This is How We Create

Episode 32 How Ayana Ross Became a Figurative Painter Ayana Ross is an American figurative artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. She holds an MA degree in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design, a MA in Liberal Art from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a BS in Design and Merchandising from Georgia Southern University. She has exhibited in several group shows, including The Ben...

I'm so happy to welcome Joy Dolo to the podcast today. Joy Dolo is an Actor, Writer, Educator, and Podcast Host based in Minneapolis, Minnesota! She is an avid comedienne and is the co-creator of Blackout Improv, the first all black Improv troupe in Minnesota. Joy also Hosts for American Public Media Kids podcasts "Forever Ago" - a fun podcast that explores the history of objects. By the way, Fore...

Episode: 30 We'll start Season 3 talking about a dirty word that starts with the letter F! No, not that F, silly! We're going to talk about that other F that has us cringing, second guessing ourselves and dealing with the consequences of our actions and inactions. We're going to talk about Failure! We've invited two past guests and one guest from Season 3 to talk with you about Failure.  Each pers...

Hello! Martine Severin here. The best artists create work that seems simply effortless. As an illustrator and fine artist, Raymond Bonilla's work captures beautiful fleeting moments. During our time together Ray tells us how he came to fall in love with illustration and with fine art.   We spend some time talking about how you don't have to born an artist. You can acquire the skills and later turn...

In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), take a listen to one of my favorite conversations with Chicago-based ceramicist, Danielle Chutinthranond of Monsoon Pottery. Essentialism and minimalism are always on Danielle's mind when creating. To that end, she believes that the objects in our homes should be useful, durable, and beautiful. In service to these beliefs, all of her work is microwave, dishwasher, an...

Brent Lewis is a Photo Editor based out of New York City, co-founder of  Diversify. Photo . He hails from the greatest city in the world Chicago, South Side to be exact. Brent is a photo editor at The New York Times working on the Express Desk, assigning visual coverage of breaking and viral news across the globe. Brent was a Photo Editor at The Washington Post. Formerly, he was the Senior Photo E...

Well hello there, Welcome back to This is How We Create. In the guest chair, we are welcoming Priya Shah. Priya Shah is a Chicago creative and entrepreneur, she has built a network of artists and collaborators dedicated to igniting social awareness and change through art and imagination. During our time together, Priya shares her wide-ranging career about how she has come to create her organizatio...

Hey friends, Martine Severin.  Welcome back to This is How We Create. Lately, I've been thinking about what it means to live in your art—that place where you produce work that pushes you,  the place where you create work that thrills you and work that allows you to be the creative you want to be? Today in the chair, we're chatting with someone who proposes a different way of moving towards that go...

Hi, It's Martine Severin here. Welcome back. We have social justice artist, Tonika Lewis Johnson on the show to talk about how you can use your art to spark compassion, good citizenship and to improve the lives of the people in your neighborhood. The first part of our conversation focuses on Tonika's early life and the second part focuses on how her twenties and her upbringing brought her to creat...

Welcome back to Season 2 of This is How We Create. Today, we welcome Kristyn Ivey to the chair. Kristyn Ivey, is Chicago's first platinum-certified KonMari Consultant and founder of For the Love of Tidy. She's dedicated to teaching busy families, professionals, and creative entrepreneurs how to let go of "stuff" and attract a truly abundant life. Educated in both engineering and interior design, K...

When was the last time someone delighted you? And when was the last time you practiced the art of hostmanship.  For me, this happened twice in the last few weeks when I interviewed Tamy Tiongson,  hospitality and restaurant expert who uses cooking and baking as a way to express her creativity. During this episode, Tamy shares her journey from culinary school to working in the hospitality industry...

We know that branding is a way to use symbols, colors, shapes, and words to create a deliberate association between a company's or a product's promise. When creatives present their work we are expected to go beyond just presenting the work. We must also share what we stand for and use the personal to communicate our offerings to help us stand out in the crowd. In my conversation with Darnell Scott...

When was the last time you had a conversation with someone who delighted you? Where chatting with that person is like going on a walk in a new neighborhood where with every turn, you discover something new. My conversation with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer Essdras M Suarez, felt like such a walk. Essdras shares stories of how he first stumbled on photography and the journey he went on to de...

