July 27, 2025 • 29 mins
Get ready to dive into the creative abyss with Brien and Kimo as we kick off this episode of Create Art Podcast! We're talking about something super essential for every artist: your creative space. Whether it looks like a serene desert oasis or a chaotic trash dump, we’re here to help you transform it into your very own mad scientist lab of creativity. We’ll explore five nifty ways to set up your space to supercharge your artistic flow, because let’s face it, we all need a cozy nook to let our imaginations run wild! So grab your paintbrush, your snacks, and let’s get this creative party started—your future masterpieces are waiting!
Ever wondered how the greats crafted their masterpieces? Spoiler: they didn’t just wait for inspiration to knock! They created spaces that sparked their creativity. Join Timothy “Kimo” Brien in this episode as he explores the art of setting up your very own creative space. Why is this important? Well, the artist's environment can make or break your creative flow. Kimo's got the insider scoop on how to harness your space into an oasis of creativity, whether you’re working with a sprawling warehouse or a cozy corner of your living room.
First up, Kimo emphasizes the importance of choosing a dedicated space. It can be as fancy or as simple as you want—just make sure it’s a place where your imagination can run wild! Next, he dives into lighting—yes, we’re talking about the difference between feeling like you’re in a horror movie versus a vibrant art studio. He shares his own experiences, including some hilarious anecdotes about his basement “man cave” and the lighting mishaps that could have led to some serious accidents. But don’t worry, this isn’t just a lecture on practicalities; it’s laced with laughter and relatable moments. Kimo’s warmth and humor make you feel like you’re chatting with a friend over coffee rather than listening to a dry tutorial.
As we wrap up, Kimo challenges you to take a photo of your space and share it with him. Imagine the community vibe as artists come together to showcase their creative corners! Whether it’s filled with paint splatters or a perfectly curated collection of inspirational quotes, everyone is welcome. This episode is more than just tips; it’s a celebration of the unique environments that nurture our creativity. So tune in and get ready to revamp your creative space—because it’s time to make it YOURS!
Takeaways:
- Creating a dedicated creative space can ignite your artistic passion and productivity.
- Lighting plays a crucial role in your creative space; natural light is your best friend!
- Having your tools and snacks within reach keeps the creative juices flowing without interruptions.
- Personalize your workspace to reflect your unique style and inspire your creative spirit.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
So I got a question to ask youand it's kind of personal, but trust
me, I can't see you through my microphone.
And if you're watching this onvideo, I can't see you through your
display.
What is your creative spacelook like?
I mean, where you go to create?
(00:23):
Is it a desert or is it atrash dump?
That's what we're going to betalking about today on Create Art
podcast as part of our newArtists Compass series.
(00:57):
Foreign hey there, friends.
This is Timothy Chemo, Brian,your head instigator for Create Art
Podcast.
And you know me, I've got 30years in the arts and education world
to help you tame your innercritic and create more than you consume.
(01:20):
So I've started off this new series.
It's called the New Artists Compass.
And why not start off with new music?
I like the music I just made.
And we're going to talk abouthow you can set up your space, your
creative space, so that wayit's going to maximize your creativity.
(01:46):
So creating art isn't reallyjust about having the talent.
You need a space where you canexplore that talent, where you can
go and be crazy and creativeand do all the things you need to
do in order to get that piece of.
(02:08):
Get that piece of work,whatever it is, dance, sculpture,
painting, music, whatever itis, you need that space in order
to create.
It's kind of like a madlaboratory for a mad scientist.
You get to be that mad scientist.
All right, so we're going tobe talking about five different ways
(02:29):
you can go ahead and createthat space and things to think about.
And with the new artistCompass series that I'm doing now,
it's mainly aimed at the new artist.
But if you already have apractice, if you, if you're already
good to go, then youdefinitely want to listen in because,
(02:50):
yeah, it may be a little bitof, you know, Art 101.
However, you may get some goodideas on, you know, what you can
do for your practice to makeit even better.
So let's dive into this.
