly, and managing your relationships, energy, stimuli, and hours.

-The importance of saying “no” to things that you know will drain your energy from the more important things that you intend to create.

-The power of secret work and private victories.

-His advice for people who are starting to consider turning their side hustle into their “main” hustle.

-His new book, Herding Tigers.

“We’re not wired to produce creatively like machines.”

“Which of these good things in my life needs to go away so that something better can be born?”

“What do I need to prune from my life so that I have the energy I need to be able to focus on the more important stuff that I’m tasked with?”

“Cover bands don’t change the world.  You have to find your own unique voice if you want to thrive.”

Herding Tigers: Be the Leader That Creative People Need by Todd Henry

The Accidental Creative Podcast

Website / Books / Facebook / Twitter / Podcast

Paul Adshead : Website / Instagram

Born in Brittany (France) in 1976. Virginie Ropars’s figures are in between sculpture, fashion design and illustration, building up visions full of wonders

Virginie's work is shown throughout Europe in art galleries and art shows and also in United States and Russia.

Her work has been featured in many magazines and publications. Her dimensional interpretation of Brom's main character Jack, in The Plucker novel won the Spectrum 19 Gold Award (in 2012), she also received the Spectrum 20 Gold Award (in 2013) for one of her personal work, Acanthophis III.

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

-Working in the video game industry and then shifting to make her own personal work.

-How she considers her first doll to be “monstrous.”

-Her process for deciding which sculpture to make.

-How long each of her sculptures takes and the process that goes into making them.

-Where she gets her inspiration.

-The struggle of having to finish a project when you actually want to be working on something else.

-How excitement for a creative pursuit or project typically translates into the quality of the work.

-Her daily routine and the importance of thinking.

-The danger of repeating yourself instead of innovating if you aren’t constantly feeding yourself with other inspirations.

“It is a lot of experimenting, and I quite like that.”

“It can be very misty how inspiration works.”

“The more excited you are about what you do, the better the work is.”

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Todd Henry : Website / Accidental Creative Podcast

Dave Roberts is an artist out of Las Vegas, NV who makes fine art using the Etch A Sketch.   He draws landscapes, architecture, portraits and more, preserving all of his work.

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

-His artistic history and how he first started using an Etch A Sketch.

-Finding out that other people were using the Etch A Sketch to make art and then learning from them.

-Developing a method for preserving his art.

-Coming up with a goal to be featured in a gallery.

-Entering (and not winning) a Red Robin contest for a gift card.

-Trying to not get lost in your own negative thoughts.

-Creating accountability by telling people about your goals.

-His decision to achieve his goals despite the fact that all of his previous excuses were still a part of his life.

-Building resiliency by getting knocked down and getting back up again.

-The experience of seeing his dream of being in a gallery come to fruition.

“If things don’t go your way are you going to start tearing yourself down and be your own stumbling block?”

“I hate to say it, but art became this thing that I used to do.”

“Attitude is everything.”

Jordan Peterson - The Curse of Creativity

SKYE Gallery

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Virginie Ropars : Website / Instagram

Daniel Reyes is an award-winning TV producer with nearly 2-decades of experience. Daniel has worked with NBC, FOX Sports, ESPN, DAYSTAR and SYFY networks in the past. The shows he has created have aired on the local, national and international level. Recently, he was in development on a program for HGTV.

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

Make your own Heirloom Film

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee

The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier

Website / Facebook

Dave Roberts : Website / Instagram

Gwenn is a full-time artist, portraitist, and free-culture advocate. Her beautiful, unique portraits as well as all of her other work is intentionally free from copyright.

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

-Making political art and tapping into the power of anger.

-Attempting to make art for an anti-audience.

-Being aware and cautious of scams in the art world.

-Her tips for promotion and social media.

-The power of taking photographs of yourself doing the work and documenting the act of doing the work.

-Her promotional calendar and the importance of posting something every day.

-How your surroundings and your physical setting affects your art and how you see the world.

-Her advice to people who find themselves disappointed when a potential opportunity doesn’t work out.

-Discrimination in the art world.

“I believe that a truly successful artwork is one that people feel belongs to them more than maybe to you.”

“Location affects us, but it doesn’t have to rule us.”

“You are this new, completely unique thing in the world.  Never forget it.”

How to avoid art scams (from Gwenn's blog)

Mark Anthony Martinez

Your Creative Push Episode 26 w/ Gwenn Seemel

Gwenn’s article about discrimination

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon

Daniel Reyes : Website

Shayla Maddox is an artist who uses Light as her medium, along with acrylic, sand, salt, crushed glass, sea shells, garnet, quartz, candle wax, and even cinnamon to create what she calls "light reactive paintings."  These paintings change appearance throughout the day, season, and year, and also react into the UV spectrum so that they continue to glow into the night.

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

-How she decided to make one painting while she was an actress, and how she never looked back.

-Her decision to stop showing at traditional galleries and start throwing her own.

-Some of the things that surprised her when she decided to throw her own shows.

-Her advice for anyone thinking about throwing their own show.

-How she started with her “light reactive paintings.”

-How she is intentionally experimental in her art and always trying to find new materials and new ways to create in order to challenge herself and keep her feeling uncomfortable.

-Her interest in exploring the intersection between science and spirituality and “thin spaces.”

-Some of the frustrations that she encounters when trying to share her work on the internet.

-Her experience with Patreon and how it has encouraged and enabled her to communicate with her audience in a new way.

-The idea of throwing your hat over the fence and then figuring out how to get it.

-Her experience of becoming sick and taking a break from her art (and how she got through it).

-Attending Patrecon and what she learned there.

-The value in following people in other genres and other art forms and gaining inspiration from them.

“I found that the shows that I was throwing for myself were far and away more successful than the shows that the galleries were throwing for me.”

“I loved being my own director and I loved being in charge of my creative vision for my own shows.”

“I’m intentionally experimental in my art and I don’t like to master anything.”

“Go completely nuts.  When you have that opportunity when nobody is watching you, you can do anything.”

“The difference between successful artists and unsuccessful artists is that the successful ones just keep going.  If you stop, you’ve guaranteed that you failed.”

Patrecon

The Long Game Part III: Painting in the Dark by Adam Westbrook

Gwenn Seemel on Your Creative Push

Website / Instagram / Twitter

Gwenn Seemel: Website / Instagram

Legendary tattoo artist Freddy Negrete is best known for pioneering the black-and-gray tattoo style, honed while serving time in a series of correctional facilities during a youth mired in abuse, gang life, and drug addiction.

