Windowsill Chats

Margo is joined by Fairy Brand-Mother and friend Kelly Sinclair. Kelly radiates a bright energy while equipping passionate entrepreneurs with the magic wand to get visibility for their business brands so they can make more impact. In a world where people work on average a third of their lives, Kelly believes it's so important that work is a source of joy instead of drain. When entrepreneurs run su...

Margo is joined by illustrator and designer Shannon Snow. Shannon makes colorful art for the colorful-at-heart and since starting her design career, she's been nurturing her love for highly illustrative surface design, maximalist color, and bold typography. Currently, she finds herself in the world of product development as Senior Graphic Artist at Natural Life alongside licensing her work. Born a...

Margo is joined by fine artist and surface pattern designer, Sarah Golden. Based out of Sacramento, California, Sarah paints abstracts, botanicals, and designs fabric for Andover Fabrics. She loves working on multiple projects and getting paint on her hands as well as the freedom and intuitive workflow of abstract painting. For her surface design work, block-printing, painting both traditionally a...

Margo is joined by cousins Ben Braden and Nick Sadler, otherwise known as Strange Hotels  - the writers and producers of Need Your Trouble, featured in the introduction for every episode of Windowsill Chats! After touring for years as a part of Portland's iconic touring band The Lower 48, Ben and Nick formed their indie-electro duo Strange Hotels in early 2018, and within weeks of forming the duo,...

Here's a preview from a new podcast, Death of the Artist, that explores a tragedy in the art world. For more than 35 years, accusations of murder shrouded one of the art world's most storied couples: Was the famous sculptor Carl Andre involved in the death of his up-and-coming artist wife Ana Mendieta? Host Helen Molesworth revisits Mendieta's death, taking a closer look at how she might have fall...

Margo is joined by her podcast producer and editor Katie Anderson. Katie is the founder behind HomeAway Studio - a creative studio dedicated to supporting business leaders, content creators, and impact driven entrepreneurs through branding, web design, and podcast production. Formerly known as Katie J VA, her business stemmed from the desire to have her own outlet while being able to support her h...

Margo is joined by vintage lover, flower whisperer, slow fashion enthusiast and small business owner, Abbey Trujillo. In 2020, Abbey's love and joy for thrifting quickly transformed into creating a sustainable in house label called Peach Vintage as well as finding traction online through Instagram Reels. Abbey believes the best way to make your dreams a reality is to simply start. Action causes re...

In this two part interview, Margo is joined by licensed illustrator, adjunct college professor, and online course digital illustration instructor, Beth Buffington. Like many creatives, Beth has been drawing since she was old enough to hold a crayon. After graduating with a degree in art and graphic design, she began her creative career working for "in-house" corporate art departments. 
After years...

In this two part interview, Margo is joined by licensed illustrator, adjunct college professor, and online course digital illustration instructor, Beth Buffington. Like many creatives, Beth has been drawing since she was old enough to hold a crayon. After graduating with a degree in art and graphic design, she began her creative career working for "in-house" corporate art departments. 
After years...

Margo is joined by artist, fabric + surface pattern designer, and mother of two creative beautiful kiddos, Jessica Swift. Jessica creates colorful, uplifting artwork that inspires others to live colorful, unique, and hope-filled lives. She creates and manufactures her own products in her studio and also licenses her artwork to others for branded products such as fabric, stationery, puzzles, books,...

Margo is joined by Annie Galvin of 3 Fish Studios based out of Northern California. Annie was born and raised in Ireland, where she went to art college and then worked as an illustrator in Dublin before winning the green card lottery at the age of 23 and emigrating to the United States. Annie moved to San Francisco in 1989 (two weeks before the earthquake), and she is still happily living in Calif...

Margo chats with Deborah Stein who lives, paints and writes in NYC and the Embudo Valley in New Mexico. Deborah is a fine artist who teaches visual narrative workshops, runs (usually) twice a year artist residencies and is one of the proud hosts of folktale week along with illustrator-friends she admires. She ran her first creative live retreat at the lovely Highlights Foundation in rural PA this...

