You can’t go into you know, into an interview and say, here I drew some pictures to show you what I can do for your company but nevertheless, it’s creativity and it’s showing me as a teacher that they get it.
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That’s A.C. Teacher, dad, and musical influence to the stars. A.C. phoned it in to share his scholastic-grade sarcasm, classroom techniques, and what it’s like to look through his eye for design.
Listen for tips on how to engage jr. high and high school kids who might not be able to communicate all that they’re learning by using art! And find A.C. on Twitter and Instagram at @bigfabAC.
Question of the week: What are your barriers to being creative? What keeps you from being creative if you used to be or what keeps you from being creative if you never were? Give us your thoughts in comments, on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook so we can feature your answer!
AC’s bedroom (photo by Casey Kopecky)
Atomic clock ((photo by Casey Kopecky)
Shelves in the office (photo by Casey Kopecky)
Shelves in the office (photo by Casey Kopecky)
Guest room pre-Michael (photo by Casey Kopecky)
Guest room pre-Michael (photo by Casey Kopecky)
Guest room pre-Michael (photo by Casey Kopecky)
Stretched vintage fabric by AC (Guest room pre-Michael (photo by Casey Kopecky)
This week on Chatty Crafties: Angelica Norton: Landscape Designer, Mother of 2, and binge-crafter vs. Amber Moreno: career-averse Personal Organizer, Mother, of 1 and serial procrastinator. Will one out-craft the other? Will questions and answers clash in a heated discussion while the a/c remains off to minimize background noise? Will it all end up on the cutting room floor? We’re pitting host against producer this week for a very special episode.
YOUR HOMEWORK THIS WEEK: make TEN of something, or scribble out 3 morning pages.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Do you ever go back to read, listen to, or watch your old work? Also, show us pics of your personal workspace.
Let us know on Twitter and Instagram using #chattycrafties or reply on the QOTW post! We like to incorporate your answers in our interview. Shout out to Mortimer Ex for her “music to create to” playlist idea. On that note, check out our Chatty Crafties Spotify playlist. While you’re at it, Amber’s blog, Morenovision for some wildly cute baby pics.
You have the part of yourself that goes to work and is a parent and is functioning in the world and then you have something else that is much more intelligent than that and is bigger than that and it can help you piece things together.
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That’s Jon. Drummer, dad, distresser of doors, and assembler of beats. Musically, he goes by Flameburger Jonesies, but if you want to dabble in real estate with the man behind the mix, look up Jon Chambers at Realty Austin. Jon joined us to chat about parenting, inspiration, collaborating, his art process of choice, and your word of the day, “palimpsest.” Definitions and more coming right up in this week’s episode.
Do you make art out of everyday objects in your house? Are there repetitive themes in your art? Chat us up on Instagram or Twitter via the hashtag #chattycrafties
Painting by Jon Chambers in Angelica’s living room
So, I’ll try to engage people around me more – and that is not in my nature. That is the nurturing aspect of being told that I’m funny, and that people will come watch me, and that people want to be in shows with me. You know, if you stroke someone’s ego enough, it gets healthy.
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That’s Aaron. Improvisor, writer, and reluctant physicist with the voice of a news castor. Stay tuned for a human interest story about the cult of improv, building realities, and how to play nice with other grown-ups.
Aaron Saenz’s writings can be found at Strange But False. He can often be found doing improv at Austin’s Hideout Theatre.
Do you perform improv? Are there ways a novice could get started? Tell us about your love or fear of making it up on the fly in front of strangers in the comments, or via #chattycrafties on Instagram and Twitter.
I recently made a baby quilt in a fun collaboration with the friend I was making it for (Genevieve Saenz, our first podcast interview). While deciding what fabric swatches to use, we talked about our individual approaches to sewing and what setting aside time for making things does for our wellbeing. Then somehow after an exhausting week of work, I was energized by figuring out how to piece this bad boy together and level up from basic blankets to a real quilt with binding. As I pieced it together, I realized it was just as exciting for me to TALK with my friend about why we make various kinds of art and what goes through our brains during these creative sessions. I also realized I had a community of friends with similar hobbies, be it music, performance, painting, writing, architecture, building, and growing… and I wanted to set aside time to celebrate their processes. I then asked my old high school pal, Amber Moreno, if she’d help me put this podcast together as my producer. We’d been crafty together more times than I could count, and I value her creative direction to elevate the ideas in ways I couldn’t imagine without collaboration. Plus, her sultry delivery from previous radio and voice-over work make for a fine intro and outro.
Hopefully, our discussions will inspire our listeners to try the project they’ve been putting off or been intimidated by, because sometimes it’s the DOING that makes art worthwhile. I’ve heard people tell me from time to time that they aren’t creative when they asked about a project I’m working on, and I promise you, that’s their own critic getting in the way. We are all creative. We were all daydreaming kids who colored for hours or put together dance routines. We all played with instruments to explore sounds. We only learned to be self-conscious of our imperfect efforts when trying new things as we got older or someone told us we weren’t good at it. Around here, we encourage each other. So how about we just all agree that we are amazing and we should all go out and make some art?
Chatty Crafties 