Freddy was honored with the Tattoo Artist of the Year Award in 1980 and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Body Art Expo in 2007 and his new book, Smile Now, Cry Later recounts his story.

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

-How he was a “troubled youth” and involved in gangs and incarceration.

-How the Chicano subculture influenced him from a young age.

-His experience at Youth Authority and then at Tamarack.

-Working with Good Time Charlie, Jack Rudy, and Ed Hardy and how they influenced his mindset and his art.

-How he approached his tattooing career after incarceration.

-The experience of winning the Tattoo Artist of the Year Award in 1980.

-The mindset of trying to get better with every single piece you create.

-Some of the harder times that he went through and learning from the mistakes that he made.

-Coming back to the tattoo scene with a new focus.

-His renewed commitment to be teachable in all the things that he had missed out on.

-How rehab changed his life.

-The way in which meditation helped him to maintain focus with his art.

-The experience of meeting Steve Jones and writing his new book, Smile Now, Cry Later.

“Ed Hardy’s objective, which became our objective, was to get the world to see that tattooing was a form of art.”

“I came back with this new focus, and I realized that things had really changed.”

“That was the commitment that I made.  To be teachable.”

“It’s almost like a new beginning for me.”

“Nothing comes easy.  Everything requires hard work and determination.”

“Always fight.  Always work hard.  And always push forward.”

Smile Now, Cry Later; guns, Gangs, and Tattoos - My Life in Black and Gray by Freddy Negrete and Steve Jones

Website / Instagram

Shayla Maddox : Website / Instagram / Patreon

Mur Lafferty is the author of Solo: A Star Wars Story and the Hugo and Nebula nominated novel Six Wakes, The Shambling Guides series, and several self pubbed novels and novellas, including the award winning Afterlife series.

She is also the host of the Hugo-winning podcast Ditch Diggers, and the long-running I Should Be Writing. She is the recipient of the John Campbell Award for best new writer, the Manly Wade Wellman Award, the Best Fancast Hugo Award, and joined the Podcast Hall of Fame in 2015, its inaugural year.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/358

-Why she started her podcast, I Should Be Writing.

-Rejectomancy and over-analyzing what a rejection might mean.

-Why she doesn’t read comments or reviews.

-Dealing with the self-doubt bully.

-Trusting yourself and trusting “the people in the basement.”

-The way in which your creative resolutions never have an ultimate failure or success – they are ways of life.

-Getting more “experience points” for failing than succeeding.

-Not just setting one goal, but multiple specific goals.

-“The Magic Spreadsheet” and gamifying daily word counts.

-The experience of writing Solo: A Star Wars Story.

-How she gets past difficult moments in writing.

-How her creative life didn’t start until she started taking care of her mental health.

-Dealing with depression as a writer.

-Taking up the violin as a hobby.

-How she uses a random number generator to help guide her on which task to do next.

“We’re always ruder to ourselves than we are to anyone we love.”

“What can you accomplish today? Don’t worry about tomorrow.  Don’t worry about yesterday.  You can’t fix either of those.  One is not broken and the other is unreachable.”

“Often times if I try to force my brain to think up new story, it will flatly refuse.”

“If you think you need to suffer to create art, I wonder why your art is more important than your wellbeing.”

I Should Be Writing

Solo: A Star Wars Story by Mur Lafferty

The Secrets: The podcast for serious writers!

Better Than Yesterday

Kameron Hurley

Website / Twitter

Kasey Golden : YouTube / Instagram

Academy Award winner Matthew W. Mungle is regarded as one of Hollywood's premier make-up special effects artists. With over 200 film and television projects to his credit, Matthew has earned accolades and recognition as one of the industry's top masters of makeup effects illusion.

He has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Makeup, winning in 1992 for Bram Stoker's Dracula.  He has also received 26 Emmy nominations, winning 6.  In addition to Dracula, he has also received Oscar nominations for his work on Schindler's List, Ghosts of Mississippi, and Albert Nobbs.

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

-How he initially became interested in makeup effects and some of his initial inspirations including movies and Richard Corson’s Stage Makeup.

-The experience of moving to Los Angeles and his early work in film.

-A walk-through of many of his films including The Guardian, Edward Scissorhands, and What About Bob?

-His experience in working with Tim Burton and Frank Oz.

-His Academy Award win for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and his nominations for Ghosts of Mississippi, Schindler’s List, and Albert Nobbs.

-His advice to young people who are considering getting into makeup effects.

-How he took on the “Oscar Curse.”

-The change that occurred in his work and career after he stopped working from home.

-Learning to delegate.

-His advice to always find a way to learn from your mistakes.

-Maintaining a professional relationship with actors and actresses.

-What he’s up to now, including helping James Glavan with the new edition of Richard Corson’s Stage Makeup.

“I never started my career out thinking ‘I’m going to win an Academy Award.’  I just did it because I love this profession.”

“If you really love what you do, you’re going to be successful.  Because you point yourself in that direction and it’s a positive thing in your life.”

“60% is working with people, listening, being kind, and doing your job.  And 40% is your talent.”

“I had to learn to let go of some of my idiosyncrasies and demands of myself and put that onto others.”

Richard Corson’s Stage Makeup

Website / IMDb

Freddy Negrete: Instagram / Book

Hannah Faith Yata is half Japanese and  was born and raised in a small town in Georgia. She grew up with a deep love of nature and animals passed down by the beautiful surroundings in the country and her mother.

In her paintings, Yata seeks to interweave the parallels of the unconscious with the struggle of the natural environment and how it relates to views regarding the body of the woman and that of nature.

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

-Her early career as she worked other jobs while doing her own work in her free time.

-Doing work for B.o.B.

-The role that nature (and human interference) plays in her pieces.

-Her process and the amount of planning that goes into her pieces.

-Magic and synchronicity.

-How you often get rewarded for going after the thing you’ve always dreamed of going after.

-The difference between commissions and personal work and striking a balance between them.

-The importance of surrounding yourself with other likeminded creative individuals.

-Learning from her husband, Jean Pierre Arboleda’s experiences.

-Some of the creative resistances that she faces.

-Not getting too caught up in what other people are doing, but keeping your head down and doing your own best work.

-How to bridge the gap between lack of skill and taste.

“You never want to put yourself in a place that you can’t do your own work.”

