The Creative Pulse podcast

Lottie Hazell is the co-founder and lead designer at Birdwood Games, a board game publishing company she founded with her husband, Jack. Her first game, Dog Park, launched on Kickstarter recently to resounding success! In its 16 day campaign, the funding goal was reached 23 times over! It’s no wonder - Dog Park is a beautiful, card-driven game about walking dogs and features unique watercolour ill...

Through her artwork, Andrea Blackman shares special animals that are native to her area in Australia. She brings out the cute, playful, and even mischievous nature of wildlife such as magpies, kookaburras, and sugar gliders. She’s even been known to welcome adorable red pandas to her artistic world as well! In an effort to reignite her creative passion, she embarked on a “Sketch a Day” challenge e...

John Goudie is a talented, energetic, community-focused entrepreneur. He is a creative arts producer, a photographer, videographer, painter, and a DIY-er. That’s come in handy after his family’s recent move, 5,000 kilometres across Canada, en route to establishing their longstanding vision of creating a retreat centre. The creative arts-based business he runs with his wife, Wendy (last week’s gues...

Wendy Goudie is an energetic, passionate, determined and talented entrepreneur. She’s a creative movement expert - expressing herself through many different forms of dance as well as yoga, regularly teaching and delivering presentations on both topics. The creative arts-based business she runs with her husband John (next week’s guest!) is made up of several divisions including the Sparkle Dance Ac...

Justin Bateman has made all kinds of different artworks over the years - sculpture, drawing, painting, and most recently, land art that’s made of pebbles. You may have seen photos of his spectacular version of the Mona Lisa - his version is called Stona Lisa - or one of his other incredible creations. Last year, just prior to the pandemic beginning, he went to Thailand to pass the impending lockdo...

Shawn McCann brings the most incredible images to life using chalk on streets and sidewalks in communities around the world! Over the years, he’s been involved in many kinds of artmaking including making 2D and 3D chalk street paintings, murals, fine art, designs for children’s books, installation art, temporary and permanent art, and commercial illustration. Shawn is the co-founder of Chalkfest a...

Alexis Airington uses her creative talents to take amazing-smelling supplies and turn them into incredibly-decorated treats. She creates edible works of cookie art thanks to her imagination and incredible skill. Through her Improv Cookie Company, she makes people smile every single day. Who can resist a delicious cookie that’s decorated with a favourite cartoon character, a TV or movie theme, or a...

Dave Gee has an instantly-recognizable drawing style that he’s made his own through lots of practice. He’s a doodle artist, creating his trademark maps that combine his unique doodle style with cartoonish illustrations. He creates maps of cities that are unlike any you may have seen before. To give you an idea, they’re often wall-sized, and much more fun than a typical map! Dave is based in Manche...

Hello friends! This is the one year mark of the podcast and today I’m taking a moment to thank all of you for being here. And to the 51 guests who have joined me on the 50 episodes that have come out so far, a huge thank you to you too! I think this community we’re creating, and everyone in it, needs to be celebrated! So that’s what we’re doing today. New episodes will start up again in September,...

Inspired by her grandfather’s talent and love of creating stained glass, Chantelle Elsligar took the opportunity to learn the basics of the art form from him. Although he was dealing with memory issues they managed to share these special moments together, creating a family tradition in the process. Once Chantelle started experimenting with designs of her own, she fell in love with the creative pro...

Alex Jepson designs and hand carves different types of wood, shaping unique, puzzle-like pieces that come together as incredible pieces of art. His subjects include iconic Canadian landscapes, animals, and creative interpretations of some of his favourite artists’ favourite subjects, such as Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Sunflowers. Luckily for his fans, he shares lots of behind-the-scenes and work-...

TJ McGrath has loved flowers forever, always an admirer, thinking about how amazing it would be to work with them every day. Until one day when he didn’t have to dream about it anymore - he took a giant leap from another career path entirely, straight into the world of floral design. He learned a lot, quickly. And built a community of fellow floral enthusiasts and professionals. Now he has his own...

