The Create! Podcast

If you've put your artist dream on the back burner and it's time to come back, this episode is for you.

Painter Jacqueline Bermudez joins Kat to share how she returned to oil painting after 17 years in the corporate world, how she protects her vision from outside opinions, and the weekly art sessions she leads with children at a Miami hospital.

In this episode:

• How a childhood love of coloring and one high school painting class led Jacqueline back to oil painting in 2016
• Why portraits are her way of exploring the human mind and the inner world
• Her ongoing series, her own interpretation of the chakras, with animals and plants as symbols
• How to protect your inner voice while a new creative direction is still fragile
• What changed when she began treating her painting practice like a job
• How she painted her solo show in about 35 days, and why planning made it possible
• Her weekly art sessions with children going through bone marrow transplants

About Jacqueline Bermudez: Jacqueline is a self-taught portrait painter and photographer based in Miami. Born in Orlando and raised in Caracas, she returned to oil painting in 2016. Her work has been accepted into exhibitions including Woman Made Gallery in Chicago and the Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition at Blue Line Arts, and she is a resident artist at Miami International Fine Arts. Her paintings use vibrant color, bold patterns, and animals and plants to symbolize personal growth.

See Jacqueline's work: https://www.jacquelinebermudez.com

Join me for the free Coffee House, every Wednesday at 12 pm Eastern. Bring your questions about your creative goals and get a look inside the Create! Collective membership. Sign up: https://espopova.com/free-coffeehouse

More from Create!

Free resources for artists: https://www.createu.co/free-resources Submit your work to our open call for art: https://www.createmagazine.co/call-for-art Create! Magazine Substack: https://createmagazine.substack.com

Running a creative business can feel like the whole world is on your shoulders. The studio time, the bills, the marketing, the social media. In this episode, Kat shares why she is softening her own "do it all yourself" message and what she is doing to receive more support.

You will hear about the people who lifted her along the way, from her high school art teacher to friends who gave her a place to stay in college. She also opens up about a big loss in her business a few years ago and what she sees differently now.

In this episode:

• Why every career and business is built with a team behind it
• How hyper-independence speeds up burnout, and how to invite help in
• Kat's honest take on social media after two months of learning, a call with Meta, and plenty of viral challenges
• Why Substack feels so calm, and how it led to a painting sale to a collector who is also an author
• Simple ways to build your own community, like sharing an art fair booth, recommending another artist to your gallery, meeting for coffee, or painting together on Zoom
• Why writing down your dreams and then letting them go keeps your vision clear
• Trusting that an artwork will find its home at the right time

Join the Create! Coffee House Starting October 7, Kat hosts a free weekly Zoom room every Wednesday at noon Eastern. Bring your coffee and your questions about your art career, business, practice, or mindset, and come be seen and heard. Kat will also share a quick tour of the ways she can support you. Join here: https://espopova.com/free-coffeehouse

Create! Magazine Turns 10 Join us in Philadelphia on October 16 for our 10 year anniversary party and pop-up show. Get your tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/create-magazine-turns-10-pop-up-show-meet-up-tickets-2001784728008

Read Our Substack https://createmagazine.com/substack

Share your ideas Which topics and guests would you like to hear this fall? Email [email protected].

If you enjoyed this episode, tag Kat in your Instagram stories. She loves seeing who is listening! @katerinaspopova or @createmagazine

Thinking about showing your work at an art fair but not sure where to start? In Part 1 of this two-part series, Kat sits down with Alex Mitow of Superfair to go back to the basics of selling your art in person.

