Masterpiece

This week I reflect on why so many of us want to create but feel like we can't, the cost of constant busyness, and the little flames inside we can't keep ignoring. What is something you want to do that feels scary to say out loud? Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Order a One Word Journal --- Instagram @jessicayolandakaye --- Newsletter https://jessicayolandakaye.substack.com/

Creating a life and art that feels true to you is like climbing a mountain. It can feel long, lonely and uncertain. But after six months of releasing Masterpiece, I'm realising that none of us are meant to do this alone. This is an episode about the cheerleaders who help us find the courage to keep going. And a thank you to everyone who has reached out, shared their story, and reminded me tha...

A conversation with writer Grace O'Neill on Tracey Emin, Lena Dunham, and the tension between self-expression and approval. Thoughts? Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Grace's word for the year is ASSERT. Mine is PERMISSION. Find your word for the year here. --- Grace O'Neill:  instagram   substack Jessica Yolanda Kaye: jyk@masterpiece.fm   instagram newsletter Big Little Things: M...

A conversation with my art teacher and friend, Daryl, on quietening the inner critic, reconnecting with the artist inside, and expressing yourself freely. Thoughts? Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- Contact Daryl:  @blankcanvasartscool Email me:  jyk@masterpiece.fm   DM me: @jessicayolandakaye   Sign up to my newsletter Order a One Word Journal Thank you for listening :) JYK  --- The Masterpiece...

When I moved back to Sydney, I started confronting the things I’d spent years running from. My mind. My body. My feelings. And it was much harder than I expected. Much more time consuming, exhausting, isolating. I thought it was getting in the way of my life and my painting. But lately, I’ve realised it was never separate from the art. It was leading me back to it. Thoughts? Email jyk@masterpiece....

A conversation on leaving the safety of a job, starting something of your own, and why you need your cheerleaders.  Thoughts? Email me at jyk@masterpiece.fm --- BIG LITTLE THINGS 'The Best Money Advice You Will Ever Receive: 4 Rules From the Top Financial Minds in the World' on the Mel Robbins Podcast ( Spotify | Apple ) '10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)' on Acquired (...

So many of us are sitting in the stands of our own lives — wanting to act, but held back by what people might think. In this conversation with Zac, we explore what it looks like to step into the arena. Zac is a clinical psychologist and one of Australia’s leading voices in men’s mental health. He’s also someone who has learned to back himself — to speak, act, and move with conviction. We explore w...

What’s something you want to do this year that feels scary to say out loud? What arena do you want to get into? For me, it’s painting. And yet, I find myself sitting in the stands, afraid to take that first step. --- You can DM me on IG here Email me on jyk@masterpiece.fm Sign up to my newsletter here Order a One Word Journal here I love hearing from you 🤍 JYK  --- The Masterpiece soundtrack is c...

Last year Madeleine Gottlieb spent 53 days in the South Australian desert directing a television series, working 18-hour days in intense conditions — an experience she describes as physically, emotionally and mentally taxing, and completely life-changing. In this conversation we talk about the role friction plays in creative expression, what happens when the plan falls apart (like the day a brown...

It’s the year of the horse and it feels like there’s a shift. More momentum, movement, creative energy. More people wanting to make a change. To get in the arena. But where do you begin? James Clear says when you want to make a change but feel stuck, you don’t lack motivation — you lack clarity. I started this year burnt out, foggy, exhausted. So I made space. I went away for a week by myself, swi...

When you have an idea in your mind, it can feel perfect. The moment you begin, you realise how hard it is to make anything real (let alone good). For the past few months, I’ve been living inside that gap while creating the sound of this podcast. This episode is a reflection on why creating anything with love and integrity is so uncomfortable, the space between taste and ability, and why the pursui...

When I feel overwhelmed, like there aren’t enough hours in the day, every part of me wants to do more. Wake up earlier. Cram it all in. Get on top of things. Lately, I’m learning the opposite might be true. This episode is about doing less. Letting go of pressure. And giving yourself permission to meet yourself where you are. --- You can order a One Word Journal here Email me on jyk@masterpiece.fm...

I always thought perfectionism was a bit of a humble brag — a flaw that was actually a strength. Something that helped you get ahead. Then I read an article in The New Yorker , and everything changed. I realised perfectionism isn’t something to gloat about at all. It’s a debilitating way of being, with deep roots, that can quietly stop you from living, creating, and connecting. In this conversatio...

