November 16, 2025 • 25 mins
Feeling like your artistic creations are just drifting in the void? Yeah, we’ve all been there, pouring our hearts into art that feels unseen and unheard. That’s why we’re diving into the essential topic of finding or building your own artistic community. Because, let’s face it, no one—absolutely no one—grows creatively in a vacuum. We’ll explore how to spot supportive spaces, brainstorm ways to create your own if the perfect tribe seems MIA, and keep that warm fuzzy sense of belonging alive, even when pesky imposter syndrome tries to crash the party. So grab a snack, kick back, and let’s find out how your creative community might be closer than you think!
1. Why You Need a Creative Community
- Isolation can dull your creative edge — you need others to spark new ideas.
- Accountability: showing up for others helps you show up for yourself.
- Emotional support: having people who get it keeps burnout at bay.
2. What a Healthy Artist Community Looks Like
- It’s collaborative, not competitive — people share, not compare.
- There’s room for vulnerability: sharing unfinished work or honest struggles.
- The best communities are built on curiosity, not ego.
3. Finding Your People (Online and Offline)
- Check out local art collectives, open mics, or gallery nights — anywhere creativity lives.
- Online spaces can be gold — look for small, active groups on Discord, Reddit, or Mastodon where folks actually talk.
- Don’t chase big numbers — quality over quantity in connections.
4. Building Your Own Community (When You Can’t Find One)
- Start small: invite a few creators to meet monthly or share works-in-progress.
- Consistency builds trust — even a casual “creative coffee” check-in helps.
- Use your podcast, art, or blog as a magnet for like-minded artists.
5. Keeping the Community Alive and Real
- Be intentional about giving as much as you get — share resources, feedback, and wins.
- Handle conflict or creative tension openly — it builds long-term respect.
- Celebrate milestones together, no matter how small.
Feeling like your art is echoing in a cavernous void? Yeah, we've all been there. In the latest episode of Create Art Podcast, we dive headfirst into the importance of finding your artistic tribe. Seriously, who wants to create in a bubble? I mean, it's like trying to enjoy a pizza without a slice of your favorite topping—totally unsatisfying! We’re chatting about how being part of a creative community can be a game-changer for your art. It's all about connection, folks! Whether it's online, local, or just a few friends who understand the struggle, finding your circle can give your creativity the jolt it desperately needs. We’ll explore how to discover supportive spaces, create your own if you’re stuck, and keep that sense of belonging alive, even when the dreaded imposter syndrome tries to sneak in. So, if you’ve ever felt like you’re pouring your heart into a black hole, come on over! Your creative community is waiting, and it might be closer than you think!
Takeaways:
- Creating art in isolation can feel like shouting into the void, and it dulls your creativity.
- A supportive creative community is essential for accountability, emotional support, and sparking new ideas.
- Finding or building your own artistic community is crucial because it fosters collaboration over competition.
- Healthy artistic communities are based on curiosity, vulnerability, and sharing honest struggles to help one another grow.
Topics covered in this series
Sharing Your Work Online for the First Time
Dealing With Criticism and Rejection
Finding...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Have you ever felt like you'remaking art in a vacuum?
You know, like you're pouringyour soul into your work, but it's
just floating out there unseenand unanswered?
Yeah, we've all been throughthere that before.
(00:40):
In this episode of Create ArtPodcast, we're talking about finding
or even building your artistic community.
Because here's the thing, noone grows creatively in total isolation.
Whether it's online, local, or just.
Just a few good friends whoget it.
The right circle can make allthe difference.
(01:03):
We're going to explore how tospot supportive spaces, ways to create
your own if you can't findone, and how to keep that sense of
belonging alive even whenimposter syndrome tries to kick down
the door.
So stick around, because yourcreative community might be closer
than you think.
(01:24):
Hey there.
This is Timothy Kimo Brian,your head instigator for Create Art
Podcast, where I use my over30 years of experience in the arts
and education world to helpyou tame your inner critic and create
more than you consume.
So in 2025, I started thisseries, the New Artist Compass.
(01:46):
And basically what I wanted todo with that is speak to new artists.
Now, if you've been doing itfor a while, I think you're going
to find a lot of things inhere for you in order to, you know,
further your practice.
But if you're brand new, thisseries is definitely for you.
(02:09):
So let's kick it off with myfirst point.
And that is why?
Why do you need a creative community?
Well, here's the thing, andI'm guilty of it too.
You know, I being isolated andthinking that nobody gets it, and
I'm just doing my stuff outthere and, you know, no wonder people
don't relate to it, becausenobody gets it.
(02:33):
Here's Isolation actuallydulls your creative edge.
If you're not out there in theworld being face to face with your
audience, then you're missingout on something that could spark
some new ideas.
