I first fell in love with printmaking when I pulled my first linocut in high school. Since then, I've tried to soak up as much knowledge and inspiration as I can, which is why I was so excited to hear about Pressing Matters magazine. It's a beautiful publication dedicated to the love of printmaking in all its forms. I interviewed the founder, John Coe, about what inspired him to create it and how it has affected his creative practice.
Since I am now apparently smitten by this art form, and since my two instructors - Jolene Ballendine and Chris Dinger - were so brilliant at creating safe, inviting environments and getting us students to take giant risks, I decided to ask them about what improv has to teach us about creativity and life in general. I was delighted by what they had to say.
I first heard of Andrea when a friend told me she gave the BEST social media advice and since then I've run into her in a few places online AND we took at least one of Andrea Yacyshyn's belly dance classes together. I'm inspired by her flair for storytelling and her passion for local, female-run business - if you're in Edmonton you have to listen to the That's So Maven Podcast.
I first met Andrea when she was a fellow vendor at the Royal Bison market, and later started taking belly dance classes with her. Her passion as a dancer has been a huge inspiration in my own dance journey, her soulful approach to living warms my heart, and I look up to her success as a creative entrepreneur - she's killing it here in Edmonton.
I kept seeing Nela's insightful comments on the blogs I was reading and when I checked out her website I was super impressed. Not only is she a talented artist and designer, but she also has a ton of wisdom to share about creativity and creative businesses. I'm excited that she's here to share some of that wisdom with you!
I found Yuko on Instagram when she was in the middle of her 365 day "Happiness is" illustration challenge, which got me completely hooked on her feed. I loved her cheerful drawings of everyday pleasures and soon found my way to her blog where she shares super helpful insights into what she's learning on her journey as an illustrator. She recently quit her day job to draw full time and it's been inspiring watching her grow.
Artist and illustrator Gloria Ho was introduced to me by a mutual friend who thought we might get along since we were both artists and Royal Bison vendors. Did we ever! From the first day we met we've had so much to talk about. Gloria's watercolours paintings are distinctive and she's so good at capturing the whimsy and delicate beauty of the animals and people that she paints.
I met Tatiana in an online business course and was captivated by her passion for movement. We've shared plenty of creative struggles over early bird specials at the Sugar Bowl here in Edmonton and I always learn plenty from our talks.
Meags Fitzgerald is one of the hardest working creative people I've met. She's incredibly prolific, in all kinds of media, and is the only person I know who has published a book - with another one on the way. I've known her literally her whole life, as our parents were good friends when we were kids, and I've always been inspired by her dedication to living a creative life.
