Paige's Pod

In this tender, honest, and inspiring conversation, Boston-based abstract artist and longtime educator Christina Chang returns to Paige’s Pod to catch us up on everything that’s changed since her last visit in 2021. Christina shares how her art practice is helping her move through a season of huge transition: getting married, becoming a soon-to-be empty nester, caring for her father who has Alzheimer’s, and investing in the business side of her work as an Asian American creative entrepreneur. We talk about painting as a way to process grief, the joy of collaborating with her endurance-athlete husband on an “Art & Run” gallery event, and what it really looks like to prioritize creativity and self-care in midlife. If you’ve ever wondered how to keep making meaningful work while life keeps… life-ing, this episode will feel like a warm, honest hug from a fellow artist on the path.

To Connect with Christina:

-Website: christinachangart.com


-Instagram: @christinachang_art

In this episode, Paige chats with London-based artist Natasha, a painter, traveler, and creative soul who has lived in places like Cambodia, Chile, and Bolivia. Natasha shares how she’s built a life led by curiosity and courage - from funding her first art trip to Cambodia through pre-selling a body of work, to returning home and creating each piece for a solo exhibition.Together, Paige and Natasha talk about:

• Turning your art practice into a tool for exploration and connection
• How travel shapes creative voice and perspective
• The magic of thinking outside the box to fund your art dreams
• Balancing motherhood, art, and adventure
• Finding joy (and grounding) through community online and across the world

Paige also shares a behind-the-scenes look at recording Paige’s Pod on video for the first time using Riverside and all the lip gloss, laughter, and arm movements that come with it.✨

Connect with Natasha on Substack: Adventurous Art & Artist Toolbox

⭐️ If you loved this episode, leave a review and share it with a creative friend!

In this heartfelt episode, Paige sits down with Paula, a German artist and writer, to talk about how art became her lifeline through depression, trauma, and transformation. From her time in a psychiatric hospital discovering art therapy, to rebuilding her life through creative community and courage, Paula shares a raw and deeply inspiring story about the power of making things simply for the sake of healing. Paige and Paula explore:

• How art can reconnect us to joy and purpose after struggle
  
  
• Living with and healing from depression
  
  
• Building creative community through honesty and humor
  
  
• Finding structure, self-compassion, and meaning in dark seasons
  
  
• The beauty of connection - checking in with loved ones and showing up for each other

💡 Trigger warning: This episode includes open discussion around depression and mental health.


💌 Connect with Paula on Substack and Instagram at @the.aspiring.artist.Listen, share, and don’t forget to send that “thinking of you” message to someone you love today!

On this episode Sam aka Paige's husband aka Paige's Pod editor is out of town, so Paige hits record anyway and shares a very unplanned episode that leads everyone into a cozy, honest, and vulnerable  Fall reset chat. From Gilmore Girls season-one comfort to full-blown Swiftie era, a mid-week Jesse McCartney concert that refilled Paige's cup, and a vulnerable share about boundaries with family - this one is permission to do the thing that brings you back to yourself. Paige may or may not also tease a holiday brand collab and a dreamy potential shared studio in Newmarket, NH!

Highlights

• Why showing up imperfectly still counts (and keeps you consistent)
• Gilmore Girls as nervous-system care (and why rewatching matters)
• Becoming a late-blooming Swiftie + the album-release movie takeaways
• The best Tuesday ever: tapas with friends + Jesse McCartney at the Orpheum
• Friendship as fuel: nurturing adult relationships on purpose
• Tender talk: parenting a toddler, big feelings, and caring for your own
• Loving someone with mental illness while honoring your boundaries
• A fun secret: a winter brand collab (coming soon)
• Dreaming on a Newmarket studio/co-op space (artists + creatives, DM me!)

Chapters

• 00:00 Cold open: why this is a pivot episode
• 03:12 Fall in New England + cozy sweater energy
• 07:40 Gilmore Girls rewatch + letting small things spiral
• 13:58 Swiftie era and the album-release movie reflections
• 21:45 Jesse McCartney night out (+ why saying yes matters)
• 30:36 Friendship > networking: being people first
• 36:55 Season shift in the business + secret brand collab tease
• 41:18 The studio-share idea in Newmarket, NH
• 46:22 Real talk: family anxiety, boundaries, and repair
• 56:10 Permission slip: plan the joy / make mid-week magic

Support Paige’s Pod!

• If this episode made you feel less alone, leave a quick review and share it with a friend. Tomorrow’s a new day - go plan one tiny pocket of joy. 💛

In this episode of Paige’s Pod, Paige chats with Central Texas based artist, Spencer Welch. Spencer is a self-taught painter who has been creating commissioned portraits and original works for nearly a decade, earning multiple US art show awards. Inspired by family, motherhood, and the beauty of everyday life, Spencer’s art captures intimacy and resilience. Paige and Spencer open up about:

• How motherhood reshapes creative practice
• Healing from trauma through art
• The importance of slowing down and listening to your process
• The shared shifts and changes that come with being a mother and an artist

This episode is equal parts vulnerable and uplifting - an invitation to find beauty in change, healing, and connection. Learn more about Spencer’s work: Spencer Welch Studios.

