Your Creative Push

Writer Ronnie Allen is a New York City native, born and bred in Brooklyn, New York, where she was a teacher in the New York City Department of Education for 33 years. In the early 90s she began a journey into holistic healing and alternative therapies and completed her PhD in Parapsychic Sciences in 2001. Along the way, she has picked up many certifications. She is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner as well as a crystal therapist, Reiki practitioner, metaphysician, dream analyst, and Tarot Master Instructor.

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

-How she got into Reiki and crystals and how they enter her writing.

-Her series of books, "The Sign Behind the Crime."

-How she uses her readers to choose which book in the series that she writes next.

-There is so much more that a writer can do aside from simply writing.

-The importance of giving yourself deadlines.

-Her first creative moments, learning how to get her characters on paper.

-How readers and writers both want to go on a journey with the writing.

-How people need to get over their fear of writing their fantasies or extremes, because a reader won't want to fly away with them if they are stuck in the mundane.

-How getting into "deep POV" can allow you to flow, and to allow your characters to really take over.

-Her worst creative moment when a teacher embarrassed her in front of her class, and how it inspired her to prove him wrong.

-The importance of paying attention to someone else's suggestions on your work... to change it if it resonates with you, but to leave it alone if it doesn't.

-If you are looking to publish, the importance of paying attention to what a publisher wants.

-Write out baby steps to get what you want. If you can't write a manuscript for a novel, write short stories.

-You have to make sacrifices for your passions.

"I'm always pushing myself to be the best that I can be."

"You can't lay down and procrastinate and make excuses."

"The longer you don't write, there is more of a chance of getting writer's block, and you want to avoid that at all costs."

"You let your characters take you where you want to go."

"It's always that doubt of not good enough. And it's SO NOT TRUE."

"A rejection means you are one step closer to getting a 'yes.'"

"Get off your tush and do it. Just do it!"

-#10Queries on Twitter

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Kelly McKernan is a fine artist and illustrator from Atlanta, Georgia, currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. Kelly has been exhibiting her work with numerous galleries since 2009, including Thinkspace Gallery, Gallery 1988, Young Blood Gallery, and Beep Beep Gallery. She has also illustrated three children’s book to date. Kelly is also a member of the PRISMA Artist Collective.Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/kellymckernan

-What it is like to be a mother and an artist at the same time, and where she finds time to do her work.

-She plans out her work much more now.

-How going into art without an intention can lead to you searching quite a bit, and planning out a good portion of it beforehand will lead to a final result more quickly.

-How sleep is usually the first thing to be sacrificed.

-Attempting to determine whether or not mulling around an idea in her head is laziness or simply working the idea out to a more complete form before starting.

-How things like "Bioshock Infinite" can completely absorb you if you are not careful, and how it is important to carefully choose things like video games before you start ("Transistor" worked for her).

-Her worst creative moment, having to do with getting a job as a pre-school teacher, but how it taught her what she doesn't want.

-How drawing is a skill, and when you stop doing it for a while, you lose some of that skill as well as your confidence.

-How much of her work is considered "fan art," but it is just her getting the things that she loves out of her system.

-How she took the reigns herself with "30 paintings" when she didn't feel like she was getting what she needed from her college education, and came out of it with a full portfolio (unlike many of her classmates).

-You don't have to go into debt to learn what you want to learn.

-How she draws inspiration from annuals like "Spectrum."

"I'm just going to give myself four days to do something that is not creating, but still stimulating."

"It's a muscle. When you stop using it, you forget pretty quickly how to properly use it."

"Even if you are binge watching something, that's totally cool. But be inspired by it."

-Kelly's Watercolor Tutorial

-Are You a Procrastinator or an Incubator? (CNN)

-Transistor (video game)

-Bioshock Infinite (video game)

-One Fantastic Weekend

-Radio Lab

-The Truth Podcast

Website / Blog / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Gwenn is a full-time artist, portraitist, and free-culture advocate. Her beautiful, unique portraits as well as all of her other work is intentionally free from copyright.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/gwennseemel2

-How she deals with what she calls “the stupids,” when everything you do seems to be bad.

-How some of her best moments come when she completes a project, whatever it may be.

-Art and creativity bring her the desire and ability to be in this world.

-How she is inspired by everyone around her, especially the people who she makes portraits for.

-To reframe the way you think about mistakes and actually embrace them.

-If you are viewing something as a mistake, it means that you are evolving and not remaining stagnant.

“Have those moments of self-love and really stew in them. You stew in the self-doubt so you might as well stew in the self-love as well.”

“Mistakes are my friend.”

“The reason why the mistake is good is because it means that you at least DID THE THING.”

“Crime Against Nature”

Creative Commons

Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz & Kathryn Bowers

What It Is by Lynda Barry

Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity by Lawrence Lessig

“Rip, A Remix Manifesto” (movie)

All About Love by Bell Hooks

Give And Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant

The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits by Kent Greenfield

Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights by Kenji Yoshino

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Uncopyright / Patreon

Gwenn is a full-time artist, portraitist, and free-culture advocate. Her beautiful, unique portraits as well as all of her other work is intentionally free from copyright.

