To mark six months of Keeping Curious, in this episode the tables have turned and I answer your questions. I opened up the forum in the Keeping Curious Facebook group and asked what questions you would like to have answered. The questions range from my personal creative inspiration, how I went about setting up a podcast, what challenges I have faced and what regrets I have. We even cover the meaning of art! Here is your chance to get to know the person behind the questions…

For those that don’t know me, I’m Polly and ever since I could hold a pencil all I have wanted to be was an artist. I followed my dream through school, college and university feeling an abundance of creativity that I thought would never go away. Fast forward to my mid twenties I had a demanding job in the arts that left me with little time or energy to focus on my own creativity. I stopped making... For 5 years.

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So how did I get out of the rut? I followed my curiosity and I suggest you do the same. I believe creativity in all forms is something to be celebrated.

Sally Howden is the talented designer behind ‘I do Invites’ a bespoke stationery business based in the West Midlands. Sally creates beautiful bespoke wedding stationery from her home studio in Aldridge.

It was Sally who designed the Keeping Curious logo and it was designing the stationery for my wedding in 2014 that sowed the seeds that led her to set up her own creative business. So I can personally testify to her incredible ability to take a brief and create something truly unique and individual for each client.

In this episode we discussed her journey from art college, where I first met her, to the Senior Graphic Designer she is today. I was keen to find out more about how she balances running her own creative business at the same time as raising her two year old daughter Cora.

Fi Chappelle is the talented ceramic artist behind FICH ceramics. She creates unique contemporary thrown pieces from her home studio in Oxfordshire.

In this episode, we talked about how she set up her creative business, her supportive family, her creative influences and her unhealthy love of teapots.

Her passion for her craft is abundantly clear so it was interesting to find out her ambitions to be an art therapist. Fi wholeheartedly believes in the power of creativity to help others and to add meaning into daily life. She is an inspirational woman with a big heart...

Rob Gurney is the inspirational founder behind Digital Mechanic. Rob created the Digital Mechanic brand to be a one stop solution for digital creative work offering photography, videography and graphic design. In this episode we talk about everything from what it takes to shoot a wedding, why its hard to work with kids, to how he got involved in full body paint photoshoots and erotic art. This is an open and honest chat about how finding a creative outlet has transformed his life. In the four years since he first picked up a camera he has gone from being quite reclusive to being a prominent member of the Leicester art scene. He is resident photographer for 02 Leicester and has had his work featured in many national publications.

Without a doubt Rob is a talented digital artist but it is his unique view of his creative work as a collaborative process that makes him really interesting to talk to. What amazes me most about Rob’s story and why I wanted to share it with you is that he achieves all this whilst maintaining a demanding full time job showing that lack of time is no excuse to not live your most creative life.

He is proof that it is never to late to learn a new skill and transform your life.

Jen & Lydia Wild are the inspirational women who created the life coaching practice ‘Licence to Live’. As life coaches, Jen & Lydia help their clients realise their potential. For me, creativity is much about authenticity and Jen & Lydia believe everyone has the ability to create the life they want. They massively inspire me and it was them who I turned to when I was feeling creatively stuck. They helped me get clear on what I wanted and the best steps to take to get me to where I wanted to go. So, it made sense for us to get together and have a chat about creativity and how everyone can create the life they want.

I have known Rebecca since 2013 and she is a whirlwind of creativity. She balances being a mother with a demanding job in a fine art publishing company alongside running a baking business and taking fine art commissions on the side. Her days are filled with creative thoughts and she explores them fully. It wasn't always the case though and we often talked about the struggles of finding time to be creative when there are other demands on us that needed to be met first. Our many conversations led me to want to start this blog and I'm excited to find out how making more time for creativity has impacted on her day to day life too.