You know, talking with youraudience and saying, hey, you know,
(02:53):
what do you see in this?
Now, I've talked about this inthe past.
A lot of my art is acommentary on what I see and comparing
notes with my audience andmyself to see if we're seeing the
same things, and if we're not,what are they seeing in relation
to what I'm seeing.
So that isolation, you know,being that little hermit, that can
(03:16):
really kill your creativity.
So get out there, find outwhat your audience thinks about what
you're doing.
Talk to them.
I have a Good friend.
His name is Dave Jackson.
He's a huge name in thepodcasting world.
And something that he talksabout that I really like is when
you meet your audience, tell.
(03:38):
Ask them what they like aboutthe show, what they don't like about
the show, and what, you know, they.
What changes they would liketo see.
And then shut up and takenotes and don't try to defend it
or anything like that.
If they want an explanation, great.
But go out there and meet withyour audience.
(04:03):
Another thing for why you needa creative community is it provides
you accountability.
Now, again, I'm going torelate this back to podcasting.
I know it's an arts podcast,but I talk a lot about podcasting.
It's because that's my art.
I've transitioned for that tobe my art.
(04:23):
So back in about 2016, 2018,it was 2016, I met up with a guy
named Kyle Bondo, and he wasrunning a meetup, and we'd meet,
you know, once every couple ofweeks and talk about podcasting and
different things like that.
And I would keep on comingback and keep on coming back.
(04:46):
And eventually he and Istarted a podcast called podrec.
And he let me into his worldof gaggle pod, which, you know, used
to be my network sponsor.
And it was great having himthere because he challenged me and
I challenged him, and we wereboth there doing podcasting, something
(05:09):
we both dearly love, and westill are there.
As a matter of fact, he justwrote a book about how to start podcasting,
and he included me in the book.
He had me read through it andgive him some ideas.
So it's that accountability.
It's that somebody is outthere going, hey, you know, stop
watching Netflix.
Get some art done.
(05:31):
That's what I do for you.
I'm, you know, yes, I do watch Netflix.
Yes, I do watch tv.
Notorious for that.
But I'm also in here, youknow, week after week, reminding
you, hey, you do have thatcreative edge.
You do have that creative spirit.
Let's get at it.
Giving you ideas, it, youknow, demystifying arts there for
(05:55):
you.
So I'm your accountability partner.
And guess what?
I know you don't know this,but you're my accountability partner.
I put this out here for you.
I put it out here for me aswell, but I put it out here for you
with the knowledge that I've gained.
And then the last thing aboutwhy you need a creative community
is that emotional support.
(06:17):
You know, being an artist canbe lonely, you know, and we can get,
you know, lost in our headsand all that kind of stuff.
So we're going to need peoplethat get it, that understand why
we do what we do.
And, you know, they're notasking, why do you do that?
(06:37):
They know they get it.
So a lot of times they canhelp us when we're going through
a rough patch.
So it provides emotionalsupport, accountability, and it removes
that isolation which canreally stun our growth.
Isolation is not a good thing.
Isolation is bad.
Community is good.
(07:07):
All right, so now, since I'veconvinced you, why you need a creative
community, what does one look like?
What does a healthy artistcommunity look like?
Well, first and foremost, it'scollaborative, not competitive.
So, yes, there's other artpodcasts out there.
(07:28):
I don't consider them my competition.
I consider them mycollaborators that are out there.
You know, maybe my voice isnot the one that you need to hear.
Maybe it's a different voicethat you need to hear to inspire
your creativity.
And if that's the case, great.
I'm not here to have thebiggest podcast, the wealthiest podcast,
(07:53):
or anything like that.
I'm just here for you, toinspire you, to pick up that paintbrush,
that pen, whatever it is, andto go out there and create because
of the joy that I know that Ifelt with it.
So I'm a collaborator with youand these other art podcasts that
are out there, they'recollaborators with me.
(08:15):
Now, they may not know it, butthat's okay.
That's all right.
I get ideas from them, theymay get ideas from me.
And, you know, we can.
All of us can tell you thesame thing, but maybe it's a different
voice that you need to hear.
So we always want to besharing in that artistic community.
(08:40):
Another thing is thatsometimes our art can be very vulnerable.
And with people that get itabout, you know, they get why we
create.
They may not get why we writeor paint.
You know, they may not be apainter or a writer or a dancer or
nothing or anything like that,but they get the basic of why we're
(09:03):
creating, why we need tocreate, what we're commenting on.
And again, that is kind ofvery vulnerable.
So when we share in ourcommunity some unfinished work or
some honest struggles withthat work, then we can grow as an
(09:23):
artist, and we have somebodywe can go to with something that's
unfinished and say, is, am Igoing on the right path with this?
Even if they're of a differentartistic discipline, am I going on
the right path with this?
That can help you out a lot.
