Show Up or Shut Up with Wendy Solganik

Host Wendy Solganik welcomes longtime Fodder Schoolparticipant Cathy Watson, an artist in Christchurch, New Zealand, to discuss Cathy’s creative journey and how the global Fodder School community supports sustained making. Cathy describes growing up with creativity, learning to sew at age 10,loving art at school, and later becoming deeply involved in scrapbooking—working in stores, teaching classes, and navigating limited product access in New Zealand, including reliance on imported supplies and delayed magazines. She explains her transition into mixed media through influences, local classes, and conventions, and shares how Fodder Schoollessons—especially Angela Kennedy’s drawing and Karen Elaine’s Wild Watercolor—build her skills through step-by-step learning. Cathy talks about retirement routines, making art in focused windows, and running a monthly “crop and craft” gathering that supports creative wellbeing.

00:00 Meet Cathy Watson

01:24 Podcast Premise

02:46 Zooming From New Zealand

03:50 Fearless With Art

06:15 Sewing And Scrapbooking Roots

09:31 Life In Christchurch

14:50 Supplies And Access Limits

25:00 Mixed Media Enters Scrapbooking

29:32 Travel Albums And Memory Keeping

32:12 Trips Abroad And Family

37:45 Back To Art Skills

40:10 Wild Watercolor Breakdown

41:53 Watercolor Control Struggles

42:28 Learning Curve and Confidence

42:57 Memory and School Stories

44:23 What Creativity Feels Like

45:49 Retail Career and Retirement

50:55 Morning Routine and Cats

55:50 Fodder School Habits

56:37 Supply Hunting in NZ

58:02 The Pen That Worked

01:01:16 When Art Time Happens

01:04:38 Family Reactions to Art

01:06:56 NZ Friends and Immigration

01:10:21 Crop and Craft Community

01:15:59 Wrapping Up and Goodbye

Host Wendy Solganik interviews UK mixed media artist andlongtime Fodder School member Emma Hudson, first discussing the mixed feelings around AI art as a tool that won’t replace human making. Emma shares her path from studying textiles/fashion and working in London—teaching for years in a special needs school and later in a creative nursery team—to focusing on art after medical retirement, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune issues, caregiving for her mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s, and her daughter leaving for university. She describes lifelong sketchbooks, making cards and projects, anda childhood of “make do and mend,” plus early inspiration from the TV show Take Hart. After starting Instagram in March 2022, she joined Fodder School, posted daily, embraced process over perfection, found community, and now identifies as an artist, exploring collage, gel printing, embroidery on paper, watercolor, pattern, and an earthy sea-and-rust palette.

00:00 Meet Emma Hudson

03:28 AI Art Debate

13:48 Emma In England

14:16 From Seaside To London

17:25 Teaching And Family

20:29 Rheumatoid Arthritis Shift

22:21 Sketchbooks And Projects

26:26 Instagram To Fodder School

30:27 Finding Her Tribe

34:12 Early Art Roots

34:53 Scrap Collage Roots

36:10 Childhood Materials Memory

38:28 Take Hart Felt Tips

39:57 Sketchbooks Without Notes

43:58 Art Through Life Shifts

45:22 Finding Purpose as Artist

49:56 Online Community Connection

52:28 Art Shops and Access

58:49 Always Making Projects

59:39 Originality and Inspiration

01:04:03 Aging Into Freedom

01:06:21 Detaching From Doomscrolling

01:07:28 Workday Without News

01:09:34 Kids In The Rage Machine

01:10:31 Personal Art Practices

01:12:34 Learning Styles And Teaching

01:16:44 Altering Clothes For Comfort

01:21:44 Ancestors And Showing Up

01:24:44 Freedom Without Judgment

01:27:41 Finding Your Color Palette

01:29:51 Why We Love Decay

01:33:27 Final Push To Make Art

Host Wendy Solganik interviews longtime Fodder School participant Tina Lee-Cronkhite, an artist in Grand Rapids, Michigan, about her creative path and community. Tina grew up around her mother’s fine art (portraits, oils, landscapes) and shifted from mechanical engineering after a GM supervisor encouraged her to apply to the Center for Creative Studies, where she studied graphic design and later worked at ad agencies doing print design before the digital era. She became deeply involved in calligraphy—helping start a Kalamazoo guild, attending in-person workshops and conferences, exploring bookmaking, and valuing traditional tools—while also embracing looser, mixed-media approaches over time. Tina joined Fodder School in its first year during COVID, credits it as a lifesaver, works from a basement studio, displays art throughout her home, gives pieces away, and typically completes most monthly projects while adapting teachers’ processes to her own style.

