Makers & Mystics

Flannery O’ Connor was a Southern, fiction writer and essayist born March 25th 1925 in Savannah, Georgia.  She was a devout Roman Catholic with a penchant for satire, dark humor and wild, religious imagination. Today, O’Connor is considered to be one of America’s greatest fiction writers and an apologist for the Catholic faith. Her stories are far from what you might imagine coming from a Southern...

Lewis Hyde  is a scholar, essayist, translator, cultural critic and writer whose scholarly work focuses on the nature of imagination, creativity, and property. His book, THE GIFT: Creativity and the Artist in the modern world is now considered a classic. Written over twenty-five years ago, this book is even more necessary today than when it first appeared. The Gift brilliantly orchestrates a defen...

Nadine Ellsworth-Moran is the winner of our first annual Bright Wings poetry contest. Nadine is a Georgia resident where she works in full-time ministry while pursuing her love of writing. Her essays and poems have appeared in Interpretation , The Presbyterian Outlook, Structo, Kakalak , and Saint Katherine Review , among others. In this episode, Stephen is joined by contest panel judge and poet,...

Makoto Fujimura is a leading contemporary artist, author and speaker whose process-driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of the New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time.” In a culture driven by speed and instant gratification, the idea of slow art runs counter to our normal modes of living. Mako’s approach to art challenges our relationship to...

Teresa of Avila was a Spanish, Carmelite nun born on March 28th, 1515. She was an avid writer, social reformer and mystic known for her wit, charm and intense spiritual ecstasies. In this Artist Profile, Stephen Roach offers a glimpse into the life of this eccentric and accessible mystic whose life remains applicable for us today. Join the Creative Collective and get additional content, access to...

Lauren Midgley is a conceptual fine art photographer based in Oklahoma. Her photography stretches beyond the historical use of the camera and invites the viewer into a world of surrealism and visual storytelling. In a world saturated with digital imagery, Lauren employs illustrative, advanced digital manipulation to paint virtual narratives that speak to the heart of our collective human experienc...

Pop Artist and cultural icon, Andy Warhol started his career as a commercial artist working as a successful illustrator for magazines and advertising agencies but eventually made the leap to become an independent, exhibiting artist in New York City. Andy’s unique style of portraying screen-printed images of his lifelong obsession with celebrities and mundane objects propelled him into the spotligh...

In this opening episode, Stephen Roach talks with singer-songwriter Josh Garrels about his latest release, Chrysaline. The two discuss the personally transformative experiences that informed the making of these songs and how collaboration and environment impacted Josh’s creative process. Josh shares openly about his experience of personal frustration that led him to place his music on the altar. *...

This LIVE Season Finale episode features the perspectives of diverse voices you’ve heard on the podcast; Amena Brown, Josh Garrels, Vesper Stamper, Cole NeSmith and CJ Casciotta. In today’s panel discussion, these five discuss the tension between the soul and the business of creativity. In the realm of art-making, there can seem to be a tension between our desire to create authentic works, works w...

John O’ Donohue was a modern-day mystic, philosopher, theologian and poet. He spent his life along the West Coast of Ireland where the solitude and beauty of the land shaped him as an artist and thinker. Imagination As The Path of the Spirit John O’ Donohue Featured Music: Songs of Water Join The Makers and Mystics Creative Collective ! Maker Tier Patrons can enjoy additional Patron-Only content,...

Jason Burkey is a professional actor who has appeared on television shows such as The Walking Dead, Nashville, Being Mary Jane, The Resident and a score of other well-known programs. His movie credits include a lead role in the 2012 surprise hit, October Baby as well as Lady and The Tramp, I Can Only Imagine, Bigger and The Art of Self-Defense. Jason is also a founder of " Act For A Change ,&...

Gerard Manley Hopkins was a Jesuit priest and English poet born July 28,1844. He is considered to be one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era although during his lifetime, his poetry was never published. His approach to poetry was deeply enmeshed with his intimate and mystical spirituality. For Hopkins, who was an avid lover of nature, poetry was a means of accessing the Divine and of discov...

