Inspiration

Telling your story is important. Telling your story of your life is what connects you to others, and helps them feel a little less lonely. By telling your story, you give others permission and remind them of their worth. The story-telling champion, Kristin Tweedale,...

 Prepare yourself for a bucket load of fangirling. Jeannine is one of my favourite people in the world - my editor, my Fairy Bookmother, and all-around dream maker. She changed my life, and in this episode, we're sharing insight into the process of publishing a book...

The life of a creative can be lonely. And let’s face it: whether we identify as creatives or not, we all know what this pretty rubbish state of being feels like. As humans, we’re hard-wired for connection: we long to be understood by others, we long for relationships...

Deborah is my business bestie. She runs a membership for handmade sellers called Tizzit. We send each other daily voice notes about the highs and lows of business and everything in between. In this podcast episode, which is essentially a one-hour voice note, we...

I believe that anyone can make art but not everyone can be an artist. I know that the common narrative is that everyone can be an artist, however, I disagree with that. Well. Slightly. Let me explain... For some, capital A Artist is a stifling term. It renders them...

The proposal was the first official task to writing my book. It's also what ended up being my compass and my rock. It was a mammoth task, but it was also easy? Why? Because I had already done the work... the year before in a very deep way and also every single year...

I have a massive girlcrush on Laurel. If you've ever struggled to create art that looks like the art going on in your head, then you're going to discover your newest girlcrush too. If you're a food person, same thing. Hell, if you are a living, breathing, creative,...

Whether you're exploring a new country or your own backyard, here are practical tips on how to travel like an artist rather than a tourist. Podcast Show Notes We discuss: how to fill up a travel journal - whether you're away from home or just around the neighbourhood...

Life is experienced in moments. Some of these moments hold more weight. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can feel the weight of some moments. There are certain moments in my life that I knew while they were happening that they would change everything. Bookcast...

I had never thought of photography as art. I had always thought it was just for logical people following a very precise way of doing things. It felt like the opposite of creativity to me. Enter Pete. Pete sees creativity in a way not unlike my own - as a looping...

Today I sat down with Tricia. Tricia is wise and someone that you wanna have in your corner because she's very zen about art making, very knowledgeable and plays between the right and left side of your brain so well. She's a great encourager and wise mentor. We talk...

Every guest I have on the podcast is my favourite, but this is my favourite favourite and most exciting. It's someone who excites me every day. My husband, T Grey. We're talking about what it's like being on the other side of someone who lives life creatively. We get...

This is the story of what happens when a perfectionist decides to actively go against her own nature in lieu of making the art that her soul needs. Iris and I talk about her brave decision to deliberately choose wonkiness, ignore self-doubt, and go for process over...

The Get Messy Season of Collaboration was in January. But community continues to be a Big Deal to us Messy Artists.

If you’ve ever experienced a creative drought, you’ll know the impact that your creative family can have on helping you through it, giving tips on finding the other side, and making you feel less alone in your struggle.
If you’ve ever experienced a creative high, you’ll know how much higher it feels when you share your wins and celebrate your creative flow with others.

In this episode of the Get Messy podcast, I’m calling on the combined knowledge of a small group of Messians. Traci and Meghan, Jenna and Dawn, and Sarah and Melenia share what they learned and what they gained from their creative connection during Get Messy’s Season of Collaboration.

This is an AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode, where you’re the one who asks me anything and I’m the one who answers. We cover a host of topics, mostly about supplies and where I’m at in my creative practice.

I share my favourite tools, classes, and resources for making art.

I discuss themes I’m processing through art (now and always), coming back to art after a creative drought, and a new way I’m merging meditation with creation.

A host of miscellaneous questions and answers.

And an in depth look at my love for white hair and #ff66cc.

The best thing to come out of 2020 for me has been my studio. It’s my one true love (sorry T). It’s an old shipping container in an old slaughterhouse. It’s gritty, and raw, it’s hipster as hell, and its mine.

This studio has enabled me to do that weird thing people talk about called “work-life-balance” and for that, I am truly grateful.

I wanted to dedicate an episode of the podcast to it. It has a story. It’s a love story. And to make it worth your while, I’m sharing what a studio space of your own might do for you… 

Why is it so difficult to just. make. art? We know how much we love it and how it feeds our soul. We know it makes us better in a multitude of ways, but sometimes even the thing we love the most can feel like a massive effort. 

I talk to Anna Baer, aka Olive Green Anna, about this. We talk about her mad skills – in creating art, in getting others to make art, and in pep talking directly to the heart.

