Creative Playdate

Creative Playdate is back!

Since the first season ended, my life turned upside down a bit - including a move to the DC area that we had 3.5 weeks to plan.

I'm thrilled to be back with new episodes and I'm kicking off the season with medical illustrator, Merlin Strangeway. Her work is incredibly varied in both style and technique, which is necessitated, somewhat, by the field. The work Merlin does with clients is fascinating and I think you'll enjoy learning more about the world of medical illustration.

Merlin made the surprising decision to start her freelance illustration business just as she was first becoming a mother. We talk about that decision and how her career has grown alongside her 9 year old daughter. Merlin has an optimistic, yet realistic outlook on parenting alongside a career in illustration that we could all probably use, sometimes.

Thank you for being patient while I worked on season 2 and thank you for listening to the show! If you are enjoying it, please give the show 5 stars on Apple Podcasts and review it as well, if you are so inclined. And of course, subscribe!

You can find out more about myself and my work at michellekondrich.com and you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram. Oh, and if you'd like to hear me talk about me for a bit, you can listen to the Being Freelance podcast. It's a great show even if you don't want to hear me talk about me.

The theme music to the show was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz and the show is syndicated at IllustrationAge.com.

Photo by Lauréne DuCrocq

I can't believe I've done 15 episodes of Creative Playdate! This episode is the last one for Season One and I will be back with Season Two in a couple of months.

This week's episode features the incredibly talented Jessica Abel. Her list of accomplishments is far too long for these show notes but you may know her from her graphic novels, like La Perdida or Trish Trash: Rollergirl of Mars, her textbook Drawing Words & Writing Pictures (written with husband, Matt Madden) or she may even be your teacher. Somehow she's been able to do all of these things all while raising two children.

We talk about moving her family to Angoulême, France for four years and the adjustments they've had to make when their children started school in the U.S. Parenting is always unexpected in different ways and it has been no different for Jessica. For those of us who find it hard to maintain our creativity while our lives swirl around us, Jessica has a book for that, Growing Gills: How to find creative focus when you're drowning in your daily life.

I suppose I say this every episode (and I don't know how else to say it), but thank you so very much for listening and sharing the show. I love getting to have these conversations and I've already got a great lineup started for Season Two.

You can follow me on Twitter @MissIllustrator and Instagram @mkondrich and you can see my illustration at www.michellekondrich.com.

The show is syndicated on Illustration Age and our theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz.

Don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts!

The penultimate episode of Creative Playdate is an interview with Chris & Jennifer Sickels! You likely know Chris as Red Nose Studio. I was thrilled when Chris suggested his wife, Jennifer, join in the conversation. It's the first time I've had a partner one who is not also working as a creative. It's important that the people behind the scenes who support these crazy careers we've chosen get all the respect and gratitude that they deserve.

Chris and Jennifer have 4 children between the ages of 3 and 13, so we talked a lot about what it's like to have kids at various stages of development. We also talk about the financial aspects of raising 4 kids primarily on the income of a freelance illustrator and whether or not Chris wishes they could live in New York.

As I mention in the episode, I have made the decision to break the show up into seasons. There will be one more episode this season and I will let you know as season 2 approaches.

What would you like to hear about in season 2?

The show is created and hosted by me, Michelle Kondrich and our theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz. The show is syndicated at Illustration Age (where you can also find a bi-monthly business column by yours truly).

Thank you for listening!

The last episode of Creative Playdate for the year is a wonderful interview with illustrator, motion graphics artist, and designer Santiago Uceda. His work has so much character. He talks about how is illustration used to be very dark but that his family has helped to inject more hope into the work. You can read a great interview with Santiago and his partner, Jen Bell, in Family Circle about their blended family and lives.

Santiago is a Peruvian immigrant and he was very open about his experiences and feelings about the current political climate around immigration. If you want to know more about Santiago and his work, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

As I mention at the beginning of the show, in addition to Creative Playdate being syndicated on Illustration Age, I am now going to be writing a bi-monthly column on the site. My first installment, "How I Built an Illustration Career Without Going to Art School" is up now and I should have a new one out next week.

Thank you to Thomas James and Jason Ritz for our theme music and thanks to all of you who have been listening and supporting the show!

You can find out more about myself and my work at www.michellekondrich.com and please be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes!

I will be back with new episodes in January, so please enjoy the holiday season, stay safe, and Happy New Year!

Episode 12 features an interview with children's illustrator Jannie Ho. Her work is everywhere - books, educational magazines, toys, games, stickers, even dinnerware! She is the mother of a six year old daughter and her debut author/illustrator picture book, Bear and Chicken, is out now!