“I can’t tell you how many people asked me, ‘Why are you going to college for art?  This is a waste of a degree.”

“I feel like half the time you are making things, you’re in a frustrated state.”

“Do your best work.  Don’t look at anybody else.  Keep doing what you feel is comfortable and right for yourself.”

“I did a lot of work and I sucked at a lot of it, but I kept making it and learning from those mistakes.”

“I really believe in creative people and I think that the world needs more of them.”

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Martin Wittfooth on Your Creative Push

Stuart Holland on Your Creative Push

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Matthew Mungle : Website / IMDb

Nikki Rae is an independent author who lives in New Jersey. She explores human nature through fiction, concentrating on making the imaginary as real as possible. Her genres of choice are mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.

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

-How she started writing when she was 14 and homebound after breaking her leg and having nothing else to do.

-The frustrating and fruitless experience of querying her first novel out to publishers for five years.

-The differences between indie publishing and traditional publishing.

-How independent publishing takes away the gatekeepers.

-Being able to interact with and get feedback from her audience as she is writing.

-Getting burnt out.

-Her strategy of writing for half of the year and promoting for the other half.

-How everyone struggles with imposter syndrome… even Neil Gaiman.

-How she battles her inner editor through word sprints.

“I feel like when I was querying the story, I was asking for permission for my story to be real to people.  The more I did it, the more I hated the idea of other people being in charge of what I wanted to put into the world.”

“It’s like two-parts writing and a-million-parts promoting.”

“Rejection isn’t an excuse to not put a book out there anymore.”

“Any creative person that’s good at what they do hates half of what they do.”

“Your world is in your head, and it’s up to you to make it real.”

Metamorphosis Editing Services

Kelly Killagain on Your Creative Push

Write or Die

The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer

Website / Books / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Hannah Yata : Website / Instagram

Megan Carty is a New England-based artist who makes cheerful abstract floral paintings that are uplifting and color-drenched for people who have a flair for bold statements and tailored style.

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

-How she always knew that she wanted to be an artist or an art teacher when she grew up.

-The seed that was planted in her at a young age to seek praise or to do what her teacher liked rather than what she wanted to create.

-The dangers of comparing yourself to others.

-Some of the trials and tribulations she went through after college, including sexism, 9/11, depression, layoffs, breakups, and struggling to find the right fit career-wise.

-Being appreciative of the negative experiences while you don’t know what brings you joy, because they inform you of what does bring you joy.

-Getting involved with Etsy and the double-edged sword of being able to do anything, but also getting frozen by being able to do anything.

-The important decision to not wait until you reach Point B to be happy, but to attempt to experience happiness today and throughout your entire journey.

-How following your joy leads to finding more joy (and also spreading it to others).

-How she battles negative thoughts and even depression.

-How wishing on a star is a skill we have as children that we gradually lose.

-How artists need to take their creative “medicine” or else they start to feel ill.

-Donald Trump in relation to creativity.

“I just let all of the roadblocks overcome me.”

“I was on the wrong path and I was doing all the wrong things.  Everything had to blow up in order for me to get on the right path.”

“I had lost the sense of joy of creating.”

“What is it I want to make, and what is it that makes me the most happy while I’m making it?”

“If you have a creative passion that you’re not pursuing, chances are you’re feeling a little bit negative and sad about it.”

“There’s nothing that can stop me except for my own thoughts.”

“If it’s tickling your heart, then that’s the right thing.  Do more of that.”

Matthew Miller on Your Creative Push

Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires by Esther Hicks and Jerry Hicks

Paul Selig on The Duncan Trussell Family Hour Podcast

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Nikki Rae : Website / Twitter

Justin Hopkins is a talented artist, originally from Mukilteo, Washington.

Yoshino is a photographer, director, and the creator and host of the Artist Decoded podcast.

Together, they created NOH / WAVE, a multidisciplinary creative group located in Los Angeles, Ca.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreatvepush.com/nohwave

-How Yoshino got into photography and what inspired him to start Artist Decoded.

-How Justin and Yoshino met and how they were able to see how they both had similar creative mindsets.

-The importance of recognizing individuals and opportunities that come up for you that are in line with your own philosophies.

-Finding a tribe (or building your own).

-What NOH/WAVE means and what they are attempting to do with it.

-How they are balancing their own personal work while attempting to run this large project.

-Learning that everyone goes through insecurities and other creative blocks at all points in their career.

-Trying to find a way to maintain creative honesty.

-Being adaptable and not becoming a caricature of yourself by doing the same thing over and over again.

“We just realized it’s better together rather than competing against each other.”

“There’s something that happens when you push towards something that you feel you are meant to be doing with as much energy and passion as you can.  Things will just start happening.”

“By understanding other people’s creativity, I can understand myself even further.”

“Be honest with yourself and be able to adapt and evolve with the process.”

NOH/WAVE

Artist Decoded

Justin Hopkins on Your Creative Push

Justin's Website / Justin's Instagram / Yoshino's Website / Yoshino's Instagram

Megan Carty : Website / Instagram

Carrie Waller is a watercolor artist working in a realistic, detailed style.  With a background in Interior Design and her studies in Graphic design as well as her time spent living in Europe and Asia have influenced her as an artist.  Her unique works are bold, vibrant and dramatic.

She is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, Louisiana Watercolor Society and the Mid-Southern Watercolorists.  She teaches workshops and private classes. 

Carrie is also a co-host and contributor for the Artists Helping Artists #1 blog radio art podcast.

-How she maintained a creative life with a husband in the Air Force.

-How the movie Julie & Juliet gave her the inspiration to start a blog in which she would do a painting a week.

-Listening to the Artists Helping Artists Podcast and how she eventually became involved as a cohost.

-Taking a watercolor workshop with Paul Jackson.

-The importance of having accountability partners or groups and her own personal group, WAM.

-How traveling has influenced her art.

-How she balances her time with being a wife, a mother, and an artist.

-Dealing with self-doubt.

-What Artists Helping Artists is all about and what people can get from it.

-Being brave and reaching out to other creatives that you want to connect with.

“It’s this friendship and this professional group that has made all the difference in my life.  They keep me focused.”

“I move so often that I have to reinvent this community for myself.”

“I have a clear goal and a clear idea of where I want to be so that keeps me motivated and moving.”

