Creative Culture

Bonsai is an artform unlike any other in the amount of time, dedication and patience it takes to see results. It's a form of sculpture that can take years to see how your efforts will take shape. Bonsai trees can be centuries old and require very special care to keep them beautiful and healthy.

And that's where Darren George comes in. Darren describes himself as a bonsai practitioner. On his YouTube channel, Gro Bonsai, you'll learn what it takes to grow and maintain bonsai trees, and see the meticulous care and attention needed to restore neglected trees.

The irony of bonsai, as Darren puts it, is that "we go to great lengths to make it look like the tree was never touched by human hands." And maybe that's why watching the craft of bonsai is so fascinating…watching this blending of nature, human ingenuity, and art.

Watch Darren at Gro Bonsai on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GroBonsai

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Anne-Marie Faiola has created a soapmaking empire with Bramble Berry, a company she founded in 1999 in a 400 square foot space. Today she is CEO, the company has more than 100 employees

With over 60,000 customers, Bramble Berry is THE place to shop online for supplies and kits as well as being a vast educational resource for people getting into the craft of soapmaking or starting their own businesses.

And one of those resources is the Bramble Berry YouTube channel where Anne-Marie posted her first video in 2009 and continues to teach viewers how to make soap, candles, skin care products and more.

Anne-Marie is the author of several soap making books and has been awarded Small Business Person of the Year from the Washington State Small Business Association, Business Woman of the Year by the Washington State Women's Business Owners Association, and a Best Boss in America by Fortune Small Business. This is such a success story and inspiration for anyone just starting out with a small space and a dream to start a business.

Today, talented soapers from all over the world are making absolutely stunning works of art out of lye and oil, largely inspired by Anne-Marie and Bramble Berry.

Bramble Berry on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/soapqueentv

Bramble Berrry website: https://www.brambleberry.com/

With the Halloween season upon us, I'm happy to have Jaime Nakae and Jay Grenier joining me back on the podcast.

Their YouTube channel, Wicked Makers, is THE place to go for all your DIY Halloween decorating needs. You can learn how to make spiderwebs, creepy skulls, haunted mirrors, floating ghosts, pirate chests and much more.

Suppoprt The WTS! https://www.patreon.com/thewts

Wicked Makers on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WickedMakers

Jared Polin started posting videos on YouTube in 2008 and has been grinding ever since. His channel Fro Knows Photo is a great place to learn photography and keep up with the latest cameras, gear and photography news.

In this episode we catch up with Jared's business, YouTube, the craft of photography, what kind of gear to consider, and ways you can get better shots.

Jared's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/froknowsphoto

Become a WTS+ member at https://www.patreon.com/thewts

Support the podcast by becoming a WTS+ member: https://www.patreon.com/thewts

Florian Gadsby is a ceramicist who creates hand thrown stoneware and pottery out of his studio in North London. He's made thousands of exquisite cups, mugs, bowls, vases, jars and more which he sells on his website at floriangadsby.com. About 5 or 6 years ago he began diligently posting his work daily on instagram and hasn't missed a day since.

Three years ago Florian began making and posting videos on YouTube allowing him to dive deeper into the process of making pottery and discuss his philosophy of making. His work is characterized by simple forms and straight shapes, but with an incredible attention to detail. There's something timeless and universally beautiful about all of his pieces.

His videos take us inside a prolific profesional studio, showing viewers how clay is thrown on a wheel, shaped, trimmed, glazed and fired. He even gives us insight into how he manages to package and ship so many orders. If you're an artist or craftsperson, you will find Florian's videos to be inspiring. And if you aren't a maker, you will enjoy the calming pace of these videos and marvel at how finely crafted art is created by someone at the top of their field. His pieces are truly stunning and it's so satisfying to watch a blob of clay come to life on a wheel in his hands.

Florian Gadsby on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FlorianGadsbyCeramics

Website: https://www.floriangadsby.com/

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What exactly was Andy Warhol trying to say with his Marilyn Monroe series? Why are people emotionally moved, sometimes to tears, by viewing a large, geometric shape of color painted by Mark Rothko? Why does Nighthawks by Edward Hopper feel so cold and lonely? What makes Michaelangelo's David different from other depictions of David? Who was the Mona Lisa and why was painting her so radical? What makes the paintings of Jean-Michel Basquiat so relevant today?