(03:11):
So our first thing we need tothink about is choosing a dedicated
space.
I know sounds weird, soundsobvious, but you need to choose a
space now.
It doesn't have to be huge.
You don't have to have, youknow, a 50,000 square foot warehouse
(03:32):
in order to create.
For me, I create right here inmy basement.
As a matter of fact, just offto the.
You can't see it with mycamera here, but just off to my side
here, I have this table thatwe made in college.
In my theater, when I wasstudying theater in college.
(03:55):
And that's where I do a lot ofmy creation, so where I do a lot
of my paintings.
So some of my writings, I'llsit there and write.
And it's just.
It's my space.
It's what I call my man cave.
And you can call it a womancave, you can call it whatever you
want to call it.
(04:15):
But just make a space can be acloset if it has to be, whatever
it needs to be.
Make that space your space.
That's the spot where you goand create.
Just like your bed.
You don't go have dinner inyour bed.
So some people do.
Some people eat in their bedsand they get crumbs all over the
beds.
But whatever that space is,make that space the space where you
(04:42):
create.
Now, it can initially startoff, you know, bare walls and a folding
chair or what have you, butset up that space.
Just say, this is mine.
This is where I'm going to be creating.
And definitely everything youneed to have there, have it in that
space.
(05:02):
So that way you don't have togo running around the house or your
apartment, or you don't haveto go, you know, halfway across the
city.
In case you get an idea tocreate something, it's right there
in your home.
So find a spot in your house,in your apartment, wherever you're
at, to create.
(05:30):
All right, Our next thing islight it up.
All right?
Now, I used to be a lighting designer.
That's what I studied incollege, is to be a lighting designer.
And lighting was everything to me.
And directors used to come inand say, I just want to be able to
(05:50):
see them.
I just want to see the actors.
You know, I don't want shadowson their eyes or anything like that.
For you as an artist, lightingis very important.
And I don't say that as alighting designer.
I say that as a human being,as a fellow artist, if you can't
see what you're doing, you'renot going to be able to make anything.
(06:12):
If you're in a black room withno lights whatsoever and nothing,
lighting is essential.
Otherwise you're going to cuta finger off or maybe cut an ear
off, and no, you're not goingto be Van Gogh.
But lighting is essential.
Now, natural lighting is the best.
If we look back at the Greeks,and I can go on for hours and hours
(06:33):
on this, but if you look backat the Greeks, one of the.
The theory is, is that one ofthe reasons they were able to do
a lot of things, they do isbecause where they were at on the
planet, they were so close tothe equator and they were getting
all that natural lighting ontop of them.
That's how they were able tocreate, you know, all the things
(06:54):
that they were able to do.
Now, I.
Lighting psychologically cando a lot of things for you.
If you're under, like,fluorescent lights, they can be really
harsh.
And if you have colored lightsgoing on, if you have black lights
going on, that can distort thecolor that you're seeing in whatever
(07:18):
you're creating.
And physiologically, you know, your.
Your physical state, it couldstrain your eyes.
So that way you can't see, oryou, you know, you see blurry.
You know, when I take off myglasses, things get a little bit
blurry.
So lighting is essential for you.
(07:40):
One thing that I do when I'mdoing painting is that especially
really detailed painting isthat I have these glasses that have
a light on them.
So the light is just rightabove the bridge of my nose, right
on my forehead there.
And I'll take off my regularglasses and they'll have a lens in
(08:02):
there that will blow things upfor me.
So that way I can really seethat fine detail.
Now, for riders, you're like,oh, well, you know, I can go into
a bar and smokey bar or acoffee shop and have that mood lighting
and all that.
Yeah, you can.
You can do that.
(08:22):
But it's best to, you know,have your.
Your lighting set up.
So that way, if you're doingmore of a visual art kind of thing,
then you can kind ofneutralize everything and neutralize
the effect of that lighting,except for actually being able to
(08:44):
see what you're doing.
This works for dance, too.
You know, I would say if youwant to add the lighting effects
later on to the piece, that's fine.
