Ciele Beau 'sees' a piece of music. Growing up this was normal. It wasn't until 3 years into her visual art studies at the then, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, that she learned there was a thing called Synesthesia - a condition where the brain mixes up the senses and stimulation of one sensory pathway leading to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory pathway. Her discovery of her synesthesia has led her not only to better understanding her sensory experience of the world but has also allowed her to embrace it as a powerful modality for creative expression. She has created a painting practice around this experience that allows her to translate sheet music of her favourite songs into colour on the canvas. Her work focuses on the human condition, our emotional responses and everyday experiences. Her visual art explodes off the canvases or walls of the urban landscape with a vibrancy of colour and shape, that invites the inner child in us all, outside to play in this imaginative world she has created.

Ciele is a full-time freelance creative, and has worked with companies such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, Warner Brothers (CW’s Riverdale), Slack, Adobe, Vancouver Mural Festival, Vancouver Pride, Georgia Straight, Sarah McLachlan School of Music, SAD Magazine, Sofar Sounds and more.

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3 time World Improv Champion and funny man, Donovan Workun. has been bringing his comedy into the lives of audiences on stage, film and across the air waves for over 30 years and is currently touring in the lead role of the runaway musical hit Jason Kenney's Hot Boy Summer. His comedy duo Atomic Improv has toured across North America, Asia and Mexico and are the first improv group to headline Montreal’s Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. A lead writer and performer for 7 seasons in the hit CBC Radio One Series: The Irrelevant Show. Donovan has had the pleasure of performing live alongside Mike Myers, Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty, and Kevin McDonald. His extensive work in film has him sharing the screen with Patrick Swayze, Tom Green, Demi Moore and Tim Curry. This summer he is thrilled to be opening for Amy Schumer and Pete Davidson. Like any true improviser, Donovan has always embraced a “Yes, Let’s” attitude to life and is grateful for the doors that have opened as a result of accepting all offers. Still, he acknowledges the challenges of the juggling act we create when yes is our go to response. Knowing laughter to be good medicine, Donovan reflects on how as he gets older, he is coming to better understand the deeper value his improvisational powers have in serving to bring joy to others by reminding us that laughter has the power to get us through the other stuff, not to mention keep us all learning something new every day.

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Alana Hawley Purvis, reflects on her recent Canadian Screen Award nominated role in the feature film Range Roads. She shares how the film is at its core, about the struggle to return to oneself, and how her personal process of working on it, served as a powerful mirror to her own journey as an artist and a mother. In both roles, she was reminded daily of her true commitment to fully living each moment for what it presents and how she continues to strive to redefine success and her relationship to it as a pursuit of joy. In the second half of our conversation, Alana goes on to share how she has discovered deeply meaningful work away from the stage with Trans Vocal Care. Through working with trans clients to find gender identity through their vocal instrument Alana is able to support their journey so that each unique voice might fully represent their authentic self.

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As I considered the idea of ellipsis thinking and its invitation to take a moment to wonder from within, I found myself curious about how artists here, especially those with deep personal relationships with Ukraine, might be processing and responding to what we were all now seeing in this chaotic and terrifying time. I welcome two conversations with Canadian artists with family and friends living and fighting to survive in Ukraine. In both these conversations, I was struck with the common theme of how vital it is to find your authentic way or the language that feels right to you and that best allows you to express what needs to come forth. Visual and graphic artist Larisa Sembaliuk Cheladyn, reflects on how for over 40 years as a creative, she has always been compelled to find the light in order to balance out the power of the dark. Theatre artists Matthew Mackenzie and Patrick Lundeen of Pyretic Productions (Toronto/Edmonton) are living their company’s mission to raise awareness of political and social issues as they work to provide tangible support to friends and family now caught in a war zone.

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Stacey Cabaj, a Professor of Acting & Pedagogy and Faculty Fellow of Mission & Identity at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, she shares her journey from Perfect to Play to Magic. A lifelong believer that perfect was her goal, Stacey shares how she was able to finally release the burden of perfection and the freedom she has experienced in doing so. Weaving the wisdom of Mary Oliver, and others into her own evolving life, she speaks of an incredible sense of wild belonging in simply being still and choosing to no longer define life as a self improvement project but rather one of reclaiming identity as she calls out from the mountaintop ‘stop striving, you’re already here.”

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Valerie McIntyre-Baird always wrestled with her relationship with being the 'creative one'...that is until she embraced the invitation of designing her life as an experiment. A certified Forest Therapist, she draws on the power of nature and our relationship within it, to guide her fullest expression each day. Nicknamed The Purposeful Optimist, she delights in the best case scenario as she approaches each opportunity as threshold experience.

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Ellipsis Thinking... lives at the heart of creative life. It invites us to park judgement and perfection, to drive curiosity towards possibility.  The ellipsis, alone amongst punctuators holds space for the future…those three dots…build the perfect bridge from where you have been and are now, to where you are next meant to be...

Greg Dowler-Coltman, arts educator, theatre director and now executive coach, is fascinated by how creativity shows up in us all. Through conversations with people actively engaged in their own creative adventures, those who identify as artists and those who choose to experience life through an artistic lens, we shed light on relationships that shape and inspire us as we meet the challenges, discoveries, and learnings we make when we courageously invite our creative spirit forth.

Coming March 2022!

Learn more about the Ordinary Podcasting Network: https://www.ordinarypodcasts.com/