The Artist In Me Is Dead

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Carmen Radley I met Carmen through the online writing community and newsletter, The Isolation Journals, where she serves as the managing editor and host of the monthly writing hour called The Hatch. In this conversation you'll hear how Carmen became a co-collaborator with the founder, author Suleika Jaouad, and how The Isolation Journals has evolved in so many beautiful ways. Carmen is based in Austin, Texas, and her family has been rooted in Texas since the early 1900s. Before coming to her present role and work, Carmen was a k-12 educator, hospital ship journalist, and professional biography writer. As we talked, she shared that her current personal project is focusing on reclaiming her hometown of Sour Lake, Texas, as a forgotten place. She is writing this book with no promise that it will be published, but this allows her to explore and evolve it before the pressures of the market come on it. Carmen's love of literature and her poetics are so evident in this conversation - I can't wait for you to experience it!Please enjoy this episode with Carmen Radley.To learn more about Carmen's work follow her on Instagram via @theisolationjournals and check out the community at TheIsolationJournals.com and on substack: https://theisolationjournals.substack.comStudio Mix #14 :|: Carmen Radley Fast Car by Tracy ChapmanThe Promise by Sturgill Simpson (When in Rome cover)16, Maybe Less by Calexico, Iron & Wine Texas Sun by Khruangbin & Leon BridgesSummer's End by John PrineListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2apnzasqONvzmEuhNMOjIDCarmen Radley's Biography:Carmen Radley is the editor of the Isolation Journals. She's currently writing a climate change memoir about her hometown of Sour Lake, Texas, an early twentieth-century oil boomtown where her family has worked in the oilfield for more than a century. A graduate of the University of Texas and Bennington College, she lives in Austin, Texas.Episode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Pam Kravetz. Pam Kravetz, “a mural makin', street paintin' quilt sewin', yarnbombin', curatin', flashmobin', tutu wearin' rootin' tootin' art monster.” She is a regionally & nationally recognized visual artist with more than 50 art exhibits & installations.Pam is the epitome of “come join me” for all the fun! Pam is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, where May 21st is officially Pam Kravetz Day and after our conversation, I'm sure you'll understand why she is celebrated not only by her city, but also by anyone who meets her. She is an advocate and empowers those around her. She did throughout her k-12 teaching career and she continues to do so through her collaborative art making process, known as Pam & Co.We cover so much of Pam's amazing life in this conversation: from elementary art teaching to advocacy to starting her own synchronized swimming team and becoming a lifeguard at age 61! Give yourself the gift of getting to know Pam through this conversation. Please enjoy this conversation with Pam Kravetz. To learn more about Pam, check out her instagram @pamkravetz and her soon to be revealed new website pamkravetz.comStudio Mix #13 :|: Pam Kravetz These Boots Were Made For Walkin' by  Nancy Sinatra Brick House by The Commodores Talk to the Animals by Rex Harrison (Dr DoLittle) Love Shack by The B52's Ohio River by Jake Speed & the FreddiesListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4roohnY6SPlTkj61moO2I2Pam Kravetz's Biography:Pam Kravetz - She's a mural makin', street paintin' quilt sewin', yarnbombin', curatin', flashmobin', tutu wearin' rootin' tootin' art monster. She is a regionally & nationally recognized visual artist with more than 50 art exhibits & installations.With Pam, Contemporary Art is not a spectator sport – it is understandable, accessible, interactive and community oriented. Truly, she is inspired by the beauty in the chaos of the everyday. Her artwork ranges from street art, Artworks installations at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital to monumental Memory Quilts in the lobby of the Contemporary Arts center. Recently Kravetz was the Art Director for The Blink Parade, a Board Trustee for Artworks ,The Art Academy of Cincinnati, Ish Festival, HRC (Human Rights Campaign), and was a Co-Onsite Liaison for the National Council for the Ceramics Arts (NCECA) Conference in Cincinnati.She is the creator & face of CAC-tV and the curator of the live art performances. Her alter ego, Pinky Shears is the notorious Mastermind of the Yarn-Bombing Collective – the Bombshells of Cincinnati and the performance art collective The Polyester Spy Club. Her current exhibit on view at the Cincinnati Art Museum Rosenthal Education Center – Ace Ramone, Mr. Doodle-Boy & the Peanut puts the best parts of herself & her art into an interactive wonderland. Her interactive exhibition, I Think My Uncle Gershun Was A Golem, at The Weston Art Gallery in Cincinnati, Ms. Kravetz used her artist voice and platform to talk about her family, her Jewishness and antisemitism. Currently, she has an installation