Artists Helping Artists

Carol Carter on Your Creative Push

Justin Hopkins on Your Creative Push

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

NOH / WAVE : Justin Hopkins / Artist Decoded by Yoshino

She also writes non-fiction for authors and is the creator of The Creative Penn, which offers information and inspiration on writing, self-publishing, book marketing and how to make a living with your writing through articles, podcast episodes, videos, books and courses.

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

-How she felt spiritually empty and creatively dead from her job, yet stuck in the “golden handcuffs” of a job that pays the bills.

-The importance of taking action after you have determined what you want out of life.

-Determining the things that you are going to give up in order to achieve your dreams.

-The experience of writing her first book.

-How she used to think that the only thing worth writing was something that would win an award.

-Doing NaNoWriMo for the first time and how it changed her life.

-Her take on getting ideas.

-Her advice for anyone who is considering doing NaNoWriMo.

-How something good can come out of a writing challenge, even if you fall short of your initial goal.

-Being able to meet other people who are doing NaNoWriMo.

-Some of the struggles she initially had with dictation and her advice for writers who want to try it.

-How your first draft is like producing a block of marble, and the later drafts allow you to chisel away at it to make a sculpture.

-Self-censorship and fear of judgment.

“If you set your mind to it and then take action, you can live the life of your dreams.”

“There are lots of ways to get information and ideas.  You just have to tune into the things that are most interesting to you.”

“The temptation for creative people is to do those practical things.  It’s much easier to maintain your website or blog or do social media than it is to sit down and do something new.”

“Take that creative push and go create!  Make the time and do it because you can absolutely change your life.”

On Writing My First Novel -- The Creative Penn

NaNoWriMo

Dragon Dictation

Writeordie.com

Website / The Creative Penn / Books / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Carrie Waller : Website / Instagram

Amarilys Henderson is a watercolor illustrator who graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design.  After mostly working in illustration and painting commissions, she started to paint for the sake of her own sanity.  By letting go of the finished product, she began creating "Watercolor Devos" -- a way for her to combine her watercolors with her Christian Devotions.

Amarilys is also a successful and popular instructor on Skillshare.

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

-Getting back to her art after having her first child and having no expectations from anyone as to what that art should be.

-How she combined her time with watercolor with her time with her Christian devotion to create Watercolor Devos.

-How she initially told herself that she wouldn’t show her new creations to anyone.

-Starting her Etsy shop and her blog.

-Getting started on Skillshare and winning the teacher challenge.

-Her advice for anyone wanting to start their own courses on Skillshare.

-Her advice for anyone wanting to take Skillshare classes to be strategic with what classes they want to take and to also share their projects.

-Some of the resistances that hold her back, such as putting her face to her art/teaching.

-How she balances her time by noticing the rhythm of her week and having lunch with herself on Fridays to recap how things went.

“It makes sense to take what you’re really passionate about and simmer in it with whatever your creative with.”

“I just start painting where I’m at, and then I’m able to think deeper and receive anything else that is going to take me further.”

“You don’t know what you’re good at until you try it.”

“The greatest question you can ask yourself is what makes my heart jump up and what is connecting me to what I really am and what I was made for?”

Amarilys on Skillshare

Racheal Cook's podcast

James Wedmore's podcast

Cloze App

Website / Skillshare / Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn

Joanna Penn : Website / Facebook / Twitter

Even Mehl Amundsen is an illustrator and artist out of Copenhagen.  He is originally from Norway, where he was able to specialize in visual art before living and working in England, Prague, and California, where he worked for such companies as Blizzard Entertainment, Games Workshop, and Volta.

Even is currently a full-time freelancer and is soon releasing his TEGN Book 1, the first of three in the series.

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

-Going to school in Norway and being able to specialize in visual art.

-Traveling and working in England, Prague, California, and Copenhagen.

-His advice to be aware that your mindset might be incorrect.

-Working a little bit, always.

-How he eased into a drawing-a-day challenge and what it did for his art and his creative production.

-How he purposely sacrificed some of his social life during that year-long challenge in order to find the time each day.

-Why it is important to sometimes be self-centered when it comes to your creative life.

-Letting ideas percolate until they are ready to be put onto paper.

-Allowing ideas to come to you from your life experiences.

-Getting offered a job at Blizzard Entertainment, working there, and what made him want to leave.

-Dealing with the pressures of other people wanting you to do something that you know isn’t the right fit for you.

-His upcoming TEGN Book 1.

-How he lacks a ruthlessness when it comes to working with clients.

-His advice for young artists.

“I never sit down with the express intent of Alright, it’s drawing time, let’s come up with something to do.”

“The drawing process doesn’t start when the pencil meets paper.  It starts when I have an idea that I want to put down on paper.”

“Whenever you see something that appeals to you aesthetically, make a note of it, try to figure out why you like it, try to figure out what aspect of it pleases you, and then figure out how you can use that for the creation of your own ideas.”

“The quickest way to get quicker is to slow down.  To make choices deliberately and with forethought and intent.”

TEGN Kickstarter

Artstation / Facebook / Instagram

Amarilys Henderson : Website / Instagram

Bill Logan is an artist who left his career as a commercial illustrator to devote himself to fine art, with a particular focus on drawing, bronze casting, woodwork, and the creation of very intricate sculpture.  He has participated in over 2 dozen group and juried shows, 4 solo exhibitions, and has enjoyed a very well received New York debut.

He is also a passionate writer, writing articles about fly fishing and fly tying in the United States, Japan, and Great Britain.

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

-Switching back and forth between multiple creative disciplines.

-How he has enough ideas and things that he wants to create to last him for 500 years.

-Trying to go in one creative direction, but also trying to take all of the interesting side trips at the same time.

-Looking back on work that isn’t even that old and having the feeling that it is, in fact, old.

-Those rare moments of creative “genius” that seem to come from somewhere else and trusting that they will continue to come through dedication and determination.

-The difficult task of not judging what you are doing.

-Saving your old work.

-The importance of the encouragement of the people that he loves, like his wife and his sister.

-How he balances his time.

-The beauty of “stop days.”

-Some of his experimentation with drawing blind or drawing with his left hand.

-The importance of realizing that your art is at your mercy, you are not at your art’s.

“Sometimes the best work happens when you’ve been so damn stubborn that you haven’t walked away.”

“It’s just dedication.  It’s just stubborn determination.”

“There was a period in my life where I tried very hard not to be an artist, but I couldn’t do it.  To feel right and whole and as much like me as I needed to be, I couldn’t walk away from art making.”

“If you’re not making judgments or decisions, then what is directing you?  How do you move?”