00:00 Meet Tina Lee-Cronkhite

01:46 Show Intro Theme

03:07 Tina Background

04:46 Mom Artist Roots

08:02 Engineering to Art

11:44 Graphic Design Career

13:42 Calligraphy Discovery

15:41 Guild Workshops

23:42 Online Classes and Fodder

24:58 Studio Space Reality

28:16 Displaying Finished Work

29:40 Selling vs Making Joy

31:09 Gifting Art Without Fear

31:58 Keeping Up With Fodder School

34:16 UFOs From Loving Projects

36:34 Art Outside The Lessons

37:58 Pickleball And Productivity

39:37 Following Teachers Your Way

43:10 Master Boards And Style

46:20 Traditional Calligraphy Vs Trends

49:44 Guilds Aging And Craft Magic

53:06 Lefty Struggles And Imperfection

55:50 Calligraphy Guild Nostalgia

57:41 Postcards And Wrap Up

Host Wendy Solganik interviews mixed media and collage artistCrystal Marie (formerly Crystal Neubauer), author of The Art of Expressive Collage and a 2018 Racine Art Museum Artist Fellowship recipient, about her life, art, and teaching. Crystal describes moving into a Chicago Little Village live/work storefront to stay near the art scene on an artist’s budget andtraces her maker roots to a craft-filled childhood. She recounts attending a university-affiliated high school, becoming a teen parent, working up through printing-industry project management, and later burning out while raising sevenkids in a blended family. Her professional art career began in the early 2000s through eBay paper packs, Somerset Studio, blog/Flickr communities, early publications and the book A Charming Exchange, then teaching at Art & Soul. Crystal explains evolving from whimsical collage to more restrained work, discovering encaustic to preserve ephemera, coping with mold-related illness that forced her to discard her paper collection, shifting to online teaching during the pandemic, and planning Fodder School projects including a handmade hair calligraphy brush challenge and texture-based collage lessons.

00:00 Meet Crystal Marie

02:26 Podcast Premise and Subscribe

03:49 Crystal’s Chicago Studio Life

08:26 Finding the Perfect Live Work Space

13:10 Early Making Roots

15:35 Scholarship to University High

22:04 Teen Parenthood and Survival

30:06 Creativity Through Beads and Sewing

31:50 Printing Career and Moving to Chicago

36:51 Brady Bunch Burnout

39:36 eBay Paper Hustle to Collage

41:57 Somerset Studio Spark

46:59 Blog Era and First Teaching Gig

49:54 Discovering Encaustic Wax

53:59 Basement Studio Beginnings

55:29 Shifting to Abstract Collage

59:24 Selling Art Online Early

01:01:12 Finding the Old Work

01:04:00 Book and Name Change

01:06:15 Intuition and Altering Papers

01:10:45 Mold Loss and Rebuilding

01:16:25 Pandemic Online Teaching Boom

01:19:51 Where to Buy and Follow

01:28:11 Illness and Career Upside Down

01:38:30 Fodder Challenge Hair Brush

01:43:05 Texture Fodder Classes Wrap

Wendy Solganik introduces season six, episode six of theShow Up or Shut Up podcast with guest Connie Fong, a longtime Fodder School member now teaching in Fodder School six. Connie, a Bay Area native and retired computer science professional who worked at IBM and in e-commerce at WilliamsSonoma, shares her lifelong crafting journey through knitting, scrapbooking, bookmaking, and mixed media, plus her love of bold black-and-white contrast, typography, and grungy pops of color influenced by artists like Robin Marie Smith. They discuss how Fodder School’s variety, pacing, and supportive community helped Connie develop her distinctive style, and her surprise atbecoming a teacher. Connie previews her Fodder Challenge whimsical paper dolls (inspired by Mindy Lacefield) and her Fodder School project: a collage-style monthly calendar using ransom letters. She also talks about learning to film online classes with help from her daughter’s former YouTube setup, selling journals on Etsy (Artful Play), daily pickleball, and her shyness about posting publicly on Instagram (@myartfulplay).

