Material Feels

Oh, in my dreams, yes, there is a musical. But for now, Associate Producer Elizabeth de Lise and I go through Season 2 of Material Feels song by song, material by material. We talk about writing, using sound to conjure memory, and the inspiration Liz discovered within the time spent with our six guests and materials from 2021: time, paper, pigment, glass, story and ritual. Listen to the first song, "It Takes," on Spotify, out today!

Revisit clay with me for the wrap up of Season 2 of the show; I share what I’ve learned over the past year in the ceramic studio. We explore the properties of clay, the firing process and how plaster works for mold-making. And of course, the materials bring us deeper… to focus on personal growth, failure and patience. I also share some exciting news about my Etsy shop Waveform Ceramics and my newsletter, Rabbit Hole Buffet, two ongoing projects I’m excited to share with you as I craft Season 3 of Material Feels, to be released in 2022!

Join me with ritualist and fellow podcaster Colleen Thomas in the realm of ritual-building. We explore how ritual and ceremony operate as a storytelling tool, a container for big emotions and a creative practice with a wide range of materials. This episode can get a little intense, and asks us to go to a vulnerable place. I discuss a range of mental health topics including suicidal ideation; coincidentally, this month is National Suicide Prevention Month. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideation or intent, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24/7 at 800-273-8255. Show notes at www.materialfeelspodcast.com.

Updates from a summer of firsts: the details on an artist residency with five non-binary sound sensitive pals, a tape sync for a revolutionary artist whose memory we all cherish, and a case of systemic poison ivy that doesn’t care about our production schedule.

This mini reunion ep features all of our past Material Feels guests responding to the same question: what rituals do you associate with getting in a creative state of mind, working with your material or engaging with your creative practice? Producer Catherine Monahon also shares some exciting news about the Material Feels artist residency in Freehold, NY, and we go down a rabbit hole or two…

We understand our selves and one another through stories, and there are so many materials we can use to express stories. What are your go-to tools? Join us for an interview with Philly-based storyteller Hillary Rea, where we delve into the materials she uses to tell stories on stage and work with clients through her business, Tell Me A Story: memory, voice and heart. We explore her relationship to memory, the versatility of voice and potency of “heart” as a material.

Join us at Case For Making, an art supply shop with an in-house paint making workshop in the Outer Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco, where Alexis Joseph gives us a tour of how pigments are mulled into watercolor. We discuss creative fellowship that comes with the common ground of a particular material and explore the way watercolor pushes us out of our comfort zones and into creative play.

Explore glass with Brooklyn-based glassblower Deborah Czeresko. Visit us in the hot shop and discover the magnetic pull of this ethereal material; we discuss love languages, how glassblowing can be empowering, the role of representation and how one’s voice can be a force for change. Photo by Ecindy Stein.

We explore paper as a sculptural medium with San Francisco-based artist Zai Divecha. We discuss what the transition from metal to paper felt like as well as what kind of world Zai is conjuring with her creative practice.

We continue our exploration of time as a material with Wells Fray-Smith, London gallerist and founder of the inquisitive, irreverent online community What The F*ck Is This. We discuss which emotions we make time for through the arts, and question how and why we interact with finished work.