This is a replay from Season 1. A single line from Cy Twombly cracks open a huge question for artists: “One must desire the ultimate essence even if it is contaminated.” We sit with that tension between purity and grit and ask what “essence” really means in abstract expressionism, mark making, and the real studio process where rust, dust, scraps, and revisions refuse to stay out of the frame.

From there, we trace why Twombly still feels so magnetic and so misunderstood. He left few interviews and little public persona, which forces viewers to do the work themselves. We talk through Joshua Rivkin’s Here We Go Chalk and the image that won’t let go: the unswept floor. What’s more contaminated than what falls, gets cast aside, and ends up as leftovers? Rivkin treats that debris like a mosaic, and it becomes a clean way to see how Twombly gathers fragments of history, poetry, the body, and the mind, then buries and reveals them through layers.

We also get practical about how art communicates. What does it mean for a painting to “claim the room it inhabits” when the artist is not there to explain it? How much context should titles and statements provide, and when does mystery make the work stronger? If you’ve ever stood in a museum and felt pulled into a surface like an archaeologist, this one puts language to that experience and gives you a better way to look.

If this sparks a reaction, share the episode with an artist friend, subscribe so you do not miss the next conversation, and leave a review to help more people find the show.

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

Nobody is asking you to make your art. Jeff Musser thinks that’s exactly why you have to make it anyway.

Jeff is a Northern California figurative painter who builds images from collage, family photographs, sketches, and historical source material. We talk about painting as a primal need to make marks, why the studio can feel like a scratch-off ticket you keep buying with your time, and how the best ideas often arrive only after you start. Along the way we bounce off quotes from artists like Jenny Saville, Julian Schnabel, Kerry James Marshall, Ai Weiwei, Lisa Yuskavage, Gerhard Richter, and Chuck Close to get specific about process, risk, and the messy realities of creative work.

Then the conversation turns toward meaning. Jeff shares how his work takes on the history and construct of race, especially the invention and evolution of whiteness, and how that construct shows up in family history and private thought. He also reflects on living in China as a visible outsider, experiencing attention and privilege that made power dynamics impossible to ignore. We talk about art as a form of self-repair, and why serious subject matter still needs play to stay alive.

If you’ve been waiting for permission, this is your reminder to build momentum and make the work. Subscribe, share this with an artist friend, and leave a review.

Find Jeff Musser on Instagram: @jeffmusserart and online at jeffmusser.com

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

Three artists. One exhibition. A decade of friendship that turned into fuel for making braver work. Ty sits down with Vy Ngo and Eric Breish to explore how creative community shapes everything—from the courage to apply, to the way we process rejection, to the rituals that help us recover after the lights go down.

We start with origin stories and the rush of seeing our pieces hang together at Art Center Waco’s Amplified show. Then we dig into the practical spine of a thriving art practice: how to pick the right opportunities, why research beats volume, and how strong documentation (clear, well-lit photos and short videos) becomes your first studio visit. We talk about building a cohesive submission that tells a story instead of tossing in disconnected “greatest hits,” and we unpack the difference between galleries that simply move product and those that invest in your evolution.

The conversation gets honest around critique and growth. Safe feedback from trusted artist friends can be uncomfortable and necessary—pushing you to clarify intent, separate your voice from influence, and keep evolving. When no arrives, confidence returns to the work itself. One pivotal story turns a painful rejection into a better fit with a smaller gallery that encouraged risk and led to the most personal show of a career. The lesson: alignment and patience create momentum.

We also name the quiet crash after big openings—what we call post‑artum depression—and offer tools to navigate it: nature days, spiritual or wellness practices, journaling, and time with people who truly understand. Finally, we celebrate DIY paths and authentic networking. Show up for spaces you love without treating every hello like an angle. Be interested before trying to be interesting; your people will find you.

If this resonates, follow, share with an artist who needs it, and leave a review so more creatives can find the show. Your support helps us keep bringing real conversations—and practical tools—to the studio.

Vy Ngo: @vjngo_art

Eric Breish: @eric_breish_art

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

What if the hardest days in the studio are not detours, but the path itself? We open up about the real fight behind the work—those sessions where flow vanishes, doubt gets loud, and the canvas refuses to cooperate—and why that tension can become your most reliable teacher. Drawing from Rashid Johnson’s candid reflection with Carrie Scott on battling the work, we unpack the difference between inspiration and perspiration and why chasing “perfect” kills momentum.

Along the way, we trade tools and stories: turning fight-or-flight into practical choices, switching pieces to redirect energy, and using rituals like Morning Pages, breath work, and device-free sessions to clear mental noise. Sun Tzu helps us name the real enemy—resistance expressed through fear and comparison—while Julia Cameron and Nick Cave remind us to cooperate with process, loosen our grip on control, and operate under the “cloud of artistic unknowing.” We talk about repainting, scrapping, and starting over, not as failure but as fidelity to the work’s evolving voice.

