We are all on a quest for a more satisfying life in our own ways and Alex McLeod is no different. With the support of his family he chose to leave his corporate job in exchange for a bit of financial struggle paired with the opportunity for more daily life happiness. His working theory is that each of us has a genetic memory for things like living in community, being outdoors in all its forms and working with our hands. This is why making more room in our lives for what we consider truly valuable feels right and good. For Alex this is anything from hunting mushrooms, learning to play the fiddle, delving into square dance calling to time with his kids. He reminds us that sometimes the distance between dreaming and doing is our biggest hurdle, but that taking that first small step is worth it, a thousand times over.

See what Alex is up to here: https://www.instagram.com/macleod_alex/

All things Fain House:

Your Quote for the Day:

“Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.” 

~Neale Donald Walsch

Through the years designer/jeweler/metalsmith Erica Stankwytch Bailey started to figure out who she was as an artist and that, in fact, she had always known it. She is now sure that all the "I should"s and "I have to be"s might be the biggest barriers we all face, both in daily life and in creative life. As we are all on that quest for the enigma that is balance we have to give ourselves space to have crash and burns. Everything we make isn't supposed to be a success. It turns out "fail" is a beautiful word and when it happens to us, we should pat ourselves on the back for being actively engaged in that difficult task, fondly known as, the learning process.

Learn more about Erica's work here:

All things Fain House:

Your Quote for the Day:

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.”

Why are we compelled to make? For mixed-media collage artist, Hannah Burnworth, it is something so deep inside that it's hard to get in touch with it until she's doing it. She says making art makes her feel good about herself and it "pulls the joy out of the inside" of her. She reminds us that the more and more we make, the more that deep part of ourselves is fed and it becomes bigger and bigger. When our brains are in the way and we have a fear of moving ahead it might be because we don't want it to turn out differently than what's in our mind and don't realize we have permission to fail. Maybe instead we should take Hannah's lead by having more faith in our own problem solving abilities, feel free to cut up and re-work what we don't like until we do, get our work spaces organized and ready for the next project, then make, make and make some more.

Learn more about Hannah's work here:

All things Fain House:

Your Quote for the day:

"Small steps, day after day, can change your entire reality."

~ Emily Jeffords

Elizabeth Garlington describes herself as a treasure hunter. She goes into her studio, gathers her collected treasures (fabrics, threads, buttons and imagery), gets in the flow and comes out with narrative art quilts meant to hang on the wall while sharing a story of human experience. She believes it's important to "play hard at work and work hard at play" and that if you are stuck, go in your studio anyway and know that often when we focus on process rather than product our work turns out better. She reminds us not to wait for inspiration before we make, to get comfortable with ambiguity and that the arts in general are life enhancing for all.

Learn more about Elizabeth's work here:

Follow on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eagartquilts/

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Your Quote for the day:

"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."

~ Carl Jung

Karl Engelmann is a producer of food and music (including an annual Christmas album!). He discovered early on that work in kitchens dovetailed nicely with his calling to be a musician. He would sometimes work all day in the restaurant, leave to play a night-time gig, sleep a few hours and then show up again for his work shift. As the years passed, and as adult responsibilities increased, he found himself as a chef in the corporate world with endless work hours, rare family time and too worn out to create his music. Realizing this wasn't sustainable he and his wife decided to open their own restaurant and catering business in honor of work-life balance (they intentionally do not serve dinner) and farm-to-table sensibilities (even the chorizo and curry paste are made from scratch!) with time enough for his recording projects. He reminds us that multiple creative mediums can overflow into each other, lots of motivation can come from loving what you are doing and most importantly that keeping a hold of your creative life is just as important as keeping a hold of the rest of your life.

Learn more about Epic Catering & Restaurant in Hayesville, NC here: http://e-entrees.com

Follow on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epiccatering/

Check out Karl's music here: https://songwhip.com/karl-engelmann

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Your Quote for the day:

"Food is music to the body, music is food to the heart."

~ Gregory David Roberts

Hailing from Walkertown, NC Riley Baugus has had all kinds of amazing experiences because of his banjo, everything from being part of the musical line-up for film Cold Mountain, to touring with Willy Nelson, to meeting his wife in England. When he was a kid, making things meant they had things...all the way down to his first banjo he and his dad made together around age 10. He reminds us that making mistakes can actually be fun and that if you worry too much it can be detrimental to your cause. It makes it harder to learn things if you don't give yourself a little leeway to make some mistakes here and there and we should all know that through that little bit of pain will come great joy.

Learn more about Riley and his music here:

https://www.rileybaugusbanjos.com/watch

https://www.instagram.com/rileybaugus/

https://rileybaugus.bandcamp.com/album/little-black-trains-a-comin

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Your Quote for the day:

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it." 

~ Kurt Vonnegut

Annie Silverman always knew she was an artist, but it wasn't until her 30s that she had the courage to make the leap. Now, after doing and teaching printmaking, writing and bookarts for years she feels like it is really brave for people to take a class in something they don't know anything about and that if they are provided with good materials and interesting options a beginner can easily have success. She reminds us that there are many different pathways to get somewhere...just keep working and eventually you are going to like something and then that's going to put you on another path.  If you are struggling with time, make your goal the littlest possible thing you can do. And most importantly, you can't share if your cup is empty so you have to keep adding drops to it, no matter how small, even if it feels like it's a hard thing to do.

Learn more about Annie's work here:

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Your Quote for the day:

"All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life." 

~ M.C. Richards

When Tipper Pressley opens a jar of home canned tomatoes and she sees that beautiful red color she says, "It's almost like I can feel the sunshine and remember myself starting the seed, planting it in the garden, then nurturing it and harvesting it with the sun on my arms, processing it...and then there you are eating it on a cold winter day." Maybe the way to a creative life is as simple as loving that certain color of tomato red, being close enough to the land to notice small signs of the changing of the seasons, working with your hands or passing creative ways of seeing things on to our children. As a long time blogger and now creator of content for her Celebrating Appalachia YouTube channel, Tipper is always looking for small things that need to be celebrated and reminds us that just as so many of the old ways fit into our modern lives we should also always be looking for a tiny bit of creativity to brighten our day.

Learn more about Tipper's projects here:

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Your Quote for the day:

“Make an empty space in any corner of your mind, and creativity will instantly fill it.”

Karen's creative endeavors range from being a farmer of ginger and turmeric and seasoned massage therapist to resident artist for gardening & homesteading, nature studies, soap making and story telling for the John C. Campbell Folk School. Though she's happy to be living her dream, there have been times in her life when her dream started to look like a nightmare. In those moments she tapped into her super power for constant curiosity which, combined with a willingness to stay open to possibility, brought the dream back in shapes and forms she couldn't imagine.  She reminds us that even when we can't see how things are going to work out and start to loose belief there is often another part of us that keeps acting towards the belief that it will.

Learn more about Karen and her farm here:

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Your Quote for the day:

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

~ E. E. Cummings

Ian Brownlee dreamed of being an animator and once in art school realized that the reality didn't match the dream. His search for his destined art form continued and he now finds himself an oil painter, mural painter, writer and musician living by his motto "Go places and make things." Though at certain points his entire income has come from painting, he now appreciates his day job as a way to take the pressure off his art making and in a way, protect it. He reminds us that time in nature can be the ultimate recharge, that if you are getting joy from what you are doing, keep doing it and that when it comes down to it, whether we go to art school or not, we are all essentially "self taught."  

Learn more about Ian and his work here:

Signup for our email list: www.bit.ly/FainHouse

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Your Quote for the day:

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drip off like autumn leaves."

~ John Muir