Artists on Art

It's the Season 3 finale and it's a very special one with my cousin Kristine Irving. Kristine is an interior designer in Boston and runs the design company Koo De Kir. We talked about her beginnings as an artist and her life as the head of a company that designs spaces around the world, about how our surroundings can impact our well-being, and how design does not have to be expensive. I loved talk...

If you like to see live music in Charlottetown, then you've probably seen Bruce Rooney playing guitar and singing. He's been in a whole bunch of bands over the years, many of them still going, and prides himself on working at the art of music consistently. We talked about how having a fulfilling job can take the pressure off the music work and how he prefers to make music collaboratively rather th...

It's episode 50! I would say that I've surprised myself in getting this many episodes done, but I am extremely stubborn and relentless in my creative pursuits. This episode was super fun. Tom Froese is an illustrator based on the West Coast of Canada. He has built a varied and interesting art career that involves commercial illustration, teaching art, publishing a book (Drawing is Important), offe...

Scott Pound has been an English professor for over 20 years. He wasn’t sure about being on my podcast but I’ve really enjoyed our chats over the years (we’re cousins) and I knew that we’d have a really great conversation about the craft of writing. We also talked about his journey through school and finding his groove in a poetics grad program in Buffalo, how what we love as kids shows up in our a...

Digital artist Sue Gilbert has been turning heads recently with her “Love in Transit NYC” project - allowing millions of people to see her vibrant, colorful images while making their way through the NYC subway system. We had a wonderful, insightful chat about how that came to be. We also talked about art school and her first art job at a greeting card company, the inspiration found in transit hubs...

Steve is a musician, teacher, writer and illustrator of children's books, and author of teaching materials that help schools incorporate pop and rock courses alongside traditional band programs. We had a wonderful chat about how music can set a kid up for success, the value of learning notes along with learning by ear, and how great it is to simply play music with friends. You can find out about S...

Adam is a writer, teacher and musician based in North Carolina. It was great to meet him and talk about his new collection of short stories which will be published this fall. We also talked about how moving around a lot as a kid informs his stories, what his #1 job is as a creative writing teacher, and how writing involves both magic and working on a craft. We also talked about his band - The Mayf...

I met Hamilton's Matthew De Zoete as he toured through PEI to support his first few records. He's not touring as much as he used to, but continues to make music, record albums and play shows. We talked about his favorite venues to play in (and how house concerts break down the barriers between performer and audience), how he tries not to obsess about the past and stay in the present, and what give...

Dave Zackin is based in NYC and is currently selling hand-painted ceramics. He's not great with the pottery wheel though, so he takes the discarded pots and things leftover by people at his community pottery studios and dresses them up as only Dave can. I was smitten with his weird and wonderful work and am grateful he agreed to chat with me. We talked about cartoon drawing, mural painting and wha...

I'm so glad I was introduced to Jesse Lee's work because I became an instant fan after reading one of her novels (My Life as a Silent Movie). She is a fiction writer, poet, memoirist, translator and visual artist (not to mention a retired professor) and has published over twenty books. We had a truly wonderful talk about the trajectory of her creative life and how it's never too late to learn new...

Mickey Acorn is an actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, writer, teacher . . . the list goes on. Since we acted together at UPEI in the late 90's, I've been admiring his work from far away (he's been living in Japan for 18 years). I don't think I've laughed this much in any other episode. We talked about his method of "wri-cording" (writing music while recording it), what lessons you learn on sta...

I just love Daniel Baylis' poetry collections and so when he began releasing music over the last year, I was overjoyed. His music is like his poetry - insightful, raw, beautiful and very true. I'm delighted that he agreed to join me on the podcast. We talked about the benefits of traveling as artists (and as humans in general), how he loves the challenge of adding music to his poetry, and how taki...

The art that Renee has been making over the past several years is compelling, engaging and tells a story. There's a reason for that! We talked about how she's inspired to paint these days, how she made the move to making art full-time (and how much healthier she is because of it), her oracle deck and readings, and so, so much more. You can find out more about Renee, and see/buy her work, on her we...

