Windowsill Chats

Margo sits down with pattern designer, block-print artist, and the owner of BEENANZA, Bethany Andrews-Nichols. After graduating with her BFA in 2006, Bethany worked several graphic design jobs rounding out her corporate career as the Associate Creative Director for an in-house agency that supported several breweries in the U.S. In 2017, she took a trip to Jaipur, India to learn about the ancient a...

Margo is once again joined by the wonderfully creative Lisa Congdon to discuss what it means to have a visual vocabulary, accepting and giving yourself permission to be you, and ways to hone in on your own creative voice and style. Lisa Congdon is a Portland, Oregon-based fine artist, illustrator and author known internationally for her colorful drawings and hand lettering. Her playful work is rec...

All of Beth Snyder's life she's been driven by her creative impulse to be a maker. As a teen in the mid-nineties, her first business "Beth's Bauble & Beads" was successful enough to put her through college, while her sisters both worked at the local truck stop. Between then and now, the great creative project of starting and growing a business has inspired multiple endeavors including iconic stati...

Margo chats with artist, designer, and ceramicist, Molly Hatch. Molly began her career as a studio potter, infusing her tableware and home decor items with contemporary sensibilities and classical charm. With a formal education in ceramics and drawing, Molly launched her first tableware collection from her home studio in 2010. Her signature blend of 18th century aesthetics with modern whimsy quick...

Margo chats with previous guest Nataley Shepherd. Nataley is a handmade brand consultant and owner of Studio Shepherd where she helps makers elevate their businesses into sought after brands through simple, intentional, and scalable practices. Margo and Nataley are discussing action taking, creative business, creative community, and the things it takes to push forward and find your success. Togeth...

This week Margo is joined by Ana Bianchi, an artist, designer, illustrator and children's book author. Ana started creating when she was 5 and first learned printmaking from a master printer. From branding and illustrated graphic design projects to personal art projects and everything in between, color is the common thread. Ana has exhibited her art in Mexico, Italy, Netherlands, India, Greece and...

Joining Margo in her windowsill is published illustrator, product designer, and artist, Jamie Kalvestran. Jamie brings her inspiring artwork to life making "creativity" a daily practice. A graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Jamie is known for her skillful use of color and pattern, authentic design, and integrity of materials. Her expansive portfolio includes 3 design patents an...

This week Margo is joined once again by her neighborhood friend, Shauna Ahern to discuss finding joy in enough and the things that really matter. Shauna has won a James Beard award for one of her three cookbooks as well as awards for teaching. She currently runs her own teaching, coaching, and editing business on Vashon Island. The best of all her experiences is the joy of creating and being in co...

Margo is joined by artist, designer, and creative coach, Melanie Stimmel. Melanie spent 20 years as a freelance street painter and muralist and has been awarded top prizes in some of Europe's most prestigious competitions, including the title of Maestra Madonnara (Master Street Painter) in both Italy and Germany. In 2012, Melanie and her husband founded We Talk Chalk, a 3D street painting company....

This week Margo is joined by Michael Schultz. Michael is the co-owner and creative eye of Cursive New York, a retail shop based in New York City. Cursive is a tightly focused concept with the simple mission to Cultivate Joy. Michael along with his partner and husband Douglas Duncan have established Cursive as a strong and forward voice in the industry. Cursive offers gift and lifestyle products of...

This week Margo is joined by artist, illustrator, and teacher, Sarah Hand. Sarah teaches at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, art retreats, and online. Her work has been featured in Somerset Studio magazine, and she has had many solo exhibits of her art. She is the author and illustrator of the book, Art Makers - Papier Mache: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Mo...

Margo is joined by Toronto based painter, illustrator, and designer Carolyn Gavin. A flower child of the 60's, Carolyn grew up in South Africa, left to travel and relocated to Canada where she currently lives with her family. She is a principal designer for Ecojot . A family run eco-friendly paper business. She also freelances and licenses her work for fabric, house-wares, packaging, bedding and b...

Margo is joined by Emily McDowell to discuss the less glamorous side of running a creative business. Emily is a writer, illustrator, speaker, and entrepreneur who is fiercely committed to NOT doing all of those things at the same time. In 2012, after a decade working in advertising, Emily founded the stationery and gift brand, Emily McDowell Studio. In January of 2021, the brand changed its name t...