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

-How her personal, creative, and professional life merge all into one.

-The pros and cons of separating your personal and creative life.

-Her battle with endometriosis and the story behind “Crime Against Nature.”

-How things like homosexuality within nature are much more prevalent than is reported scientifically, and how things like dressing flamboyantly, not having offspring, and having multiple sexual partners can be connected to animals.

-The origins of her decision to free all of her work from copyright.

-How creativity and copyright go hand in hand.

-How she got over the question of “am I special enough and why do I think I am allowed to do this?” and how focusing on portraiture helped her to put that specialness onto them.

-The importance of showing your work and connecting with other people, because it adds responsibility and accountability.

-Art can be self-expression or communication, and the differences between the two types of people, and how she tries to move between those two things.

-How marketing can be a creative outlet.

-One of her first creative moments and how a compliment from her brother (during intergalactic travels) really inspired her.

-How sometimes all it takes is just that ONE compliment from someone who gets it to keep you going.

-What it is like to make a portrait for someone and then give it to them.

“The work is what’s valuable to the world and it should be done in the best way possible.”

“I am the only one who can do it anyway, so I might as well completely release it into the world and have it be used.”

“Creativity is about taking elements from the world around you and from inside of you and mixing that all up and making something of it.”

“Anytime you take risks, you’re going to have this crippling self-doubt sometimes.”

“Crime Against Nature”

Creative Commons

Zoobiquity: The Astonishing Connection Between Human and Animal Health by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz & Kathryn Bowers

What It Is by Lynda Barry

Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity by Lawrence Lessig

“Rip, A Remix Manifesto” (movie)

All About Love by Bell Hooks

Give And Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant

The Myth of Choice: Personal Responsibility in a World of Limits by Kent Greenfield

Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights by Kenji Yoshino

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Uncopyright / Patreon

Baber Afzal is an award-winning fine art photographer and film maker based in Dubai who specialises in creating surrealistic Worlds. His work has been published in several internationally renowned books and magazines. A New York Film Academy alumni from Universal Studios, he also enriched his cinematography and video editing skills while working with renowned production houses in Hollywood, CA.

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

-How he started with photography and the journey that got him to his place today.

-The struggle of Dubai having less photography work than a place like Los Angeles.

-The definition of fine art photography, and what it means to him.

-His online tutorials and workshops, which show how each image is processed uniquely.

-How promoting other artists on his own page led to him gaining an incremental following on his own page.

-How to can gain followers on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media by doing the same type of sharing.

-Just because you are sharing other people's work on Facebook, it doesn't mean that it will take away from your own.

-Facebook is designed in a way that your reach will die if you don't post anything for a week or two.

"Each image has its own challenges. Each image comes with its own vision."

"I realized that there are so many great artists other than myself out there, whose works deserve to be recognized."

"As I gradually started to promote other artists on my page, I started gaining an incremental following."

"Good works deserve to be recognized."

"I have enough confidence in myself to share other people's work."

"Never be afraid to experiment and try new things because that is what takes you forward."

Baber's workshops

Baber's tutorials

"The Road to Inspiration - A Personal Journey"

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Google+ / Pinterest

Mikey Burton is a part time designer and a part time illustrator—which adds up to a full time Designy Illustrator. He’s been working professionally for about 10 years. He’s done a lot of work in that time for clients such as Converse, ESPN, Target, The New York Times, Time Magazine, and Esquire, among others. Mikey spent his formative years and earned a masters degree from the great Kent State University in Ohio. Mikey, tell me what I missed there, and maybe give us a peek into your personal life.

-His campaign for Converse and the challenge that it presented to him.

-How he gets the courage to take on challenges that might initially scare him.

-His first self-motivated work, and how it would yield actual work.

-The goal of Barrel Body was to lose weight, but it led to new and interesting client work instead.

-How defining your style is a lifelong journey.

-The importance of being critical of your own work.

-How sometimes your creative life and your "life" life hit a crossroads at the same time.

-How we are visually over-saturated sometimes with visually inspiring material.

-Working from home is never as easy as people think.

-How knowing yourself and your work habits is extremely important, especially if you are your own boss.

-His greatest inspiration is his father and the work ethic that he continues to have.

"If you're doing things that you are passionate about in your spare time, it usually leads to something."

"You just have to start. It doesn't have to be some grandiose thing."

"You just need to start today, in a little way."

Barrel Body

Pen Jillette on WTF with Marc Maron

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Dribble / Tumblr

Alex Cherry is an LA-based digital artist who blurs the lines between art and design. He draws his inspiration from film, music, and pop culture to make stunning images that will always make you think.

Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/alexcherry2

-The issue of copying and how we have to get over it.

-The importance of thinking about new things every day.

-A recent negative experience he had and how it led to an "artistic PTSD."

-The story about how he met his fiance through his art.

-A rapper suggestion for Youngman Brown to help him with his insecurities about his own monotone voice.

-The last words his grandmother said to him, and the impact that it has on his life.

"I heard that 90% of communication is non-verbal, and it's so true. We put too much value in words."

"It's not the what. It's the how."