Alex has helped more than 5,000 artists show their work across 40+ fairs. He shares how to choose your first art fair, why your hometown is often the best place to begin, and how to price your artwork so new collectors can say yes. You will also learn how Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) give artists clear, doable goals that lead to sales, like meaningful conversations and new email subscribers.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How to choose your first art fair with confidence
• Why a local, low-stress first show sets you up for success
• What KPIs are and how artists can use them to grow sales
• How to price your booth with a mix of small, medium, and large original works
• Why accessible entry points help you build a loyal collector base over time

Get $250 off your Superfair booth Superfair is expanding to Philadelphia and Boston and now offers multi-fair bundles to help you plan your year. Book a call with the Superfair team to find the right fair for your practice, and mention Create! Magazine on your survey and discovery call to receive $250 off your booth. Book your call: https://calendly.com/d/cqt2-fkf-54v/15-minute-discovery-meeting

Keep learning on Substack Pricing inspired one of our most popular Substack posts, and we continue the conversation there. Subscribe to join our creative community and get more resources for your art career: https://createmagazine.substack.com

Coming up in Part 2: Alex returns to talk about curating your booth, starting meaningful conversations with buyers, and more insider tips for art fair success.

If you have been feeling hopeless or down about your art career, you are not alone. This episode comes straight from the heart, and it is an invitation to rekindle even the tiniest spark of hope that incredible things are ahead, no matter where you are right now.

As I reflect on 10 years of Create! Magazine and 10 years of working for myself, I keep coming back to basics. Expecting support before I know how it will arrive. Noticing the opportunities I do have, even when things are not perfect. And paying attention to the whole picture, because just like in nature, something is always growing even when other things look like they are dying.

I share my own recent season of negativity, the moment a friend lovingly told me I give up too quickly, and the small, unglamorous example of a HYROX race that reminded me how cause and effect really works. When you show up, even imperfectly, even for 10 minutes, results follow.

This one includes a little tough love. If you are ready to come out of a fearful cycle and start showing up for yourself again, I hope it helps.

In this episode

• Why our brains have a negative bias, and how the news and art market reports feed it
• Delete, generalize, distort: why "no one is buying art" is never the whole truth
• The law of cause and effect and taking responsibility for your success
• What a HYROX race taught me about showing up when it is not your top priority
• The friend who told me to stop giving up so quickly
• What follow-through looks like in a real art practice: the sketchbook, the newsletter, the pitch, the reel
• How catastrophizing keeps you from ever giving your work a fair chance
• Why micro habits beat marathons
• Allowing opportunities to find you, even in a slower economy
• Stopping three feet from gold, and honoring the months left in 2026
• Why art is abundance: wellness, connection, self-trust, and income
• Daisy Fancourt's research on art and health (check out her book, Art Cure, and her episode on the show)
• Emotional regulation as the foundation of any selling strategy
• An introduction to my new program, Art Is Abundance

Join Art Is Abundance

Art Is Abundance is my new six-week live program for visual artists who want more abundance in their lives, both financially and in confidence. We cover the mindset and emotional regulation that make showing up possible, plus practical strategy for monetizing your work and getting seen by the right people, whether you want to work with galleries, run an independent practice, or build a hybrid career like mine.

Six live Zoom calls, Fridays at 12pm ET, October 2 to November 6, 2026, with lifetime access to the recordings. Join this month and save $300.

Join here: https://espopova.com/art-is-abundance-course

Questions? Email me at [email protected]

How do you find the courage to step off the "practical" path and fully commit to your creative calling?

In this episode of the Create! Podcast, Kat talks with painter and coach Lacie Martinez about coming back to her creative voice. Lacie shares how her background in apparel design and kinesiology shapes her vibrant, richly textured figurative paintings.

We talk about the vulnerability behind her debut exhibition, which celebrated the unfiltered, deeply connective realities of motherhood, and how she turned personal loss into a calling to hold space for other women. Lacie opens up about taking the leap into full-time art and how she now helps others move past limiting beliefs and live in full alignment.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Reclaiming her identity as a painter after years on a "practical" career path
• Finding her way back to the canvas and working through the fear of not being "good enough"
• The story behind her debut exhibition and the connective threads of motherhood
• Turning grief into purpose by hosting retreats and creating safe, uplifting spaces for women
• Navigating the transition into full-time art and helping others build their dream lives through coaching

Programs & Community

Art Is Abundance Live Coaching Program

If you love what you make and you're ready for your work to support your life, this six-week live program is for you. Together we'll work through money mindset, preparing your work for sale, selling your originals, getting seen by the right people, and building multiple income streams, then turn it all into a clear action plan. Founding pricing is open through September 30.