“Do what feels right in the moment, and then allow yourself a whole lot of time after that moment before you decide whether what you did was right.”

“How do you be what you want to be, and also be what you have to be?”

Bird by Bird: some Instructions on Writing and Life by Annie Lamott

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies by Ross King

Website

Even Mehl Amundsen : Artstation / Instagram

Michael Ray was one of the very first students to go through the Evolve Artist Program curriculum. Throughout his education and work with Evolve, Michael has been an inspiration for how to get work done and get it done well.

Michael has a family, a full-time job and many other responsibilities but was still able to thrive with Evolve, and is now looking forward to selling his work at a professional level.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/357

-What his artistic life looked like before signing up for Evolve Artist.

-The stark differences he has discovered between the Evolve program and other online schools and online courses that he has taken.

-The red pill/blue bill moment.

-How everyone starts at the same point in the Evolve Artist Program.

-How the Evolve program teaches you to see first and then apply what you see on the canvas.

-The extraction of variables by giving all students the same high-quality materials and Old Holland paints.

-The freedom to be able to make mistakes.

-The many directions that you can take your skills once you get the fundamentals down.

-The commitment he made to himself to be present and focused on the assignments.

-How he has witnessed the proven process of the Evolve Artist Program through all the students who keep creating art they never thought they’d be able to create.

“There’s this creative force and energy inside of me that has to be dealt with.”

“The Evolve fundamentals are truly fundamentals.”

“There is no shortcut around experience.”

“It’s a proven process, over and over again.”

The Evolve Artist Program (Exclusive 10% Discount)

Evolve Webinar Mailing List

Dorian Vallejo

The Evolve Artist Program Review (w/ Mitch Bowler) [YCP Ep. 354]

Let someone walk you to your artistic dreams (w/ Piper Talladay) [YCP Ep. 355]

Don’t go to art school. Evolve instead (w/ Kevin Murphy) [YCP Ep. 356]

Instagram

Mur Lafferty : Website / Twitter

Scott Listfield is known for his paintings featuring a lone exploratory astronaut lost in a landscape cluttered with pop culture icons, corporate logos, and tongue-in-cheek science fiction references. Scott grew up in Boston, MA and studied art at Dartmouth College. After some time spent living abroad, Scott returned to America and, shortly before the real life, non-movie version of the year 2001, began painting astronauts and, sometimes, dinosaurs.

Scott has been profiled in Juxtapoz, Wired Magazine, the Boston Globe, New American Paintings, and on at least one local television station. He has exhibited his work in Los Angeles, London, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Miami, Montreal, Boston, just to name a few.

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

-How he wanted to be an astronaut as a child, and how that would later (greatly) influence his art.

-High school art class, and how it took him some time to realize that college art classes could be similar.

-The experience of travelling abroad and not feeling at home, and how that feeling remained with him after he returned to America.

-Watching Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and how that influenced him to use an astronaut as his protagonist.

-How he could have never expected the astronaut paintings to last as his subject matter for so long.

-How and when inspiration strikes him.

-The obligation that he sometimes feels to cover current political issues.

-The importance of getting out of your everyday routine if you are lacking inspiration.

-His daily struggle of not having enough time in the day to do everything he wants to do.

-How he was nervous about running out of ideas once he became a full time artist (but found the opposite to be true).

-His advice for balancing a full-time job with your own personal artwork.

-Building a routine out of your creative passion.

-The amazing tool of the internet and social media.

“I felt like I had been tossed into the deep end of American pop culture and I didn’t feel at home or comfortable.”

“There’s this idea of artistic inspiration.  The artist is usually wearing a beret with a pipe in their hands, staring at a blank canvas, saying ‘Aha!’  And that is never the case for me.”

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Tumblr

Bill Logan : Website

Become a patron!  http://patreon.com/yourcreativepush

Just a quick one today, asking you to please consider donating what you spend on one cup of coffee, once a month. 

So much of my time, effort, and money is required to keep this show going, and it is starting to really add up.  And with sponsorship not yet panning out, I need your help in order to keep up the quality and quantity of episodes that you are used to.

If the podcast has helped you to get to your creative passions, please consider becoming a Patron.

It will go a long way to helping out the show, and it will make me love you more than I already do.

Thank you so much for your support, and thank you even more for getting to your creative passion every single day and making the world a better place!

<3 Youngman

Glen Phillips is an American songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist, who is best known as the singer and songwriter of the alternative rock group, Toad the Wet Sprocket.

This episode features songs from Glen's latest solo album, Swallowed by the New, which is available everywhere music is sold (and links below).

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

-The story of how Toad the Wet Sprocket started.

-How he originally wanted to be a teacher and didn’t think that he had the ego or the thick skin to be a professional performer.

-His thoughts on religion, spirituality, and his desire to reclaim the word “God” for himself.

-The importance of being grateful.

-The singing circles that he is taking a part of and the sense of community that it has brought to his life.

-His take on the purpose of music and how it is not about one person singing and everyone else listening.

-His attempt to be vulnerable and share his pains so that it can act as a tool for other people.

-How he felt miserable for years in the role of provider that he put upon himself.

“In some ways it’s everybody’s dream and it’s everybody’s nightmare because you’re getting up there and bearing your soul in front of people and allowing them to judge you.”

“Life gives you the coursework you need, not the coursework you choose.”

“I just feel a great compulsion to give thanks.”

“Everyone came in here, ready to wake up and the music is serving as this solvent to take away all this stuff that’s secreted over everyone’s soul and kind of free them up for a moment.”

“Music is not about being the star.  It’s about sharing and losing yourself in the song and ceasing to exist for a moment and realizing that you are a part of something larger.”

“The happiest people I know are the hardest working.”

Swallowed by the New [iTunes] [Amazon] [Physical]

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Scott Listfield : Website / Instagram

Jake is an illustrator who has worked for 15 years on everything from animated films to comics to picture books.  He is the creator of the Missile Mouse graphic novel series published by Scholastic, and he has worked for Blue Sky Studios, creating sets and environments for feature films like Horton Hears a Who, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Rio, and Epic.  He now freelances out of his home studio in Utah.

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

-A bit about his personal life and what he is currently up to.

-Why he started SVS School, who his target audience is, and what you can learn there.

-Some of his earlier memories of drawing.

-How his parents and teachers were very supportive as well as his friend's mom, who was a painter.