But when you're practicing,when you're creating it, you want
to have lights that don'tdistract whoever you have observing
(09:05):
it, you know, watching you doit to make sure that you're making
all the moves correctly.
And if you're, you know, asolo artist where, you know, you
don't have anyone looking overyour shoulder or directing you, maybe
you're videotaping yourselfdoing a dance or what have you do
it with, if you can, natural lighting.
(09:27):
Now, if you're in, you know,London and it's always raining there,
or Seattle and it's alwaysraining, they're always cloudy.
I know.
Or if you're in Arizona, it'sa bright, hot, sunny day, and the
light is just Intense.
You can always, you know,diffuse that in your workspace.
(09:48):
Myself, I use blinds andcurtains to kind of block out the
intensity.
But of course, I'm in my mancave, which is in my basement, and
I have a walkout basement, soit's easy for me to, you know, step
outside, get inspired, andthen come back in and control the
(10:10):
lighting there.
So definitely, you got to seewhat you're doing.
That's what I'm trying to getacross to you.
All right, let's talk aboutour tools.
Whatever we're using to create.
Whatever we're creating, havethem handy.
Don't start a session ofcreativity, of inspiration, and then
(10:36):
have to run around the house and.
And grab your stuff.
Whatever tools you need, havethem there.
Have them already laid out,ready to go.
Whether it's painting.
Have all your brushes, allyour paints, all your canvases, all
your palette tools, what have you.
Have your easel there.
Whatever those tools are, havethem at the handy.
(10:59):
And then another tool that Iwould have handy, have your water
bottle handy.
Have something to drink there,handy, whether it be tea or coffee
or whatever you're doing.
Maybe some snacks I alwayshave with me, and there's not a advertisement
for it, but I always havepumpkin seeds because it's.
It's nice to snack on.
(11:20):
It's a nice, healthy snack.
But always have that at thehandy and consider that one of your
tools, because it's essentialthat we stay hydrated, we stay healthy,
we stay, you know, energized.
Maybe it's a power bar or aprotein drink.
Whatever it is, make sure thatyou have all of your tools there,
(11:43):
because if they're clutteredall over the place, if you can't
find your stuff, if you'respending more time finding your stuff,
then you're living in a dump.
And if you don't have any ofthe tools and you get started up
and you're like, oh, I need toget this.
Oh, I need to get that.
Let me go down to the artsupply shop and go grab that.
Then that's just.
You're going to find differentthings to do.
(12:03):
It's going to break yoursession there of creating whatever
it is that you're creating.
Make sure that you're wearingclothes that are, you know, that.
That you can get dirty in,that aren't too constraining and
that are comfortable.
So I want you to be comfortable.
I want everything, you know,laid out for what you're going to
(12:25):
be creating and really setthat intention of, I'm going to create
something Right now.
All right.
Now that we've set up ourspace, we have, you know, made sure
everything is in there that weneed to have in there.
(12:47):
Okay.
All of our tools all set upand all that good stuff.
And it's lit, so that way.
And not lit as in, oh, man.
But, you know, with lightingthat kind of lit, now we want to
personalize it a little bit.
All right?
You can set up a lot ofdifferent things in your space.
(13:12):
Maybe it's some of your own artwork.
Maybe it's somebody else's artwork.
I do both.
I like skulls.
I like skulls.
What can I say?
I like having skulls around me.
They're always smiling for me.
They're always smiling.
So that's what I have set upin my place.
And I also have set up.
I've got books in my littlelibrary here.
(13:35):
I've got my.
My vinyl collection, my comicbook collection here.
So that way, sometimes I'lltake a break.
I also have my TV set up here,which I don't.
I don't recommend, becausesometimes you can get lost into a
TV program or your PlayStationor your Xbox or what have you.
(13:56):
I have that set up for me.
Don't recommend it, but if youhave it there, that's fine.
Just keep it off.
Give yourself a break fromwhatever you're doing.
That way you can look aroundthe room and maybe it inspires something
for you for the piece thatyou're working on.
