Vulnerability in life and art

This is my conversation with David Gordon - artist, landscape designer, and owner of Bird Dog Arts Gallery in California's San Joaquin Valley.

I probably should have edited out even more of our conversation about growing up in the 80s but David is sharp and insightful; I couldn't help it.

Listen for David's insights into vulnerability, both for artists and also for people who buy art, people who then express a lot about themselves through pieces they have chosen to put on display.

Learn more about David and his work on instagram @davidgordondrsigns and online at birddogarts.com. Keep an eye out for Turkey, the Bird Dog Arts Gallery cat - he has his own instagram #isawturkey

'Failure is a lesson...I won't take one failure as a complete failure.'

That adaptability and openness to learning stood out to me during my conversation with Anna Wojcik, a fitness entrepreneur in continual development, always finding new ways to challenge herself and her clients (including me). She warns against remaining comfortable with what we know, encouraging us instead to break out of the bubble to take risks, fail and succeed, and keep looking for opportunities to learn new things, for both body and mind.

In Anna's words, step outside your daily. Be coachable. Start small. Take risks and grow.

Check out what Anna is up to through instagram @coach_anna_inc And if you're looking for a personal trainer and coach, she offers great sessions live and via zoom.

Claire Hankey first began making collages as a young child. Today, inspired by her father's brushes and paints, she creates fragile, dreamy pieces, in veils of mixed media.

Her work reflects early childhood memories - her family home and garden, her glamorous grandmother Evelyne. Reflections on the past also inspired her podcast series Where the Art Began.

A poignant moment for me is when Claire speaks about the importance of how we talk to people - children, young people, adults - about their art. Consider how you may have been affected in the past by what people have said about your work. And how might have you affected others?

You can learn more about Claire and her work at clairehankeyartist.com and on instagram @clairehankeyartist. If by any chance you're in Leigh-on-Sea at the right time of year, be sure to enjoy the local art trail (or find one near you). And have a listen to her podcast!

This is an episode about feedback, reacting, and learning from what we hear from others.

As you listen to my conversation with gardener Andi Strachan, see if you can look under the covers at what a garden - as art, creation, growth, and development - might mean to you.

Where do you see yourself and your work within this ongoing process of dynamic and ongoing setbacks and bursts; natural individual beauties that develop over hours, days, and years; design through light and colour; sharing knowledge; social pressures and wildness versus cultivation; and 'the relentless emergence of life?'

This really was a walk through life and art as garden.

You can learn more about Andi and her work on instagram @andi.strachan and by watching the amazing work she creates with friend and gardener Helen Lockwood on the Netflix series The Big Flower Fight.

This episode, my conversation with collage artist Duane Toops, got me thinking.

I got caught up in multiple dichotomoies - art versus craft, intuition versus analysis, conduit versus creator. And then, as Duane says, there's the quiet space between things, the unseen. Dichotomies set up false choices.

What are you noticing? What's coming up for you, 'when this piece touches this piece?'

You can learn more about Duane and his work here substack.com/@duanetoops and on instagram @duanetoops.

I enjoyed a quickening conversation with poet Rachel McCrum about interpreting the crafts of writing and painting, poetry as a space of ambiguity and uncertainty, and burnout. She shares this beautiful line from Inua Ellams - 'poetry is the cheapest way to be free.'

And the podcast she references is The Blindboy Podcast by Limerick-born musician and author David Chambers, also known as Blindboy Boatclub.

To learn more about Rachel and her work, you can explore rachelmccrumpoetperformer.wordpress.com online and @kicking.paris on instagram.

For sight into another aspect of Rachel's artistic practice, check out her vocals as a member of poetry noise bogrock band Pigs&Wolves at https://youtu.be/r9YRmDUvrzA (their EP 'The Unfortunate Waggle' is due out late October 2024).

Nola McConnan is unapologetically herself in the best ways, determined, self-reliant, and charmingly fierce. She has supported herself as an artist throughout her career, with mentorship and support, despite failing grade 13 French, and she turned a rec room into a room of her own.

Please take note - when she talks about Sheilah, that is one of her older sisters. And due to timing, I wasn't able to include the amazing account of her family's connection with Emily Carr.

Please be sure to check out her website https://merriweatherdesignstudio.com/

This is an admittedly odd little episode about tribes, belonging, support, feedback, inspiration, and propaganda.

I enjoyed a lovely conversation with Stefan Lorenzutti, poet and co-publisher who runs Bored Wolves with his wife Joanna.

He shares stories about becoming a poet, inspired by Frederick the Mouse, sharing his work with friends after hours spent at the copy shop, moving to Poland and feeling isolated and alone until creating the growing community of poets, artists, and artist-poets whose work is now published by Bored Wolves.

You can learn more about Stefan and Bored Wolves by checking out boredwolves.com and on instagram @boredwolves