Your Creative Push

Aunia Kahn is figurative artist, photographer, creative entrepreneur and inspirational speaker. She has created a hybrid art form combining many disciplines. She designs, builds, and executes characters, non-existent places, dreams, illusions, fears and fables into creations, melding elements of classical and contemporary art.

Aunia also runs/hosts the Create & Inspire Blog & Podcast where she helps and inspires creatives to follow their dreams!

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/auniakahnreplay

-How and why she started the "Create and Inspire" blog and podcast.

-How John Lee Dumas of "Entrepreneur on Fire" inspired her to start a podcast (just like Youngman Brown with "Your Creative Push").

-How most artists don't realize that their art can be a business and many of the mistakes they make when trying to sell their work.

-Her first creative moments with a Kodak Fisher Price camera as a child.

-How even though we are the most photographed era in time, we are going to be left with no actual photos.

-Her journey through various forms of art, and how she wanted to be a painter, and a surgeon, and a veterinarian, amongst many other things.

-How health issues inhibited her from being able to sing, and how that led to her beginnings as an artist.

-How art was therapeutic to her and gave her the feeling of having a purpose.

-The story of what made her start to share her work and the unlikely person who encouraged her to do so.

-Her advice for people who might be afraid to share their work because they are embarrassed or shy about the content or subject matter that they create.

-The importance of just messing around and experimenting, not worrying if it is good or bad, and just learning from it.

-How you shouldn't base your progress on the amount of Facebook likes that you get.

-The value in aiming to affect one person as opposed to appealing to a broad audience.

-Details about her gallery

"Music is where I cultivated a spiritual and artistic vibe within myself."

"The art itself was never supposed to be shown to anybody. It was, "I am suffering so tremendously that if I don't do something, I don't know how much longer I am going to be here."

"When you are sick and you are bedridden and you can't leave your house, you feel like you don't have a purpose."

"For some reason, I felt like the camera was a sketchbook for me."

"Everything feeds itself. It is like a self-generating greenhouse of creativity."

"I went to the show and I actually saw a woman cry in front of my work. After that, I had to go home and think about this."

"Maybe this is how I'm supposed to help people, by using my own creativity to help myself and indirectly helping someone else without getting too close."

"You don't need to make this for anybody but yourself."

"For one person who tells you that they like what you're doing or appreciates you, there's a dozen more that are maybe too shy to say anything."

"We can literally do anything that we put our minds to. Our minds are amazing. They are so strong and vast."

"Life is too damn short not to go for everything you've ever wanted, even if it seems ridiculous."

"If you can see what you want to do and it seems like you could reach that, you're not reaching far enough. If you want to do something and its ridiculous and crazy and amazing and "I can't believe I could ever do that," then you need to go for that."

Aunia's gallery

The Artist's Way Workbook by Julia Cameron

The Best Motivational Video Speeches Compilation - Youtube

Jim Carrey's Secret of Life - Youtube

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Create & Inspire / Alexi Era Gallery

Martha Beck : Website / Write into Light

E.W. Harris and Jo Kruger have come together to form a new ensemble, Caves & Clouds, a collaborative outgrowth of the Big City Folk collective in New York City. They are currently raising stake funds with Indiegogo for their debut record, The Winter of Our Discontent and the follow-up touring schedule.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/cavesandclouds

-Jo's story growing up as a musician and how she got connected with the Big City Folk collective.

-E.W.'s experience moving to New York, living in Central Park, and meeting new people like Niall Connolly, the founder of the Big City Folk collective.

-How each of them has been trying to work with the other for a long time and how excited they are to finally get a collaboration going.

-The importance of collaboration in an uncertain political climate and artists' responsibility to bring something new or positive to the table.

-The inciting incident that sparked them to finally collaborate.

-Some of the pitfalls and stereotypes of the acoustic singer/songwriter.

-Some of the reservations that came before launching their Indiegogo campaign.

-How backers of a project feel as if they are a part of the project as it is created.

-Dealing with the inner critic, especially when the creative process starts to flow so naturally.

-Taking your life-long battle with Resistance one day at a time.

-Dealing with hyper-focus on certain things to the extent that other important things lose all of your focus.

"I've been running around the scene here, admiring E.W.'s projects for a long time, and there are very few people who are hailed with as much respect in that songwriting scene."

"It made it a really optimistic endeavor in a pretty nihilistic time."

"We are not a team to be sneezed at when it comes to the kitchen."