Join us this October: https://espopova.com/art-is-abundance-course

Create! Substack Subscribe for more interviews, artist stories, and reflections: https://createmagazine.substack.com/

Connect with Lacie Martinez

• Website: https://www.laciemartinez.com/
• Camp Conqueror Summer 2027 Retreat: https://www.laciemartinez.com/campconquerorawomensretreat
• Conquer & Crush 3 Month Challenge: https://www.laciemartinez.com/conquer-crush-3-month-challenge
• Substack: https://substack.com/@laciemartinez
• She Who Conquers Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/she-who-conquers/id1805457551
• Art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laciemartinez.art
• Main Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_laciemartinez_
• Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacie_shewhoconquers/

A lot of us went to art school and never actually learned how to paint. We were told to go make something and figure it out, which is great, but it often leaves us limited by our ability to bring our ideas to life. If that's you, you're not alone, and this episode is a permission slip to learn something new if you feel stuck.

My guest today is Alonsa Guevara, a Chilean American artist whose work has been exhibited internationally and featured in Forbes, Time Out New York, and VICE. I had the privilege of working with Alonsa and learning more organized ways to mix paint, organize color temperature, and more.

On this episode, we talk about her evolution from conceptual work to more realism in her paintings, and she also announces her new course, Alive Nature, here for the first time. Focusing on florals, botanicals, and fruit, it spans seven modules and is built so a complete beginner can follow along.

The waitlist gets first access and a discount. Doors open September 16 and close September 20. Links to join are below, and yes, I'm on that waitlist myself!

Come find us on the Create! Magazine Substack too. That's where I share essays on galleries, pricing, and building a creative career you love. createmagazine.substack.com

🔗 Links & Mentions

• Join the Alive Nature Course Waitlist: waitlistcourse.com/alonsaguevara
• Follow Alonsa Guevara: @alonsaguevara on Instagram
• Visit Alonsa's Website: https://www.alonsaguevara.com

💡 Episode Highlights

• The Reality of Art School: Why many traditional and contemporary programs focus heavily on conceptual thinking rather than the technical craft of painting.
• The Power of Observation: How practicing through careful study and copying helps build an internal visual library for future original work.
• Decoding Color Temperature: Understanding how subtle shifts in temperature can make a painting feel alive rather than flat.
• Intuition as Knowledge: Redefining intuition not as random luck, but as accumulated technical knowledge and experience.
• Inside Alive Nature: A breakdown of Alonsa's brand new online course designed for all skill levels, with step by step guidance on botanical and fruit painting.

How do you translate the memory of a landscape into a rich, tactile painting? And how do you sustain a meaningful studio practice when life and work get demanding?

In this episode of the Create! Podcast, Kat sits down with Lansing, Michigan-based visual artist and educator Laurén Gerig. Laurén shares her thoughts on place attachment, building expressive paint surfaces, and using poetry to set the stage for intuitive studio sessions. We also dive into the realities of balancing a demanding day job in academia with an active exhibition schedule, and how small micro-moments in the studio can help you overcome creative fatigue and keep momentum alive.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Capturing the psychological bonds we create with landscapes and nature
• The tactile joy of thick mark-making, paint accumulation, and surface texture
• Using poetry as a studio ritual to transition into making work
• Navigating life as both a practicing artist and a university gallery director
• Making room for low-pressure, small-scale work like 20-minute charcoal drawings
• How running and stepping away from the easel can serve as the ultimate creative reset

Connect with Laurén Gerig:

• Website: www.laurengerigart.com
• Instagram: @laurengerigart

Stay connected with Create! Magazine:

• Subscribe to the Create! Substack for more artist stories and reflections: www.createmagazine.substack.com
• Submit your work for an upcoming issue of Create! Magazine: www.createmagazine.co/call-for-art

Imagine pouring your heart into a massive sculpture, only to watch it crash to the floor. What if that disaster was exactly what your practice needed?