-How doubt, comparing himself to others, time restraints, and over-committing to things are the main things that sometimes hold him back.

-How sometimes he compares himself to other people who are doing other careers and making lots of money, but then he remembers the freedom and joy that drawing gives him.

-How he gets through negative thoughts and battles through his resistance.

-The influence that both his wife and God play in his life, especially when he feels lost or discouraged.

-One of his hardest moments creatively, which actually came as a result of accomplishing one of his lifelong goals.

-An e-mail that completely changed his perspective when he was feeling like Missile Mouse was not having an impact.

-If you are taking on a large personal project, making sure that you create an appropriate balance with all of the other things that are important in your life, such as family, friends, and work.

-Making a large project into a marathon, not a sprint, and chipping away at it.

-The importance of rewarding yourself as you reach milestones.

-Finding a way to create accountability with self-imposed projects.

-How he balances his time, by making sure that everyone knows what is expected of them and being able to be flexible.

"For this little artist kid, there was all this opportunity and I just ate it up."

"If I faced any resistance then and now, it's always been self-imposed."

"I think being an artist as your career choice is probably the hardest thing you can do to make money."

"Yea.  I could be sitting there on the beach, thinking, Man, I wish I was drawing."

"Life is hard enough as it is with everything that people are doing, and I'm happy to provide a place for someone to escape to when they need.  And that's what keeps me going."

"It doesn't work to have accountability to yourself.  Because yourself knows all your excuses and sees the validity in them and will give you a pass."

"You need a final product, you don't need a project."

Society of Visual Storytelling (SVS School)

You Need a Product, Not a Project e041 (Jake's YouTube channel)

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Tumblr / Store

Glen Phillips : Website

Shawny Sheldon is an artist who is inspired by nature and quirky whimsical stuff.

She forged a path for herself as a high school art teacher, and she has been teaching for twenty five years.  She is also the creator of Lily the Hedgehog.

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

-Her poor eyesight as a child and how it affected her as an artist.

-Some of her other early influences like her father, water, New York City, and the great masters.

-The experience of going to California.

-The decision she made when faced with the choice between the commercial route and teaching.

-Her decision to forge forward with her goals, even when people told her that she couldn’t find a job as an art teacher.

-The influence that teachers and professors have and why they shouldn’t be discouraging.

-The fears that she had in starting her Instagram account and participating in Inktober.

-Creating Lily the Hedghog, and how she became a symbol of strength.

-Learning to let go of perfect.

-Her creative relationship with her son.

-Some of the most important messages she attempts to teach her students, not just about art, but about life.

“I was just set in my way that this was what I was going to do.  And I did it!”

“If you are supposed to be doing something, you can feel it in your body.”

“Teachers have great power.  And they can abuse it.”

“When things don’t go right in your life, it’s actually a new opportunity for you to reinvent something or for you to be better at something.”

“Perfectionism is not about being meticulous.  It’s about fear.”

“You woke up in the morning.  You’re here.  You have a gift.  You have the gift of today.”

Inktober

Keith Haring

Instagram

Noah Bradley is an American artist, known best for his work on Magic: The Gathering cards, as well as his The Sin of Man project.

He is also well-known as the guy who told everyone "don't go to art school.  As a supplement to that advice, he founded Art Camp to help art students all over the world learn to make better art.

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

-The list that he made of things he wanted to do with his life, and why he chose “artist.”

-His experience at RISD and VCU.

-How he decided to become a landscape and environment artist.

-The confusion, disappointment, and excitement that he felt when people started responding to his landscape work.

-Being plagued with the desire to move onto another piece as opposed to finishing the one he is working on.

-His experience working for Wizards of the Coast and doing art for Magic: The Gathering.

-Why he gave away free prints at Illuxcon and what that did for his art career.

-The difficulty he has in scheduling his life and knowing where he is going to be the next day.

-Why he believes that people should not pay for art school.

-His advice for people who have difficulty keeping self-imposed deadlines and holding themselves accountable.

-The importance of making your creative passion a habit (especially in the morning) so that you can take the decision-making process out of it.

-Finding an external source to hold you accountable.

-Quitting social media and what has happened since.

-His personal project, “The Sin of Man.”

“For my own happiness, I can’t just sit around and not make something.  If at the end of the day I don’t have something tangible in my hands or on a screen that I made, I don’t feel happy about how productive I was that day.”

“Just go for it.  Whatever happens to click for you is the thing that you should be pursuing.  And it’s often not the thing that you originally set out to do.”

“Find ways to make it a habit rather than a decision.”

How I Became an Artist by Noah Bradley

Don't Go To Art School by Noah Bradley

Art Camp

The Sin of Man

Website / Art Camp

Shawny Sheldon : Instagram

Chrilz is a contemporary artist whose work focuses on human nature -- our experiences, our relationships, and our emotions.

Everything Chrilz creates is in a Neo-Figurative Expressionist style that uses the human form as its vessel.  Through color, line, geometry, and realizm, he is constantly seeking to visually express this severely emotional, dynamic life.  Every pieces is both formal and conceptual in a very intentional way, all of which serving the ultimate goal of expression.

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

-His experience at college and determining which path he wanted to devote his time and energy towards.

-Getting together with Michelle Tanguay and what that did for his outlook on a creative life.

-What to do when you don’t have a creative framework in your life.

-His grandmother’s advice that you need to stop saying you want to become an artist and just say that you are an artist.

-Being inspired by the talented artists in the Detroit area.

-How you can simply “cold call” someone you look up to.

-How he is so intentional with his art.

-How artists don’t create artwork, they beget it because it is such a big part of you.

-Finding contentment from creating something honest that pleases you, not someone else.

-How he developed his style.

-Being conscious of what he is doing and what he is saying with his art.

-The importance of writing down ideas for later exploration.

-His writing and his “conceptual statements” that go along with his pieces, and how he is often unsure of whether they come from himself, his art, or the figure in his art.

“Keep doing it if it’s bringing you that joy and you still feel that passion for it.”

“If you put it off until tomorrow, it’s never going to happen.”

“Be honest with yourself.  Be honest with the artist that was built within you.”

“As an artist, you don’t create artwork, you beget artwork.  It is such a large piece of you.”

“Make something honest and then put it out there.”