Over the past year, longtime artist Anna Chan has found newfound inspiration on a nearby beach. Listening to the call of the materials she found along the way, she began creating ephemeral works of art - meaning they last a very short time. On a beach, that’s usually thanks to the elements, like wind and water. Using found materials such as sand and seashells, she’s made sculptures of a lion, a pa...

Keryn Nicholson had a lifelong love of hats, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that the idea of creating handmade, customized hats professionally was ignited in her mind. She’d never before thought of becoming a hatter but now she says she can’t imagine doing anything else. Turning a lifelong love into an unexpected second career takes a lot of passion and hard work. Now she’s a full-time hatter...

Stacey Robins has been an artist since she was a child, working in a variety of mediums at different times in her life. She says her goal is to make the world more colourful. Painting was a big part of her life for a long time but there came a time when that art form didn’t work for her any longer. That’s when she discovered digital illustration and it’s captured her imagination and led her to cre...

Candace Birger (aka PlexiCosplay) is a talented cosplayer who has been recognized with multiple awards for her incredible costume designs. She even took first place in the armor category at the New York Comic Con Eastern Regional Championships! She’s accomplished all of this by teaching herself how to create all of the elements of her elaborate costumes, including sewing and molding thermoplastics...

Jackie Han discovered origami at a very young age - only 6 years old! His passion for this art form has only grown since then. It’s amazing to see all of the things he can create by simply making a series of folds and creases in a single piece of paper. He’s studied a variety of origami methods and models over the years, so much so that in addition to making things for himself, he also started tea...

Pamela Gaizutyte is a talented dancer and amazing performer who has entertained audiences in her home country of Lithuania as well as internationally for years. Building on her love of dance she started a shoe company called Swingin’ Shoes, where she designs and makes swing dance shoes. She’s won Lindy Hop swing dance competitions, taken on the role of judge in others, and taught dance to people a...

Sophia Trinh  refers to herself as a creative nerd, loving everything to do with the creative process. She shares her love of artistic expression with others and takes the opportunity to talk about creativity whenever possible. Her family supported her creative pursuits growing up and her education further fostered this love. Through these experiences she was inspired to use art as a tool to engag...

Danielle DeFiore co-founded Anellabees Honey Candies with her young daughter a few years ago with a goal of creating a honey-based candy that everyone in their family would love. Starting out with a confectionary press from the 1880s and honey from their family's farm in the foothills of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, they now offer multiple, delicious, products to their customers. They’re...

Ptolemy Elrington has an incredible eye for what can be. He sees an item that might have little value to others, and then sees an amazing second life in its future. His imagination and talent allow him to turn one thing into another and that’s pretty awesome to see. He studied art and design and has worked in theatre and set design and construction, led community art projects and travelled extensi...

Jennifer Zee has used her talents in many different creative pursuits over the years, embracing the journey as her career evolved from science to photography, to illustrations, and now printmaking. Her printmaking work is fascinating. She conceives of, and then draws the design, carves the blocks, and then uses the blocks to create the print, oftentimes incorporating multiple colours in her intric...

Rovena Tey is an artistic chemist. She starts with a bit of scientific wonder and then picks up her pen and paper to translate her ideas into art. Her specialty is chemistry-inspired greeting cards, paper products, home goods and gifts which she offers through her collection called The Chemist Tree.  Her designs use vibrant colours and humour (lots of puns!), which is a great way of sharing her lo...

Ken Lima-Coelho has a non-stop supply of ideas and the skills and talents to put them into action. He’s creative to his core and it comes out in everything he does. On this episode, host Angela de Burger chats with Ken about connecting with audiences, the magic of a capella, collaborating on creative initiatives, and using creativity to build community and bring attention to social causes. He’s a...

The Canadian landscape offers unlimited inspiration for Joanne MacLennan. She’s able to speak through her paint and brushes, bringing outdoor scenes to life, thanks to her appreciation of the beauty of her country. Whether they're abstract in composition or contain more realistic elements, her paintings always stand out. Joanne has a lot of fun exploring the world of painting, challenging her...