00:00 Meet Connie Fong

02:01 Podcast Premise

03:23 Bay Area Roots

06:03 Early Crafting Life

07:39 Supplies And Shopping

10:25 Tech Career Path

13:57 From Crafts To Mixed Media

18:31 Finding Her Style

25:03 Becoming A Teacher

27:41 Why Fodder School Works

33:00 Her Fodder Challenge Dolls

35:07 Finding Your Own Style

36:03 Paper Dolls Project

36:30 Calendar Collage Plan

37:21 Ransom Letters Method

39:38 Why Make Art Calendars

43:54 Storing Cutout Letters

45:51 How Style Evolves

50:44 Teaching Online Leap

51:52 Daughter’s YouTube Journey

55:15 Etsy Shop and Instagram

58:49 Pickleball and Family Life

01:00:17 Confidence and Closing

Host Wendy Solganik introduces season six, episode five ofthe Show Up or Shut Up podcast featuring Stefanie Hunsaker, a mixed media collage artist in northeastern Washington whose vibrant, layered portraits combine acrylic paint, fabric, scrapbook paper, and occasional embroidery and beading to explore self-love, trust, and empowerment. Stefanie shares herupbringing in eastern Washington near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, early creative influences including stained glass and sewing, and shift from high-school photography and marketing interests to a University of Washington visual arts degree spanning photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry. After years running a natural-light portrait photography business, she phased it out as her kids grew and, after moving to Spokane, found a new creative outlet through online classes that led her into portrait painting and collage. She discusses developing her portrait style over seven years, sellingoriginals and some prints via her website, challenges with marketing, preferred surfaces (mostly canvas), local art markets, and interest in more gallery opportunities.

00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest

03:19 Growing Up in Washington

05:02 Hanford and Stained Glass

12:01 Early Crafty Roots

15:40 School to Art Degree

25:45 Motherhood and Scrapbooking

30:16 Photography Business Era

37:54 From Photos to Fine Art

41:21 Starting Art Instagram

42:00 Curating the Feed

43:25 Finding Her Genre

46:30 Seven Years of Style

48:21 Chuck Close Advice

51:00 ADHD and Hyperfocus

52:53 Selling Originals and Prints

57:25 Materials and Embroidery

59:46 Kids and Art School

01:04:26 Sewing Machine Renaissance

01:07:07 Galleries and Local Shows

01:09:38 Art Markets and Booth Setup

01:11:20 Wrap Up and Thanks

Host Wendy Solganik introduces UK mixed media artist, artjournaler, bookmaker, and new Fodder School Six teacher Lisa Goddard, who lives in Sheffield near the Peak District. Lisa describes studying fine art with a focus on textiles and sculpture, feeling lost after graduating in 2006, anddiscovering art journaling through artist Jen Worden, which became a daily practice for processing emotions, experimenting, and storytelling. While working for 18 years in University of Sheffield admin (including cybersecurity),raising two daughters, and teaching aerial hoops, she kept making art, built a social-media audience, taught in-person (and later online), and left her job just after COVID to focus on art. She discusses her studio setup, favorite techniques (collage, gesso, inky marks, stamping, textiles), thoughts on shifting social media, and previews her Fodder School projects: mixed mediamessage-in-a-bottle challenge and textile scroll books on vintage wooden spools.

00:00 Meet Lisa Goddard

02:06 Podcast Premise

03:28 Life in Sheffield

07:55 From Fine Art to Mixed Media

11:41 Art Kid Origins

13:45 Day Job and Family Balance

15:54 Aerial Hoop Surprise

18:45 Discovering Art Journaling

22:01 Finding Community Online

23:43 Daily Journaling Ritual

24:47 Go To Techniques

27:35 Sharing on Social Media

29:55 Teaching Beyond Journals

31:44 Process Versus Product

33:23 Life After Instagram

39:59 Fixing Your Instagram Feed

41:58 Teaching History and Family

43:13 Kids and Creative Talents

45:16 Fodder School Projects

47:28 Thrifting and Car Boot Sales

50:40 Scroll Books on Spools

53:15 Live Zoom Class Community

59:05 Retreat Dreams in Nature

01:02:26 Course Creation and Admin

01:04:35 Boundaries and Customer Support

01:10:13 DIY Course Platform Tech

01:12:50 Wrap Up and Thanks

Host Wendy Solganik introduces season 6, episode 3 guestGloria Gelo, a Cleveland-raised contemporary abstract mixed media artist now based in Calgary and a new Fodder School 6 teacher. Gloria shares her Croatian immigrant family background, early love of art and typography, and how adiscouraging community college instructor derailed her confidence and pushed her into business school and corporate roles, including foreign currency trading at Citibank in New York and a creative resume-led job at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. After moving to Calgary, raising three sons, and laterdivorcing and remarrying, she received a 2018 corporate payout that enabled her to return to art full time, experiment across media, and develop a layered, minimalist collage practice using self-made papers and asemic writing. She now teaches in person and online, is gallery-represented, and previews her Fodder School “Line to Layer” challenge and a concertina book project focused on creating personal collage papers blending analog and digital methods.