James Payne is an art curator, art lover, art historian, and former gallery owner who brings perspective to famous works of art by helping us to understand not just what they mean, but about the lives of the artists who created them. Art seems to be inseparable from the artist.

In each video on his YouTube channel, GREAT ART EXPLAINED, James explores the history of a particular work of art, the artist who created it, the techniques used, its relevance and symbolism, and the social and political climate that led to its creation. He helps us get beyond art cliches such as "My kid could've painted that". James's videos are intelligent, thought provoking, inspiring, all the while remaining totally accessible and grounded to even the most casual art enthusiast or curious beginner.

Visit Great Art Explained on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GreatArtExplained

Please help support the WTS! https://www.patreon.com/thewts

This is one of the most kickass stories you're going to hear on this podcast. Of all the artists and makers I've talked to, none have embodied the DIY spirit of this show more than filmmakers Toby Poser, John Adams, and their two daughters, Zelda and Lulu: The Adams Family. They are the ultimate DIY family: they take turns acting and directing, they write the screenplays, they are cinematographers, camera operators, carpenters, edit their own movies and even score their own soundtracks.

Check out The Adams Family: https://www.wonderwheelproductions.com/pages/about.php

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adams.family.films/

Please consider supporting The WTS and becoming a WTS+ member. https://www.patreon.com/thewts

Grady Hillhouse is a civil engineer and creator of Practical Engineering, a YouTube channel devoted to explaining the man-made infrastructure of the world surrounding us. His videos teach us about how aquifers and dams work, or how water towers supply our homes with water. You'll learn about the importance of culverts, how pavement works, and how electrical transmission lines and traffic signals work. And this just scratches the surface.

Grady's first book, Engineering in Plain Sight: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment, which is set to release on November first, is already the Amazon #1 Best Seller in Home Design Buildings & Construction.

A recent video on Practical Engineering was all about debunking construction myths, a topic I thought would be a lot of fun to talk about on this podcast. And while we're at it I'll throw in some of my own woodworking myths.

Practical Engineering on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PracticalEngineeringChannel

Please consider supporting the show at https://www.patreon.com/thewts Become a WTS Patron or a WTS+ member. 

My goal with the WTS is to bring you quality conversations with people at the top of their fields, people with unique artistic visions and worldviews, people with practical building skills, and creative people with engaging personalities. 

While The WTS Podcast is still a passion project, it takes a toll on my "day job" due to the amount of time I’m pulled away from my YouTube channel. I spend an average of 12-15 hours a week finding and booking quality guests for the show, researching their work, preparing for an interview, recording the episode, editing the podcast, then posting and promoting it. This is all a one-man show.

If you listen to The WTS regularly and you find these conversations stimulating, educational, provocative, inspiring, or simply entertaining, please consider becoming a WTS Patron or a WTS+ member.  

I’ve got some cool new WTS stickers to send out to everyone who signs up. And if you sign up as a WTS+ member you’ll get exclusive access to a raw, unedited video version of each episode. These include all the awkward pauses, topics we discuss that I edit out, preshow banter and more. As interest grows in WTS+, I’ll be adding new benefits. Hopefully some livestreaming, Q&A’s and aftershow discussions. 

Thanks so much for listening to The WTS and thanks for your support.

This week I talked to Sam Raimondi, the DIY Huntress, in her professional capacity as a psychologist to see if she can offer us all some strategies for dealing with the funk we all seem to be in after the past couple years. It's great to have hobbies to give us an outlet to relieve some of the stress we feel, but with inflation, the cost of materials, looming recession, and general uncertainty, it can be pretty hard to pursue those activities.

We also explored the role of social media and "influencers" on all our lives and how it affects our well being. Who can possibly keep up with the thousands of people we follow who live charmed lives, traveling the globe, making the coolest projects imaginable, building their own dream shops, and remodeling their homes. If you're working paycheck to paycheck, are you inspired by all this or is it just depressing?

Sam's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Diyhuntress

The WTS Website: https://www.thewtspodcast.com/