You can look up and go, oh,hey, there's a skull there.
(14:18):
And they're smiling.
Let me put a smiling skull inthis somewhere.
I don't know.
But make the space your own.
You've already dedicated aspace for it.
You've already lit the spacefor it.
So that way it's nice and warmand inviting.
It's, you know, it's organized.
(14:38):
It may not be clean.
You may have, you know, somespiderwebs going on or some dust
or whatnot, but at least it's organized.
And now we just need topersonalize it, make it you.
Whatever is going to inspireyou to continue that work, whether
it's a quote on the wall or achild's painting.
(15:00):
I actually have in front of meon the wall a couple of things that
my wife and my kids did.
It's the word podcast, with abunch of different icons all around
it, different colors and allthat kind of stuff.
And every time I do a pod, itreminds me that, you know, yeah,
I'm doing it for me and I'mdoing it for you, but I'm Also doing
(15:22):
it for them.
It's my longevity, it's my.
It's my legacy that I'mpassing on to them.
So that's what inspires me tokeep on doing what I'm doing.
So personalize that space for yourself.
It's your space.
If you want to paint the wallsall black, paint them all black.
I don't care.
I used to, you know, when Iwas in the Air Force, my dorm room,
(15:42):
I painted it all black becauseI thought that was cool.
And that's, you know, when Iwas wearing black eyeline nail polish
and, and, and all that kind of stuff.
But whatever that is for you,personalize it.
Make it your own.
(16:04):
All right, now that we've gotthis set up, we've got the space,
we know where we're going tobe at.
We've got it lit.
Stop it with it being litstuff, okay?
You have lighting, all right?
And it's, it's tidy, it'sneat, it's organized.
You have all the stuff thatyou need there.
(16:25):
You have your water, you'vegot your pumpkin seeds, you've got
your energy bar.
And, you know, you, it's.
It's personalized.
You've got, you gotinspiration all around you.
You know, you don't got to go anywhere.
You're.
You're in your spot, you're working.
Protect it.
Protect your time and yourspace, because now it's yours.
(16:49):
And you have done somethingcreative already right then and there,
just setting up the space,getting it the way you want it to
be.
That's a creative act all ofits own.
So get that space set up.
Do everything you need to doto it to get it to be the right spot.
Now, I'm not saying, you know,obsess over it.
Go spend a million dollars ona studio or, or anything like that.
(17:14):
Stuff like this can be done infairly cheaply.
You don't have to be amillionaire to do this.
You don't have to have all thestuff in there.
All the stuff that you see inmy room has taken years and years
and years to collect.
And in my life, a little, youknow, personal thing about me is
that I.
(17:37):
From the time I was 12 untilthe time I was about 40, I moved
every single year.
And now that I've been in myhouse for a number of years, since
about, what, 2014, and it's2025, as I'm recording this, I've
collected a few things.
I've got some.
I've got some stuff.
(17:57):
So it's going to be Horrible.
If I ever decide to move outof here, which I don't think I will,
just loading all this stuff up and.
And putting it in the truckand setting another place up.
Ah, no, I'm.
I'm done.
I'm good.
I'm gonna stay right where I'mat and I'm gonna continue to put
more things up on the wall.
I'm going to continue toimprove my space, improve the lighting,
(18:19):
improve the tools that I use,make sure everything's organized.
And I. I gotta tell you rightnow, it's not super duper organized,
but if you're living in a spotthat's kind of all over the place,
all your.
All your stuff is all over theplace, and it looks like a dump.
Take time each and every day,or as much as you can.
Maybe it's 10 minutes.
(18:41):
Clean a little.
Clean a little corner of thisup, clean a little corner of that
up.
And, you know, just go aheadand get that space set up, because
this is for you.
And protect your time, too.
Set a certain time, you know,whether it be once a week, every
day, once a month, whatever itis for you, set up that time and
(19:01):
protect that time.
Put it on your calendar.
Don't disturb me from this tothis on this day, because I'm going
to be working on something.
Now.