00:00 Meet Gloria Gelo

02:06 Podcast Intro and Format

03:44 Nerves and Zoom Setup

04:34 Life in Calgary

06:13 Cleveland Roots and Canada

10:17 Fodder School Connection

11:36 Immigrant Family Story

15:08 Croatian Traditions and Food

20:27 Early Art Spark

23:28 Art School Confidence Crash

28:13 Business Pivot and Corporate Life

32:13 Wall Street to LA Move

34:56 Universal Studios Creativity Win

36:59 LA Life and Cabinet Business

38:43 Life in the Valley

39:52 Business Sold Suddenly

40:33 Move Back to Calgary

42:16 Divorce and Remarriage

43:05 Layoff Sparks Art

45:00 Finding Mixed Media

49:36 From Process to Selling

52:33 Gallery Representation

55:50 Teaching Goes Online

01:00:19 Art as Communication

01:08:07 Typography Origins

01:13:58 Asemic Writing Tips

01:16:48 Fodder School Projects

01:20:49 Final Wrap and Goodbye

Host Wendy Solganik introduces Francine Dunigan as a newFodder School 6 teacher and mixed media artist known for vibrant, graphic collage using found papers, painted papers, and gel prints. Francine, based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, shares her BFA background in communication design from Kutztown University, her shift toward fine art and fiber studies during a semester abroad in England, and how design principles shaped her visual style. She describes discovering gel printing through artists like Elizabeth St. Hilaire, creating marketable wall art and selling at local art shows, and designing stencils for Joggles. Francine discusses the complexity of resin finishing, her goals to teach more classes, and her experience navigatingendometrial cancer treatment, emphasizing self-advocacy and how art and journaling supported her during recovery. She previews teaching fussy-cut pear collage in Fodder School.

00:00 Meet Francine Dunigan

02:05 Podcast Premise

03:27 Joining Fodder School

06:51 From Gel Prints to Collage

08:33 Roots and Art School

10:56 Design Skills and Marketing

14:49 High School Art Foundations

19:52 Making Time as a Mom

21:42 Discovering Gel Printing

24:03 Selling at Art Fairs

31:56 Pricing and Originals

37:07 Health Scare and Advocacy

47:54 Art as Healing

48:49 Art Through Chemo

49:44 Hope After Clear Scans

50:20 Tennis During Treatment

51:48 Mindfulness Art Journals

52:42 New Stencil Line

55:48 Fodder School Pears

59:00 Using Tissue Layers

01:00:03 Resin Reality Check

01:06:00 Bigger Work Experiments

01:07:52 Color Inspiration Stories

01:10:39 Teaching Goals Ahead

01:17:23 Fodder School Live Event

01:19:34 Quilts From Your Designs

01:22:01 Closing Thanks

Season 6, Episode 1 of the Show Up or Shut Up podcastfeatures host Wendy Solganik interviewing mixed-media artist and designer Lori Siebert, a new Fodder School teacher. Lori shares early art training from age seven, her Cincinnati roots, and studying graphic design at UC’s DAAP with its co-op program. She describes founding her design firm in 1987, growing it to about 12 employees, and creating branding and illustration-based work for clients including Target, Bath & Body Works, Nickelodeon, and Universal Studios. Lori explains moving into art licensing over 20 years ago via SURTEX, how licensing works, and balancing client-driven themes with more personal work shown on Instagram. She discusses mentorship and community, building travel-teaching “street cred,” and upcoming retreats (Mexico City, Ireland, Provence, Waco, Vermont, Chautauqua, France, Connecticut). Lori previews her Fodder Challenge birds and a Fodder School fodder-flower bouquet project.

00:00 Meet Lori Siebert

02:36 Podcast Premise and Intro

04:50 Early Art Roots

05:59 Cincinnati and Staying Put

07:52 DAAP and Design Training

11:45 Family Influence and High School Art

16:06 From Design Firm to Big Clients

21:05 Burnout and Finding Licensing

22:24 How SURTEX Works

25:48 Licensing Reality vs Heart Art

28:24 Products in Stores and Samples

32:15 Turning 60 and Choosing Fun

33:08 Building Travel Teaching Retreats

37:21 Mexico City and Frida House Dreams

41:25 Mexico City Museums

42:32 Travel Health Tips

43:25 Language Barrier Hacks

44:39 Street Art Vibes

46:04 Starting the Design Firm

48:03 DAAP Fine Art Electives

49:45 Adapting the Business

52:49 Handmade to Digital Workflow

55:22 Ceramics Detour and Return

01:00:08 Clay Practice and Selling

01:01:44 Retreat Community Magic

01:03:01 Upcoming Trips and Chautauqua

01:05:11 Fodder Projects Birds Flowers

01:08:30 Wrap Up and Next Meet