Art Pays Me

Artist, Shannon Ellis and I talk about her sci-fi and fantasy inspired work, our mutual fascination with Japanese animation and why she loves crows. We also talk about Shannon's role with The Creative Kick, a Halifax based organization that helps creatives expand their social circles and share knowledge and resources.

Shannon Online

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Website
• The Creative Kick

David Strickland is a Grammy Award winning multidisciplinary artist, producer, engineer, DJ and activist. We discuss his music and visual art influences, how connected Indigenous cultures are to hip-hop and his experience with having his Indian status revoked. David shares what it was like working with Drake and the OVO camp and hip-hop legends like EPMD, Redman, Method Man, Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates and Keith Murray. We also talk about his respect for photographer Ernie Paniccioli, why he thinks it's important for creatives to not get stagnant and lazy but why it's also important to slow down.

David Strickland Online:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Website

Multidisciplinary Visual Artist Chantel Gushue and I talk about how she incorporates science into her art practice, parenting during the pandemic, why she's not a fan of the traditional "class crit" in art education and why graphic designers make good jewellers. We also talk about our time at NSCAD University and how fostering relationships with other artists can lead you to exciting new opportunities.

• Website
• Instagram
• Co-Adorn

Food branding consultant Sunil Sarwal talks about the benefit of specialization in a service based creative business. We learn about their creative process, why they got into the industry, how they determine what to charge clients and why it's important to discuss budget very early in the project.

Sunil Online

• Website
• Twitter: Sunil
• Twitter: The Small Monsters

Beatmaker and Producer DK talks about his music making process, his love for the classic hip hop sound of the 90s and how he gets the attention of established artists he’d like to work with. DK also talks about why working on his own projects has helped him gain recognition and why working locally is important even in the internet age.

DK Online:

• Website
• Instagram

Stand Up Comic Eman El-Husseini and I talk about why comedy is a great way to discuss tough topics, being a Canadian in New York during the 2020 Pandemic, why she's not afraid to say things in her comedy that will upset people and how her identity as a Palestinian lesbian blurs the line between her work and personal life.

Eman Online:

• Handsome Daughter
• Twitter
• Instagram
• The El-Salomons
• The El-Salomons: Marriage of Convenience

Maggie Rahr is an award winning multimedia Investigative Journalist. I discovered Maggie through her podcast 'What Happened to Holly Bartlett' that was featured in Oprah magazine (2019), and was a finalist in the Atlantic Journalism Awards. We talked about how the podcast came about, what it means to be an investigative journalist, how she finds work, parenting during a pandemic and we go deep on how gender bias and racism impact our workplaces and society.

Find Maggie on Twitter.

Multidisciplinary Artist Bria Miller participates in almost every aspect of creativity. She talks about her work, what motivates her, why women and race issues are prominent in her visual art and why she won't settle on one art medium. We also talk about the recent and very sudden appreciation for her Black Lives Matter themed work.

Bria Online:

• Website
• Instagram

Emmanuel Nwogbo is a Nigeria born, Visual Artist based in Montreal, Canada. We talked about how The Rona has impacted his career, what he thinks about the civil unrest we're experiencing across the world and how a daily creative project he did to improve his technical skills led to awards and major growth in his following. We also talked about how design and art schools could do more to prepare their students for the business realities of a creative career.

Emmanuel on Instagram.

On this special episode, my wife, Natasha Nurse-Jones and I talk about some of her experience as a Black educator and our experience with anti-Black racism.