This week, Matteo and I sat down to reflect on 2025 through the lens of our words — mastery and foundations. We spoke about the friction of moving home, starting therapy, the biggest lessons we took from it, and why my podcast cover shoot became a philosophical lesson for life. We also share our words for 2026 and how we arrived at them.  You can order your One Word Journal here Share your One Wor...

Grace O’Neill is a writer, editor, podcaster, and this year, she became a mother. After years of searching, pivoting, and finally finding the confidence to say I am an artist , Grace had her son, Eli, and time became very real. In this conversation, we talk about the fear of motherhood, how it surprised and stretched her, and what it’s been like writing her first novel amidst it all. We talk about...

Eliza Gosse is not your typical artist. Mathematical, precise and quietly disciplined, she has built an incredible career as a painter — ten solo exhibitions in seven years — and she’s only 30 (and just getting started). In this conversation, we talk about what it really means to commit to a creative life: the steadiness, the structure, the slow evolution. Eliza shares how she plans three shows ah...

I met the Canadian-born TV and film producer, Haley Vickers, at a birthday dinner in 2023. We were both pivoting in our careers, both breaking up with London, and by the time dinner came out, I’m pretty sure we’d both cried. Haley has that rare ability to make you laugh, cry, think, and see things differently. All within a matter of minutes. Haley has spent the last decade developing and producing...

Diana Reid wrote her debut novel at 24 during lockdown, having deferred a corporate law job by a year. That book became a bestseller. In the five years since, she’s published two more, with another and a screenplay adaptation on the way. But what's so remarkable about Diana isn't her productivity, but her perspective. Sitting together on a sofa in London, I was struck by her stoicism, he...

Today, my podcast, Masterpiece, is out. I’ve been talking about this podcast for years — dreaming about it, playing with it, circling around it, and avoiding it. It’s wild how you can want something so much and still be so scared of it. How something can feel so true and so dangerous at the same time. I’ve avoided this podcast because I’ve been afraid. Afraid to trust myself. Afraid to be fully se...

Talia Blank is a painter, poet, filmmaker, and incredibly deep thinker. For Talia, making art is like breathing. It isn’t something she thinks about. It pours out of her. And yet, when she had her first solo exhibition in New York, something she had dreamed of, it broke her heart. In our conversation, we speak about what it really means to be an artist. The vulnerability that creativity demands, a...

It’s halfway through the year. A lot has happened, but it feels like just the beginning. This week, Matteo and I sat down to record a chat, reflecting on Juneuary from our new, empty home in Sydney. After 15 months in living limbo, it feels wildly significant. Like a big exhale. We began the month in the South of France, our favourite pocket of the world. I was clinging to that trip like a lifelin...

I’ve wanted to chat to Jonno Seidler since 2022. I was standing in a queue at Palermo Airport, waiting for a flight back to London, when a friend sent me an excerpt from his memoir, It’s a Shame About Ray . I was immediately captivated by his writing, his honesty, and his bravery. I grew up around Jonno but reading his memoir, I realised there was so much I didn't know. His experience of bipo...

This week I spoke with Madeleine Gottlieb — an award-winning director, producer, screenwriter, and one of my oldest friends. I met Mads when I was five. She was the smartest person I’d ever met, with the bluest eyes and the most commanding presence. We were a couple of drama kids. And listening back to this conversation on a walk this week, I realised, we still are. We talk about morning rituals,...

When Matteo and I spent two months in Puglia at the end of last year, living in a sleepy seaside town, we had a weekend ritual: a long walk by the sea, swimming and reading at Lo Scalo, spaghetti vongole and a spritz, a gelato along the promenade, and a movie on the couch. Off our phones, away from the rest of the world, we could switch off. It was incredible. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lat...

There’s a scene in A Complete Unknown I can’t stop thinking about. Bob Dylan steps on stage at the Newport Folk Festival in ’65. Thousands and thousands of people chant his name. They came to hear the songs they know. To see the Dylan they know. But Dylan has moved on. He picks up his electric guitar and plays his new music. The crowd boos. They throw things. Festival organisers try to cut the sou...