This week it's all about being intentional and finding true fulfillment with Tom Conway. Margo sits down in person with Tom in his 1888 farmhouse located on Vashon Island, the same one where he pens a blog called Tall Clover Farm. Tom shares projects, island life, farm duties, and the joy of growing fruit, flowers, and good food. He embraces the beauty of the bulldog, succumbs to the power of pie,...

Inspired by simple gestures, purposeful forms and honest craftsmanship, today's guest, Jennifer Livingston's phone storage is usually maxed out with beauty in the market and in her life. She has equal photos of her family as she does of a great ad campaign, ceramic glaze, or nature's seasonal colorway. She is intrigued with the process of design and the story behind each item. Jennifer got an earl...

Margo catches up with good friend and internationally known illustrator Lisa Congdon for episode 100! That's right, there are now 100 episodes of Windowsill Chats. Lisa and Margo chat about consistency, coaching, podcasting, experimenting in business, and a whole lot more. Lisa is self-taught and didn't achieve momentum in her career until she was nearly 40 years old. Despite her untraditional pat...

Margo is joined by Lisa Solomon. A teacher by trade, it took Lisa years to call herself an artist first. As a half Japanese, half Jewish [Eastern European] Caucasian woman, hybridization is literally a part of her DNA and shows itself often in her practice. Lisa's mixed media works revolve thematically around discovering her heritage, the notion of domesticity, craft, feminism, and the pursuit of...

Margo is joined by Toni Santos, otherwise known as Baby Buddha of Baby Buddha Studio out of Seattle, WA. Storefronts, portraits, and beloved images of everyday ordinary life are the subjects for Toni's art that are then used for cards and other handmade products. After practicing architecture for 28 years, there was a drop in design work for a few years and so she took the opportunity to learn the...

Margo chats with Healthy Aging Expert, Lisa Murphy. You may be wondering what that has to do with creativity but Lisa has reinvented herself several times throughout her life and encourages and empowers her clients to do the same. Creator of the RAV (Relevant, Active and Vibrant) Protocol, her programs help curious and open-minded women feel better with age, not worse, so that they can remain rele...

Sharing an episode from our friends over at Broken Record. On Broken Record, acclaimed producer Rick Rubin, bestselling author Malcom Gladwell, and former New York Times editor Bruce Headlam talk with the musicians you love about their lives, inspiration, and craft. Rick Rubin has interviewed so many great artists over the years—including Andre 3000, Nas, and Neil Young. Today we will hear Rick's...

Margo sits down with West Coast based photographer Christopher Dibble. Chris studied at Art Center College of Design and has spent his career photographing projects for commercial and editorial clients, designers, artists, and architects. Specializing in lifestyle interiors and portraiture, he has been interviewed by Popular Photography Magazine about his environmental portraiture and was selected...

Margo is joined by Natasha McCrary of 1818 Farms. After one of Natasha's sons became interested in raising his own sheep, she began to dream of her own plans for a small profitable farm where she could teach her children to appreciate the land and animals and to be good conservationists as well as learn the importance of sustainability and eating local "real" food.   Located on three acres in the...

Margo is joined by Sophia Cosmas to discuss the subject of artmaking as a response to grief stemming from her own personal experiences. Sophia observed that over the last 20 years, with five significant losses, her grief has been compounded, but her response has, each time, been to immerse herself in intensive art making. In her experience grief takes innumerable forms and is not something that is...

Margo is joined by friend and creative whom she met while working at Hallmark in Kansas City, Abby Campbell. Abby has always had a passion for photos of all kinds and the love of visual art took her to the University of Central Missouri where she received a BS in Broadcasting and Film. This is where she began to really learn the art of storytelling through photos and video.  Fast forward, she spen...

Margo chats with friend, author, cocktail connoisseur, and PR expert Beth Nydick. Beth is a former TV producer and New Jersey-based publicity and business strategist who develops entrepreneurs and media personalities, to go from "Undiscovered to Unforgettable". The term PR can be a bit daunting or may even sound like something you don't need at this point in your creative career but Beth will assu...

Margo is joined by Hannah Curtis and Bev Cunningham, together known as the Creative Card Collective. Founded in 2019 and then re-launched in 2021, they teamed up to take the collective to a new level. The Creative Card Collective is an online membership for any creative working or wishing to work in the greeting card industry. The membership not only offers invaluable information, advice, inspirat...