Fain House Radio: Creative Living Podcast

Hailing from Walkertown, NC Riley Baugus has had all kinds of amazing experiences because of his banjo, everything from being part of the musical line-up for film Cold Mountain , to touring with Willy Nelson, to meeting his wife in England. When he was a kid, making things meant they had things...all the way down to his first banjo he and his dad made together around age 10. He reminds us that mak...

Annie Silverman always knew she was an artist, but it wasn't until her 30s that she had the courage to make the leap. Now, after doing and teaching printmaking, writing and bookarts for years she feels like it is really brave for people to take a class in something they don't know anything about and that if they are provided with good materials and interesting options a beginner can easily have su...

When Tipper Pressley opens a jar of home canned tomatoes and she sees that beautiful red color she says, "It's almost like I can feel the sunshine and remember myself starting the seed, planting it in the garden, then nurturing it and harvesting it with the sun on my arms, processing it...and then there you are eating it on a cold winter day." Maybe the way to a creative life is as simple as lovin...

Karen's creative endeavors range from being a farmer of ginger and turmeric and seasoned massage therapist to resident artist for gardening & homesteading, nature studies, soap making and story telling for the John C. Campbell Folk School. Though she's happy to be living her dream, there have been times in her life when her dream started to look like a nightmare. In those moments she tapped in...

Ian Brownlee dreamed of being an animator and once in art school realized that the reality didn't match the dream. His search for his destined art form continued and he now finds himself an oil painter, mural painter, writer and musician living by his motto "Go places and make things." Though at certain points his entire income has come from painting, he now appreciates his day job as a way to tak...

One day Albert realized that it wasn't people or things outside of him that would heal him. After bouts of depression and a challenging education in what he calls "the school of hard knocks" (a.k.a. life as an adult and young father of two) he had a wakeup call. It was time in nature, time in his ceramics studio and time in quiet contemplation that fed his soul and made it possible for him to radi...

We all know that when there is something our heart wants to do we should just dive in and do it. We also know that this simple idea is often easier said than done. Leadership coach, Atiyeh Ghanbari reminds us that designing your own life is not only possible, but also an ultimate creative act. After gaining a huge love for books from her father, making homes in different countries, tackling a univ...

Potter, singer song writer, yoga instructor, Ayurveda practitioner and personal health coach Hannah Levin's motto is "Make your life a work of art." Though being multi-passionate has meant different things to her at different times, she has remained faithful to the ebb and flow and enjoys the fact that her different mediums of focus are now overlapping in nice ways in her present work. She encoura...

Sometimes the answer to overwhelm in art (and in life) is to narrow the infinite number of possibilities down from a great many to a limited few. After a number of enjoyable years as an academic librarian and documentary film maker/teacher Heather Stewart Harvey has found great freedom in this idea as it applies to her main passion of the moment: ceramics. Endless shades of gray, a minimal aesthet...

What if we want to knit a pair of socks with skulls on them? What if we want to learn the old songs of the Gaelic lands or grab a concertina? Well. If that's what calls you, then you should just get to it. Melissa Weaver Dunning understands this feeling and has plenty of experiences spinning, knitting, natural dyeing and hand weaving that overlap with great stories, traditional music and a desire...

Multi-instrumentalist, performer, teacher and award winning yo-yoer Jim Pankey decided one day to quit his day job as a banker and pursue a career as a professional musician. He now mixes "old-timey" traditional tunes and teaching on banjo, ukulele and mandolin with "new-timey" technologies such as YouTube to put his work out into the world. He encourages students to always keep their instrument o...

Lauren deSerres went from explorations with clay, sculpture, wood carving and toy making to becoming a mixed media painter, art teacher and raiser of chickens. She experienced an improved emotional quality of life when she decided to become a self-employed, full-time artist. Though some days are full of accounting rather than painting, it remains her happy place...especially if she sticks to her m...

Melissa and Graeme are partners in life and partners in work. They share a love for nature, tiny house building and learning old-time banjo and are known internationally for their collaborative sculptural wood art. Though a life of constant collaboration isn't always easy and juggling the emotions that come with Graeme having left New Zeland to make his home with Melissa in the U.S. can be very ch...

Music, art and dance have pulled Nanette through both the good times and the bad. Everything from her background in weaving, cooking & Morris dancing to intergeneration friendships to super tasty shortcuts for family dinner making to parades with large puppets have helped her deal with life's ups and downs. She agrees that creative expression is good for all of us and therefore good for those...

Head of a cosmetology department, mother and mixed media painter Misty Kelischeck admits that creative thoughts pass through her mind all day long. Though those thoughts may not make it onto paper or canvas, no one/nothing can change what we have in our mind or in our hearts, not even the constant flow of daily responsibilities. She reminds us that there is always a place for color studies, thinki...

Reader and writer, bookmaker and encaustic painter Georgia Smith is now also training to be a therapist. She thinks often about the place of creativity in our lives and reflects here on how it is a different process for each of us often involving both internal and external struggles. Some are healed through the making of art/music/dance/etc. Others have to face the struggles that keep them from ac...

Commercial and fine art photographer, painter, traveler and mentor Tom Liden shares stories of everything from homesteading and being a solopreneur to how long commutes make for good thinking time and supportive parents can have a huge impact on your creative journey, even if they don't exactly understand it. Learn more about Tom's work here: http://www.tomliden.com/ Signup for our email list : ww...

Multi-media artist, metalsmith, designer, owner of Woodwise Botanicals and mother of two reminds us that sometimes it's more important to choose the creative project over the dirty dishes. Even when her 3 year old took a hammer to one of her gallery pieces and when making a business of art with children around means constant interruptions she holds true to her own advice, "Keep dreaming. Don't sto...

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, dancer and poet Aubrey Atwater shares stories about how being "hell-bent" has been a key ingredient in staying true to her creative path despite the many life challenges that have come along the way. (She also sings us one of her original songs!) Learn more about Auburey here: https://www.atwater-donnelly.com/ See Aubrey dance & play banjo at the same time: https...

Welcome to Fain House Radio. I'm so glad you're here.