Eager To Know

Driving to my studio every day, I pass a restaurant with a visible rooftop farm right in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Every time I drive by it I think, “a rooftop farm, what an amazing thing!” When I finally visited Uncommon Ground, I realized there was even more.

Not only is it a successful restaurant with a rooftop farm, but it’s also a live music venue, an art space, and an organic brewery. There are just a lot of interesting things there.

My conversation with Helen Cameron, its founder, quickly revealed the character traits guiding the creation of these unique business elements; visualization, eagerness to try new things, willingness to take calculated risks. All of these traits have enabled them to grow ideas, into amazing things.

 

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It was suggested I check out Tony Rossi as a potential guest I found out he was both an actor and a coach, a mindset coach. I was very intrigued and curious to speak with him.

 

I found Tony to be very honest. His honesty enabled me to understand how the job of an actor is much different than I expected. Being a struggling actor activates the thoughts and feelings many people struggle with; self-doubt, not feeling enough, comparison to others. I found our conversation fun, refreshing and very inspiring.

Stop telling yourself “no”, and dark, scary times right here in my neighborhood

A few weeks back, a friend of mine invited me to be his guest at a record release party for a band I knew nothing about. I didn’t know what to expect and as these things happen, I was pleasantly surprised and immediately made a connection with the music.

It was a folk-rock duo called “They Wont Win” and that evening I was able to listen to their songs but also hear them tell the personal experiences that inspired their creation. I wanted to know more and that night they accepted my invitation to be guest on Eager to Know. I have since been listening to their first full-length album titled “Lost at Sea”

I came into our conversation thinking this was a duo of talented musicians who produced a wonderful album. But after spending time with Greg and Danny, I see these men, and what they created, in an entirely different way.

Shocking your system to awaken your creative self, the importance of being an explorer in your own life, and my thoughts on asking the universe for what you want

The Golden Age of adult films, how constraints can force creativity, and keeping things moving forward in our world full of distractions

 

I have been listening to The Rialto Report podcast in order to prepare for this interview. I absolutely love it - it is very interesting, well done and I could not be more excited to speak with its co-founder, April Hall. The Rialto report is an oral history, audio, photo, and documentary archives from the golden age of adult film in New York. We start our conversation by speaking about the variety that is found in the interviews.

Bénédicte Lassale is a San Francisco bay area based photographer focusing on architecture, portraiture, and lifestyle projects. We speak about her creative journey, inspirations, challenges and being a professional photographer in the age of Instagram.

Ernesto Lopez is the owner of Chicago based Oak Leaf Garden Design. I loved learning about the origins of his interest in gardening and how he always sees the potential of things before he begins. We start our conversation with one of the unique aspects of what he does; that it combines both creativity and biology.

Ted Sollinger otterartstudio.com is a graphic designer and artist based in Chicago. Much of his work is figurative, with wood being one of his favorite substrates. We spoke about getting more people enjoying and creating art.

Ernesto Heen artinuum.com and I met at a 6-week painting and drawing workshop in Florence Italy. He is currently a painter based in Hamburg Germany, and also has started teaching art technique. Ernesto’s background is very similar to mine and our creative journey has many parallels. Learn more at rickyartist.com