16: Can you be a good artist AND sane!? Mental health, addiction, and authentic expression w/ John Piacquadio

JOHN PIACQUADIO

John Piacquadio is a Montana-based artist and fly fisherman, often drawing inspiration from fly tying and fishing in his work. In this episode of the Montana Diaries Podcast, John shared his rich life story from growing up as the child of an Italian immigrant, to the tension between his religious upbringing and his education, to being an art student and drug addict obsessed with originality, to settling into himself as a sober maker and fly fisherman. John was incredibly vulnerable about creativity, mental health, and everything in between.

The story of John’s life is fascinating, but so is his creative process. He explains finding flow state through fly tying and connecting with nature, and how he connected with his art more when he started depicting those things rather than only focusing on subjects that would be considered “groundbreaking.” Letting go of pretension in his art and embracing sincerity ironically lead to the success he craved as a younger artist, and it helped him come back to himself as a sober minded person. 

SHOWNOTES: montanadiaries.com/creativebusinessblog/16

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