The Creativity for All Podcast

Now more than ever, we need joy in our lives, and I can't think of a better guest than speed painter, Sarah Rowan, to remind us all of the joy of being creative and sharing creativity with others.

Sarah has been creating unique works of art for two decades, performing live at over 400 live events, from Parliament House to the Opera House, in Sydney, and leaving her mark as a speed painter for corporate events, weddings, festivals, schools and fundraisers, raising nearly 200K through her paintings so far.

She not only seeks to entertain, but to inspire, using her platform as an artist to speak on creativity and wellbeing, as a keynote speaker. She loves engaging with her audience with a microphone, as well as a paintbrush, sharing her inspiring message of embracing your true colours and living a life of curiosity.

When I came across videos of her events, I was fascinated by the joy and energy she radiates as she paints live. Despite not seeing herself as a creative person, surprisingly, Sarah embraces what she calls her 'acts of creativity' with an energy, a boldness, and a sense of fun, which are both exhilarating and inspiring.

She shares with us the visceral experience of speed painting, the messiness, the mistakes, which she reframes beautifully as 'plot twists', and the magic of the creation process.

She also describes how she connects with others, by sharing her most sacred place – her canvas – with members of the audience, handing them a brush and encouraging them to have a go, like her. It's no wonder than some of them have ended up taking up painting, or even leaving their jobs to embrace an artistic career!

To her, creativity is a birthright, an exploration with, at its core, a curiosity and a playfulness, which remind us all to give ourselves the permission to be human and have a go as well, so I hope you will enjoy our conversation.

Sarah's performances: KOALA Live Art Netball World Cup 2015 Painting the ocean Wedding Entertainment

Sarah's TV interview Sarah's website Sarah's Instagram To purchase Sarah's prints

The Creativity for All Podcast explores creativity in all its forms. With each guest I interview every two episodes, we discuss what it means to be creative in their daily life, zooming in on the mechanics behind their creativity and debunking myths, wherever possible, to show you that you too can be creative on a daily basis, that you don't have to be an artist to be creative. My hope is to show you that creativity is everywhere and to inspire you to tap into your own creative potential.

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication, and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, as well as tailored language tuition for individuals and companies.

Welcome to season 2 of the Creativity for All Podcast!

While season 1 focused on the origin of creativity, Season 2 is going to explore the many ways in which we can nurture it. You might find it highly ironic that I've chosen failure as the topic for the first solo episode of 2021. In fact, I can't think of a better way to kick off the second season, than by wrestling with this particularly tricky notion.

After all, fear of failure prevents many from accessing and using their creative potential and if they have tried to do so and failed, then failure often becomes the reason for not trying again, for deciding that only artists are being creative, that there's no other way to be creative and, since they're not artists, the case is well and truly closed.

Failure is a loaded word, entirely negative, and final. There's no recovering from it, only shame and self-criticism, both of which are intensely paralysing. But what do we mean exactly by failure and what does failing at being creative look like? Could there be a way to free ourselves from the pressure and fear of failure by reframing it?

If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, why not tell a friend or relative about it? Every new recommendation will give it more visibility in search engines, so thank you in advance for talking about it!

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition for individuals and companies, and editing/translation services.

How often do you listen to your own instinct? Do you trust it, or do you choose logic instead? And, come to think of it, are logic and instinct truly opposites? In this episode, I explore not only our perception of instinct, and why we often choose to disregard it, but also the crucial role instinct plays in allowing us to tap into our creative potential. I hope you will enjoy listening to this episode, as much as I've enjoyed making it. If so, why not tell a friend or relative about it? Every new recommendation will give The Creativity for All Podcast more visibility in search engines, so thank you in advance for talking about it! The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition for individuals and companies, and editing/translation services.

Money is a tricky topic, to say the least, and is not usually mentioned in relation to creativity, other than to quote box office records or the auctioning of a masterpiece. But what if there's a creative way to approach not only money, but also the notion of abundance?

Today's guest is Julia Magnay. Julia is an abundance coach, financial adviser, home-educating parent, NLP Practitioner, and creator of 'Live Enriched'. She has been passionate about personal development since the age of twelve. One of the things that makes her heart sing, is helping others enrich their lives. Her work as an abundance coach encompasses all areas of life, including happiness, health, wealth, love, and fulfilment.

When running her Money Mindset Workshops, Julia was asked regularly about teaching the principles to children and quickly realised that she wanted to create programmes to help parents increase their abundance consciousness, be inspiring role models, and introduce the same wisdom to their children.

The Live Enriched Facebook group brings together a community of people who wish to enjoy more happiness, health, wealth, love and joy. As well as guidance and inspiration, it offers free online Money Mindset workshops. The next one will take place on Monday 2nd November 2020.

Julia is passionate about helping others feel better and enriched, not just financially, but emotionally. She explores our human needs in relation to money, and explains how money acts as a magnifier, and how being intrinsically creative helps us create the lives we want for ourselves and our children. I could have talked to Julia for hours so I hope you will enjoy our chat.

If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, why not tell a friend or relative about it? Every new recommendation will help The Creativity for All Podcast be more visible in search engines, so thank you in advance for talking about it!

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition for individuals and companies, and editing/translation services.

A behind-the-scenes episode, in which I answer your questions about podcasting and creativity, but also about teaching and writing. Thank you so much for getting in touch, for caring, and for listening!

Here are links to the episodes/pages mentioned in this podcast:

Episode 1. Introducing the Creativity for All Podcast Episode 3. Perfectionism and creativity Episode 7. Feeding your creative brain Episode 9. Fear and creativity Episode 14. Exploring maths creatively with Rob Leslie Episode 15. The creative approach to language learning

My FB page My LinkedIn profile

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition for individuals and companies, and editing/translation services.