What fun to interview a fellow MRHS alumni, Megan Aho - a singer-songwriter, author and children's entertainer using the stage name Molly Whuppie. We talked about so many things, including where her stage name came from, how the concept of "play" goes hand in hand with allowing space for inspiration, her love of the folk music style, and why Prince Edward Island is such a great place for artists t...

If you regularly see live music in PEI, you've likely seen James on the stage. He's a killer guitarist and one of my favorite songwriters. I finally got him out to the house to record a chat about how he got started playing guitar and writing songs, what he loves about performing and being a recording engineer, and how him and music are so intertwined it would be impossible to break them apart. Yo...

Julie Bull is poet/writer, mentor, performer and community-builder based in PEI. We got into why they left behind an academic career to focus on creating full-time and have built a practice and a career out of making art and helping others to do the same. There are some great tips in here for getting started, moving past creative blocks, and how bravery can keep you going. You can find their books...

I met Rozalind years ago when both of us were younger and totally fine with touring on a nothing budget and sleeping on floors. It was great to reconnect because I’ve been noticing all of the super cool ways she’s using her talents and helping people recognize theirs. We talked about how being a kid with asthma led to a life-long affair with playing the flute, why she finds the people of Newfoundl...

Nikkie Gallant does many creative and artistic things, and we only touched on a few of them in this episode. She's one of my favorite people to sing with, and we've added vocal tracks to each other's recordings (as well as a bunch of our friend's albums). She has also been dealing with long-COVID, and it was impressive to hear how she was able to keep the creative juices flowing while dealing with...

I met Matt Epp years ago as he toured through PEI playing shows and I was glad to share the stage with him several times. We've always had great talks about music and life and art and I'm really glad I could get him on the show. He is a singer-songwriter, father, carpenter/handyman and a bit of a nomad. We talked about God and songwriting and Emmylou Harris and touring in Europe and so many other...

Welcome to Season 3! Coincidentally, this episode is #33. Interesting. I’m so happy that I was able to get Catherine MacLellan out to the house for a very nice and long-overdue chat. We talked about growing up with a famous songwriter as a dad, practices for good mental health, and some of our very early, 1980’s musical influences. She’ll be releasing a new record in the future and has some shows...

I had a lot of fun talking to Jeff Eagar. He is a film and TV producer in PEI, and began his film career with his brothers because they wanted to make money to keep traveling the world. He had some great stories of epic travels that he turned into TV series, and we had a nice talk about what makes something art. You can see what he's been up to recently on his website , and see what him and his br...

Songwriter/musician Mark Bragg is very grateful to live in a place like St. John's, Newfoundland. I've been a big fan of his music since I saw him hanging from the rafters at Myron's in Charlottetown while his band ripped it up 20 years ago. We had some good laughs and great talks over Zoom (with just a few technical glitches) about how he got started performing (by "showing up to a party with a g...

JD Hughes is a drummer based in Charlottetown, PEI, and we've played in a few bands together over the years. He has great stories from living and playing music for most of his adult life in New York City, and it was great to find out how he got started playing the drums, the importance of music in his life, and how he wouldn't want to do anything else. Podcast theme song - "If you let it" by Drea...

I got to know Jordan years ago when I joined his band for a time and I knew that I'd want to talk to him on this show. He's another multi-genre artist that seems to have done everything - illustration, paintings, murals, songwriting, long-form writing, pastry arts, tattooing . . . and we didn't even talk about his acting or carpentry skills. We did have some nice talks about how he got started in...

Sara Roach Lewis and I have been moving in similar circles for a while - she's a music lover that I've seen at my shows and we've worked together in the non-profit sector. While she doesn't wear the "artist" hat full-time, she is a published writer as well as a former journalist and photographer (not to mention a business owner, facilitator, consultant and coach). We talked about how art and creat...