And the best communities areBuilt on curiosity and not ego.
(09:48):
Way back in the day, I was inthis writer's community, this writer's
workshop.
It was on Friday nights inRockford, Illinois, and it was at
a African American history museum.
And not one of us was African American.
As a matter of fact, thecaretaker of the museum was not African
American.
So it was kind of funny.
(10:08):
We'd meet up at this placeFriday nights and share work.
I was usually under theinfluence of some, you know, interesting
items.
And there was a lot ofdrinking going on, and there was
a lot of ego going on.
And I remember I had agirlfriend at the time, and there
was this English professorthat was attending, and he would
(10:31):
say, all my stuff is esoteric.
He can't grasp onto it.
It's immature and childish and.
And all this and that, all that.
And he was slamming me infront of my girlfriend so that way
he could impress her.
And eventually, you know, theywent off and, you know, frolic together
for a time.
And I was really hurt at that time.
(10:53):
Really hurt.
So that was not a positiveexperience for me.
And that really soured me tocreative communities for a long time.
But then, like I said earlier,I met up with Kyle Bondo.
And, you know, we weren'ttrying to, you know, get each other's
wives at the time.
We were just there supportingeach other.
(11:13):
And that's a very positivecreative community.
Even though it can be small,it can be a couple of people, or
it can be a hundred people ora thousand people.
The size does not matter.
It's just, is it a healthyenvironment for you, and is it based
on curiosity and not what canI get out of you?
(11:38):
More, what can I help you with?
All right, so now we know whywe need one, and we know what a healthy
(11:58):
one looks like and why that's important.
How do you find it?
Well, thanks to the wonderfulWide World Web www.
That what we used to call itback in the day, you know, online
or offline.
And it's a lot easier now thanit's ever been.
There's different meetups thatyou can go to different community
(12:21):
organizations.
You can go to your local artsdistrict or.
Or foundation or whatnot.
That's in, you know, mo.
It's in all major cities, andthen there's a lot of them that are
in smaller cities.
We have one here inFredericksburg that I really need
to.
And that's the challenge tomyself, is I really need to get involved
with that.
(12:42):
But find little.
These little enclaves that areout there, you know, open mics, I
do an open mic at my nephews acoffee shop on Friday nights.
Here in Fredericksburg we havefirst Friday, which all the galleries
are open late and you can gotour all the galleries.
These spaces are perfect foryou to find your tribe because it's
(13:07):
already been set up.
And if you don't havesomething like that, why not start
it up yourself?
You know, go to the galleriesand say, you know, and go to your
town or your city and say,hey, what can we do?
Something like this onlinespaces can be golden.
You know, you can go ondiscord servers, Facebook groups,
(13:30):
you know, Mighty Networks isanother one that's out there.
Twitter or X has, you know,different writers groups that are
on there.
You can go online and so ifthese people are spread out across
the country, you can meet online.
We couldn't do that 20 yearsago, 10 years ago.
But now with, you know, theadvent of remote, you know, virtual
(13:54):
rooms and all that stuff, itreminds me of the days of the messaging
apps with aol.
Well, and, and, and all thatgood stuff.
You can get into differentchat rooms now.
You can actually get behind acamera and, and see these people.
We're seeing this a lot in theI, I have Ms. And there's support
(14:14):
groups for that.
The N A al anon, differentsupport groups that are out there
are all going online andmeeting virtually.
And this was especially bigduring the pandemic.
So these spaces are out there.
You don't need to join thebiggest one.
You just need to join thehealthiest one, healthy for you.
(14:38):
All right?
And you don't need to join allof them.
One or two is perfectly fine.
That may be all you have timefor hour or two during the week to
join that community, toprovide them with support and to
get support from them.
That's what we're looking for.
(15:07):
All right?
Now we know where to findthem, how to tell if they're healthy
or not, and why we need tohave our own community.
Let's say that there isn't acommunity out there, something that
you can't find, or thecommunities that you have found are
not to your liking.
Well, go build your own then.
(15:28):
Go build your own.
Figure out what is missing inthe other groups.
Why don't you like it?
Really sit down with yourselfand go, why am I not enjoying this
group?
What am I not getting from it?
And then you start your own group.
It doesn't have to be as bigas the old group.
(15:48):
It can be just, again, it canbe just a couple of people.
It could be just One person.
For a long time it was Kyleand I.
Then we had a few people joinin here and there, but the core of
it was two people, myself andKyle here in Fredericksburg, Virginia
with podcasting.
So you can build it, startsmall, invite a few, make it monthly,
(16:11):
or make it, you know, whateverit needs to be every other week,
what people have time for, andthen be consistent.
So if one or two people showup, that's fine.
You still meet.
You don't screw around.
You don't go, eh, well,there's not enough people here.