CHARLIE PEACOCK is a Nashville-based, 4x Grammy Award-winning, composer, record producer and recording artist. His production credits include Chris Cornell, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Americana successes such as The Lone Bellow, Holly Williams and The Civil Wars.  Charlie is considered one of Nashville's most prolific cultural influencers and has dedicated himself to championing the independ...

James Hampton was an African American visionary and found object artist who built a 180 piece throne in preparation for the second coming of Christ and wrote and accompanying manuscript in untranslatable language. Support The Podcast! See James Hampton’s Work Spiritual American Trash Book Send us Fan Mail Support the show Sign Up for Our Newsletter! http://eepurl.com/g49Ks1 Connect with Makers &am...

Lanecia Rouse Tinsley is an abstract artist based in Houston, TX.  Her portfolio also includes a range of work in photography, painting, teaching, writing, and speaking. Lanecia creates out of a desire to make the invisible landscapes within and the human condition known; using texture, form + color to speak to life upon various surfaces in ways words cannot. In addition to her art, Lanecia works...

Lilias Trotter was a British artist, writer and visionary. It has been said that through Lilias’s contact with art critic and social philosopher, John Ruskin, she had the opportunity to become one of England’s greatest and most famous artists of her day. Yet, for her own convictions, Lilias turned away from this opportunity and followed a path that assured her of obscurity and promised no certain...

Sleeping At Last i s the moniker of Chicago-based singer-songwriter, producer and composer, Ryan O’Neal. Ryan’s music has been featured on popular television shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds and The Vampire Diaries and has appeared in Films such as The Fault In Our Stars and The Twilight Saga. Ryan has collaborated with numerous noteworthy songwriters such as Billy Corgan of Smashing Pump...

Meister Eckhart was a late 13th and early 14th century philosopher, theologian and mystic born in central Germany. In 1326, he was accused of 150 accounts of heresy and went on to be tried before the Catholic Inquisition. Today, however, Meister Eckhart’s writings have influenced artists and spiritual seekers from most every tradition and walk of life. Articles and blogs mentioned in this episode:...

Alastair  Humphreys has been on expeditions all around the world, traveling through over 80 countries by bicycle, boat and on foot. He was named as one of National Geographic’s Adventurers of the year for 2012. He has walked across southern India, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, run six marathons through the Sahara desert and participated in an expedition in the Arctic, close to the magnetic Nort...

Earlier this year, I traveled to the beautiful country of England. While I was there, I had the opportunity to meet with singer/songwriter Martin Smith in his hometown of Brighton. We shared a breakfast together and afterwards I asked if he would be willing to answer a few questions I could share with our listeners. Martin was gracious and obliged, so I quickly pulled out my cell phone and capture...

Jeremy Begbie is Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Professor in Theology at Duke Divinity School. He is also Senior Member at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge. He is Founding Director of Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts, one of the main aims of which is to foster theological-artistic links between Duke and Cambrid...

This artist profile episode is about the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral and how writer Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame inspired a generation to restore this historical landmark. The human heart longs for restoration and it is the artist who embodies this longing through artistic works and creative acts. We long to preserve and sustain beauty because in beauty’s longevity is tied our...

Amy Orazio is a poet, teacher and writer from the Pacific Northwest. She received her MFA in Creative Writing at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles California. Her work has appeared in publications such as Bitterzoet, Gap Tooth, Pidgeonholes, Synasesthesia, and The Curator magazine. Amy’s latest collection of poems, titled Quench , is a meditation on exile and coming home. In this episo...

Austin Kleon is the  New York Times  bestselling author of  Steal Like an Artist ,  Show Your Work!, and The Steal Like an Artist Journal: A Notebook for Creative Kleptomaniacs . His work has been translated into over twenty languages and featured on NPR’s  Morning Edition , PBS  NewsHour , and in  the New York Times  and  the Wall Street Journal . The New Yorker  said his poems “resurrect the new...

Sister Corita Kent was an artist, printmaker, educator and an advocate for social justice. She broke through religious norms in the art world of her day by incorporating popular song lyrics, advertising images and slogans into her work. Her pop-art style is reminiscent of the works of graphic artist, Andy Warhol. When Corita viewed Andy’s artwork in the Los Angeles Ferus Gallery, in 1962 she soon...