Your Creative Push

Daniel is an art blogger, art critic, and the creator of The Daniel Rolnik Gallery, a brick and mortar store that showcases original art and prints collected from his adventures across the United States of America. On his road trips, Daniel discovers unique works of art that he brings back to his ever-evolving gallery.

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

-How and why he started the The Daniel Rolnik Gallery.

-How he found the courage to start the gallery instead of thinking about it for too long.

-How both creative and non-creative people spend too much time thinking about what can go right and what can go wrong, when what they should be doing is just diving in and trying.

-How falling down doesn't actually hurt as bad as you might imagine, just like when you were riding a bike.

-The musician Charles Bradley, who got discovered when he was 62.

-The story of how he first found a love for art and saw what it was truly capable of.

-How he makes everything in the gallery portable so that he can rearrange it every single day to make it a fresh experience.

-How he is on the road every Sunday and Monday to find new things for the gallery.

-His advice for artists who have never sold a piece of art, or haven't even considered it.

-The idea of pricing low to get the ball rolling.

-Some of his favorite artists to show, including Alden Marin and John Kilduff, with his cardboard pinball machine.

-The idea behind Record Club and how it can bring a sense of community to the artists that come for it.

-Details about The Jew and the Lotus Podcast that he does with his friend, Eric Nakamura.

-The idea of destroying the ego, as suggested by his friend, Turtle Wayne.

-The importance of patience if you are trying to sell a piece of art and how it takes the right person at the right time.

-How artists sometimes forget that you don't need to get the most expensive materials and equipment... you just need to create.

-How his father is one of his greatest inspirations because he never complains, but instead just gets done what needs to get done.

"I wanted to make art affordable and accessible to everyone. I wanted it to be easy and fun when you go in and not cold like the White-Wallians keep it with their white walls and cold vibe. I wanted to make the complete opposite."

"Art and creativity is the greatest thing in the world and I want to be able to get to as many people as possible. It's the way to disrupt your culture. It's the way to make a space yours. It's a way to showcase your own personality."

"The more you do it, and the more you love to do it, you'll develop a style and be able to share your passion with others in a was you're not conscious of."

The Daniel Rolnik Gallery

The Jew and the Lotus Podcast

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Marta Bevacqua aka Moth Art is an Italian photographer based in Paris. She is mainly a fashion photographer but she continually works on her own personal artistic projects, which range in varied fields of photography, but almost always concentrating on people. And not just people, but emotive models in natural environments, which offer a wonderful merging of the beauty of the natural world with the beauty of humanity.

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

-How she attempts to allow the viewers of her photographs to tell their own story -- one that could change depending on the mood of the viewer.

-How she got her start with photography.

-The influence that nature had on her photography.

-How she just started taking pictures for fun, and how it slowly progressed into what she did for a living.

-Her advice to take your time, especially when you are in nature.

-How she chose the name "Moth Art."

-How one of her hardest moments came when she decided that she wanted to make photography her job, yet she had no contacts and no prospects.

-If you are just starting out, that you should say "Yes" to almost every opportunity that comes your way, even if it doesn't fit exactly into what you are trying to do.

-By saying "Yes" to many different opportunities, you can develop your taste and also learn what you love to do and what you hate to do.

-How difficult it was to move to Paris without having any contacts or knowing how to speak French.

-Why she chose to live in Paris as opposed to Milan, London, or New York City.

-How you don't have to be confined to one geographic location, and how she feels free to move wherever she wants in the world now that she has already moved once.

-How when things started to click for her in Paris and life was going well, she saw a positive change in her photography.

-What photography and creativity brings to her life.

"What I try to do with my photography is tell stories that everyone can imagine."

"The more you understand about light, the more you will be able to take good shots."

"Once you move the first time, it's so easy to move again."

"Never give up. Never. If you really want to do it, you can do it."

"Changing the world may be difficult, but not just realizing your dream."

"The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Flikr / Behance

Jeff Tocci was born in the foothills of the Adirondacks, next to a frozen lake, exactly at midnight 36 years ago. He is currently thawing out in Brooklyn. His work focuses on social commentary through representational, narrative work, often utilizing satire and humor to explore social and economic topics in a direct way. Though the subject matter changes, his intention remains the same. He aims to call attention to the facets of our culture, that remain unexamined, misunderstood, or under appreciated.

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

-How his main form of Resistance is finding free time to be able to work on his art.

-If your passion is art and you make money another way, you have to find a job that you can make as much money as you can in as little time as possible so that you have more time for your passion.

-His advice to hang on to ideas that you might have when you are not available (or motivated enough) to put them into creation.

-How he has had some ideas in his head for over a decade, and how to determine when it is the right time to bring one of them into existence.

-How he is able to better express himself and his opinions/views of the world through his visual work than he can by any other means.