"You never know in which ways you influence people or potentially change someones life. You may never find out about that."

"You have to be lovingly detached from the ego."

"The best way to not produce any work is to think about the identity of that work."

"Just create what you think the world needs."

"Celebrate the difference."

"So much of creativity is like capturing lightning in a bottle. You can't really control the lightning, so you have to create an environment to capture the lightning."

"You don't tell a tree how to grow. You just water it and then it grows. That's how creativity is."

The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast

Gang Starr

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Alex Cherry is an LA-based digital artist who blurs the lines between art and design. He draws his inspiration from film, music, and pop culture to make stunning images that will always make you think.

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

-The story behind his piece, "Starman" a tribute to David Bowie.

-Art versus design, and how we don't watch design the way we watch art.

-How to pursue your creativity by leaning on what you know, and for him that started with music.

-His first creative moments and his creative journey from there.

-How incredibly amazing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Nintendo are.

-How we are lucky to live in the time of the internet, and we should immerse ourselves in how easy it is to share and find new things.

-Kanye West and his polarizing character.

-Bret Easton Ellis's idea of "Post Empire."

-How many people have separate selves that they put forth on the internet.

-How having a character or a persona can give you a confidence you don't have with your actual identity.

"It's always these pictures that take the least amount of effort that resonate the most with me, and other people."

"I love music, and for me it was an easy thing to do, to piece something together and to find a song to connect that to."

"We have the Internet and tumblr. Just immerse yourself in it and don't be afraid to take inspiration from it. Be ruthless about that."

"The creative world is the exact opposite of the real world."

The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast

Gang Starr

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Lisa Call is a self-taught artist who creates bold, geometric contemporary textile paintings composed of richly colored hand-dyed fabric. Her work is abstract but draws elements from many places -- her love of the geological forms of the Southwest, repetition, pattern, and an attraction to human-made structures for containment, such as fences and stone walls.

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

-How she became a Co-Active life coach.

-The reason her students needed coaching was less about the art and more about getting to the studio.

-The idea that both being and doing are important.

-How people should identify what matters to them and connecting with that.

-How she suffers from the same fear that most people suffer from: the fear of not being enough.

-How going back to work 40 hours a week was her biggest Resistance.

-How she balances 3 full-time jobs.

-Her battle with Neflix!

-Sometimes not having a balance is better.

-How she associates memories of her books on tape with a particular work.

-Lisa takes us back to one of her first creative moments in elementary school.

-She tells us about her most triumphant moment - when she made a piece that she looked at and said "I really am an artist."

-How creativity brings passion and sanity to her life.

-How motivational books can sometimes be detrimental if you don't need them.

Lisa's final push is so simple and so easy to implement in your own life. You might ask yourself, "How have I not done this in my own life yet?"

"I don't really teach people how to make art. I teach them how to be an artist."

"You can sit around and say you are making art, but until you get up and do it, you're not."

"Try to connect with what is truly, authentically you, versus what you should be doing or what other people are doing."

Will Smith shares his secrets of success

Co-Active Life Coaching

Richard Diebonkorn on Pinterest

Website / Make Big Art / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

Matthew G. Lewis (aka Lostkeep) is an artist whose work is both terrifying and beautiful and mesmerizing. Born in the Deep South, entangled in the kudzu of ignorance and fear, Matthew seemed destined for a lifetime of servitude and devotion. However, The Devil had sanctified him for lower purposes. Our Lord Insubordinate used Matthew's years at Savannah College of Art and Design as a petri dish for culturing a blight of reason and suspicion that would soon wither Matthew's holy heart. Currently, Matthew festers away in Seattle, WA whilst conjuring images with his loathsome tools of pencil and brush.

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

-Coming from a fundamentalist Evangelical background and how that affected his upbringing and his art.

-His fascination with the Book of Revelation and how that type of imagery speaks to more people.

-His fascination with prehistory and language.

-Drawing pictures of angels versus demons as a kid.

-The conflict of feeling guilty for reading comics but resolving that by drawing violence himself.

-How his art is less about the shock value and scaring people, and more about making a genuine connection with people of similar upbringing.

-The importance of learning other worldviews, and how oftentimes that can come through podcasts.

-How he quit his job and went to freelance work

-His advice for people who want to create something that is considered out of the "norm."

-How his past year has been the most difficult for him creatively.

-How writing without a filter helps to give him an outlet and to analyze his thoughts about things.

-How cutting coffee out of his life has made him much more even-keeled.

-How connecting with another artist can really help to give you courage when you can connect with their message and journey.

-How he quit his job after hearing a compelling episode of a podcast.

"I had family members that saw my work and said "I couldn't sleep that night after I looked at your work."

"Get out of your comfort zone. Talk to people that think the exact opposite of what you think."

"I don't want to look back and think, 'what would have happened if I had just kept going with this stuff?'"

"I just don't stop."

Brom (illustrator)

Zdzisław Beksiński

Clive Barker

Francis Bacon

Algernon Blackwood

Sidebar Nation

Your Dreams, My Nightmares Podcast

One Fantastic Week Podcast

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Behance