Ink from the Embers

In this episode, we dive into the launch of Corinne's Ko-fi project. From there we talk about starting projects without knowing what the finished product will look like, some of Toby's experience playing live music at his art show, and how a mix of skill levels can make for interesting conversations and learning opportunities.  Links:  […]

In this episode, we talk about hobbies and secondary outlets of creativity. Corinne expands on her knitting and Toby shares about his music. We also go into how our hobbies inform our work. There's a conversation about experts, breaking the rules, processes, and the freedom to try other ways of doing things. Links: James Gurney  […]

“What is it saying now, what does it mean?” We start off talking about Toby's etching adventures and end up in a conversation on working with prompts, oracle cards, and our art as mental momentum, and how conversations with our muse or the universe can inform our work. We dive into tarot cards, generative music, […]

We're back!  In this mini-season of Ink from the Embers, we recorded our conversations in person from the cabin on the family property in the woods of Maine.  Episode one brings a conversation about what we each worked on and went through in 2022, and what we're looking forward to in 2023 with our work. […]

In our final episode of Season Two, we answer your questions and share some of your comments. There's a discussion on how to live with your creative work alongside your daily life and roles outside of creativity. We touch on our favorite and least favorite aspects of our work, what our biggest challenges are, and […]

Episode Eleven: Walking Nature is a key element of both of our processes, and in this episode we talk about another aspect of being in nature: walking. From taking inspiration from, to gaining meditative practices, for mental and physical health, and for connecting to self, we talk about it all. We also go into how […]

How many times in one episode can we say the word ‘deadline'? That's the question for today! In this episode we do a deep dive into deadlines, what our relationships are with them and why, how our evolution with them has happened, and soft vs. squishy vs. hard deadlines. And of course, there's more to […]

As the title of this episode suggests, we're talking about goals: how we make them, how to break them down, what our goals are for 2022, all the while keeping curiosity and growth in the forefront of our minds. We talk about making measurable goals, but also unmeasurable enrichment mindsets. Would you mind sharing with […]

The topic of old work takes us from the practical – archives, digital storage, physical copies – to the reflective. We also talk about biography, how knowing about an artist’s past influences the way we look at their work, and how with social media we can connect with and feel like we know present day […]

In part two of our retreat special, we talk together about our separate experiences. We break down what worked, what didn't, what challenges came up, what we might do differently next time, and what our big takeaways from the experience were.  Heads up if you have little ones around, occasionally some colorful language slips into […]

Welcome to our two part special: Retreats. In early November we took retreats together, but separately. Toby headed to a museum to paint for five days, Corinne took to her family cabin for three days. This first episode contains our audio diaries. They hold our hopes and expectations, daily thoughts, and revelations. Next week we’ll […]

In this raw and revealing episode, we talk about community… and then talk about how we talked about community… and then again we talk about talking about what we talked about. This is a long and winding one, so we hope you'll stick with us through this episode, as we both believe it was beneficial […]

In episode four, we talk about the conversations, challenges, benefits, and our experiences with partnership and collaborations. From the need to sit with and work through discomfort, to learning how to trust our own voices as part of a collaboration, to working through expectations (known and unknown), we dive deep into what it means to […]

As two introverted creatives, we come to this topic as two people who need solitude as a part of our lives, as well as our creative process. Solitude is a full and nuanced topic, and in this episode we try to dive into the nuance and layers of the concept. We talk about how for […]

In episode two we do a deep dive into the concept and impact of place. At first we take some time to talk about space vs. place, then we get into how much energy a change of place can take up, and the effects on our everyday life (mental and physical) including creativity. We tackle […]

In this episode we dive into restarts. We both are coming back to larger projects, and creative life in general after the summer season, asking big questions of ourselves and our work. What does it look like to come back to projects that you've put on the back burner? What has changed? What have you […]

Episode Twelve starts off with a quick announcement: we're taking a summer break! This episode concludes Season One. We'll be back in autumn, full of ideas and topics and creative pursuits.  The episode itself is all about distractions: what we're distracted by and how we bring our attention back to focus on the job at […]

Episode Eleven: Cycles In this episode we do a deep dive into cycles and seasons. We discuss our creative cycles and flow and how they line up to seasonal cycles within the year. We touch on depression, seasonal affective disorder, and chronic pain, and how we can use knowledge of cycles, factors, and correlations as […]

In this episode we're talking doubts and drafts. We get into how to find joy in the mess to help counter the doubts that come up in early drafts and stages of projects. We discuss sacrificial offerings to the creative gods, get a little bit woo about the process, talk about uncovering the story and […]

In this episode started out talking about time management but shifted into more project management. Our conversation meandered from prioritizing projects to setting up a life conducive to making art, being honest with ourselves about our situations and limitations as well as our goals. We talked through breaking down projects, and how sometimes the lines […]

In this episode we chat about what we’re both up to work wise. We talk about Corinne’s progress with her current first draft, and what Toby’s been working on in his studio and beyond. Other topics we touch on are getting out of slumps, collaborations, commerce and art, and the colors Toby chooses for the […]

In this episode talk tools – what we use on a daily basis, how our tools push us as creatives, and inspire our work. We’d love to hear from you! What are your tools of the trade? Do you have favorite items that you use regularly, or do your most prized tools get saved for […]

In this episode we talk about inspiration, starting off with what types of tea we drink to sustain us, and diving into what inspires our creative output, and what inspires us as an artist and writer in general. We’d love to hear from you! What’s your beverage of choice while working? And what inspires your […]

In this, our first of probably many episodes of ramblings, we cover everything from what we’re both working on now, to procrastination vs. letting ideas marinade, to prejudices within the art community and writing community in terms of certain genres and methods of work.  We’d love to hear from you! What projects are you currently […]

In this episode we talk about the ways in which we exercise our skills to keep our creativity fresh and at our fingertips, and how we take care of our minds and bodies so we can sustain our creative lives.  We’d love to hear from you! What are some exercises you use to keep your […]

In this episode we talk about how we each get started, both on work days and on projects in general. Heads up if you have little ones around, occasionally some colorful language slips into our dialog. Thanks for listening!  Notes & Links:  Outlining Your Novel by K.M. Weiland Elizabeth Gilbert’s Magic Lessons Episode 207 “Living […]

In this episode we spend some time probing further at the idea of failure. We dig into the differences in system failure vs. personal failure, how to keep them separate, as well as how the concept of failure plays out differently in concrete vs. objective projects. Heads up if you have little ones around, occasionally […]

In this episode we dive right in and talk about how and why our podcast was created. Our conversation also touches upon our backgrounds, what we’d like to discuss in upcoming episodes, and the big F word: failure.  Heads up if you have little ones around, occasionally some colorful language slips into our dialog. Thanks […]