-One of his earliest creative memories.

-How many things in his life have come and gone, but art has always been there.

-If you don't have too lofty of goals monetarily, then you can't really go wrong with art.

-How creative passions are just like exercise, and you have to keep working or else you get out of shape.

-How time slows down and your experiences are enriched when you travel to new places.

-Technology and the way that it affects our lives and our creativity.

-His greatest inspiration, his mentor, Robert Cenedella.

-His upcoming show as well as his plans for the rest of the year.

"You can't really set a specific time during the day for inspiration."

"I just go on intuition with pretty much everything in my life. It kind of presents itself. You just have to get out of the way and let it happen."

"You really just have to be a conduit for the ideas to express themselves."

"People have a greater response to my visual work than anything I'm going to say, so it's kind of a no-brainer."

Jeff's show at Sunny's Bar

Your Creative Push Episode 13: Interview with Yuko Shimizu

Website / Facebook / Instagram

Michael Broom is a talented concept designer who has worked on such films as Wolverine: Origins, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Stephen King's "The Mist," and Cabin in the Woods, just to name a few. He "cut his teeth" doing comic book illustration and caricatures at Walt Disney World.

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

-How he became interested in some of the "scarier" things like monsters at an early age.

-How he came to be a caricature artist in Disney World and what that was like.

-The gig that brought him out to Los Angeles and the steps he took once he was there.

-How he feels fortunate to have been able to continue his creative career (instead of waiting tables), and credits that fact to the client base that he grew.

-The disappointment of one of his first "big" projects -- a Super Bowl commercial (that never aired).

-While maintaining a full-time job, how he is able to find the time and motivation to work on his new book.

-How the thought of doing his book felt like a Herculean effort before he started, but it was just a matter of starting and taking one piece at a time.

-His advice to look at what the next month is going to look like, instead of looking too far down the line.

-How he has begun surrounding himself with talented people, and how that has inspired him to start wanting to create a project of his own.

-How he wants to be the artistic version of Steph Curry or Michael Jordan, just putting in the practice every day.

-How he didn't have a backup plan with his artistic career.

"It really helped me artistically, just to be able to work under pressure."

"After doing that for a while I really got confident in drawing and working around crowds and having high pressure stuff."

"It doesn't matter how much you put into something, it just matters that you put something into it."

"When I first started it, it really felt like I was looking at a mountain and somebody handed me a spoon and just said 'Just move this mountain over there.'"

"With the internet, all things are possible."

"I think you just gotta keep going with it. What's really inside of you? There's a point past inspiration to commitment."

"A lot of people can't look past the next year or they can't see past the pain. It's hard work."

Eric Thomas on Youtube

"Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time" by Brian Tracy

Website / Blog / Facebook / Instagram

Skoddie is an experimental musician whose style spans multiple genres, but always focuses on atmosphere and mood. After a 6 year hiatus, they rediscovered their creative voice and released two albums and one EP in 2015. Today, Skoddie continues to produce music, and is also a founding member of the Unredacted online art collective.

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

-Details about the new Unredacted online art collective, including why they started it.

-How there isn't anything on DeviantArt with a specific female and queer vibe, and how that is one of the goals for Unredacted.

-The importance of getting things started and letting them grow organically.

-Their history and first experiences with music.

-The scientific audio analysis techniques that they used to begin creating experimental music.

-How, like Jackson Pollock, Skoddie has intention behind what might seem to be unintentional music.

-Creating all of the music, and then the review process where they listen to the music and determine whether or not it moves them.

-How many artists and creative people feel as if their artwork is scarce, and how it doesn't have to be that way.

-How artists make their best work when nobody has heard of them, and the power that can come from tricking your brain into thinking that nobody will ever see what you are making.

-The importance of being able to ride the rollercoaster that is being a creative person.

-One of their hardest times when attempting to start a Kickstarter campaign that fell short of the goal.

-The importance of learning from your failures.

-One of the main goals of Unredacted to be able to showcase queer artists and focus on their artistic talent and voice instead of their queerness (like traditional media does).

-Their plans to potentially take over late-night television advertisements and fill it with art!

"If you do all this planning but you don't actually get anything off the ground, you've got nothing."

"I got back into it in the least musical way possible."

"As long as I have some type of artistic vision behind it, I remain passionate about it."

"Just make stuff. Make a ton of stuff and let it be bad. In that sea of bad, you'll find some wonderful gems."

"I just feel like every time I fail, it makes me more savvy."

"Creating content is a much higher priority than building an audience."

"We all want to say we're going to quit our day jobs and be cool art people. And that's fantastic. But we don't make the art to feed ourselves. We like to eat and we like to make art."

"There are a good amount of female artists out there but there are very few queer artists. And the few that there are are upheld for their queerness but not as much for their artistic talents."