I wanted to get together to talk about her latest offering, the Take Time to Make at-home artist residency, mainly because I’m taking part in it.  I also sneakily wanted to learn more about her as a human since she lives so close to me.

Our conversation lit me on fire. I loved hearing about how her process and seeing art as wildness in control; a way to see what comes out of her. We speak about destroying your own art in order to make space, removing the preciousness of supplies, making shit art, and where we put our worth as artists.

Grab your supplies and let us keep you company while you create… 

The focus of my life currently is this:

PRODUCE MORE. CONSUME LESS.

It’s a bold statement. With so much great stuff on the internet, and with it being so easy to be sucked into Pinterest, Instagram, blogs, and galleries, I’m needing to step back all the more. We consume so many things every day that actively trying to produce more than that is a big feat. There are two ways of doing it: either producing more than a hundred things per day, or drastically reducing how much you consume and making more than that number. I don’t want what I make to be influenced by someone else’s. I don’t want to be comparing how much I make. I don’t want to be making less because I’m too busy staring in awe at someone else’s stuff. I want my Ideas book to be a to do list and I want to get. shit. done.

There are a million reasons why I want to consume less and the number one reason is to produce more. I want to make a lot of stuff. I want to make up for lost time. I want to record all my memories before I lose them. I want to make a whole bunch of rubbish stuff so that I can get to making the good stuff.

And so I made an action plan. Here are the ways that I’m shifting my default to producing instead of consuming.

One of the biggest things that art journalers struggle with in their creative practice is the journaling part of art journaling. It’s weird. I know. A while back, I invited a journaling expert to help the Get Messy community with how to find the words. Elaine Kiziah...

What is it about art journaling that makes it actual magic? Out of all the different ways to be creative, why do we choose art journaling? Why is this the one thing we have stuck with over time, and the one thing that we are constantly falling in love with? In order to answer this question with Wendy Solganik, we need to dissect her entire creative story.

You are going to love this episode. I’m chatting with Tara and Sandra from Kick in the Creatives. And if you don’t know them yet, by the end of this episode, you’re going to fall just as in love with them as I have. And good news for you because they’ve got their own podcast and you can binge listen to them and just take in everything that they have.

Oh, Messy artist, I have a treat for you this week on the podcast. Today I spoke with Hannah Fitzgibbon, and let me tell you… I feel like my whole world has changed. My creativity has been rocked, everything… You are going to love Hannah as much as I love her because she is amazing, articulate, and wise. The stuff that we spoke about today has revolutionised everything I know about creativity. All I’ve been doing for the past 6 years is creating, listening to people talk about creating, listening to people’s views on creating, helping others create, helping myself create more. And this is the first time that I’ve heard someone speak about creativity in this way.

In our episode, we talk about joy and flow in our creativity. There’s just so much more to it, and so much more depth to this conversation. We speak about a lot, we cover a lot, and a lot of new ideas or different ways of thinking, but I hope you spend time meditating on each point.

Play us, listen to us while you’re creating, but also write down Hannah’s words and spend some time reflecting on the way she sees things and the way she can help you things. I don’t know exactly what kind of creating you do but I know that Hannah is going to be great for it.

I recently received an email from Kate, who had a problem. I could relate and wanted to help. Maybe you need to hear this too.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with how many options you have, if you’re feeling stuck creatively, or if you’re a perfectionist and you’re super hard on yourself…. this episode is my letter to you. Here’s what to do.

And of course it’s actionable.

Today I am chatting with the beautiful, the kind, the lovely Megan McCaskill. She has a beautiful accent, a beautiful heart and beautiful journals to match. It was a completely spontaneous interview chat thing just as I was heading off to the train station for my mom but I hope that you create as we chat. I love Meg, I know that you are going to love her.

Morning pages are going to change your life. Morning pages are going to give you better art, better relationships, better mental health and a clear head. In this episode, I’m going to chat about how I make them work for me and give you an exact to do list on how you can make them work for you, how you can rock them, how you can make your life rock… all due to morning pages.

Once again I am freaking excited about this week’s guest on the podcast. This week it’s the beautiful Karen Abend. She has a heart of gold and I’m really excited about our chat today.

In this episode we discuss the absolute magic of sketchbooks. We discuss how sketchbooks are the root of everything creative, no matter what you call them – sketchbook, art journal, notebook, junk journal… all of those good things.

I hope you play this while you are creating in your sketchbook, your art journal, whatever you call it. Let’s all create together.