Today's guest is Jesse Fox. Jesse is an actor, director and theatre-maker based in London. He trained on the Collaborative and Devised Theatre BA Acting course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where he's now a regular Visiting Lecturer.

Jesse is the co-founder of the devised theatre company, Engineer Theatre Collective, which creates stories based on interview-led research processes, through highly collective working methods, using actor improvisation as a means of creating text, and a strong emphasis on design elements, such as sound and lighting.

The company has twice been nominated for Best Ensemble at the OffWestEnd Awards and Jesse, himself, was twice nominated for Best Director. The work of Engineer Theatre Collective has been reviewed and featured in numerous prominent publications, such as The Times, The Guardian, and The New Yorker.

As a freelance actor, he has worked for the BBC and ITV and, in 2019, was one of the three lead roles in the play 'Afterglow' at the Southwark Playhouse. In 2021, Covid permitting, he will take on the lead roles in 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and 'Sense and Sensibility' for the Pitlochry Festival Theatre summer season.

For someone who doesn't see himself as 'unusually creative', Jesse Fox certainly has a clear take on the creative process of bringing both a part and a play to life! He describes the various stages of unlocking the script, figuring out the speed and rhythm of movement, the physical tensions, as well as the character's motivations, linking in the process mind, body, and imagination. To Jess, acting is a highly relational process, which allows him to engage with the world and reflect it back to the audience.

Debunking many myths, such as acting is showing emotions and pretend, and there's one way to prepare for a part, or that directors have all the answers, Jesse gives us a vivid insight of what it means, as an ensemble, to generate, shape and perform stories. He explains why placing and passing the focus on stage is key and describes the highly collaborative and satisfying creative process of prodding and wrestling with a text, so that what emerges, when the performance begins, is ultimately greater than its parts.

I cannot wait to see his future productions and performances and hope you will enjoy his interview.

More information about Jesse Fox A review of 'Afterglow'

The Time Out review of 'Keep Watching' Jess talks about 'Keep Watching'

The New Yorker review of 'Run' Jesse Fox and Jemima James talk about 'This Restless State'

For news about the Engineer Theatre Collective audio-play to be released this autumn: www.engineertheatre.com. Please note that, at the time of releasing this podcast, the company's new website is under construction.

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition for individuals and companies and editing/translation services.

Hello everyone!

The Creativity for All Podcast is on a break. So this week, instead of an interview or a solo episode, I would like to share two things with you.

First, I want to thank you all for listening. I launched my podcast in January of this year, with the hope of reaching listeners interested, like me, in exploring creativity in all its forms. I had no idea if anyone would listen, let alone get in touch, so I'm very grateful for your support and feedback.

Also, I've decided to change the format of my next solo episode and use it as an opportunity to answer questions about creativity, writing, teaching, and podcasting. Some I've already been asked, the rest I leave to you.

So if you have any questions, please send them in an email to [email protected] and I will do my best to answer them.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Caroline

Language learning is often seen as difficult and awkward. There are conjugations to learn, pronunciation to master and the risk of sounding silly when speaking in public. Many choose to believe that languages are best learned as children, that it's too late, or too hard, for adult students. But what if there's a way to approach language learning creatively, to finally embrace the process and have fun expressing yourself?

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition and editing/translation services.

Two years ago, I had a fascinating chat with Rob Leslie at a mutual friend's party. Upon hearing that he was a maths teacher, I resisted the impulse to share with him my tales of maths woe and, instead, asked him what he did to make maths accessible, clear and relatable to his students. In other words, I asked him about his creative approach to teaching and about the relationship between maths and creativity, although, at the time, the word 'creativity' wasn't used.

Rob studied maths and computation (computer science with a strong mathematical foundation) at Oxford and worked as a computer programmer. His keen interest in languages led him to take French and Latin GCSE and, later on, to study Spanish and Polish in his free time and take an EFL (English as foreign language) course. He taught English in Poland for four years, before moving back to the UK, where he taught a mix of EFL, maths and computer studies. He now teaches A-Level maths and Further maths at Hills Road Sixth Form College, in Cambridge. Today's conversation is a continuation of our first chat and an opportunity to show you that there is creativity, even in a subject like maths, dreaded by so many, including yours truly. Rob shares his take on creativity as a transformative process, whether in making food, learning languages, or using maths. Demystifying key concepts, such as rules and problem-solving, he shows us that it's possible to be flexible, playful and to experiment when teaching and learning maths. That maths is a language, which allows us to ask questions and has many practical applications in everyday life, including in marketing and medicine.

Maths to him is an art form, constantly surprising, and even, at times, funny! His love of his subject is infectious. And we also talk about chocolate (a favourite topic of mine!), which he creates, because who doesn't want to know more about chocolate-making?! So I hope you will enjoy this interview, and that some of you might even look at maths in a whole new, and creative, light.

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition and editing/translation services.

It's hard for most of us not to equate the notion of ease with not doing enough, not caring enough, even sometimes, with being casual and unprofessional. And when it comes to creativity, ease is nowhere to be seen. Surely being creative cannot be easy, surely you have to work hard and suffer, in order to be creative? But is it really the case? What if there is another way to approach ease, which let's us tap into our own creative potential?

The Creativity for All Podcast is sponsored by Blue as an Orange, where we believe in creativity through communication and offer mentoring and coaching for aspiring writers, tailored language tuition and editing/translation services.