"It's almost like antibiotic resistance. When you start to find ways to evolve around that silly voice, that silly voice finds a way to evolve too. It finds new dick moves to get in your way. And for me it comes when I try to do something new, because it can put a new face on old doubts."

"Do what you can do to get past it for the day. It's just a matter of one day at a time. It's almost twelve-steppy in its zen-ness."

"There are so many ways you can do the thing. There are so many ways that you can second guess yourself. There are so many ways you can push yourself through. Do one of them."

"I feel like the only thing within my power to do is to cooperate with people. To try to participate in ideas rather than just do my thing."

"You're throwing us a Hail Mary, it's the least we could do to catch it."

"I wouldn't find any value in this thing that I was doing if I was living in a cave on my own."

"Coming out of your own fantasy and trying to find that Venn diagram where it meets everyone else's fantasies. Reality is that sliver in-between."

"Some of my harshest critics have been some of my greatest teachers."

Caves & Clouds: The Winter of Our Discontent Indiegogo

Big City Folk

Bandcamp / Indiegogo / Facebook

Brian Abbott is a Boston-based writer who has found his stronghold in the world of social media under the moniker of High Poets Society. His poetry is most recognized for its mesmerizing rhyme scheme and clever wordplay.

Brian has recently published his first book, titled "High Poets Society."

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/brianabbott

-His history of writing and how he used to hide it from the world, only showing it to his girlfriends.

-Using the identity of High Poets Society as a way to give him the courage to post and show a different side of himself that most people in the "real world" don't get to see.

-How your own perceived prediction of what people are going to think about you and your creative passion is always much worse than their actual reaction.

-How the validation from the masses helps him to gain the confidence to talk about his poetry and to share it.

-The initial experience of amassing a large following on Instagram.

-How the number of followers you have has nothing to do with the talent that you have.

-The importance of writing ideas down the moment you get them.

-His method for organizing his ideas in Evernote.

-His mantra, "ambiguity and continuity," and how he embraces the fact that his writing will take on a new meaning to every person that reads it.

-His admiration for Charles Bukowski's advice: "Don't try."

-How he pushes through his laziness when he has things he needs to get done.

-The importance of deadlines, even if they are self-imposed.

-The experience of seeing his poems on Instagram in comparison to seeing them in the book.

-The story of how he quit his job on a whim.

-How not everything will be a success, as evidenced by his failed food blog.

-His advice for gaining followers on Instagram: use 30 hashtags, be consistent, take advantage of demographics, and make friends in the community and reach out to other people.

"For a long time in those thirteen years, I hid my craft away. I didn't really show people or try to publish it anywhere."

"It's tough to open up."

"I think the validation from the masses helps me get the confidence to talk about it and share it."

"The numbers have nothing to do with the actual talent."

"Thoughts would come into my head and I would lose them. Those are poems and thoughts that are gone forever."

"When I'm writing, I like to tell myself ambiguity and continuity. Those are the two matras I yell to myself in my head while I'm writing."

"Love is universal. It doesn't have any constraints or rules to it. You love who you love."

"I can't control what I write, but I can control what I post."

"Those deadlines light a fire under my ass and says Okay, make a decision. Stop messing around a pull the trigger."

"It's definitely a choice. And especially in this world where money and your status in society means a lot, it's tough to give up what you worked for and live that starving artist life."

"If you told me three years ago that a couple million people a week are going to read my poems I'd curl up in a ball and die."

Brian's Book

youusedtobemuchmoremuchier on Instagram

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Caves and Clouds : Website

Thomas is a visual artist and photographer based out of Atlanta, Georgia who has developed a style that he calls "painterly photo montage" - a method he employs in editing software in which he crafts elaborately textured pieces that have a very organic, non-digital look to them. Although his artwork resembles paintings, his pieces are entirely photographic in nature, fusing many images into a cohesive whole.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/thomasdoddreturns

-Why he started doing animated photos.

-His recent year-long creative block and what caused it.

-How he got out of his creative block by trying something completely new and unexpected.

-The danger that many successful artists encounter in which they become a "one-trick pony."

-How to know when it is actually time to move on to something else as opposed to self-doubt.

-The importance of choosing to fill your time with positive messages rather than getting involved in negative, time-consuming arguments on social media.

-His decision to make the relationships between people the theme of his new work.

-The inspiration that you can get by going back to your previous work and realizing what stones you haven't unturned yet.

-Some insights behind The Inquisitor.

-The lessons that he has learned from working with people with disabilities.

-The profound joy that comes when you can get into a flow state and how to put yourself in the best position to achieve it.