No, you still meet.
You build that core group andthen it gets bigger and bigger and
(16:34):
bigger.
But it's got to start from someplace.
You know, if you have apodcast that you do, great, yay,
let me know about it.
But maybe you do a blog forit, you do some artwork for it.
You set it up at a coffee shopand they put you on their events
(16:54):
calendar so that way peoplecan track it and find it.
Or you start it up at yourlocal library.
They usually have free openspaces there that you can, you know,
start a non profit group, agroup that is focused on that.
Maybe it is at a gallery,Maybe you are already working with
a collective and you're like,hey, let's start up, you know, a
(17:17):
little group here, a little community.
We can have people from theoutside come in that are artists
and then we can allparticipate in it, whatever it is.
Build your own, build your own.
I would say first go look forother communities.
If you can't find it or youdon't like what you find, then build
your own.
But you may have to build your own.
(17:38):
But that's okay because onceyou build that.
And they will come to it, theywill come.
You just have to be consistentand keep on going with it.
Even if you only have a fewpeople, people will come.
People gravitate towards that.
People will want to be part ofthat community and welcome them in
every time.
(17:59):
Whatever didn't happen atcommunities that you didn't belong
to, make it happen at thecommunity that you built.
(18:20):
Okay, my last point is keepingthe community alive and real.
The big thing is it's not acompetition, it's collaboration.
Be intentional about giving asmuch as you get.
Keep on giving, becauseeventually you'll get back.
You want to share yourresources, you want to share your
(18:42):
honest critique and feedback.
And I would say, you knowsomething that I've seen with the
Mike Brennan of the creativeChats group on online, he's on Facebook,
is that every Friday, he'sLike, hey, what's your small win
of the week?
You know, what are youstruggling with this week?
And he'll put pop that upevery week.
(19:03):
And every week somebodyreplies in there.
Sometimes I reply in there.
So share those wins with eachother, share those struggles with
each other.
Somebody may be there that canhelp you, but they're not going to
know unless you bring it up.
Now if there's, you know, ifyou've created this community and
(19:23):
there's some tension orconflict or anything like that, handle
it.
Handle it right away.
Don't let it fester, don't letit grow, don't let it remain unsaid.
Handle that conflict or thattension immediately.
You don't have to be heavyhanded with it.
But maybe it's a thing wherewe remind everybody why we are there,
(19:45):
why we are in that communityand then make sure that you're celebrating
the wins, even if they'resmall, even if they're tiny, even
if they're insignificant toyou, celebrate it.
Now I'm not saying, you know,go through a parade for somebody
that, you know, drew apicture, you know, once a month,
(20:05):
maybe that's big thing for them.
You know, something's going onin their life where they can only
do, you know, very small things.
And that's fine.
We celebrate that though.
Make sure that we celebrate that.
So keep it alive, keep it real.
Keep the, you know, BS and thepolitics and all the crazy stuff
(20:26):
in the world that's going on.
Keep that outside.
That's not for you to dealwith in your creative community.
You can comment on it.
You probably, you know, arenot going to be in 100 agreement
with folks.
And that's okay as long as weeach respect each other and know
why all of us are there andcome to it with that mindset.
(20:51):
And you may have to remindpeople time and time again, hey,
we're here to collaborate.
We're here to support, not tocriticize and break down and say,
this is art, that is art.
You're doing it wrong.
They're doing it a different way.
Let's find out why they'redoing it that way.
If we have something in ourbackground, in our experience that
(21:14):
can help them out, we give itto them.
We give it to them freely andlet them do with it what they're
going to do with it.
And you don't have to acceptall feedback and critique.
You take what you agree.
It's like a buffet.
You take what you want, youleave the rest.
If the critique resonates withyou, Fantastic.
Utilize it.
If it doesn't, cool.
(21:35):
And if you give critique tosomebody and they don't take it or
we don't hold it against them,we don't hold a grudge like that.
It, you know, wasn't the rightcritique for them.
We didn't understand what wasgoing on with them.
It wasn't the right time forthem to get that critique.
They may, you know, be goingthrough some emotional stuff right
at that time and they're notopen to critique, even though they
(21:56):
say they are.
They may not be open to it orthey may just, you know, 100% disagree
with it.
It's okay.
You're providing help.
If they accept it, great.
If they don't, we leave it alone.
We don't.
We don't get a attitude about it.
(22:23):
All right, that's all I gotfor you on this episode.
I want to thank you so muchfor tuning in and listening to this
episode.
I really hope you gotsomething out of it.
I know I did.
And it's challenged me to goto my local arts district and join
up and, you know, bite the bullet.
I'm always looking forcommunity, so I'll let you know how
(22:45):
that goes in future episodes.
All right, folks, I'm going totake my own medicine.
I'm going to take my ownadvice and do that, and I hope you
do as well.
If this helped you out in anyway, when I ask you to go ahead and
share it with a friend on yourpodcast app or YouTube, go ahead
(23:05):
and share that with the folksthat may need to hear about it.
Maybe that's how you startthat community up.
You never know.
Speaking about sharing, I runanother podcast called Find a Podcast
About.
You can find it atfindapodcast about xyz.
And there I help my listenersfind their next binge worthy podcast
(23:26):
and outsmart the algorithm.
Give it a look, see, you mightfind your next favorite podcast from
there.
The other thing I wanted totalk to you about is I started a
business called TKB Podcast Studio.
You can find it attkbpodcaststudio.com and I help my
clients there start up theirpodcast, either through consultation
(23:49):
or through actual productionof the podcast.
So that way they don't have todo it, but I do that to help them,
you know, lead through all thenoise that's out there with quiet
professionalism.
Look it up.
My portfolio is there.
If you want to see what I'mdoing with other podcasts, by all
means, check it out and thenreach out to me and let's see what
(24:11):
I can do to help you startyour own podcast.
All right, that's all we gottime for here today.
Thank you so much for listening.
Appreciate each and every oneof you that listens to this podcast
or watches this podcast on YouTube.
Now go out there, tame yourinner critic.
Create more than you consume.
(24:31):
Either find or make thatcommunity that you need.
We talked about it.
You need it.
I need it.
I'm going out to find it.
Go make some art for somebodyyou love.
Yourself.
I'll talk to you next time.
(24:52):
It.
Have you ever felt like you'remaking art in a vacuum?
You know, like you're pouringyour soul into your work, but it's
just floating out there unseenand unanswered?
Yeah, we've all been throughthere that before.
(00:40):
In this episode of Create ArtPodcast, we're talking about finding
or even building your artistic community.
Because here's the thing, noone grows creatively in total isolation.
Whether it's online, local, or just.
Just a few good friends whoget it.
The right circle can make allthe difference.
(01:03):
We're going to explore how tospot supportive spaces, ways to create
your own if you can't findone, and how to keep that sense of
belonging alive even whenimposter syndrome tries to kick down
the door.
So stick around, because yourcreative community might be closer
than you think.
(01:24):
Hey there.
This is Timothy Kimo Brian,your head instigator for Create Art
Podcast, where I use my over30 years of experience in the arts
and education world to helpyou tame your inner critic and create
more than you consume.
So in 2025, I started thisseries, the New Artist Compass.
(01:46):
And basically what I wanted todo with that is speak to new artists.
Now, if you've been doing itfor a while, I think you're going
to find a lot of things inhere for you in order to, you know,
further your practice.
But if you're brand new, thisseries is definitely for you.
(02:09):
So let's kick it off with myfirst point.
And that is why?
Why do you need a creative community?
Well, here's the thing, andI'm guilty of it too.
You know, I being isolated andthinking that nobody gets it, and
I'm just doing my stuff outthere and, you know, no wonder people
don't relate to it, becausenobody gets it.
(02:33):
Here's Isolation actuallydulls your creative edge.
If you're not out there in theworld being face to face with your
audience, then you're missingout on something that could spark
some new ideas.
You know, talking with youraudience and saying, hey, you know,
(02:53):
what do you see in this?
Now, I've talked about this inthe past.
A lot of my art is acommentary on what I see and comparing
notes with my audience andmyself to see if we're seeing the
same things, and if we're not,what are they seeing in relation
to what I'm seeing.
So that isolation, you know,being that little hermit, that can
(03:16):
really kill your creativity.
So get out there, find outwhat your audience thinks about what
you're doing.
Talk to them.
I have a Good friend.
His name is Dave Jackson.
He's a huge name in thepodcasting world.
And something that he talksabout that I really like is when
you meet your audience, tell.
(03:38):
Ask them what they like aboutthe show, what they don't like about
the show, and what, you know, they.
What changes they would liketo see.
And then shut up and takenotes and don't try to defend it
or anything like that.
If they want an explanation, great.
But go out there and meet withyour audience.
(04:03):
Another thing for why you needa creative community is it provides
you accountability.
Now, again, I'm going torelate this back to podcasting.
I know it's an arts podcast,but I talk a lot about podcasting.
It's because that's my art.
I've transitioned for that tobe my art.
(04:23):
So back in about 2016, 2018,it was 2016, I met up with a guy
named Kyle Bondo, and he wasrunning a meetup, and we'd meet,
you know, once every couple ofweeks and talk about podcasting and
different things like that.
And I would keep on comingback and keep on coming back.
(04:46):
And eventually he and Istarted a podcast called podrec.
And he let me into his worldof gaggle pod, which, you know, used
to be my network sponsor.
And it was great having himthere because he challenged me and
I challenged him, and we wereboth there doing podcasting, something
(05:09):
we both dearly love, and westill are there.
As a matter of fact, he justwrote a book about how to start podcasting,
and he included me in the book.
He had me read through it andgive him some ideas.
So it's that accountability.
It's that somebody is outthere going, hey, you know, stop
watching Netflix.
Get some art done.
(05:31):
That's what I do for you.
I'm, you know, yes, I do watch Netflix.
Yes, I do watch tv.
Notorious for that.
But I'm also in here, youknow, week after week, reminding
you, hey, you do have thatcreative edge.
You do have that creative spirit.
Let's get at it.
Giving you ideas, it, youknow, demystifying arts there for
(05:55):
you.
So I'm your accountability partner.
And guess what?
I know you don't know this,but you're my accountability partner.
I put this out here for you.
I put it out here for me aswell, but I put it out here for you
with the knowledge that I've gained.
And then the last thing aboutwhy you need a creative community
is that emotional support.
(06:17):
You know, being an artist canbe lonely, you know, and we can get,
you know, lost in our headsand all that kind of stuff.
So we're going to need peoplethat get it, that understand why
we do what we do.
And, you know, they're notasking, why do you do that?
(06:37):
They know they get it.
So a lot of times they canhelp us when we're going through
a rough patch.
So it provides emotionalsupport, accountability, and it removes
that isolation which canreally stun our growth.
Isolation is not a good thing.
Isolation is bad.
Community is good.
(07:07):
All right, so now, since I'veconvinced you, why you need a creative
community, what does one look like?
What does a healthy artistcommunity look like?
Well, first and foremost, it'scollaborative, not competitive.
So, yes, there's other artpodcasts out there.
(07:28):
I don't consider them my competition.
I consider them mycollaborators that are out there.
You know, maybe my voice isnot the one that you need to hear.
Maybe it's a different voicethat you need to hear to inspire
your creativity.
And if that's the case, great.
I'm not here to have thebiggest podcast, the wealthiest podcast,
(07:53):
or anything like that.
I'm just here for you, toinspire you, to pick up that paintbrush,
that pen, whatever it is, andto go out there and create because
of the joy that I know that Ifelt with it.
So I'm a collaborator with youand these other art podcasts that
are out there, they'recollaborators with me.
(08:15):
Now, they may not know it, butthat's okay.
That's all right.
I get ideas from them, theymay get ideas from me.
And, you know, we can.
All of us can tell you thesame thing, but maybe it's a different
voice that you need to hear.
So we always want to besharing in that artistic community.
(08:40):
Another thing is thatsometimes our art can be very vulnerable.
And with people that get itabout, you know, they get why we
create.
They may not get why we writeor paint.
You know, they may not be apainter or a writer or a dancer or
nothing or anything like that,but they get the basic of why we're
(09:03):
creating, why we need tocreate, what we're commenting on.
And again, that is kind ofvery vulnerable.
So when we share in ourcommunity some unfinished work or
some honest struggles withthat work, then we can grow as an
(09:23):
artist, and we have somebodywe can go to with something that's
unfinished and say, is, am Igoing on the right path with this?
Even if they're of a differentartistic discipline, am I going on
the right path with this?
That can help you out a lot.
And the best communities areBuilt on curiosity and not ego.
(09:48):
Way back in the day, I was inthis writer's community, this writer's
workshop.
It was on Friday nights inRockford, Illinois, and it was at
a African American history museum.
And not one of us was African American.
As a matter of fact, thecaretaker of the museum was not African
American.
So it was kind of funny.
(10:08):
We'd meet up at this placeFriday nights and share work.
I was usually under theinfluence of some, you know, interesting
items.
And there was a lot ofdrinking going on, and there was
a lot of ego going on.
And I remember I had agirlfriend at the time, and there
was this English professorthat was attending, and he would
(10:31):
say, all my stuff is esoteric.
He can't grasp onto it.
It's immature and childish and.
And all this and that, all that.
And he was slamming me infront of my girlfriend so that way
he could impress her.
And eventually, you know, theywent off and, you know, frolic together
for a time.
And I was really hurt at that time.
(10:53):
Really hurt.
So that was not a positiveexperience for me.
And that really soured me tocreative communities for a long time.
But then, like I said earlier,I met up with Kyle Bondo.
And, you know, we weren'ttrying to, you know, get each other's
wives at the time.
We were just there supportingeach other.
(11:13):
And that's a very positivecreative community.
Even though it can be small,it can be a couple of people, or
it can be a hundred people ora thousand people.
The size does not matter.
It's just, is it a healthyenvironment for you, and is it based
on curiosity and not what canI get out of you?
(11:38):
More, what can I help you with?
All right, so now we know whywe need one, and we know what a healthy
(11:58):
one looks like and why that's important.
How do you find it?
Well, thanks to the wonderfulWide World Web www.
That what we used to call itback in the day, you know, online
or offline.
And it's a lot easier now thanit's ever been.
There's different meetups thatyou can go to different community
(12:21):
organizations.
You can go to your local artsdistrict or.
Or foundation or whatnot.
That's in, you know, mo.
It's in all major cities, andthen there's a lot of them that are
in smaller cities.
We have one here inFredericksburg that I really need
to.
And that's the challenge tomyself, is I really need to get involved
with that.
(12:42):
But find little.
These little enclaves that areout there, you know, open mics, I
do an open mic at my nephews acoffee shop on Friday nights.
Here in Fredericksburg we havefirst Friday, which all the galleries
are open late and you can gotour all the galleries.
These spaces are perfect foryou to find your tribe because it's
(13:07):
already been set up.
And if you don't havesomething like that, why not start
it up yourself?
You know, go to the galleriesand say, you know, and go to your
town or your city and say,hey, what can we do?
Something like this onlinespaces can be golden.
You know, you can go ondiscord servers, Facebook groups,
(13:30):
you know, Mighty Networks isanother one that's out there.
Twitter or X has, you know,different writers groups that are
on there.
You can go online and so ifthese people are spread out across
the country, you can meet online.
We couldn't do that 20 yearsago, 10 years ago.
But now with, you know, theadvent of remote, you know, virtual
(13:54):
rooms and all that stuff, itreminds me of the days of the messaging
apps with aol.
Well, and, and, and all thatgood stuff.
You can get into differentchat rooms now.
You can actually get behind acamera and, and see these people.
We're seeing this a lot in theI, I have Ms. And there's support
(14:14):
groups for that.
The N A al anon, differentsupport groups that are out there
are all going online andmeeting virtually.
And this was especially bigduring the pandemic.
So these spaces are out there.
You don't need to join thebiggest one.
You just need to join thehealthiest one, healthy for you.
(14:38):
All right?
And you don't need to join allof them.
One or two is perfectly fine.
That may be all you have timefor hour or two during the week to
join that community, toprovide them with support and to
get support from them.
That's what we're looking for.
(15:07):
All right?
Now we know where to findthem, how to tell if they're healthy
or not, and why we need tohave our own community.
Let's say that there isn't acommunity out there, something that
you can't find, or thecommunities that you have found are
not to your liking.
Well, go build your own then.
(15:28):
Go build your own.
Figure out what is missing inthe other groups.
Why don't you like it?
Really sit down with yourselfand go, why am I not enjoying this
group?
What am I not getting from it?
And then you start your own group.
It doesn't have to be as bigas the old group.
(15:48):
It can be just, again, it canbe just a couple of people.
It could be just One person.
For a long time it was Kyleand I.
Then we had a few people joinin here and there, but the core of
it was two people, myself andKyle here in Fredericksburg, Virginia
with podcasting.
So you can build it, startsmall, invite a few, make it monthly,
(16:11):
or make it, you know, whateverit needs to be every other week,
what people have time for, andthen be consistent.
So if one or two people showup, that's fine.
You still meet.
You don't screw around.
You don't go, eh, well,there's not enough people here.
No, you still meet.
You build that core group andthen it gets bigger and bigger and
(16:34):
bigger.
But it's got to start from someplace.
You know, if you have apodcast that you do, great, yay,
let me know about it.
But maybe you do a blog forit, you do some artwork for it.
You set it up at a coffee shopand they put you on their events
(16:54):
calendar so that way peoplecan track it and find it.
Or you start it up at yourlocal library.
They usually have free openspaces there that you can, you know,
start a non profit group, agroup that is focused on that.
Maybe it is at a gallery,Maybe you are already working with
a collective and you're like,hey, let's start up, you know, a
(17:17):
little group here, a little community.
We can have people from theoutside come in that are artists
and then we can allparticipate in it, whatever it is.
Build your own, build your own.
I would say first go look forother communities.
If you can't find it or youdon't like what you find, then build
your own.
But you may have to build your own.
(17:38):
But that's okay because onceyou build that.
And they will come to it, theywill come.
You just have to be consistentand keep on going with it.
Even if you only have a fewpeople, people will come.
People gravitate towards that.
People will want to be part ofthat community and welcome them in
every time.
(17:59):
Whatever didn't happen atcommunities that you didn't belong
to, make it happen at thecommunity that you built.
(18:20):
Okay, my last point is keepingthe community alive and real.
The big thing is it's not acompetition, it's collaboration.
Be intentional about giving asmuch as you get.
Keep on giving, becauseeventually you'll get back.
You want to share yourresources, you want to share your
(18:42):
honest critique and feedback.