If you have it all organizedand set up and inspiration hits you
and it's outside of that time,then you can go right to it and knock
it out of the ballpark andhave a good time with it.
But if your.
(19:23):
If your stuff is alldisorganized, all discombobulated,
that's our $42,000 word forthis episode, discombobulated.
And I'm wondering if thetranscripts will reflect that correctly
or not.
Who knows?
But if.
If you get everything all setup, then you can do that creativity
(19:47):
on the spur of the moment atany time.
But set up a time where you'regoing to be doing this.
For me, I do a lot of myrecordings on Sunday morning.
My wife, she should be asaint, you know, says, hey, I need
you to go create something.
And when it's nice and quiet here.
(20:09):
So usually I get up beforeeverybody, have my coffee, have my
water, do some French lessons,do a little bit of meditation, and
then I go at it.
I just run right at it.
And I try to squeeze as muchcreativity out of that time on Sunday
mornings as I can, so that wayI can get that out of my head.
(20:32):
Now, you know, do I carrynotebooks with me?
Do I You know, carry my, myphone with me, and if I have an idea,
you know, throw it in a, youknow, a voice memo.
Sure, absolutely.
But then I come back here intomy space and do some, create some
creative projects.
(20:52):
So definitely protect yourspace and protect your time.
All right, so here's my finalthoughts and challenge on this episode
for you.
(21:14):
So your workspace can be awork in progress.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
Okay.
Maybe the lighting you can'tdo anything about because you live
in an apartment.
And I remember an apartment Iused to live in was very dark and
drab in Chicago, had a greatview of the lake, but the view of
(21:37):
the lake was a very, verytunnel vision kind of thing.
And it had bedbugs, too.
Oh, God.
But it can be a work in progress.
It does not have to be perfect.
You don't have to get it rightthe first time.
Just continue to work on it.
Okay.
I don't expect, you know, youto have, you know, a 50,000 square
(22:03):
foot warehouse and have allthe Whiz Bang stuff and, you know,
we'll talk about differentchallenges that you're going to have
and different constraints andall that kind of stuff in future
episodes, but just make thespace for you.
You deserve it.
You deserve a space to create.
No matter where you're at, nomatter what your situation, you deserve
(22:26):
that space.
So create that space for yourself.
And that's kind of where westart with our creative journey is
creating that space where wecan feel free to go ahead and do
the art that we want to do.
My challenge to you is this.
So you're out there and youhave your space.
(22:49):
I'd like to see what yourspace looks like.
So the challenge is take.
Take a picture of your space.
I'm sure you've got a cell phone.
If you don't, go grab adigital camera or something like
that.
But take this picture, yourspace, and send it to me, and you
can email it to me.
Timothyreateartpodcast.comnow, if you want me to share it with
(23:12):
everybody, that's fine.
I'm happy to do that.
But, yeah, I'm not going toshare it unless you tell me I can
share it, but I'm justinterested in what you have going
on, where you're at.
And maybe, you know, I stealan idea or two because that's what
good artists do.
We steal ideas all the time.
Maybe it inspires me to dosomething with my space.
I'm pretty happy with mine.
(23:33):
But for those of you that arelistening to the audio pop on over
to my YouTube channel, and youcan kind of see what my space looks
like on the video here.
All right, so that's your challenge.
Now, I don't want you to, youknow, go spend a fortune on this
(23:54):
stuff.
Put it together slowly,thoughtfully, and deliberately.
But just think of these five,five areas that you're going to need
to do.
Finding, you know, creatingthe, you know, naming the space.
It's your space.
I call mine the man cave.
Make sure it has good lighting.
(24:15):
Not lit, good lighting.
Okay?
Make sure that.
Have that.
Make sure all your tools are,you know, not all over the place,
but they're there for you.
And don't forget hydration andfood, snacks, pumpkin seeds.
Make sure that's there for you.
Decorate it.
Make it your own.
(24:36):
Put your thumbprint all overit, all right?
And then protect it.
Don't let anyone trash it.
Don't let anyone, you know,even me.
I'll be.