-Addictive personalities and how that relates to a creative endeavor.

-The idea of writing an addendum or an explanation to a piece.

-Facebook and the differences between his personal page and his professional page.

-The importance of bringing your fan base with you off of social media sites.

-The power and deeper value that can be gained by artists when they begin to concentrate on concepts and philosophies.

-How Joseph Campbell was a consultant to George Lucas for the original Star Wars trilogy.

-Understanding critics, trolls, and people who just want to see the world burn.

-Snarky criticism he once received that had merit.

-How to find the positivity in negative people or negative comments.

"I found that I was stuck. I was looking at my work and being hyper-critical of it and not feeling like I could continue in that direction. Like I needed to blow it up and try something new."

"You have much more power as an artist than the average person does because images transcend words. They transcend propaganda."

"We're more than our physical condition. We're more than our body. We are our spirit. We are what we create."

"I don't know where it all comes from, but I know there is something magical about the creative process. There is something really deep about it."

"As long as you're still alive, there's always a way of getting your message out there. Of getting who you are out there and creating, touching people's lives, and making a difference in the world."

"Being addicted to creating art is a very healthy addiction."

"You should use everything. You should use all your talents."

"Concepts. Ideas. These are most important things for artists."

"Our role as artists is very important. We can really reach people and show them that this is something we all share. This is what it means to be human. This is what it means to be alive and to be on this planet. To make the world a better place, just one creation at a time."

"Sometimes a snarky comment directed at your work might actually be something that you can learn from."

"The most important thing that you should do as an artist is enjoy what you do. Every step of the journey. It doesn't matter what you're doing. Don't do things for money. Do them because you love them, and then the money will come."

Jordan Peterson - Reconciling Science and Religion [Youtube]

The Duncan Trussel Family Hour Podcast with Dr. Raymond Moody

Richard T. Scott

Beautiful Dust Specks by Alex Hofeldt

Website / Facebook / Personal Facebook / Workshops

Brian Abbott aka High Poets Society : Website / Instagram

Marty is the creator of the blog Spaghetti Toes, which has been featured on sites such as the Huffington Post, The Today Show, Buzzfeed, and the Daily Mail. His first book, I Love You with All My Butt: An Illustrated Book of Big Thoughts from Little Kids comes out on April 4th, 2017.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/martybruckner

-The very moment that sparked the idea for Spaghetti Toes.

-His feature in Pleated Jeans and how that helped to spark his journey.

-The importance of the name, Spaghetti Toes.

-The actual process of creating an image once a quote has been uttered into existence.

-The story of when he tried to push Harper into saying something profound for International Women's Day.

-The process of creating the book I Love You With All my Butt and working with Workman Publishing.

-His advice to walk away from a project when you are experiencing a creative block.

-Some of his other strategies for overcoming creative blocks.

-The creative help that he is able to find from his wife and daughter.

-Dealing with not seeing his family while thing were taking off with Spaghetti Toes.

-His advice for deciding to stick with a current project or to abandon it.

-How he balances his time with all of the various projects he has going on.

-The importance of realizing how good you have it.

"I've been so lucky my whole life that I create and do artwork all day every day."

"I thought, I have to do something to make this work."

"I think perspective is so important."

I Love You With All My Butt by Martin Bruckner

Marty on Pleated Jeans

Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings by Shel Silverstein

Harp and Squirrel Designs on Etsy

Podcast of the Day on Anchor

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Jon deMartin is among the leading figurative artists working today and has taught life drawing and painting for more than twenty years at the most prestigious academies and ateliers in the country. His work has been reproduced in many publications, and he has exhibited at Hirschl & Adler Galleries, the John Pence gallery, and the Beijing World Art museum, just to name a few.

In his book Drawing Atelier – The Figure: How to Draw in a Classical Style, Jon does just that by sharing techniques and approaches for drawing the human form.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jondemartin

-His artistic history, which included a mixture of graphic design, fine art, and baseball.

-How he began to create a path for himself to be a fine artist while he was a graphic artist.

-Why fine art was so attractive to him and why he always kept that passion throughout his life.

-Some of the initial Resistances that he faced when starting his figurative drawing.

-How teaching was the thing that helped him to transition from a graphic artist into a fine artist in terms of making money.

-His advice to not have any expectations of the amount of time it will take you to achieve your grand goal, but to be patient and stick with it.

-How he balances his time, especially when his own work can't happen fast enough.

-Keeping journals as he creates his work to help him determine what works and what doesn't work.