Chrilz' Art Prize Page

Michelle Tanguay

Francis Bacon

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Website / Instagram / Art Prize

Noah Bradley: Website

Amanda Giacomini has dedicated her life to uplifting people and creating more beauty in the world through yoga and art. From teaching yoga at the White House to presenting at some of the biggest yoga festivals, conferences and Asian Art museums in the world, Amanda infuses the ancient teachings with creativity and joy. Her journey in yoga began in 1994, and she continues to study with many great Indian and Western masters.

In 2001, along with her husband, MC YOGI, she founded Yoga Toes Studio in Point Reyes, CA. She has been featured in Yoga International, Origins, Marin Magazine, Happiness + Wellbeing as well as appearing the cover of Yoga Journal and Mantra Magazine. As an artist, she created an award winning series of children’s books, called Mo's Nose, that feature her beloved rescued pit bull, Mo, as the main character. She has a catalog of paintings inspired by her yoga and spiritual practice. Currently she is working on a project to paint 10,000 Buddhas. 

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/10000buddhas

-The story of how her massive 10,000 Buddhas project started.

-How committing to a large project helped to creatively anchor herself down and thus get to a flow state more easily.

-How her painting is similar to rehearsing for a dance performance, where she doesn’t have to think about the movements after doing it so often.

-The experience of completing her ten-thousandth Buddha.

-Her practice of yoga and how it relates to her art.

-How she has now developed (and embraced) a new identity of “10,000 Buddhas.”

-How she avoided repetition by changing the scale, medium, and colors.

-Her creative relationship with her husband, MC Yogi.

-Some of the synchronistic things that have happened in her creative life.

-How she used to start projects and never finish them, and her advice for people who might struggle with a similar experience.

-How a creative journey is a cyclical one, with many ups and downs.

“It started with a little seed of curiosity.”

“I think there was something about committing to a big project and a big number that helped me get to that flow state.”

“I had tears of joy that day that I made a commitment to the goal and I had kept it.”

“That sense of curiosity is important to me as an artist.”

Book Tour / Events

MC Yogi

Youngman Brown on The Pawprint Podcast

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Chrilz : Website / Instagram

J.T. is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen critically acclaimed novels, including What Lies Behind, When Shadows Fall, and All the Pretty Girls, and is the coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series with #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter.

With over a million books in print, Ellison’s work has been published in twenty-five countries and thirteen languages. Her novel The Cold Room won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Paperback Original and Where All The Dead Lie was a RITA® nominee for Best Romantic Suspense. She is also the author of multiple short stories.

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

-Her time living and working in Washington D.C. and how she thought that was the path she was going to go down.

-How reading John Sanford inspired her to get back to her own writing and to give it a shot.

-The memory of sitting down to write after eight years of not writing.

-Her advice for people who have had a long hiatus from their writing or art, to just do it.

-For people who have full-time gigs, to find an hour of time to put towards their calling.

-How people know how to budget their money to save up for a vacation, but they don't think of their time with creativity the same way.

-How her thesis advisor told her she "wasn't good enough" to get published, and how that voice remained in her head for years (and still does).

-Her advice for anyone who has received negative feedback and can't get that voice out of their head.

-The importance of having a critique group or some friends or colleagues that will give you honest feedback without tearing you down.

-One of her hardest times creatively, when she actually thought she was going to quit, and how "The Artist's Way" brought her out of it and realized that she needed to pivot and write something different.

-How you should not leave behind "half-eaten sandwiches," or half-finished stories.

-How it is important to be honest and explain to loved ones why you need to spend time doing your creative passion and what it brings to your life.

"I think everybody goes to D.C. thinking they're going to change the world."

"I sat down and I started to write.  I wrote a paragraph, hit period, and I started to cry.  Because that was it.  I had come home."

"Something was wrong.  I was good at what I did but I hated every minute of it.  I hated getting up in the morning.  I hated going to work.  I hated going to sleep at night because then I had to get up and do it the next day.  If you are feeling that, you need to step away.  Life is just too short to be miserable in your work and in what you do."

"Writing is not easy.  It is not an easy path.  There are a lot of obstacles in the way, but any creative outlet whether you're a writer, a painter, or a poet... you have to just do it."

"You can find an hour to do anything."

"Fifteen minutes a day, write 250 words.  You will have a novel by the end of the year.  It's totally doable."

"That's why I didn't write for eight years.  Because somebody told me I wasn't good enough."

"If you can understand why a story is appealing on a broad level, you can fix your own."

"Voice can't be taught.  Voice is something unique to every writer.  And Voice is something that comes when you trust yourself."

"Learn how to structure and build a story and then let yourself go.  The voice will come."

"A bad day writing is better than a good day doing anything else."

"The problem with being a writer is that it takes a lot of introspection."

"All creatives are selfish.  And you have to be selfish and you have to be able to respect your time."

"It's very threatening for the spouse or parent of a creative person to see you finding satisfaction in something that's not them."

"No One Knows" by J.T. Ellison

"The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Amanda Giacomini : Website / Instagram

Megan Auman is a designer, metalsmith, educator, and entrepreneur who has built a a multi-faceted business around her passion for art, commerce, and visual content creation.

Megan splits her time between running her eponymous jewelry line and teaching the intersection of art and business on Designing an MBA.

A best-selling CreativeLive instructor, her designs have been featured in Elle Decor, Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light and on top-rated blogs like Design*Sponge.

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

-Her creative education in metalsmithing.

-How platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are tailor-made for visual artists.

-Some of the mistakes that people make on Instagram and Pinterest, like being overly promotional (or not promotional enough).

-Her tactic of using professional images alongside conversational dialogue.

-The ratio you should be sharing of personal pictures versus pictures of your work.

-How you should feel free to repost old work as well as share things that are sold out.

-Why so many creators get frustrated and give up on Pinterest (and why they shouldn’t).

-How you can utilize Instagram and Pinterest in tandem.

-Thinking about Pinterest as a search engine.

-How to turn your followers on Instagram and Pinterest into customers and sales.

-The importance of having an optimized website.

-Getting into a mindset as a businessperson if you are looking to make money from your art.

-Starting a mailing list.

-How she balances her time between her business, her art, and her teaching by separating them.

-“Marketing mornings.”

-Designing an MBA and her Creative Live courses.

“My motto is ‘professional images, conversational copy.’”

“If you’re not consuming a lot of the visual culture that’s happening online, it’s hard to turn around and create your own.”

“On Pinterest, it’s about reaching critical mass.”

“You don’t know if it’s going to sell unless you put it up for sale.”

“Selling online is hard and if you are struggling you are so not alone.”