If you send me a picture ofit, I'm not gonna, you know, critique
it or anything like that.
I'm just, you know, hey,that's a great idea.
Fantastic.
If you want me to share itwith everybody, great.
(24:58):
I'm more than happy to do that.
But protect that space in thattime because that's what we all need
and that's what we all deserve.
All right.
I hope you got something outof this.
This is something new that I'mtrying out for Korean art podcast
(25:21):
with the video and, and, andthe new music and the whole new artist
compass idea.
It's something I've beenworking on for a while now, and you're
going to be seeing it for thenext, oh, probably six months or
so.
I do already have guests linedup for this.
If you would like to be inthis series of the new artist studio,
(25:47):
Reach out to me.
Timothy Create Art Podcast.comis where you can reach out to me
at.
What I'll do is I'll send youthe list of topics I'm going to be
going over for this whole series.
And let's say you missed one.
That's okay because I'm goingto be doing a oops, I didn't get
(26:07):
my entry in on time episode,and then I'll be doing a best of
episode so you have time toget in there.
Reach out to me.
I'd love to see what yourspace looks like and I'd love to
have you on the show and, youknow, get your ideas.
These are going to be conversations.
(26:28):
They're not going to be interviews.
I mean, if you Have a book tosell or something like that, that's
fine too.
I don't, you know, I don't care.
But I want these to be moreconversational versus so tell me
about yourself and what areyou doing and blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah.
No, we're just going to takethese ideas that new artists need
(26:49):
to know and we're going to betaking our experiences and talking
about them.
So that's what I'm looking forwhen I'm talking about these conversations.
And if you want to be on thisshow, I'm interested in hearing what
your thoughts are.
So definitely reach out to me.
Timothyartpodcast.com now, ifyou got something out of this, share
(27:12):
it with a friend.
Maybe you've been doing artfor years and you got a friend that's
just starting up and you'relike, man, how do I, you know, yeah,
give this, you know, give,give them good ideas on how to start
off.
By all means, take this, shootit on over to them.
I, I'm not going to cry.
Not too much.
No, I won't cry at all, I promise.
(27:33):
I promised myself I wasn'tgoing to cry.
But anyhow, share it with a friend.
Speaking about sharing thingswith friends, I run another podcast
called Find a Podcast about,and you can find it at findapodcastabout
xyz.
And that's where I, you know,comb through all the podcasts that
are out there and find theones that I think are binge worthy
(27:55):
so that way you can outsmartthe algorithm.
So go on over there, check it out.
I even do interviews with someof the podcasters.
And if you're looking for yournext binge worthy podcast and to
outsmart the algorithm, Find apodcast about is what you need.
Now, this year here in 2025, Idid start my own podcast consulting
(28:17):
and production company andit's called TKB Podcast Studio.
You can find it attkbpodcaststudio.com and that's where
I help my clients over therelead through the noise with quiet
professionalism.
So if you've ever thoughtabout starting up a podcast and you're
like, man, that Tim guy can doit, I, I think I can do it.
(28:39):
Absolutely you can do it.
And I'm going to show you how.
Reach out to me over there.
All right, folks, that's all Ihave for you today.
I hope you got something outof it.
Can't wait for the nextepisode to drop there for you.
Trying to, gonna try to dothese every, every two weeks.
So look out for it in abouttwo weeks from the time that you
(29:00):
see it, okay?
Go out there, tame that inner critic.
Create more than you consume.
Start with your space.
Start creating with your spacebecause it's yours.
It's not mine.
It's not Aunt Matilda's.
I don't even have an Aunt Matilda.
But if I did, it's not hers.
It's your space.
(29:22):
And go out there and make someart for somebody you love yourself.
I'll talk to you next time.
It.
So I got a question to ask youand it's kind of personal, but trust
me, I can't see you through my microphone.
And if you're watching this onvideo, I can't see you through your
display.
What is your creative spacelook like?
I mean, where you go to create?
(00:23):
Is it a desert or is it atrash dump?