-The importance of analysis in a creative endeavor.

-How he tries to teach his students the importance of conceptualization before the technical aspects of a project.

-The idea of becoming closer to the master that you have been striving to become.

-The importance of not deleting or erasing your old work, so that you can have something to compare yourself to in the future.

-How he started writing his book, Drawing Atelier – The Figure: How to Draw in a Classical Style.

"At some point the interest of drawing reawakened in me."

"I always had that dream of being a fine artist and I think that's why I was always doing it on my own. It's important to keep that dream alive."

"If you really feel that passionate about something, I think it will happen. Whether or not it will be a full-time career, who knows?"

"Don't have any expectations of time or deadlines, just keep doing what you like to do and it will happen."

Drawing Atelier - The Figure: How to Draw in a Classical Style

Website / Instagram / Book

Martin Bruckner : Website / Facebook

Derek Rodenbeck is an artist, photographer, travel blogger, entrepreneur, a proud dad of two massive dogs, a current student at the University of Pennsylvania, and an Army veteran.

Currently, he is taking a break from it all, traveling across the United States with his girlfriend and two massive dogs, and that's where we are catching up with him today.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/derekrodenbeck

-How he struggled in high school and his teachers told him that he wouldn't amount to anything.

-His epiphany in the Army that he wanted to be an artist.

-The Kubert School and the success that he found in college.

-How he balances his time with all of the many projects he has going on at once.

-How to determine when it is time to abandon a project that isn't giving you satisfaction anymore or taking you to the place you thought it would.

-Why he took a break after finishing his latest commission.

-What led to his decision to leave on his adventure with his girlfriend.

-One of his worst moments on his adventure, which ended up also being a very positive moment.

-What it costs him to go on this adventure.

-The love that he has for his dogs and the role they play in his journey.

-Riding with the Wolves.

"I just put everything I had into it. I wanted to prove all those people wrong."

"You can do a lot of different things, but you really need to focus in on one or two things at a time and then finish them."

"I think it's all about realizing when you have to swallow the hard pill and when you have to cough it back up."

"Find the thing that makes you happy and then do that thing until it doesn't make you happy anymore."

"Don't feel like you're ever stuck doing something. Because you're not. You're never stuck. You can find a way out. You can find a way to break free from the things you're stuck in."

"Life changes so fast. You can do a lot in a year."

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube

Jon deMartin : Website / Instagram

Julian Calor is a Dutch wunderkind with talent that exceeds beyond his years. At just 22-years-old, Julian has already set the scene alight with his unique sense of melody and chord progressions that have continued to send his presence surging forward.

Sending his early demos into Revealed Recordings, the sound of Julian has since shot through the stratosphere, his #3 Beatport smash 'Typhoon' garnering millions of stream plays online and capturing the attention of those that matter. With Revealed label boss Hardwell being a supporter of his from the start, it seemed only fitting that the World #1 DJ offered him the chance to construct a spellbinding debut album titled 'Evolve' that presents itself as a release of eclectic beauty.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/juliancalor

-How he first started to create music.

-How he experimented with sounds until it eventually started to sound like music.

-When he knew it was the right time to send demos out to labels, including Revealed.

-How he doesn't even like his friends to hear his music until he feels it is ready.

-His evolution from hip-hop to house to the new sound that he has now created.

-How his style is based more upon feeling rather than rhythm, tempo, or beats, and how he wants to maintain that feeling throughout the rest of his career.

-How he creates an interesting sound that he has never heard before and then finds a way to work it into a track.

-His experiment of letting his fans decide which drafts of tracks he would further develop into songs.

-What it is like for him to perform live.

-How he balances his time between all of the many projects he has going on.

-INVOLVE and how it has morphed into a new entity that allows him permission to freely experiment.

-The support that Hardwell and Revealed gives him in pursuing a new style.

-Some of the daily Resistances that he encounters.

-How he motivates himself when he needs it.

"All my life, I wanted to do something creative."

"It's all about balance. It's okay to have a cheat day, but remember to wake up early the next day and do your thing."

"As a maker of art, you must relax and not think too much about what the output is going to be. When you're thinking too much about output, it will destroy the creative flow."

Cell (2017 Trap Reboot)

Website / Soundcloud / YouTube / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Derek Rodenbeck : Website / Instagram

Justin Hopkins is a talented artist from, originally from Mukilteo, Washington. After graduating from high school, Justin was hired by legendary illustrator Charles White III and he also created works for Google, Red Bull, Wired Magazine, Pabst, and ESPN. Now, Justin works almost exclusively with oils and divides his time between New York and California.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/justinhopkins

-The influence that his parents had on him growing up as an artist.