The thread tying it all together is permission. You don’t need a bigger studio, pricier materials, or the perfect plan to make authentic art. You need consent to be where you are, to use what you have, and to let mystery lead when the plan breaks. If you’ve asked yourself, “Have I lost it?” you’re in good company—and you’re exactly where growth happens. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review telling us how you keep the conversation with your work alive.

The Episode from Carrie Scott with Rashid Johnson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c41I_sre-Uk

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

What if paint could hold fear, wonder, and the cosmos all at once? That question runs through this conversation with guest host Jamele Wright Sr., where we explore Jack Whitten’s radical break from gesture and the relentless search to make painting enough on its own terms. From turning acrylic into “glass” to trapping forms on a truly flat plane, we trace how Whitten rebuilt painting through mechanics, experiment, and time in the studio.

We get candid about gimmicks—when devices clarify and when they distract—and why one stunning passage can sabotage an entire canvas. A spontaneous pilgrimage to see a 10-by-10 Clifford Still became a turning point: white walls, no tricks, just a square that redefined what the work needed. That experience sets up a bigger argument for seeing art in person, where edges, drape, and surface detail can’t hide behind the glow of a screen. Along the way, we connect Rothko’s vertical bars, Twombly’s relentless repetitions, and the sheer grind that makes a monumental gesture land with authority.

Whitten’s language of the spiritual, magical, and cosmic opens the door to the era’s space-age curiosity and Black futurist soundtracks—Sun Ra, Funkadelic, and Earth, Wind & Fire—and to the ambition of putting “the fear of God” in paintings. We talk practice as training: ten-painting cycles, breaking boredom at eight, honest tests of scale, and letting assistants’ “mistakes” become creative constraints. Color mixing from scratch, documenting stages, and cooling down after a studio crescendo all feed a process that values interiority and invites slow looking.

Abstraction here isn’t an absence; it’s the artist’s inner weather made visible. One hundred people can read the same canvas a hundred different ways, and that plurality is the point. If you’re hungry to make work that holds up off-screen and in real space, this one will nudge you back to the studio and into the museum with fresh eyes. If it resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who loves painting, and leave a review to tell us what artwork last made you stop and stay.

Follow Jamele at https://www.instagram.com/artthenewreligion/

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

What if paint is the vehicle and you are the medium? We dive deep into Jack Whitten’s Notes from the Woodshed with guest host Jamel Wright Sr., tracing how a life shaped by the Jim Crow South, pre-med rigor, and carpentry precision produced a studio practice built on invention. From the famed developer tool to a crow’s nest for high vantage points, Whitten redesigned the act of making—choosing systems over spontaneity and treating process like a living experiment.

Jamel brings a rich perspective as an Atlanta-based artist and professor whose work spans Georgia red clay, Dutch wax cloth, and large-scale textiles. Together we map the long road to abstraction—Turner’s atmospheres, Monet’s shadows, Cézanne’s form, and the New York School’s debates—while centering the Black artists too often written out of the frame. We talk Norman Lewis, Joe Overstreet, Sam Gilliam, and the way community quietly powers discovery, even as art remains a solitary grind. The result is a candid look at research, journaling, and “recipes” that transform failed trials into the first real painting, then the next ten that lock in the language.

Along the way, we wrestle with Whitten’s audacity—“May the history of Western painting die within me”—and why abstraction can be activism: engineering new tools, removing gesture, and insisting on thought as freedom. If you’ve ever wondered how to balance materials, memory, and ambition without losing your voice, this conversation offers a field guide. Press play, then tell us what rule you’re ready to break. If the episode resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—your support helps more artists find their way.

Follow Jamele Wright, Sr. at https://www.instagram.com/artthenewreligion 

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

What if the most exciting art materials aren’t on a shelf, but in a scrap bin behind the shop? We dig into the joy and rigor of working with nontraditional sources—HVAC steel, coroplast misprints, billboard tarps, even feedbags—and how renewable streams of “improper” materials unlock fearless experimentation. That freedom matters because it fuels the process-first mindset we lean on when the work gets messy, slow, or confusing.

We also get practical about longevity. If you’re early in your practice, we suggest a different priority: make more work. Let volume accelerate learning, then invest in archival strategies as your voice takes shape. Along the way, we unpack myths around “creative block,” share simple momentum builders, and explain why deadlines—real or self-imposed—can short-circuit perfectionism.

The mental game takes center stage too. We talk about protecting focus in dark news cycles, limiting social media’s pull, and treating the studio as a sanctuary for play. On criticism, we separate opinion from fact, consider the source, and extract usable truth without losing our footing. And we explore deeper currents—gratitude as a creative reset, the spiritual feel of making, and the honest cost of time traded for a few rare breakthroughs that make years of work feel worth it.