Margo is joined by Katherine Quinn of New Zealand. For as long as she can remember she has loved drawing and making things and was lucky to grow up with parents who said she could do whatever she wanted as long as she cleaned up when I was finished. Through years of working a full time job outside of being an artist she always found time and energy to also focus on her art daily and put one foot i...

Margo is Joined by jewelry designer Jill Schwartz of Elements Jill Schwartz. Jill's career as a jewelry designer began when she was just 3 years old. Forbidden to have pierced ears, she craftily resorted to gluing beads to her ears. While her design education from Cornell and Pratt gave her discipline, it was her travels through Europe in her early 20s that ignited her passion. Her love for shoppi...

Margo is once again joined by Lisa Congdon to kick off a series of interviews to discuss different topics surrounding creativity, business, and life. In this episode they discuss how to get yourself in front of the right people as a creative and what that even means!   Margo and Lisa chat about: Exercises Lisa gives to her creative entrepreneur students The difference between dreams and goals Havi...

Margo chats with Rochelle Porter of Rochelle Porter Design. A lifelong lover of global design traditions, the Atlanta-based artist takes cues from the breezy hues of her Caribbean roots, the stark simplicity of Scandinavian design and the bold geometrics of West African weaves to create vibrant, eye-catching textiles for the home décor and apparel markets. Her travel-inspired patterns feature joyf...

Margo is Joined by Jennifer Orkin Lewis. A deep love of color, pattern and nature are the foundation of Jennifer's work as an artist, illustrator, author and teacher. Her joyful gouache paintings of flowers, random objects, people and occasional meditative abstract musings open a colorful and enticing window onto a detail of the day one might ordinarily overlook.   Jennifer and Margo discuss:   Ho...

Margo is joined by the founder of creative agency, Creative Sparrow, Hannah Curtis. Having been in the industry for over fifteen years Hannah has worked as an Artist Agent & Creative Director, developing long term relationships with clients globally across various industries. Hannah works closely with artists developing their portfolio, with art direction at her core she brings a wealth of industr...

Margo is joined by Michelle, the creative and business brain of Allen Designs. She has always had the dream of doing something big with her art, and at a Saturday Market, years ago, Michelle marked the start of what would become Allen Designs, a World of Whimsy. Her lack of schooling did not stop her from learning everything she needed to know to grow a successful business. There is no shortage of...

Margo is joined by Christine Hoffman, owner and designer at Foxglove, the Twin Cities first exclusively local and chemical-free flower studio. In 2017, Christine also founded Twin Cities Flower Exchange, a cut flower market for wholesale buyers. As a local flowers advocate, Christine is striving to form a strong community of sustainable flower farmers, small business owners, and folks who care abo...

Margo is joined by the infamous Lilla Rogers. With a degree in fine art from San Francisco and a second degree in illustration, Lilla spent the 1980s working as a  full-time, highly successful illustrator, whose art has featured in publications including the New York Times Magazine, Vogue magazine, the Grammys and many more. She then went on to found Lilla Rogers Studio , a visionary art agency th...

Margo is joined by Bex Morley, a British-Canadian artist living on Vancouver Island with the two teenage sons and daft dog. Bex creates joyful digital art for a variety of products including bolt fabric, stationery and home decor. Her work is inspired by the lighter side of life and nature, often featuring fun animal characters and colourful botanicals. She is also drawn to nostalgic colour palett...

Margo is joined by Jane Dagmi, editor-in-chief of Designers Today magazine, a B2B magazine for interior design professionals, and also host of the brand's SAID podcast, and an avid participant in industry events and panels. Jane launched her editorial career at Country Living magazine (where we met!), which was followed by several years of freelance writing and content development for designer-foc...

Margo is meeting Maria Over in her windowsill. Maria is an artist, children's books and surface illustrator. Part Dutch, part Greek, she is now based in Munich, Germany. She comes from a Fine Arts background with studies in painting, sculpture and digital art, and her journey has taken her from the Netherlands and Sweden for her BFA to New York City, where she earned a Master of Arts degree at NYU...