The Sage Arts

Do you strive for perfection in your creative work only to find it sucks the joy out of the process or keeps you from accomplishing more in your life? Perfectionism, for all that we are feed the idea the we need to be as perfect as possible, can get in the way of attaining your version of success, if not be down right ruinous for you and your art. In this episode, I discuss the ways perfectionism...

Who is your audience and what is your relationship with them? What are you providing or sharing with your audience and what do you need from them? A co-host artist’s chat, Brett and I work through everything from who we create for to whether we need an audience to why audience size is irrelevant and more. We really dig down to the essence of the value of what we do for the wider world as well as f...

Do you consciously look at the world through your lens as an artist? In other words, do you stop to consider how you are seeing things and make a conscious effort to look at the world without bias or expectations and with intention? Doing this takes vigilance and practice, but most importantly, it takes awareness of the issues that stop you from seeing the world as it really is or what it could be...

Practice, iteration, discipline, commitment… do these concepts bring up a sense of dread or conjure images of tedious repetition when associated with your artistic process? Well, we might just change your view on that after listening to this episode. In “Transformational Practice”, I speak with Ginger Davis Allman, the head guru and creator of The Blue Bottle Tree, an essential informational and t...

What do you do to keep your Muse well-fed and happy? We know we need to feed it, know that inspiration is important to our creative endeavors but what do we actively do to ensure that happens on a regular basis. That's what this little chat here is all about. I'll help you see your muse as something that is within your control to bolster and talk about the many ways you can do that even when its h...

How do you feel about critique? Do you welcome it? Do you avoid it? What does or would the purpose of critique be in your artistic process assuming you would want to take advantage of all the wonderful things it can do for you? Sound serious? Well, we’re not! There is a ton of fun and silliness to be had around this sometimes scary subject. Since Brett and I have been critiquing and being critique...

Are you looking for a challenge aimed at helping you develop a more singular focus or are you looking for ways to make your art more accessible and desirable for galleries, shows, publications, wholesale, etc? My guest Deonne Kahler and I talk about the process of creating a series or themed body of work and the advantages and challenges of taking on this type of project. We also touch on ideas an...

Do you prefer to primarily work in one medium and technique that gives you an easily identifiable style but makes you feel like a one trick pony, or do you have a variety of interests that might make your style and voice a bit difficult to pin down, but you wonder if you should focus more? Or are you somewhere in between? In this episode, I aim to help you idenfity how many grooves (aka focuses) y...

How do you feel about AI creating “art”? Is it something you’d want to explore, or have already? Or would you prefer to completely extricate it from the halls of the artistic world, never to cast it’s algorithmic shadow on us again? In this rollercoaster of an episode we explore AI from multiple angles. Bringing my good friend, author and game designer Jim Brown, along for the ride, we explore the...

Do you see yourself as an artist? Why or why not? Do you give your artistic self the permission, love, and priority in your life that it deserves and that you need? The conversation today is centered around the idea of becoming or growing as an artist and really owning the idea of what that means so you can pursue a fullfilling and successful artistic life. My guest, Melanie West, an artist with a...

Do you name your artwork? If you do, what guides your naming decisions and how does that support your artistic goals and focus? In this episode, I clarify why it’s important for artists to, very purposefully, determine if and how they will title their work. Titles becomes part of the piece, so it's important to choose a name with as much intention and care as you give your color choices or composi...

How does the artwork of others that you are exposed to affect your work, and how do you use the inspiration you derive from what you see when you create? Because we are exposed to so much art, especially if we look to the art of others for inspiration, we are unavoidably influenced by these outside sources. How we filter that influence, how it affects our artistic voice and our motivation to creat...

What importance does story play in the creation of your art work? And how can you use the idea of story to help you in the areas of your work you are looking to improve or change? In this episode, we explore the use of story in the creation of art as well as look at how people insert their own stories into what they see as a way to understand how you can tap into that to give viewers (and buyers)...

Who do you create for and why? My conversation today is with the multi-talented powerhouse of an artist, Christi Friesen, a polymer and mixed media artist who has authored a dozen books and more articles in more magazines than I think even she can count. She is a skillful teacher with a huge, magnetic personality that has drawn fans from all over the world. She’s built a life around her full-time...

Can you be a child at play when you create? Play is a major part of the creative process but how often do we let that child side of ourselves run free, showing us the wonder of the world around us and breaking through our self-imposed limitations? In this short episode, Sage discusses the role that play, well, plays in the creative process, why children have such instant access to the imagination,...

Do you create for the joy of the process or to create a product? Come join us for a casual discussion between myself, Sage, and my better half, animation artist and director Brett Varon, as we discuss quotes from Picasso that lead us to investigate what we might be after in our creative endeavors as well as how our art can have a mind of its own. Among other things silly and sundry things. Send yo...

What drives your work and the direction of your artistic journey? A lot of the struggles that artists deal with come from areas that ignore or even deny who we really are and what we really want. The problem is, it is very hard to discern who we are and what we really want from the constant, nonstop bombardment of other people’s ideas about what makes a perfect, fulfilled, content, and successful...

On this inaugural episode, we’re chatting about Intention—that sometimes difficult to pin down focus that can guide and inform all our artistic decisions. We’ll be talking about the specifics of intention and how you can use it to design art you love to create. By the time we’re done, you’ll be able to identify the types of intention that you tend to use, learn about types of intention you may not...

Sage runs down the objectives of this new artist focused podcast which revolves around recreating the same energy and drive found in those immersive in-person creative conversations we've likely all had but don't have enough of, Get a little taste of how Sage and friends plan to feeds the mind, energize the muse, and keep you on track to find meaningful and rewarding artistic success in whatever w...