at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center in the Creativity Center's UnMuseum, titled Pinkolicious Pamajama's House of Wonder and Silly Scooter's Playhouse. Kravetz is also a CityBeat newspaper Best Artist of 2022, an Enquirer Cincinnati Women of the Year 2017. She has numerous awards and recognitions as both an artist and art educator. Pam is always up for the next larger-than-life art bonanza!!Episode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Zahra Hooshyar Zahra is an interdisciplinary artist based in Northern California, who describes herself as constantly stuck in diasporic liminal spaces. Zahra and I met at Anderson Ranch Arts Center where she was working as a ceramics intern. She was my workshop assistant for a week-long terra sigillata workshop, which we can now fondly refer to as t-siggy thanks to Zahra. She's one of those people who feels like magic when you meet her. She engages with a desire to be submerged fully in the wholeness of life. Zahra is a first generation Iranian-American, who was born and raised in West Virginia to a cute and short pair of Iranian immigrants. We recorded this episode on the day her BFA thesis show opened. She is graduating from the University of California-Davis with a degree in Studio Art and a minor in Persian Studies, and as you'll hear from our conversation, Zahra is a human containing multitudes of experiences and knowledge. Please enjoy this episode with ZahraTo learn more about Zahra's work follow her on Instagram @zazahoosh and check out her website http://www.zhooshyarstudios.comStudio Mix #12 :|: Zahra HooshyarBe Careful by Greentea PengPrelude by Ali AzimiLamp Lady by SevdalizaIt Never Rains Here Morteza by KioskNo Bus by lophiileListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/42rb0A0IahbU54upMbEcxW Zahra Hooshyar Biography:Zahra Hooshyar is an interdisciplinary artist with an emphasis on ceramics. Born and raised in West Virginia to a cute and short pair of Iranian immigrants. She is a first generation Iranian-American that is constantly stuck in diasporic liminal spaces. Hooshyar will be graduating from the University of California-Davis with a degree in Studio Art and a minor in Persian Studies.Episode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Emily Romens. Emily's creative practice has evolved from that of art student to arts administrator to presently new mom. We discuss the importance of self-compassion when it comes to your creative practice and how to recognize when you might be missing or lacking your own creative motion. Emily shares ways artists can advocate for themselves when they are beginning careers or jobs in arts administration. She offers ideas for how you can ask for your creative practice to be part of your employment agreement. We also dive into the feelings of shame that bubble up when someone tells us “it's so easy to make” and yet we are struggling to take that first step and how it requires a lot of energy to be spontaneously creative. Please enjoy this episode with Emily Romens.To learn more about Emily's work and practice, follow her on Instagram: @emlyrmnsStudio Mix #11 :|: Emily RomensSexy Villain by Remi WolfThe Chain by Fleetwood MacHappier Than Ever by Billie EilishParalysed by The StavesSummer Girl by HAIMPodcasts:Armchair expertLoreThis American lifeMike Bribiglia's Working It OutListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4BggKksXt1YtOrRBUO9NUVEmily Romens Brief Biography:Emily Romens received her BFA in Ceramics from the University of Wisconsin - River Falls in 2017. I make non-objective objects, based on very objective things. I am an object maker, and a bellyacher. I find myself most attracted to patterns of domestic life - each beautiful, overwhelming, insignificant, sexy, humorous, caring, heavy, vague, charming, ordinary, moment. How I get my hands moving has changed a lot over the last five years, but the wonders of my gross domestic life has remained. I am now a mother to my child, the first human who has ever deserved my mothering. And somewhere in there is that object maker.Episode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Hannah Kane. Hannah moves through the world as an artist and wanderer. In our conversation, you'll hear how she prioritizes wonder in her life. And then we meander through Hannah's seeking nature and the teachers that have mentored her along the way, including the ocean.  Later we think about the ways in which our creativity is impacted by our romanticized beliefs about the creative paths of others.The title of this episode is inspired by Hannah's realization that the ocean is never going to get closer to her, so she needs to put herself next to the…*bleep'n*...ocean, just like we need to put ourselves next to our creativity if we want to experience it. We started the recording after catching up and laughing for about 30 minutes, so you'll hear us come into the conversation from that place of connection and joy. Please enjoy this episode with Hannah KaneTo learn more about Hannah's work and practice, follow her on Instagram: @_h_kane_Studio Mix #10 :|: Hannah KaneBoa Sorte Vanessa De Mata and Ben HarperNdokulandela by Bongeziwe MabandlaFalling