-The difference between having technical skills and being able to say something of substance via your voice.

-How he started to work as an illustrator at the age of 14, and how he grew to hate it.

-His experience as a musician.

-The idea of needing to cleanse your creative palette with different mediums.

-The experimentation that he pursues in his art.

-Aphex Twin and his style of experimentation that allowed people to explore a new type of music that they wouldn't otherwise.

-How every piece he does is something he hasn't done before and the end product is either in the trash or on the wall.

-The reason why he leaves out certain elements of his paintings.

-His process for starting a piece.

-The experience of working for Charles White III.

-How to get past the influences of the artists you look up to or have been emulating.

-The idea of becoming a more empathetic and well-rounded human being.

-NOH / WAVE

-How he balances his time and the sacrifices that he has to sometimes make.

-The story of one of his high school art teachers that demoralized him.

"Being an illustrator is like being in boot camp because you have to be of high quality and you have deadlines."

"The more abstract thought processes of music is what made me find the creative thing I was looking for, and then from there I rediscovered painting after not doing it for almost ten years."

"The most interesting thing about painting to me is the fact that you can make up your own rules and there's an infinite amount of ways to approach a piece."

"Every piece that I do has some huge level of experimentation where it could completely ruin the piece."

"Be a well-rounded, observant, curious, empathetic person."

"If I don't paint, I become kind of a meaner person."

"Not everyone can be and should be an artist. It takes a certain kind of psychosis to want to do something like this."

Artist Decoded Podcast

NOH / WAVE

Website / Facebook / Instagram / _Lo Collective

Angela Hoover is a comedian, celebrity impressionist, and a mother of 2. She was a semi-finalist on Season 8 of NBC's America's Got Talent. She has guest-starred on the Emmy nominated Hulu series, Casual, been a talking head on TLC and Nickelodeon, improv'd opposite Dana Carvey on TBS's First Impressions, and is currently a recurring cast member on Disney's Walk the Prank.

She has also written and performed 2 sold out one-woman shows at the Lex and the Comedy Central Stage at the Hudson in Los Angeles.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/angelahoover

-How from a very young age, she was always interested in other people's dialects and impersonating them.

-A "lightbulb moment" when her father took her to a musical.

-Working for Jack Hanfield and the impact that that had on her life and goals.

-The story of how she started impersonating Drew Barrymore.

-Her experience on America's Got Talent.

-Feeling like you "missed the boat" after a long gap in your creative career.

-The notion that acceptance is not resignation.

-Having a positive mindset with the situation you are currently in, while still putting out energy into the direction that you want to go.

-How she likes to announce that she is going to do something before she even knows if she can do it.

-Her 30 days of impressions and the challenges that went into it.

-The idea of reverse engineering the happiness, pride, or fulfillment that you feel at the end of your creative endeavor.

-Her one-woman shows and the creative process behind them.

-The misconception that many creative people have that they are going to immediately come up with gold when they sit down and get to work.

-"Blah blah gold."

-Some of the resistances she faces when trying to write as well as being a comedian in general.

-Her experience at the Cannes Film Festival and how that motivated her to work harder to be on the other side of the carpet.

-The power in admitting how much you want something, even though it might be painful.

-How it takes more energy to HIDE from your goals than it does to actually put the work in.

"I felt like this sort of blank canvas and I would just take whoever I was with and become that person."

"I thought I was going to be the short, stubby Julia Roberts."

"Sometimes you feel like if you don't know if something is going to work out or not in your career, you give yourself the excuse of why practice this anyway?"

"The more you make peace with it and make the best out of it, then things change."

"I tend to tell people in public that I'm going to do something before I know if I can do it."

"To expect that you're going to sit down and just have sheer brilliance move from your fingertips is just such a horrible expectation to put on yourself when you're going to create something."

"It punched me in the gut that I was on the wrong side. It woke me up, because I realized I was pretending that I didn't want it as badly as I did."

"Even though it is sometimes a painful thing, admitting how much you want something can give you that initial push and burst of desire that you need to sustain a career that is creative."

"Practice those things that you want to get good at like your opportunity is coming tomorrow. Because it might."

"Are you waiting or are you creating?"

Angela Hoover audition on America's Got Talent

Kellyanne Conway spoof (Interviewed by Michigan Mom)

Website / YouTube / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter