Cause of Craft: Why We Create

Life is full of the unexpected. Sometimes life hands us lemons, and we’re not always confident we can make lemonade out of them. But in taking things one step at a time, you might be surprised at the progress you can make. Artist Carly Van Eck joins the show to talk about how some of her life events have influenced her artwork, and why she transitioned from full time social work to full time artist.

Topics Covered:

• Characteristics of Acrylic Paint
• Meaning Behind Abstract Art
• Unexpected Life Circumstances
• Turning Art into a Business
• Impostor Syndrome
• Advice for New Creatives
• Art Brings Hope Into the World

Links:

Carly’s Website: www.carlyvaneckart.com

Instagram: @carlyvaneckart

Facebook Page: Carly Van Eck Art

Follow Jon on Instagram @jontilton and follow the show @causeofcraft.

www.jontilton.com

If you enjoy this podcast, please consider sharing it with a friend—getting the word out to others is one of the best ways to help the show grow. Thank you so much to everyone who has done this, as well as left a review on apple podcasts and Spotify. I’m grateful for your support and I hope you continue to enjoy the show.

Lenord Robinson has had quite the career in the animation industry. He’s worked on projects like the Lord of the Rings animated film, The Fox and the Hound, The Tigger Movie, The Simpsons, and more. He’s even directed episodes of Animaniacs, Taz Mania, and The Proud Family.

And while he’s winding parts of his career down, he’s still very active in teaching and his own personal animation projects. That got us talking about if creatives really ever truly retire. We also discussed what he loves about storyboarding, the leadership needed to be a good director, and advice for creatives.

Topics Covered:

• Storyboarding
• Breaking into the Industry
• Learning on the Job
• Working on Legendary Projects
• The Role of a Director
• Leadership
• Why Animation and Teaching is Rewarding
• Why Creatives Don’t Truly Retire
• Advice for Creatives

Links:

Lenord’s Wix Website: www.lenordrobinson.wixsite.com/robinsonanimation

Additional Website: www.robinsonanimation.com

Lenord's IMDb Page: www.imdb.com/name/nm0732846/

Follow Jon on Instagram @jontilton and follow the show @causeofcraft.

www.jontilton.com

www.causeofcraft.com

Lenord Robinson has had quite the career in the animation industry. He’s worked on projects like the Lord of the Rings animated film, The Fox and the Hound, The Tigger Movie, The Simpsons, and more. He’s even directed episodes of Animaniacs, Taz Mania, and The Proud Family.

And while he’s winding parts of his career down, he’s still very active in teaching and his own personal animation projects. That got us talking about if creatives really ever truly retire. We also discussed what he loves about storyboarding, the leadership needed to be a good director, and advice for creatives.

Topics Covered:

• Storyboarding
• Breaking into the Industry
• Learning on the Job
• Working on Legendary Projects
• The Role of a Director
• Leadership
• Why Animation and Teaching is Rewarding
• Why Creatives Don’t Truly Retire
• Advice for Creatives

Links:

Lenord’s Wix Website: www.lenordrobinson.wixsite.com/robinsonanimation

Additional Website: www.robinsonanimation.com

Lenord's IMDb Page: www.imdb.com/name/nm0732846/

Follow Jon on Instagram @jontilton and follow the show @causeofcraft.

www.jontilton.com

www.causeofcraft.com

While we’d all love to make a million dollars on every passion projects that pops into our heads, it’s just not the reality we can expect as creatives. So how do we find balance between doing what we love and crafting something that’s marketable? Artist Joe Willey joins the show to share his thoughts on this topic. We also discuss connecting with clients, setting goals, and a big misconception about choosing a practical and safe career path.

Topics Covered:

• Working with Various Mediums
• Drawing as a Kid
• Choosing a Subject
• Balancing Salable and Personal Art
• Setting Goals
• How to Connect to Clients
• Plan A and B are Both Hard
• Developing Your Voice
• Improving Your Work
• Writing and Illustrated Book
• How to Choose Your Next Project
• Creating Things is Hard Work

Links:

Joe’s Website: www.joewilley.net

Instagram: @joewilleycreative

Follow Jon on Instagram @jontilton and follow the show @causeofcraft.

More information at www.causeofcraft.com

Have you ever wanted to try something but felt you didn’t have the expertise to do it? Building a new skill is challenging, but with things like perseverance, community, and time, it can be done. On this episode, video game designer Chera Meredith shares her journey from googling how to make a video game to actually creating one.

Her upcoming title is called Closer Than You Know — an adventure game for kids who play as Sam, a girl who goes on a quest to save her planet, where Hope has been outlawed.

Our discussion covers a variety of topics from how to build on your experiences to finding similarities between stories and puzzles.