Water by Maggie RogersShake it out by Florence and the MachineAll I wanna do by Sheryl CrowListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/10eBrgqYCbk3phJOrNS6ahHannah Kane Brief Biography:I move through the world as an artist and a wanderer. I have been enjoying my last few years learning through travel and connection with others. I am constantly seeking new languages to connect with and some of my favorite modes are: conversation, storytelling, clay, dance, yoga, food and my newest favorite surfing. Spiritual work is the most important and interesting to me.Episode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Jeremy Nordin-Berghuis. Jeremy has been working in clay for 20 years. His experience began as a teen at a production pottery business in Northern Wisconsin. Today, Jeremy is moving back to Wisconsin after 5 years in Boise, Idaho, where, as you'll hear, his path was anything but clear and certain when he first arrived. Throughout our conversation, we circle back to the power of questions. To the importance of asking questions borne from curiosity and the responsibility that instructors and educators have in posing questions. And you won't want to miss our side note into taxidermy and how a first date at a Paint n Sip went sideways…but ended up providing a surprising bit of inspiration for Jeremy. Please enjoy this episode with Jeremy Nordin-Berghuis. To learn more about Jeremy's work follow him on Instagram:  @jnbceramicsPS Shout out to @camp_nebagamon for giving so many boys and creatives an encouraging, supportive, and community-driven place to be in the summers. #ktfbPPS there are only three more episodes in Season 1 of @theartistinmeisdeadpodcast ! Thank you for joining us during this inaugural season - I hope you'll come along for Season 2, which will launch in early 2023. If you'd like to support the podcast, you can donate via our website: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com/donate You can also be a sponsor of the podcast! https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com/sponsorships I'm looking for Season 2 support now. Thank you for considering!Studio Mix #9 :|: Jeremy Nordin-BerghuisMoney Machine - 100 GecsPursuit of Happiness - Steve Aoki, Remix Kid CudiStraightjacket - Quinn XCII (92)Anytime - Eve 6, Soundtrack of movie Out ColdA/B Machine - SleighbellsListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ixsQThM1G94JtEcqW4EMjEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Jenn Angell. Jenn is an artist, glaze technician at a small handmade ceramic tile company, and a manager of a community clay studio. We talk about how science theory becomes science in practice through her clay and glaze work. She also shares how it can be difficult to prioritize time in her studio despite her love of working with clay. And how the pandemic era has taken a lot of mental energy away from her creativity. As an introvert Jenn shares how she hopes her art connects with people and the importance of that connection through her art because human to human connection often takes more time for her to develop.Please enjoy this episode with Jenn Angell.Color Research Resources: (there's so many more, but here are a few to get you started)Blue by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and Daniel MinterThe Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. ClairColor: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria FinlayWerner's Nomenclature of Colours: Adapted to Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Anatomy and the Arts by P. SymeColor Problems: a practical manual for the lay student of color by Emily Noyes VanderpoelArt Centers Mentioned: Penland School of CraftAnderson Ranch Arts CenterAdditional Resources Mentioned:Heal Your Body by Lousie HayMayim Bialik's Breakdown PodcastTo learn more about Jenn's work and practice: follow Jenn on Instagram: @jennxangellStudio Mix #8 :|: Jenn AngellWoman (reading) - La Dispute Bury Me - Bayside5 out of 6 - DessaOverbite - Sincere EngineerBrother's Blood - Kevin DevineListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/15B9UXM7OKWSUFB0VaOG7QEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Jazmin Swanson.Jazmin is a ceramic artist and teacher currently living in Oceanside, California. At one point after graduating from art school, she told herself “I'm never going to be an artist again,” because it felt safe to say this, but as you'll hear that only lasted for a bit of time because her creativity and urge to make came back. We explore what it means to find your voice again after a creative break and how she has always had this way of confidently doing things and knowing herself well enough to advocate for what she needs. Jazmin also shares how she avoids burnout by keeping her creativity and herself at a quick walking pace, not running and not strolling, but a quick walking pace that keeps her ideas and self growing. To learn more about Jazmin's work and practice:Follow Jazmin on Instagram: @jazmincolette.studiosStudio Mix #7 :|: Jazmin SwansonLăVǐNDŭR by KAMAUUWhat's Up? by 4 Non BlondesBinz by SolangeSweet Disposition by The Temper TrapDie Young by Max Frost - replace with Did you think by Arlie There She Go by Garren SeanListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ebPszBK0KM3kxJYJC0rmEEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Theresa Schneveis, a multimedia artist, arts educator, and arts administrator living in Virginia. Her connection and conversations with her creativity started at a very early age. You'll hear about her early mentors and artist community and how community remains an important part of keeping her creativity full of vitality. As we are in real time emerging from winter in the Upper Midwest, Theresa's expression that her creativity is currently hibernating seems very fitting to share as this week's episode. CW // domestic abuse Topic notice: Later in the conversation, Theresa shares a bit about being in a domestic abuse situation and art making that followed (47 minute marker - 49 minute marker). If this is a topic that would cause harm to your being, please skip this section of the conversation or skip this episode. Lisa does pause to alert listeners to the topic.  To learn more about Theresa's work and practice:Follow Theresa on Instagram: @theresasnowStudio Mix #6 :|: Theresa SchneveisAlaska by CaiolaSan Luis by Gregory Alan IsakovMenswear by the 1975Running Away by VANO 3000Bodies by The Knocks and MUNAListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3HHVKCaXDH5TTzyoJd28HhEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Olivia House, a Black designer based in Chicago. Social change is at the core of her practice, and Olivia uses design to teach, heal, and build community. You'll hear how a realization prompted a summer-long research project that became so much more. She describes her immersive research approach to her project: Where are all the black designers? Olivia and Rhonda talk about what advocacy looks like in combination with design and about how a little seed of agency grew in her and can grow in each of us to realize our own capacity to create change. To learn more about Olivia's work and practice:Follow Olivia on Instagram: @livs_houseWebsite: https://www.oh497.com/Studio Mix #5 :|: Olivia HouseTransparent Soul by WillowTruth Hurts by LizzoIndustry Baby by Lil Nas X Garden (say it like that) by SZAButter by BTSListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7CcW2hE9vAsIau4620nlnbOrganizations & Books Mentioned in our ConversationBooks: The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing your Joy by Karen WalrondOrganizations: For Freedoms ProjectEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

This episode features a conversation with host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Anders Dickson. During one of his artist residencies, there was a requirement to keep your door open on Tuesdays. In this episode, you'll hear that while that was a physical rule, it's also a great metaphor for his approach to art making and creative exploration. At age 20, Anders, an American, started a semester abroad experience in Germany and then remained in Europe for the past 15 years. One of my favorite parts from his artist statement is:  My studio is like a forest of accumulated items wherein I intuitively incorporate images, and gestures from the environment into assemblages…My role is to move between items like a spider: drawing parallels and connecting narratives into a network with its own internal logic.He currently lives and works between Holland and Paris. Please enjoy this episode with Anders Dickson. Find Anders on Instagram: @dicksonandersStudio Mix #4 :|: Anders DicksonSunflower River Blues- John FaheyStorm - Godspeed You! - Black Emperor Anywhere I Lay My Head- Scarlett JohanssonWildflowers- Tom Petty Might as Well - AcetoneOh! Sweet Nuthin' - The Velvet UndergroundListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6bCJGBOpZqciJRaSoo8RHDEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.comBooks, Artists, Residencies Mentioned in our DiscussionBooks:House of Leaves, Mark Z. DanielewskiTell Them I Said No, Martin Herbert (curator & author)Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M Pirsig The Poetics of Space, Gaston BachelardArtists:Harry SmithDonna HarrowayLucy McKenzieSusan CiancioloSchools & Residencies:Fine Arts Academy in Karlsruhe (Deutschland/Germany)Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg (Deutschland/Germany)Städelschule in Frankfurt (Deutschland/Germany)De Ateliers, Amsterdam (Netherlands), artist residency 

Hey There! Welcome to The Artist In Me Is Dead Podcast, I'm your host, Rhonda Willers. This week the podcast is on Spring Break! In the meantime, catch up on the first three episodes with Lisa Vang, Stephanie Lenertz, and Ira Elliot Corbett - you're sure to find some inspiration in these conversations. I'll return with a new episode next week. I'm so excited about the next set of conversations coming your way in the weeks ahead. Thanks to all of you who have been listening during the first three weeks! If you've been enjoying the conversations, please rate, review, and share with your friends and communities. And as always, subscribe and listen to The Artist In Me Is Dead wherever you get your podcasts. 