Follow Spencer on Instagram: @spencerwelchstudios and don’t forget to leave Paige’s Pod a review on Apple Podcasts or where ever you listen to your favorite podcasts! Your reviews helps more creative souls find these beautiful conversations!

In this episode of Paige’s Pod, Paige chats with Emily Claire - the amazing human behind Big Wild Creative and Substack, Big Wild Emily. Emily’s journey began in 2018 with a blog she started while navigating chronic illness, and it has since evolved into a vibrant creative career spanning copywriting, photography, illustration, design, and creative direction.

We dive into what it means to live a big, wild, creative life - from storytelling and soul-seeking to finding humor in the everyday. Emily shares her perspective on following curiosity, embracing play, and noticing the beauty in life’s little mysteries. If you’re craving inspiration, permission to slow down, and some big creative energy, this conversation is for you!

🔎 Find Emily at Big Wild Creative and on Substack at Big Wild Emily.
🎧 If you loved this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to Paige’s Pod and leave a review!

In this episode, Paige shares her transformative experience teaching art at Phillips Exeter Academy during a summer program. She discusses the serendipitous opportunity that led her to this role, the challenges she faced in preparing for her first teaching position after years of self-employment, and the importance of creating a safe and engaging environment for her students. Throughout the conversation, Paige reflects on her personal growth, the impact of her teaching style, and the meaningful connections she made with her students, culminating in a heartfelt letter from one of them that encapsulates the essence of her teaching journey.

On this episode, Paige chats with Jennifer Mullin - aka the “Occasional Creative”. Jennifer is a Madison, Wisconsin based mixed media artist, author, and art instructor whose whose love affair with the ballpoint pen has inspired artists all over the world.

Jennifer shares how her creative practice shifted when limited time and space pushed her toward a sketchbook and a simple pen - an approachable medium she could explore anywhere, even from her couch. In 2016, her abstract ballpoint drawings went viral on Pinterest, leading to a flood of requests for tutorials and the birth of her popular “Jen & Ink” e-courses.

This year, Jennifer added “author” to her list of titles with the release of her debut book, Me & My Ballpoint Pen. She takes us behind the scenes of what it’s really like to publish a book - from working with a publisher to navigating the editing process, and opens up about the emotional journey of putting her work into print.

Paige and Jennifer dive into a heartfelt conversation about mental health, how finding an approachable creative outlet became a lifeline, and the ways art has helped her focus, heal, and reconnect with herself. If you’ve ever wondered how to turn a personal creative practice into something that inspires and supports others or what it takes to bring a book idea to life - this episode is a must-listen!

📖 Snag your copy of Me & My Ballpoint Pen here!
✏️ Learn more about Jennifer: www.jennifer-mullin.com | www.instagram.com/jennifermullinmakes

On this episode of Paige’s Pod, I’m joined by Amanda Jeanne - an abstract painter, writer, mother, and retreat host based in Québec. Amanda’s work explores the emotional landscapes of motherhood, grief, joy, and stillness Amanda shares how she paints to find freedom, to calm the anxious mind, to remind herself that beauty can be found in chaos and to find her place in this world.

Her intuitive, atmospheric paintings are a soft invitation back to the self.We dive into Amanda’s creative journey of returning to art after time away, how she designs soul-nourishing retreats, and what it means to hold space for slowness, rest, and inner listening in both painting and life.

Whether you’re a mother, artist, creative spirit, or someone simply seeking a deeper connection with yourself, this conversation is a gentle reminder that rest is productive, and creativity can be a place of healing.

✨ Connect with Amanda:
Website: https://amandajeanneartworks.com
Instagram: @a.manda.jeanne

🎧 If you enjoyed this episode, please leave Paige’s Pod a review wherever you get your podcasts - it helps more creative souls like you discover these beautiful conversations!

For our 100th episode, we’re celebrating with a heartfelt and inspiring conversation with Taylor Marshall - a visual and web designer, painter, production artist, and new mom navigating the ever-evolving relationship between art, identity, and motherhood.

✨ What we explore:

• Motherhood & creative survival: The raw truth about juggling feedings, client calls, nap schedules, and the deep ache to make something that’s just your own.
• Returning to yourself: How Taylor is rediscovering her creative voice post-baby, and what it means to keep showing up for your art, even in the smallest ways.
• Design meets emotion: The power of visual storytelling and the intuitive connection between fine art and digital design.
• The why behind the work: A vulnerable discussion about purpose, intuition, and the deeper meaning that fuels our creative practices—especially when life gets loud.

💬 A few themes we hold space for:

• Protecting your creative spark in a season of transition
• Letting go of perfection to make space for process
• Embracing art as a mirror, a meditation, and a means of staying you

Follow and support Taylor by visiting her website and instagram