In this episode of The Create! Podcast, host Ekaterina Popova talks with multimedia visual artist, curator, and educator Rebecca Casement. Based in Michigan, Rebecca creates affective, abstract sculptures and installations using ceramics, mixed media, sound, and textiles. This conversation explores her practice of pushing materials to their breaking point and why building instability into artwork mirrors life's unpredictability.

Episode Highlights:

• The Beauty of Instability — why Rebecca intentionally builds heavy, precarious clay sculpture with a high likelihood of breaking in the kiln
• A Shift in Perspective — the story of a shattered personal sculpture that changed her entire artistic mindset
• Art as a Lifestyle — how to ditch the burned-out artist trope, protect your physical energy, and bring joy back into a daily studio practice
• Carried Together — inside her new collaborative project featuring 14 women artists exploring community and care

About Rebecca Casement: Rebecca Casement is a multimedia visual artist, curator, and educator who creates affective abstract sculptures and installations. Raised in rural Michigan, she developed a habit of creative experimentation with materials that carries into her studio practice today. Focused on material language and history, her work is both emotive and honest. Rebecca holds an MFA in Studio Art and a Certification in College Teaching from Michigan State University.

Connect with Rebecca: https://www.rebeccacasement.com/

Community & Opportunities: Join our Substack for fresh articles, longer-form insights, and community conversation. Submit your work to our current open call, The Artist's World, juried by Marina Press Granger, at createmagazine.com/call-for-art.

In this episode of the Create! Podcast, Kat sits down with artist, author, and board-certified art therapist Leah Guzman to explore how creativity can serve as a sanctuary for healing, emotional expression, and personal evolution. Together, they unpack the pressure artists put on themselves, navigating creative burnout, taking intentional breaks from exhibiting, and why the physical act of making art is proven to lower stress and regulate the nervous system. Leah shares practical, low-friction habits to help you reconnect with your art practice without judgment or attachment to the final result. In this episode, we chat about:

• How art functions as emotional expression and healing during major life transitions.
• The neuroscience behind art therapy and lowering cortisol levels.
• Letting go of high-pressure exhibition timelines and career perfectionism.
• Simple studio hacks to eliminate friction and build a daily creative habit.
• Leah's upcoming Creative Soul Retreat and using body mapping, animal guides, and focus wheels to clear mental fog.

Connect with Leah Guzman & Resources:

• Join Leah's 3-Day Creative Soul Retreat ($7)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art.therapy.online
• https://www.leahguzmanstudio.com/creative-soul-society-membership

Stay Connected with Create! Magazine:

• Subscribe to the Substack: https://createmagazine.substack.com
• Official Website: https://www.createmagazine.com

In this episode, Ekaterina Popova welcomes back artist, muralist, author, podcaster, and educator Brandi Hofer to discuss the evolution of her multifaceted creative life. They dive into the realities of being a working artist and mother, why it is essential to embrace play without judgment, and how to quiet the self-doubt often picked up in traditional academic spaces. Brandi shares the story behind her viral, accessible portrait techniques, her monumental 3,082 square foot Truth and Reconciliation mural project, and her upcoming creative retreat in Portugal scheduled for June 2027. This conversation is an honest, approachable, and inspiring reminder to trust your gut and make space for genuine creative joy. Key Topics Covered

• Multifaceted Creativity: Embracing the seasons of your life and allowing your artistic interests to evolve.
• Shattering Art School Myths: Why tools like projectors are just another way to create, and how to let go of perfectionism.
• The Power of Play: Returning to your art practice without judgment and rediscovering the childlike wonder of making.
• Big Projects & Manifestation: Insights into Brandi's massive community murals and her upcoming 2027 creative retreat in Portugal.
• Balancing Motherhood and Art: Navigating family life, community building, and carving out space for your passions.

Connect with Brandi Hofer

Join the Retreat

Portrait Class

• Website: https://www.brandihofer.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandihoferstudios