Inside the Creative Process; Conversations with Artists, Writers, Performers, & Creatives

In this episode, Alicia rants about the 11.8 million dollars that are meant to be cut from the City of San Diego's budget leaving funding for the arts in Sad Diego at zero. She pleads with the arts audiences, the parents, and the appreciators to take a stand for the arts in their community. But overall it's about encouraging ourselves to value the art we make and the industry as a whole.  To take...

In this episode, I talk about the artist's difficulties entering unknown territory. As much as I love the mess in the middle of a process, I find myself blocked at the beginning of a process. I share about my own personal (current) experience of starting something new and the fears that come with it.  If you enjoy this episode, check out this episode about the messy middle: https://podcasts.apple....

There are at least two outcomes that occur as a result of Improvised Dancing: vulnerability of the artist and organic composition. For me, these are two of the most sought after experiences when witnessing art: depth and surprise. In this episode, I look at two pieces of art I've recently encountered: a dance piece called CURRENTING directed by K.J. Holmes and the speculative memoir IN THE DREAM H...

In this episode, Alicia not only encourages artists to create work that is unedited but she actually embodies this practice by publishing an unedited podcast episode and allowing the final product to live as is. Its a liberating experience but also helps the creation of artwork to be more sustainable, risky, and raw. Please consider becoming a monthly patron to the podcast: https://square.link/u/q...

Michelle and Alicia discuss the way dance and creative practice reflects the beauty of life when we as artists and healers make ourselves available to something "bigger" than us. Michelle brings in her knowledge of human design (and a multitude of other embodied modalities) to articulate the importance of each us learning to listen to our own alignment. You can find more information about Michelle...

We hear the word Consistent often as a goal to aspire to. As a trait that makes us worthy and often the only solution to be productive or gain the attention we seek. But Alicia wants to look at OTHER ways to be productive, creative, and "consistent". The truth is that we are each uniquely built down to the way we process and create. There is no "one size fits all" approach to getting into your mos...

In this solo episode, Alicia shares one of her longest ongoing creative processes to date: 13 years of writing and editing a still unpublished picture book series. She takes you through the pivots and the pleasure of being inside a process that relies heavily on trust and intuition during her agonizingly detailed editing process. If you are a writer, this episode is for you.  If you enjoyed this e...

In this solo episode, Alicia grapples with her own personal difficulty witnessing creatives deny their creativity and she ponders ways that we can reimagine a creative process that can exist in our current lives. If you need a creative motivational boost, this is the episode for you. If you want more of this kind of energy, join Alicia for a FREE online workshop: Monday August 25th at 9am PDT for...

In this episode, Alicia continues her conversation with collaborator Omar Ramos as the two stage artists reveal the emerging process for their next performance piece. Listen in on where they are in their process and how they imagine this work unfolding, as they hold onto the optimistic view that the work already exists somewhere in the future. Listen to the rest of the conversation with Omar Ramos...

In this Episode, Alicia talks with friend and collaborator, Omar Ramos, a multi-hyphenate designer with a passion for integrating emerging technologies into stage performances. Omar speaks about his process when working to support the vision of directors, choreographers, or playwrights and the two artists dive into the details of dance pieces they've made together and how they support and challeng...

In this first episode of season 4, Alicia speaks frankly about the difficulties in motherhood of maintaining the creative process and seeing ourselves as artists when we are so enamored/distracted by the responsibility of caring for a child. Alicia shares her journey and the shifts that she made to keep making art including shifting genres, creating new processes, and finding ways to be creatively...

In this episode, Alicia shares her experience in witnessing and processing the dance piece EVEROTHERWISE by Leslie Seiters. Alicia shares how deeply she is moved by the humanity of this piece as she is transported into worlds she knows nothing about but is encouraged to witness with love.    You may be interested in listening to Alicia's interview with Leslie Seiters before or after listening to t...

In this episode, Alicia speaks about her delightful experience attending an intimate sharing of a work in process trio performance. She was invited to witness a WIP showing of the dance theatre piece, Best Worst Advice, and left satisfied and amazed that she was one of only a few to have witnessed THAT performance.  "I highly recommend that if you are in San Diego on July 12 or July 19, you go see...

In this episode, Alicia talks about that place in the middle or the process where things NEED to be allowed to be messy. She goes from her kid's school Art Show to her own experience making her thesis project in graduate school to watching Idina Menzel in the new musical Redwood last year and how ALL of these very different productions had to experience a messy middle and overcome it.  The Messy M...

In this solo episode, Alicia speaks about the importance of being in the body when we create. So often, our society prizes the gifts of the mind but forgets the wisdom of the body. When we stop separating them into two parts of us, we can integrate the whole body at once and utilize all of us as we create our creations.  This episode comes in response to studying the head center in Alicia's class...

In this solo episode, Alicia examines the human design charts of the actors from the movie WICKED, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera. Alicia has been obsessed with the movie since before it came out and even more after seeing it. When she saw the two main actors' human design charts, Alicia realized how they were truly made for these roles and designed to work together.  If you are interested...

In this episode, Alicia talks about her favorite part of the creative process, the epiphanies that surprise and delight all of us and give clarity about the direction our work is going. Alicia also talks about how she creates space to allow more epiphanies to happen by allowing herself to be in the process of experimenting and playing as often as possible. But it's not always easy in the "real" wo...

In this episode, I speak with Alyssa Rose and Jesse Greenfield about some simple and loving ways to be inclusive of transgender and queer people in our community. They share what it feels like to be trans in this anti-trans world we are living in and how micro-affirmations can make all the difference between life and death. Alyssa Rose (they/them) is an artist and dreamer of liberation. They creat...

Yolande Snaith is an interdisciplinary artist and dance practitioner, navigating the merge between diverse creative practices. She has worked collaboratively in the worlds of dance, theatre and film for over forty years across Europe and the United States.  In this episode, Yolande speaks about a tragedy that created a rupture in the timeline of her journey, the death of her son Alexander. She spe...

In this episode, Alicia considers the language we choose to describe what we do. Creativity, creative process, and artistic process seem to be used interchangeably, but is this really true? In attempting to answer, Alicia poses more questions. Listen in and consider your own relationship to the language you use around your art making process.  Other episodes mentioned in this episode: 1. The Essen...

In this solo episode, Alicia makes a case for Play as some of the most important work we do as artists. By play, she's talking about experimentation, exploration, and a letting go of preciousness that can come with the push of trying to MAKE something of importance. What if play is the most important thing?  Alicia is creating a course for creatives and she'd love your input. Please respond to thi...

In this solo episode, Alicia explores the importance of adding intentional stillness to your creative toolbox. Not the kind of stillness that involves Netflix or Instagram, but the value of creating a mental stillness that allows an artist to listen to the whispers of inspiration.  If you're craving stillness in your practice, join Alicia for a Group Breathwork Meditation on Saturday, February 1st...

Stephanie Swilley is a community-taught conceptual artist living in Northern Iowa, USA. Stephanie imposes no creative limitations on her creative expression, her loyalty is to an idea and she follows the mediums and techniques where they lead. Stephanie is the founder of Creative Nexus, an online interdisciplinary creative community. *Check out Creative Nexus here: https://www.stephanieswilleyart....

In this short solo episode, Alicia reveals her sadness about NOT seeing Kamala Harris elected our next president. She has a post-election reminder: Your commitment to your creative process IS a political statement. Make your art but even more importantly, value the time, space, not knowing, and lack of productivity needed to start a creative process and see how this goes against everything society...

In my conversation with Leslie Seiters, we talk about the process of making the piece, 'everotherwise'. A consistent process that started more than three years ago, Seiters describes her self as an in-director, noticing the tangents and pulling out fragments from an ocean of material. She writes about her decision to finally share this work, "It is long-delayed and too soon, emergent and well-esta...