Creativity In Motion is on hiatus for a few more months. In the interim, we are publishing an encore of our favorite episode from Season One of the show. It features painter and pioneering educator Dr. Leo Twiggs.

We think Dr. Twiggs's story illustrates perfectly what it means to be creative. In a practical sense, being creative is how we solve problems and overcome obstacles. As you will hear in our conversation with Dr. Twiggs, he has overcome many obstacles. Along the way he gained tremendous insights about art, including not only how to make art, but why you should make art.

We recorded this episode sitting in Dr. Twiggs's home studio in Orangeburg, South Carolina, among many canvasses and finished pieces that were being sent to various galleries in the southeast. We had an incredible visit with him and were fascinated with his stories about how he came to paint the way he does. 

We hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.

Chef Anthony Mandriota began his culinary training at the home of his grandparents in Astoria, Queens, New York. His Grandmother Josephine’s simple message was: start with the best ingredients, do not crowd your pan, and eat with your eyes first. Those principles have guided him for his entire career.

His heritage is Italian, and he loves cooking and eating Italian cuisine. At the age of eight, Anthony tasted Classical French Cuisine, a Bordelaise sauce, and for the first time, he knew what he wanted to do with his life.

In this episode, Chef Mandriota talks about his life creating and preparing food for others, the personal nature of food and the intense satisfaction he feels when he watches people enjoying his meals.

George Walker IV is a second-generation photojournalist who has worked around the world for the past three decades covering some of the biggest events. Based in Nashville, he has photographed the Tennessee Titans since their move to Tennessee in the late 90s. He’s also  covered local, regional and national stories for The Tennessean, USA Today and many other news organizations. In February, he spent two weeks in China covering the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In this episode, George talks extensively about how he uses photographic techniques to unlock his creativity in making images; how the switch to digital cameras impacted his work, and how he relies on his people skills to help him get unique and original photographs.

On episode 23 of the podcast, find out what made Jeron Bray leave his career as an MMA fighter and turn his attention to fight choreography. In this conversation Jeron shares how he got started choreographing fight scenes and what he likes about training actors.

He also talks about the team of stunt performers he’s assembled and how they work together with directors to create the action scenes necessary for music videos and films.

Please be sure to subscribe to the Creativity in Motion podcast on your favorite player. If you liked this episode, please consider leaving a review on our Apple Podcasts page.

Bret Wolcott started High Five Entertainment at a Spaghetti Factory in Los Angeles in the early 80's with two other USC film school buddies. In the forty years since, he has produced shows for all the major networks and is currently producing live television for the Circle Network.

In this episode of Creativity In Motion, Bret shares where his opportunities came from and gives examples from his own experience about how opportunity may not look like what you’re expecting. He talks about how small, seemingly insignificant things can have a huge impact and wind up being the basis for a person’s career. He also shares his love for storytelling and the lessons he learned from starting his company right out of film school and collaborating with others.

Please be sure to subscribe to the Creativity in Motion podcast on your favorite player. If you liked this episode, please consider leaving a review on our Apple Podcasts page.

Twenty years after taking an “Intro to Woodworking” class, Brad Rodriguez’s hobby has become a full-time career, leading him away from corporate America and into the upper echelons of YouTube content creation. His YouTube channel, “Fix This Build That” has over 1 million subscribers and he is well known online as a master DIY-er and woodworker.

Chris and Mark sit down with Brad to discuss how his engineer’s mind was able to make room for his creativity and how that combination changed his life.

Episode 20 of Creativity in Motion finds Chris and Mark talking about collaboration. What makes a good collaboration? What makes a good collaborative partner? They discuss successful collaborations and how a good collaboration can be fulfilling even if the results fall short of expectations.

They talk at length about what makes them good collaborative partners for each other, how to know when you’re really collaborating with someone instead of just “working with them” and making room for other peoples’ creative ideas so that your idea can be improved.

Anyone who’s ever been part of a team, especially a creative team, will find plenty to take away from this conversation.

Please be sure to subscribe to the Creativity in Motion podcast on your favorite player. If you liked this episode, please consider leaving a review on our Apple Podcasts page.

In this episode, Chris and Mark visit with Grand Ole Opry member Mark Wills who talks about making career choices, calling “dibs” on a song that’s already on hold by another artist and the story behind getting to meet country music legend George Jones as a teenager.

In this episode, Chris and Mark visit with Nashville-based film and stage actor James David West, who’s currently filming The Legend Of Lake Hollow.

In this conversation, David talks about some of the intricacies of his work as an actor, detailing his approach to the audition process, why he prefers to collaborate on set and how difficult it can be to create more fully formed characters when all he has to work with is a vague description in the script.

In episode 17, Chris and Mark talk with social media marketing expert Courtney Alexander about the constantly shifting social media industry. Courtney has managed social media campaigns for The Grand Ole Opry, Ole Red by Blake Shelton and the Southeastern Conference athletic program.

Discussion topics include the new paradigm of digital marketing; old-school advertising and marketing philosophies; how COVID has changed people’s online behaviors, and The Algorithm.