What you need to know about the Pinterest lag (and how to get past it to find success on Pinterest)

What to post on Instagram when you're a maker, artist, or designer (and how to share your work without feeling overly promotional)

Viraltag

Tailwind: Pinterest & Instagram Marketing, Scheduling & Analytics Tool

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Amanda Giacomini : Website / Instagram

Kevin Murphy is an internationally recognized award-winning portrait painter and illustrator.  Since 1993, he’s delivered nearly 600 commissioned works within the fields of Illustration and Portraiture.

Kevin is also the cofounder of The Evolve Artist Program, where he teaches all traditional classes.  The Art Academy, from which the Evolve program was born, was founded by Kevin in 2009.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/356

-His early education and the mark that it left with him.

-“Burning the ships” of his construction career to create science fiction fantasy book covers.

-Working for LucasArts, National Geographic and The Rolling Stones.

-How he got into portraiture.

-Why he opened his school.

-An overview of The Evolve Artist Program and where it got its name.

-How Evolve Artist works and how you get all of the materials.

-The way in which The Evolve Artist Program hones in on your fundamentals and shows you exactly what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong.

-“Midnight Tea” and other student groups that add to the community of  Evolve Artist.

-A deeper look into the method of The Evolve Artist Program.

-Why art schools might let their students down.

-Why using quality paints like Old Holland’s are so helpful.

“I basically burnt the ships and decided I was going to be a painter.”

“I didn’t need explosions and dragons in the paintings anymore because I found the people so interesting.”

“Art made it possible for me to have a very different life than I was born into.”

“The number of things you need to know to be able to make extraordinary art is very small.  That information fits in the palm of your hand.”

“We’re always trying to find ways to make the online program feel more like what it is to walk into the actual brick-and-mortar school where I teach.”

“Every time you get a success it makes you bolder for the next one.”

“Even the pros struggle.  How they deal with the struggle is different.”

The Evolve Artist Program (Exclusive 10% Discount)

Evolve Webinar Mailing List

Dorian Vallejo

The Evolve Artist Program Review (w/ Mitch Bowler) [YCP Ep. 354]

Let someone walk you to your artistic dreams (w/ Piper Talladay) [YCP Ep. 355]

Michael Ray : Instagram

Martin Thomas Smyczek II is a sustainability advocate/entrepreneur, musician, and an all around creator of things who aims to positively change the world.

He is a Reuse Artist who uses societies discarded, wasted, and over-consumed trash as his medium in an attempt to inspire others to RETHINK how we live.

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

-How he became initially inspired to be a reuse artist.

-Some of the struggles that he has to deal with as a reuse artist that other artists don’t have to worry about, such as sourcing materials.

-What his living situation is like with all of his materials and current work.

-How he is inspired by having his recycled materials around him, “staring at him.”

-“Project Z” – the portrait that he is making of Zaria Forman using her discarded latex gloves.

-The initial intimidation that he felt in reaching out to Zaria, and the slight panic he felt when she actually responded with an enthusiastic “yes.”

-Some of the daily resistances that he faces.

-His advanced glaucoma and how that affects the way he looks at his art and his life.

-Advice for people who want to incorporate more re-use in their own lives or in their own art.

“I really want what I do – art, life, business, work – to all incorporate some sort of positivity.”

“It’s the most challenging piece that I’ve done to date.”

“There’s a privilege that I have to be here and do what I’m doing.  Hopefully what I do is a positive and inspires other people to rethink how they live.”

“It’s not like you’re taking one massive step.  You have to take a hundred small steps to get there.”

“If you just force yourself to start doing something, you’ll find that once you start doing it, you’ll want to do it more and you won’t want to stop.”

Zaria Forman on Your Creative Push

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Megan Auman : Website / Instagram / Facebook

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

-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.

“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.”

“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"

Instagram

Martin Thomas Smyczek II : Website / Instagram

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

-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.

“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.”

Cressida Campbell

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Tumlbr / YouTube

Rob DiTeodoro : Instagram

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

-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.

“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.”

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

Website / Podcast / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Tracey Fletcher King : Website / Instagram

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

-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.

“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.”

Certificate of Fine Art from New York Academy of Art

Art Renewal Center Museum

Youngman Brown on The Idea Medic Podcast

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Tara Roskell : Website / Facebook / Twitter

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

-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.

“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.”

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

Website / Instagram

Nikki Rae : Website / Twitter / Instagram

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.

"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."

Acorns!

Youngman Brown on The Idea Medic Podcast

Tony Robbins Warns "The Crash is Coming"

Compound Interest Explained

Art, Money & Success by Maria Brophy

Joby Harris: Website / Instagram

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

-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).

“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.”

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

Website / Instagram / Store / Facebook / Twitter

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

-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.

“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.”

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

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Drew Brophy : Website / Instagram

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

-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.

“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.”

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

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

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Matthew Quick : Website / Instagram

Piper Talladay is a contemporary realist painter currently residing in Tacoma, Washington, but working with clients across the United States. Her work is centered around equine portraiture, rendered in oil.

In addition to her own work, Piper is head instructor at Evolve Artist, an online academy that trains students around the world in traditional oil painting.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/355

-The limiting belief that she could not grow up to be a working artist.

-The differences between The Evolve Artist Program and traditional art schools.

-How the technical mastery is missing from most art colleges and schools.

-The foundational artistic skills (and portfolio) that you need to have before applying to an art school as opposed to needing no foundational skills to start The Evolve Artist Program.

-Why she honed in on equine portraiture.

-How her art business began to grow organically.

-Her resistance of not making her personal work a priority.

-What a typical day looks like for her.

-The importance of early success and the instructor accessibility in The Evolve Artist Program.

-How instructors are actually able to watch you work.

-What she would say to anyone who is on the fence about Evolve Artist.

“Being an artist was something that I always wanted, but I didn’t think it was possible.”

“I have a hard time painting if I know that I have unanswered e-mails.”

“When you’re becoming an artist you need someone to commit to coming alongside you and walking with you until you’re where you want to be.”

The Evolve Artist Program (Exclusive 10% Discount)

Evolve Webinar Mailing List

The Evolve Artist Program Review w/ Mitch Bowler (YCP Ep 354)

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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

-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.

“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.”

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Andy J. Miller : Website / Creative Pep Talk Podcast

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

-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.

"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."

Kelli's iPhoneography course

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

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Jane Samuels : Website / Instagram

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

-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.

“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.”

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

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