Topics Covered:

• Staring With a Search
• Implementing Improvements as You Grow
• Fixing Things Versus Continuing Forward
• Getting Feedback from Your Target Demo
• How to Create a Good Puzzle
• From Dream to Professional Production
• Creative Connections Across Disciplines
• Showing Not Telling
• How Good Puzzles Mirror Good Stories
• Building Experience with Smaller Projects

Links:

So Peculiar Games Website: www.sopeculiar.com

Twitter: @SoPeculiarGames

Wander in the Dark: App Store

Follow Jon on Instagram @jontilton and follow the show @causeofcraft.

While most novels are written by a single author, that doesn’t mean the process is absent from other creative voices. Editors are one of the most important collaborators for authors. On this episode I talk with Elizabeth Schaefer, an editor at Penguin Random House.

There she works on books for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Star Wars and Minecraft. We discuss what it’s like working with established franchises, the importance of building trust with an author, and why time is your most precious currency.

Topics Covered:

• Editing for Licensed Publishing
• Natural Inclinations for Best Practices
• Tricks of the Writing and Editing Trades
• Building Trust with a Writer
• How to Get the Most Out of Working with Editors
• The Benefit to Having Multiple Projects at Once
• Working with Famous Franchises
• The Process of Publishers Finding a Manuscript
• Growing in Your Career
• Creative Collaboration
• Advice for New Creatives
• From A Certain Point of View

Links:

Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: Amazon

Sometimes our best ideas can stem from combining two of our favorite passions. Haleigh DeRocher took her love for reading and her love of art and combined them to create something new and unique. She sells beautiful artwork on her website in a variety of different forms, including prints, t-shirts, and even blankets. She has also illustrated a number of classic novels, bringing her own unique style and voice to some of the world’s most famous books like The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice.

She shares her journey to starting her own business, how to represent a novel through illustration, what makes a classic enduring, and more.

Topics Covered:

• Reading from a Young Age
• Starting a Business after College
• Creating Illustrated Versions of Classic Novels
• What Makes Certain Works Enduring?
• How to Represent a Novel
• Making Fabric Books for Babies
• Why Haleigh Creates
• Coming Up with New Products

Links:

Haleigh’s Shop, Sweet Sequels:www.sweetsequels.com

Haleigh’s Instagram:@sweetsequels

Haleigh’s Etsy Shop:Etsy

On this week’s episode I talk with Jenna Terese, author of Ignite, a novel about a girl with superpowers in a world where superhumans aren’t considered the heroes.

Topics Covered:

• Writing About Superheroes
• Growing in Your Craft
• Working with an Editor
• Growing as an Artist
• Building Characters
• Music and Writing
• Project Inspire and Artistic Variety
• Talking About Far Off Projects

Links:

Jenna’s Website: www.jennaterese.com

Jenna’s Instagram: @jenna.terese

Project Inspire: Blog

Project Inspire Instagram: @project_.inspire

Ignite: Amazon

Ares Short Story: Amazon

On this week’s episode, sculptor Bonnie Brushwood shares her artistic process with us, from having a conversation with her work to taking advantage of happy accidents. We also discuss the importance of finding beauty in the world, how much an artist should say about their work, and how sculpture can be a therapeutic experience.

Topics Covered:

• Form and Texture
• Listening to the Piece
• Why Sculpture is Time-Sensitive
• Studying Art in High School
• Expressing the Beauty in the World
• How Much Should an Artist Say About a Work?
• Sculpture-Making Process
• Sculpture as a Grounding Experience
• Upcoming Show at Doughtery Art Center

Links:

Bonnie’s Website: www.bonniebrushwood.com

Bonnie’s Instagram: @bonniebrushwood

Stop-Motion Music Video: YouTube

Upcoming Exhibit at Dougherty Art Center:

March 17 from 7pm-9pm

1110 Barton Springs Rd.

Austin, TX 78704

Dougherty’s Website: https://www.austintexas.gov/department/dougherty-arts-center

Can working on films still be your dream job after the director throws a chair at you? Does that one guy everyone talks bad about deserve a second chance? Production Designer Courtney Johnson joins the show to share her experiences in the film industry. We also talk about why so many people aspire to work in movies and how what you value in life can change as you grow.

Topics Covered:

• What Production Design Is
• An Invisible Art
• Making Things Stand Out
• Bringing the Director’s Vision to Screen
• What Makes for Good Collaborative Environments
• Why Courtney Pursued Film
• What Keeps Her Going Even When It’s Tough
• Eco-Friendly Design

Links:

Courtney’s Website: www.courtneyvjohnson.com

Courtney’s Instagram: @alotofalittle

Lucid Object Instagram: @lucid.object

Courtney’s Etsy: Lucid Object

Follow Jon on Instagram @jontilton and follow the show @causeofcraft.