If you’re curious about unconventional materials, archival finishing, handling fear and doubt, and building a resilient creative practice, this conversation will meet you where you are and nudge you forward. Listen, share with a friend who needs momentum, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

We are excited to answer your art questions! In this episode we will discuss: how do you keep your practice thriving while navigating space, money, and access? We dig in with honest, field-tested advice and personal stories from two working artists who’ve built momentum in imperfect conditions.

We start with the studio question everyone wrestles with: home vs separate space. You’ll hear why a “setup” beats square footage, how to protect focus if interruptions tank your flow, and scrappy ways to work larger without taking on a lease you can’t sustain. From there, we lay out a gallery game plan: what a strong approach package looks like (10–15 works with depth behind them), what “consistency” really means, and how to get on the radar through open calls, smart social presence, and showing up at the right level.

International showing gets a reality check. Culture changes the conversation, but logistics can make or break it. We walk through shipping options, customs surprises, and how to avoid vanity traps with contracts that shift costs onto artists. We also talk residencies, including why many invite-only programs pull from boards and alumni, and how relationships can open doors when applications can’t.

Collectors and sustainability round out the heart of the episode. We share favorite delivery stories, why early-stage artists should sell to keep making, and how ideal collectors help build careers over time. For anyone staring down a short financial runway, we offer practical steps: emergency grant resources, low-cost materials that keep you prolific, and the mindset shift that treats bridge income as a patron rather than a detour.

If you found value here, follow the show, share it with an artist friend, and leave a review so more creatives can find these conversations. Got a question for part two? Send it our way—your prompts shape the next round.

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

A single question can power a lifetime of work: Why do I make art? Ty and Nathan sit with Ursula Von Rydingsvard’s stark and generous answers—woven from anxiety, labor, faith in process, and the stubborn hope that making can heal—and use it as a mirror for our own practices. From the first splinter to the last pass of the saw, we look at how big work invites big stakes, why the best days feel like discovery, and how the studio becomes a container strong enough to hold whatever we bring into it.

We dig into the creative toggle between object and process: when materials feel right but the method frays, and when the method sings but the object won’t land. That friction is feedback, not failure. Ursula’s line about having confidence in the possibility of seeing the work through reframes ambition without guarantees—an artist’s version of resilience. We also talk about self-doubt as a companion rather than an enemy, and how studying our heroes deeply—films, books, museum visits—feeds our own artistic DNA without imitation.

There’s a human infrastructure behind monumental art. Ursula’s assistants form another kind of family, proof that leadership in the studio is its own craft. We reflect on daily rhythm, showing up without perfect conditions, and making pieces that may outlive us—which is how work reaches into the future. The conversation edges into generational pain and the unanswerable questions art dares to hold. Answers are rare; presence is everything. If you’ve ever needed permission to trust the process and keep going, consider this your sign.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a creative nudge, and leave a quick review—tell us your “why” so we can feature it in a future Q&A.

Make sure to check out "Art from the Outside" and the amazing interview they had with Ursula: Spotify    Apple

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast

Coffee, rain, and a table full of half-built ideas set the stage for a candid deep dive into how artists actually move work forward in our second conversation at Poolhaus studio. We trade the comfort of endless polishing for a stubborn rule—get to the next step sooner—and unpack how that one shift stops overworking, preserves strong moments, and helps a real body of work take shape. Along the way, we turn useful decisions into mantras, write them on the wall, and repeat them when stamina dips. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s momentum with intention.

We also open the door on critique: how to build a trusted brain trust, weight feedback from mentors versus peers, and curate with clear eyes when your favorite new experiment ranks dead last. Likes are not the art world, and honest notes from people who know your context can be the difference between a scattered show and a resonant one. Confidence matters too—not as posturing, but as fluency in your own language. We talk about answering tough questions from curators, claiming simple choices with conviction, and studying both your work and the person making it.

Life intrudes. A recent loss in the recovery community brings the conversation to grief, meaning, and the privilege of making anyway. Borrowing strength from Nick Cave’s reflections on grief as an exalted, remaking state, we choose boldness over hesitation and practice that isn’t conditional on perfect circumstances. Stock your studio with wisdom like winter coats: books, notes, mentors, and sentences that steady you when the weather turns. Then finish the damn thing, explore the dancing sparks, and move to the next with courage and care.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with an artist who needs a nudge, and leave a quick review so more makers can find it. What mantra keeps you moving?

Send us a message - we would love to hear from you!

Make sure to follow us on Instagram here:
@justmakeartpodcast   @tynathanclark   @nathanterborg

Watch the Video Episode on Youtube or Spotify,

https://www.youtube.com/@JustMakeArtPodcast