The Creativity Cafe

Owner of Mornington Crescent Baking School and Bakery here in Tokyo, Japan, Stacey Ward originally hails from the Stockport, in the UK. Through the bakery, Stacey teaches people to make delicacies that might be different from what they're used to, but give them new baking skills and a fresh understanding of the baked goods in their cultural context. Twice a month, Mornington Crescent opens to the...

Through her bold and innovative use of vibrant color, painter Dar James invites us into a world of striking shapes and textures. From her home in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania in the United States, Dar is a full-time working and teaching artist, the writer and illustrator of six picture books for children, and an educator for GOLDEN Acrylics and Silver Brush Company. Inspired by the natural wo...

Born on the eastern edge of the Eurasian continent, in Hokkaido, Japan, Mayumi Nakabayashi has now spent 24 years on its western end, in the Republic of Ireland. While Mayumi's primary medium of expression is Land Art, which is art that's made through and with natural materials in the environment, she also works with voice. This means that the materials she creates with are diverse and ever-changi...

The Nuanua is a colourful creative space created by Rosemary, an artist and designer living in Sydney Australia. Starting with woven wall hangings, her creative journey has moved into more fibre art including punch needle and the most recent addition of rug tufting. The name of her creative space ‘Nuanua’ is derived from the Samoan word for rainbow, which is part of Rosemary’s heritage. As an insp...

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States, Lindsey Gradolph has lived in various parts of Japan since 2009. Using repurposed denim and other secondhand or vintage textiles, Lindsey creates abstract, intuitive embroidery works that each compose their own little universes. Incorporating bright colors and a variety of textures, Lindsey's pieces are a bit like being invited into a zen...

Inspired by the interplay of light and colour with geometric patterns, and the work of the great Catalan artist Gaudi, our guest Siobhan Allen creates multi-hued stained glass mosaics that express the sacredness and divinity inherent in the world around her. Previously a bodywork therapist specializing in massage and cranio-sacral therapy, Siobhan is entirely self-taught in the art of stained glas...

Season three has finished, and Jordana and Paige share their thoughts about what themes came up throughout the season. Thank you for listening and for all your wonderful questions throughout the season. We look forward to seeing you again in 2024 for season four.

Born in Sydney, Australia, self-taught photographer and videographer Lisa Knight now makes her home here in Tokyo, Japan. Through her work for Tokyo Weekender, Tokyo's longest-running English-language magazine, Lisa provides glimpses into life in the capital that reveal the pulsing aliveness of her subjects. But her lens isn't fixed solely on urban life. Through her photos, Lisa shares her...

Hailing originally from the Caribbean island of Curacao, Nina Alberg has lived in the Netherlands since the age of 17. Under the name Mimi Moffie, she creates bold, vibrant digital illustrations inspired by women, and that represent Black women in particular. Combining evocative words with vivid images in a way that inspires both thought and action is something that Nina does expertly in her work....

Originally form London in the United Kingdom, Kat Chetram has lived in Tokyo since 2014. While her primary medium is photography, Kat also dabbles in graphic design, writing, and painting. Kat's street photography invites viewers to get curious about ourselves, others, and the world around us, so that we might find presence, compassion, understanding, and connection. While those invitations may be...

Having been born and raised in rural Ohio in the United States, Melissa Finkenbiner has now lived and created art in the US, Myanmar, Armenia, Zimbabwe, and Japan. As a cross-disciplined fine artist and metalsmith, all of Melissa's work is linked by recycled and sustainable materials with earthy elements. In her work as a metalsmith, she repurposes vintage silver and copper, or uses recycled m...

Originally from Scotland, ceramicist Laura Pearson has lived in Japan for 8 years. Now based in Shonan Kamakura--a seaside town about an hour from Tokyo--Laura creates unique homeware pieces that center the user's connection with the items they use every day. Paying mind to the textural and sensory experiences people have when using her pieces, Laura hopes to bring joy to people's everyday...