Jannie's illustration is perfect for the children's market and it was great to hear how her work and her new book developed. She loves Richard Scarry books from her childhood and you can really see the influence, which I love.

She also is a big proponent of day care for those of us with young children who do not have the luxury of family nearby. It can be an expensive necessity when working from home.

You can follow Jannie on Twitter and Instagram @chickengirldesign.

The show is syndicated on Illustration Age - with it's own dedicated page now - and our theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz.

If you want to know more about my illustration or about the show, visit my website or follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

Listen and subscribe to the show on iTunes!

This week I've got a special, two-part episode with illustrator and surface pattern designer Andi Butler. We had a lengthy conversation about both her experience in the surface pattern design industry as well as her experience raising two boys, one of whom is autistic. I've split the conversation into two parts - the first part covers more of her work life and the second goes into parenting much more.

Andi is incredibly knowledgeable about both of these worlds and she is also very happy to talk about them and to answer questions about them. She's been at it for decades, so enjoy the wealth of information and insight!

You can follow Andi on Twitter and Instagram @andibutler and she also has a Facebook Page.

Thank to you everyone who has been listening to the show and welcome to all my new listeners! Feel free to get in touch any time!

Our wonderful syndicate is Illustration Age and our theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz.

Please be sure to rate and review on iTunes if you like what you hear.

This week I've got a special, two-part episode with illustrator and surface pattern designer Andi Butler. We had a lengthy conversation about both her experience in the surface pattern design industry as well as her experience raising two boys, one of whom is autistic. I've split the conversation into two parts - the first part covers more of her work life and the second goes into parenting much more.

Andi is incredibly knowledgeable about both of these worlds and she is also very happy to talk about them and to answer questions about them. She's been at it for decades, so enjoy the wealth of information and insight!

You can follow Andi on Twitter and Instagram @andibutler and she also has a Facebook Page.

Thank to you everyone who has been listening to the show and welcome to all my new listeners! Feel free to get in touch any time!

Our wonderful syndicate is Illustration Age and our theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz.

Please be sure to rate and review on iTunes if you like what you hear.

Today's episode was a supper fun, casual conversation with illustrator, comic artist and hand letterer, Britt Wilson. We have children who are almost the same age and we are at similar stages in our lives and careers. We jump right into the conversation with little preamble, so if you like to commiserate with other toddler parents and listen to their crazy stories you will LOVE this episode!

Britt is super open and honest about her experience becoming a mother and the financial and emotional toll that it can take. Like most of us, she had some... maybe... unrealistic expectations of what working at home with an infant would be like. I'm starting to think that there's no such thing as a child who will hang out in a play pen alone for more than 2 minutes.

Britt's work is colorful and honest and fun and you should definitely check out her books like Britt Wilson's Greatest Book on Earth. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @britterson. Her Instagram stories of her daughter are definitely worth the follow - and so are her plants.

Thanks for listening and don't forget to share with a friend!

Illustration Age is our wonderful syndicate and the theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz (who have a new podcast, by the way).

For the first time EVER, I've got a couple on the show! Jacqui Oakley and Jamie Lawson are both freelance creatives (she's an illustrator, he's an illustrator and designer) with an energetic three-year-old. We talk about their childcare situation and dividing up time with their son when deadlines don't always coincide with day care.

© Jacqui Oakley

It was good fun to chat with them. They are beginning to collaborate on fine art/gallery work and it makes me wish my husband and I could collaborate in that way. It sounds like a great way to get back to the early parts of a relationship, before kids. And Jacqui weighs in on her experience taking a break from work after giving birth.

You can follow Jacqui on Twitter and Instagram @jacquioakley and you can follow Jamie on Twitter @poly_studio and Instagram @jamielawson.

And if you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate and review on iTunes. It helps spread the word!

Episode 8 of Creative Playdate features an interview with illustrator Daniel Hertzberg. We have an interesting conversation in which Daniel is very open about his and his wife's experience with trying to get pregnant and with having twins who were very premature. They had a first year that, fortunately, many of us have no experience with.

Daniel has a great attitude towards being a parent and it's one that I know I lose touch with at times. When you are in the thick of an especially difficult time with your children, it's easy to forget the joy and humor they can bring.

You can follow Daniel on Twitter and Instagram @danielhertzberg. And you can follow me on Twitter @MissIllustrator and on Instagram @mkondrich.

Want to help the show grow? Please share with a friend and rate/review on iTunes. I've got some great ideas for turning this show into more of a community rather than just an audience, so keep listening and thank you for all the support.

Creative Playdate is syndicated at Illustration Age.