This episode features a conversation between host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Ira Elliot Corbett. Ira is a nonbinary transgender artist living and working in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. In our conversation I was struck by their practice of asking themselves questions, such as what do they want to share from a happy place of making and exploration? You'll also hear how BTS lyrics from their song, Black Swan, inspired Ira to ask, am I having my first death of my creativity right now? And how Ira feels a bit like a baby deer learning to walk after recognizing this first death. You will want to hear their studio wrap up answers. One of Ira's responses connected and hit me so deeply, I was moved to tears, literally. Find Ira on Instagram: @iraires_Studio Mix #3 :|: Ira Elliot CorbettLate Night Love Letter-LuxidOUTTA MY MIND- MonsuneOutro:Ego - BTSTake You Back (The Iron Horse Cattle Call), Orville PeckMoon - BTSListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3rcq9r4mdJo7YTkk2brpvXEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

In this episode, host Rhonda Willers and guest Stephanie Lenertz discuss Stephanie's uninhibited and joyful approach to art making. She says, “If it doesn't make you giggle, it's useless!” We explore what it means to be an artist, where she finds inspiration and materials, and how she uses time intentionally, even while cleaning her studio. You'll hear how during the pandemic, she decided to host her own art exhibition in…wait for it… her bedroom!Find Stephanie on Instagram: @stephlenertzhttp://stephanielenertz.comPotential Art Materials for Giggle-Filled Making:Bubble wrapSilly stringPlay dohPearler beadsRhinestonesGlitterPlasti-dipGoogly eyesFeather boaPipe cleanerBirthday candlesGrocery twist tiesStudio Mix #2 :|: Stephanie LenertzStarsign by LitanyWoo! by Remi WolfYou've Got Your Whole Life Ahead Of You Baby by IDER Oops!... I Did It Again by Britney SpearsThe Girl from Ipanema by Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto and Stan Getz (but really any version will do)The ‘90s by FINNEASListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/16Y3Vg7HNClMO9S3zcpn9bEpisode page: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com

In this episode host, Rhonda Willers, and guest, Lisa Vang, discuss how Lisa's creative practice has changed since graduating with an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts. She shares how she explores her creativity today through food and culture and how she is reviving her inner artist by preparing a space for her art making to come back into her day to day. Find Lisa on Instagram: @l.h.vanghttps://www.instagram.com/l.h.vang/Studio Mix #1 :|: Lisa Vang Dateline - PodcastCrime Junkie - PodcastLord of the Rings- Soundtrack & MoviesHarry Potter- Soundtrack & MoviesCriminal Minds - TVSomebody Feed Phil - TVListen to Lisa's Studio Mix on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1QwSgLpnrsySBswWTMsNRy CW // child predators Sensitive topic notice: Later in the conversation, Lisa shares about a specific artwork she created about child predators. If this is a topic that would cause harm to your being, please skip this section of the conversation or skip this episode. Lisa does pause to alert listeners to the topic. Visit: https://theartistinmeisdeadpodcast.com/

Hey There! Welcome to The Artist In Me Is Dead Podcast, I'm your host, Rhonda Willers, a visual artist, author, educator, and mother.  On The Artist In Me Is Dead Podcast I have conversations with guests tracing their creative paths and exploring their current and future creative practices. We discuss the ebbs and flows of creativity and what we can do when we feel creatively stuck. Through these conversations I hope to encourage you to explore and pursue your own creativity in small and big ways. My guests' stories have inspired me, and I hope they will connect with you too. Subscribe and listen to The Artist In Me Is Dead  wherever you get your podcasts.