And I would say, you knowsomething that I've seen with the
Mike Brennan of the creativeChats group on online, he's on Facebook,
is that every Friday, he'sLike, hey, what's your small win
of the week?
You know, what are youstruggling with this week?
And he'll put pop that upevery week.
(19:03):
And every week somebodyreplies in there.
Sometimes I reply in there.
So share those wins with eachother, share those struggles with
each other.
Somebody may be there that canhelp you, but they're not going to
know unless you bring it up.
Now if there's, you know, ifyou've created this community and
(19:23):
there's some tension orconflict or anything like that, handle
it.
Handle it right away.
Don't let it fester, don't letit grow, don't let it remain unsaid.
Handle that conflict or thattension immediately.
You don't have to be heavyhanded with it.
But maybe it's a thing wherewe remind everybody why we are there,
(19:45):
why we are in that communityand then make sure that you're celebrating
the wins, even if they'resmall, even if they're tiny, even
if they're insignificant toyou, celebrate it.
Now I'm not saying, you know,go through a parade for somebody
that, you know, drew apicture, you know, once a month,
(20:05):
maybe that's big thing for them.
You know, something's going onin their life where they can only
do, you know, very small things.
And that's fine.
We celebrate that though.
Make sure that we celebrate that.
So keep it alive, keep it real.
Keep the, you know, BS and thepolitics and all the crazy stuff
(20:26):
in the world that's going on.
Keep that outside.
That's not for you to dealwith in your creative community.
You can comment on it.
You probably, you know, arenot going to be in 100 agreement
with folks.
And that's okay as long as weeach respect each other and know
why all of us are there andcome to it with that mindset.
(20:51):
And you may have to remindpeople time and time again, hey,
we're here to collaborate.
We're here to support, not tocriticize and break down and say,
this is art, that is art.
You're doing it wrong.
They're doing it a different way.
Let's find out why they'redoing it that way.
If we have something in ourbackground, in our experience that
(21:14):
can help them out, we give itto them.
We give it to them freely andlet them do with it what they're
going to do with it.
And you don't have to acceptall feedback and critique.
You take what you agree.
It's like a buffet.
You take what you want, youleave the rest.
If the critique resonates withyou, Fantastic.
Utilize it.
If it doesn't, cool.
(21:35):
And if you give critique tosomebody and they don't take it or
we don't hold it against them,we don't hold a grudge like that.
It, you know, wasn't the rightcritique for them.
We didn't understand what wasgoing on with them.
It wasn't the right time forthem to get that critique.
They may, you know, be goingthrough some emotional stuff right
at that time and they're notopen to critique, even though they
(21:56):
say they are.
They may not be open to it orthey may just, you know, 100% disagree
with it.
It's okay.
You're providing help.
If they accept it, great.
If they don't, we leave it alone.
We don't.
We don't get a attitude about it.
(22:23):
All right, that's all I gotfor you on this episode.
I want to thank you so muchfor tuning in and listening to this
episode.
I really hope you gotsomething out of it.
I know I did.
And it's challenged me to goto my local arts district and join
up and, you know, bite the bullet.
I'm always looking forcommunity, so I'll let you know how
(22:45):
that goes in future episodes.
All right, folks, I'm going totake my own medicine.
I'm going to take my ownadvice and do that, and I hope you
do as well.
If this helped you out in anyway, when I ask you to go ahead and
share it with a friend on yourpodcast app or YouTube, go ahead
(23:05):
and share that with the folksthat may need to hear about it.
Maybe that's how you startthat community up.
You never know.
Speaking about sharing, I runanother podcast called Find a Podcast
About.
You can find it atfindapodcast about xyz.
And there I help my listenersfind their next binge worthy podcast
(23:26):
and outsmart the algorithm.
Give it a look, see, you mightfind your next favorite podcast from
there.
The other thing I wanted totalk to you about is I started a
business called TKB Podcast Studio.
You can find it attkbpodcaststudio.com and I help my
clients there start up theirpodcast, either through consultation
(23:49):
or through actual productionof the podcast.
So that way they don't have todo it, but I do that to help them,
you know, lead through all thenoise that's out there with quiet
professionalism.
Look it up.
My portfolio is there.
If you want to see what I'mdoing with other podcasts, by all
means, check it out and thenreach out to me and let's see what
(24:11):
I can do to help you startyour own podcast.
All right, that's all we gottime for here today.
Thank you so much for listening.
Appreciate each and every oneof you that listens to this podcast
or watches this podcast on YouTube.
Now go out there, tame yourinner critic.
Create more than you consume.
(24:31):
Either find or make thatcommunity that you need.
We talked about it.
You need it.
I need it.
I'm going out to find it.
Go make some art for somebodyyou love.
Yourself.
I'll talk to you next time.
(24:52):
It.
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