Today's episode of This is How We Create features yours truly, Martine Séverin. I am so pleased to share with you an interview in which Sony Artisan Tony Gale invited me to his podcast Sony Alpha Photographers Podcast. Tony and I talk about my work as a photographer, to share what's in my bag and the tools I use to create stories. During my talk with Tony, I'll share more information about how my...

Today we're changing things up a bit. I've invited my best friend, sister and my PIC aka Partner In Crime, Jenny Severin to the This is How We Create Podcast. Jenny and I are will chat about the art of travel and the art of escape. Jennys has been traveling since the age o 8 and has been to over 40 countries to date. With friends, with family but mostly by herself. I thought it would be cool to he...

Think about the things you do in life that make you happy. The things that keep you centered, such as journaling or writing.  Imagine creating a living out of those interests. Today, we welcome Alisha Sommer to the podcast.  Alisha is a photographer, marketer, and writer based out of Napa Valley. She is known for her moody photography, her writing, and great knowledge of wine. During our conversat...

Hello! Martine Severin here. The best artists create work that seems simply effortless. As an illustrator and fine artist, Raymond Bonilla's work captures beautiful fleeting moments. During our time together Ray tells us how he came to fall in love with illustration and with fine art.   We spend some time talking about how you don't have to born an artist. You can acquire the skills and later turn...

For today's episode, the tables have turned!  Amy V Cooper is interviewing me! Nope, I'm not talking with THAT Amy. Amy V Cooper is a photography business consultant and coach, and founder of the artist representation agency, Trove Artist Management. We  chatted in May 2020 while most of the US was still in quarantine.  Amy and I talk about some of the best advice I've ever been given. We revisit...

We welcome, fine art painter, Rhonda K Brown, to the podcast today.   Rhonda retells her journey and shares what inspires her as an artist.  She reveals how she knows when an art piece is done, how to chooses her color pallette, and how she trained her eye. If you love art and want to discover new artists, Rhonda offers a trove of information on the best artists of yesteryear and of today.  Rhonda...

Today on the podcast we welcome, Fares Micue, a Spanish self-taught fine art/conceptual photographer. Fares started photography back in 2009 after she discovered the photography site Flickr. At first, she treated her exploration of photography as a way to have nice pictures to share in her profile without putting much thought into the photography process. Six 6 years later, she realized that photo...

I'm Martine Severin and This is How We Create Los Angeles and Nashville based photographer Diana King sits in the guest chair today.  We talk about how her career in film and how that experience eventually led her to photography. We wrap up the show by chatting about her latest personal project, Almost Asian, Almost American—a project in which Asian American Women share their experiences about bei...

Welcome to our first solo episode! And in this episode, our host, Martine Séverin talks of how much she's grown since the beginning of year and since launching the podcast.   She shares a few tips and tools on how to gain clarity when wrestling with change and uncertainty. Plus, she shares lessons learned from our last 10 episodes 10!  Cue the confetti, y'all! Keep up with our host Martine Severin...

Welcome back to to part 2 of our conversation with Danny Dunson. If you missed part 1, check out Episode 9. Danny Dunson is an art historian, art advisor, curator and writer, Founder of the famed IG account LegacyBros and  most recently co-founder and editor-in-chief of ArtX. Dunson graduated from The University of Illinois at Chicago, earning a B.A. in art history from the School of Art & Art His...

Danny Dunson is an art historian, art advisor, curator and writer, Founder of the famed IG account LegacyBros and most recently co-founder and editor-in-chief of ArtX. Dunson graduated from The University of Illinois at Chicago, earning a B.A. in art history from the School of Art & Art History. He is a 2016 Fulbright Grant recipient and Gilman Scholarship fellow. His research as an art historian...

Francely Plaza is a freelance makeup artist born and raised in Chicago. An artist at heart, she made the decision over 15 years ago to make the human face her canvas. Since then, working with makeup has become her expertise, and beauty her passion. Francely worked at Sephora for over 9 years as a Senior Makeup Artist where she was in charge of Sephora's makeup artist team development. In that role...