"We all have a stack of unfinished work but it's really special to be able to say, 'Hey, I made this. This is going to be here for the rest of time.'"

Unredacted Online Art Collective

Theory of Obscurity: A Film about The Residents

Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

Kalon is a software engineer living in Washington. He paints and draws purely for fun in his spare time. He believes art should be enjoyable, and should be more about the experience than the outcome.

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

-What his average day looks like and when he is able to get to his art, having a full-time job.

-How he picked up drawing back in elementary school, drawing "TV show stuff."

-The differences between drawing from a source and drawing from imagination.

-How copying the styles of your favorite artists can help you to understand the methods of what makes their art great.

-How he took a great deal of time off in his college years.

-His great surprise when he found out that other people shared art on Instagram and other social media platforms.

-The different types of art that he does, depending on the mood that he is in.

-Some of the creative hurdles that artists, musicians, and other creative people have to face.

-How he keeps a "secret sketchbook," to take some of the pressure off of himself while he draws.

-The danger that comes from comparing yourself too much with other great artists (Hint: Don't hold your sketchbook up next to great artist's work).

-How sometimes you need to take an "art fast."

-How creativity comes in waves, and to try to hold on as long as you can when it strikes you.

-How your artistic eye can "level up," which is a good thing, but inevitably means that you will think your older art isn't as good.

-How in Computer Science, there is just one solution, but in art, there isn't one correct way to do things.

"When it comes to digital painting, I kind of just slab on paint until it looks right."

"With art, there's a lot of little hurdles that we have to face. There's always these random creative blocks that we get."

"I keep a secret sketchbook. I say, 'I'm not going to share anything in this sketchbook. This is only for me.'"

"We're individuals. So we can all have different voices."

"We all start somewhere. The important thing is that you keep going."

"It gives me a voice. I can share my thoughts in a visual way. And I think that's the most appealing thing in art."

Sycra Yasin on Youtube

SinixDesign on Youtube

Instagram / Tumblr / Deviantart

Donna Kater is known as a master in the art of reinventing oneself, particularly after a life-changing event. She is dedicated to helping people survive, come alive, and thrive! She shares practical tips about how to heal your past so that you can move toward a brighter future. She has created two online video courses and has a book coming out in June entitled, "I'm Still Alive, Now What?" How to Survive and Thrive after a Life-Changing Event.

She has reinvented herself several times. She has had professional careers as a college and career counselor, small business owner, and acupuncturist. She has professional degrees in Psychology, Counseling and Oriental Medicine.

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

-Some of the many changes she has gone through in her life that got her to the point she is at now.

-A quote by W. H. Murray that made her spring in to action.

-The fact that you don't need to know exactly how you are going to get to a certain goal or change -- the important thing is to start.

-How whenever you can get in touch with the core of who you really are, you begin to see what you are really meant to do, like a conversation with the Universe.

-Her recommendation to do some kind of meditation to get in touch with your core.

-How she got the inspiration for the title of her book, "I'm Still Alive, Now What?"

-The power that comes from simply taking baby steps on the path to making a change.

-The moment that she decided to change her life for the better, and the ability to look within herself to ask, "Now What?"

-A big change she made in her life when she decided to become an acupuncturist.

-How it is never too late to make a change in your life.

-The power of saying things out loud.

-Taking 100% responsibility for your life from now on.

-The importance of having good mentors.

"Once you move, then there's a chance for the universe to move back toward you. If you don't move at all, nothing happens."

"When I really connect in with that soul of me, I also realize that it's not just me thinking about the Universe, the Universe is thinking about me, and what kind of dream wants to be manifested through me."

"What's the thing that you can commit to doing today that will move you toward that dream?"

"When your body hears you say something, it really goes into your subconscious."

Website / Facebook

RM Kavanagh is a painter from Ireland who is fascinated and influenced by the dissolving nature of life and the engagement of the inner mechanics of the human structure. "As an artist I delve into the areas in life which are uncomfortable to ponder and I create those ideas on canvas leaving an everlasting stain on the viewer's mind."

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

-The story behind the financial crash in Ireland that led to him creating "Groundhog Day" and "Comfortably Numb."

-His reason for using a perspective from underneath the table in "Comfortably Numb."

-Why the "gray areas" in life are important for him to capture in his art.

-How young artists have so many different types of art to choose, that it can often be very confusing to decide what path you want to go down.

-How he has struggled for years with "bad technical skills" and how he has had many good ideas that he didn't want to "waste."

-The value in studying the masters of your creative field to see how they created their work, so that you can take elements and incorporate it into your own.

-His advice to other artists who might not have the technical skills yet.

-A look into his past to see how he first got into painting.

-When there are obstacles in your path, just find a way around them.