Kate Sikora is a singer-songwriter from New Jersey, USA, who now lives in Tokyo, Japan. Kate has been writing lyrics and poetry since she could pick up a pen, and started learning guitar at age 12 in order to turn her poetry into songs. Kate’s emphasis has always been on lyrics, with the music taking shape around them. She's been compared to artists such as Liz Phair, Belle and Sebastian, Feist, a...

Originally from London, Jo Payne has spent the last ten years living on the North Devon Coast, by way of Surrey and Kent. A self-taught artist, Jo creates atmospheric and elemental sea and sky paintings that are riveting in their scope and emotional impact. Driven and inspired by her coastal surroundings, Jo's paintings explore the endless changing flow of the natural elements present in her d...

Since moving to Japan from India in 2007, Tenie Sangma has made Tokyo her home. Using her vast array of skills in the field of Speech and Drama, Tenie helps young people develop confidence and build skills in communication, and in expressing their creativity. Making self-expression accessible to everyone, no matter their background or skill level, is central to her mission. https://www.learningcir...

Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Selin Balci has lived in the United States since 2003. There, she's blazed her own trail in the field of bio-art, a new direction in contemporary art that utilizes living organisms. Having been a researcher of microscopic pathogens in forests before beginning her art career, Selin's studies questioned how microorganisms exist, interact, and impact our envi...

In this episode Paige and Jordana talk about the themes that came up over season 2, what resonated with them, and what they are both working on at the moment. Email us your Ask Us Anything questions here: thecreativitycafe21@gmail.com Or DM here: https://instagram.com/thecreativitycafe21 Paige Baldwin Ando https://www.wholeselfcreative.com https://instagram.com/wholeselfcreative Jordana Matsuda ht...

As a worldschooler, a chef, and a yoga instructor, Karen Ricks weaves learning into everything she does. Having lived in over a dozen countries on four continents as she educates, cooks, and soaks up her own learning, Karen's work intertwines the cultures she comes into contact with and honors their roots and their variety. Play takes a prominent role in all she does, bringing the joy that's inher...

Hailing from Canberra, Australia, Aims Watts has lived in six different countries and is about to make Fiji the next! Her most long-lasting home outside Australia has been Japan, where she started Indy Bindy Fabrics, featuring unique fabrics lovingly made by extraordinary artisans throughout Japan. Aims's love of fabrics and sewing drives her creative work, and people seek her out for her help...

Originally from the UK, Caroline Storie now makes her home on the stunningly beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. After years of working with stitching on paper, Caroline is currently in the midst of a shift where she's exploring other creative pulls. Her current interest is in expressing feelings and experiences through a variety of shapes--deconstructing images and then st...

Originally from New Zealand, Jayne Nakata is the award-winning host of the #1 podcast for international women living in Japan: Transformations with Jayne. She's also the co-host of the Japan and NZ business podcast, Jandals in Japan. In 2021, Jayne started PodLaunch with Jayne, which helps podcasters around the world to launch and run their own show. Jayne’s  PodLaunch Family  is a growing net...

From her home near Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States, Elle C. Wolfe ushers her interior design clients into environments that reflect who they really are. Working with mood boards to guide the experience, she leads people from a home environment they might not really like, to one that evokes positive feelings for them--while ignoring what's trendy or trite.  Find out more about Elle here:...

From Scotland to England to France to Japan, Annie Nakahara-Knight has brought her love of music-making along with her every step of the way. Passionate about sharing music with everyone, regardless of their background or training, Annie has led various groups and classes in strengthening connection through making music. As a teacher of Music Together classes for young families and the leader of M...

Having made her home in 8 different countries over the course of her life, Helena Svendsen's work explores the nature of a different form of home: the body of a woman, specifically as it takes on the role of mother.  Through her own experience becoming a mother, Helena's attention fell to the ways motherhood changes us on an alchemical level, as well as the ways motherhood is overlooked, undervalu...

Divya Kato is a British-Indian artist and educator who has been working in Japan for over seventeen years and drawing since receiving her first pack of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle crayons. From an art scholarship to The Royal Masonic School, to a Fine Art degree that led her to Tokyo where she set up her own atelier and drawing school, art has been the golden thread running through her life.   Div...