-His advice to make as many connections as possible and to put yourself out there as much as you can.

-How rejection could indicate that what you are doing is simply ahead of its time.

-Details about his new show in 2017.

-How he balances his time, especially with the pressure of an upcoming show and a wife and children.

"I think we sweep a lot that goes on under the carpet to protect ourselves as human beings."

"If you hit your fears head on, you become a stronger person."

"I like to capture the moment that people are not focusing on."

"I needed to experience all these types of art to see what direction I wanted to go down."

"I have a lot of good ideas, and I didn't want to waste them on bad technical practice."

"I'd live with an idea for at least a year or so, and if that idea stays within my mind, I know it is a strong idea to pursue."

"You have to strip back everything to the bare bone and try to build it back up again."

"I always find that when an obstacle is put in front of me, it makes me try harder to overcome it."

"You'll get rejected. Everybody gets rejected and that's something you have to become familiar with. Just embrace it because it never ends throughout your career."

"You don't have to be the best. You just have to be unique."

"Every hour you're not honing your craft is a step further away from your passions."

"I would paint some paintings in my head before I would paint them. And then it's easier to paint them because the job is half done because I'd figure out some of the technical problems."

Twilight: Photographs by Gregory Crewdson

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Casey is an accomplished Director and Producer in film & TV, but she is now dedicating her life to inspire entrepreneurial mothers to live their dream while sneaking ice cream behind her children's back. And to do this, she has created a new podcast, "Women With Balls… In the Air."

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

-How she got her start as a PA at Nickelodeon in New York City, but she realized quickly that she wanted to be in the field rather than stuck in an office.

-Why she started her podcast, "Women With Balls ... In the Air."

-How she wanted to be a dancer, but then realized that she might be better at something else, which is what drove her to TV & Film.

-One of her best creative moments when she was sick and had to finish a project for class, but still enjoyed doing it (and got an A).

-How she got to shadow Martin Scorsese and how even he is vulnerable and needs self-reassurance.

-One of her most unenjoyable times in her career when she sold out.

-One of her best moments, when she was able to direct for the first time.

-How she loves to learn and then teach others what she has learned.

-The beautiful affirmation that she often receives that show her that she has made the right decision and that she is going down the correct path.

"It was one of those defining moments. 'This is what I have to do.'"

"We're all creatives together and we all have fears. That never stops."

"I think everyone should sell out just once in their career because it teaches you so many lessons."

"I learn and then I teach. I learn and then I teach. I learn and then I teach."

"Motherhood is really difficult if you're already living your dream."

"There is no one that is going to give you a chance. You have to go out there and get the chance yourself."

Women With Balls... In the Air (iTunes)

Website / Podcast / Facebook / Twitter

Ashley Elliott has done her art her entire life and has always wanted to be an artist, just never kept up with it -- until she started painting regularly in 2013, when her father became fatally sick and she needed a way to release what was going on inside of her. She started taking her work to Philadelphia and never stopped. And today she is recognized as a Philadelphia artist.

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

-The appeal of Philadelphia and why she keeps going back

-The allure of chasing the rabbit down the rabbit hole and seeing where your art ends up taking you.

-Some of the synchronicities that she has experienced and how they make her feel.

-How artists don't choose what they draw, but the art chooses them… and for her it is people.

-One of her first moments in sixth grade when a teacher inspired her to keep pursuing her talents as an artist

-How she always tries to encourage people to do whatever they want to do because life is too short.

-How you're more insane to think that you can't do something.

-How things can get a bit more difficult when money gets involved with your art, but how to effectively handle that.

-How her art is always evolving and teaching her about herself.

-Even when she paints other people, it is like she is painting a piece of herself and what she is feeling.

-How important it is to take time to do art for yourself, even when your art is a business.

-One of her best moments, during her first RAW Artists show, and seeing people appreciating and admiring her work.

-How achieving your dreams is often as easy as saying "Yes, I am going to do this" and then doing it.

-Her opinion on RAW Artists and how it can be a great way for new artists to "come out."

"Coming from a really small town I wanted to take my art to a bigger city."

"Every artist has their own thing that they paint or draw or sculpt and it's almost like they didn't choose it – it chose them."

"When you start believing in your art, it will keep evolving and it will start getting people's attention and it will start shining through."

"Whether you're gonna let it out of you or not, you're an artist. If you let it out, it's going to evolve. It's going to take you places. It's going to create magic in your life."

"I wanted to know, deep down inside, how my art made other people feel."

"The coolest thing ever is to watch other people look at your art and feel something completely different than what you felt when you made it."

"I think that a lot of artists do that – they take a lot of bad things and turn it into something great."

"You won't even have to try. It will keep taking you places as long as you just say "Yes" and believe in it."

Store / Facebook / Instagram