That's what we're going to betalking about today on Create Art
podcast as part of our newArtists Compass series.
(00:57):
Foreign hey there, friends.
This is Timothy Chemo, Brian,your head instigator for Create Art
Podcast.
And you know me, I've got 30years in the arts and education world
to help you tame your innercritic and create more than you consume.
(01:20):
So I've started off this new series.
It's called the New Artists Compass.
And why not start off with new music?
I like the music I just made.
And we're going to talk abouthow you can set up your space, your
creative space, so that wayit's going to maximize your creativity.
(01:46):
So creating art isn't reallyjust about having the talent.
You need a space where you canexplore that talent, where you can
go and be crazy and creativeand do all the things you need to
do in order to get that piece of.
(02:08):
Get that piece of work,whatever it is, dance, sculpture,
painting, music, whatever itis, you need that space in order
to create.
It's kind of like a madlaboratory for a mad scientist.
You get to be that mad scientist.
All right, so we're going tobe talking about five different ways
(02:29):
you can go ahead and createthat space and things to think about.
And with the new artistCompass series that I'm doing now,
it's mainly aimed at the new artist.
But if you already have apractice, if you, if you're already
good to go, then youdefinitely want to listen in because,
(02:50):
yeah, it may be a little bitof, you know, Art 101.
However, you may get some goodideas on, you know, what you can
do for your practice to makeit even better.
So let's dive into this.
(03:11):
So our first thing we need tothink about is choosing a dedicated
space.
I know sounds weird, soundsobvious, but you need to choose a
space now.
It doesn't have to be huge.
You don't have to have, youknow, a 50,000 square foot warehouse
(03:32):
in order to create.
For me, I create right here inmy basement.
As a matter of fact, just offto the.
You can't see it with mycamera here, but just off to my side
here, I have this table thatwe made in college.
In my theater, when I wasstudying theater in college.
(03:55):
And that's where I do a lot ofmy creation, so where I do a lot
of my paintings.
So some of my writings, I'llsit there and write.
And it's just.
It's my space.
It's what I call my man cave.
And you can call it a womancave, you can call it whatever you
want to call it.
(04:15):
But just make a space can be acloset if it has to be, whatever
it needs to be.
Make that space your space.
That's the spot where you goand create.
Just like your bed.
You don't go have dinner inyour bed.
So some people do.
Some people eat in their bedsand they get crumbs all over the
beds.
But whatever that space is,make that space the space where you
(04:42):
create.
Now, it can initially startoff, you know, bare walls and a folding
chair or what have you, butset up that space.
Just say, this is mine.
This is where I'm going to be creating.
And definitely everything youneed to have there, have it in that
space.
(05:02):
So that way you don't have togo running around the house or your
apartment, or you don't haveto go, you know, halfway across the
city.
In case you get an idea tocreate something, it's right there
in your home.
So find a spot in your house,in your apartment, wherever you're
at, to create.
(05:30):
All right, Our next thing islight it up.
All right?
Now, I used to be a lighting designer.
That's what I studied incollege, is to be a lighting designer.
And lighting was everything to me.
And directors used to come inand say, I just want to be able to
(05:50):
see them.
I just want to see the actors.
You know, I don't want shadowson their eyes or anything like that.
For you as an artist, lightingis very important.
And I don't say that as alighting designer.
I say that as a human being,as a fellow artist, if you can't
see what you're doing, you'renot going to be able to make anything.
(06:12):
If you're in a black room withno lights whatsoever and nothing,
lighting is essential.
Otherwise you're going to cuta finger off or maybe cut an ear
off, and no, you're not goingto be Van Gogh.
But lighting is essential.
Now, natural lighting is the best.
If we look back at the Greeks,and I can go on for hours and hours
(06:33):
on this, but if you look backat the Greeks, one of the.
The theory is, is that one ofthe reasons they were able to do
a lot of things, they do isbecause where they were at on the
planet, they were so close tothe equator and they were getting
all that natural lighting ontop of them.
That's how they were able tocreate, you know, all the things
(06:54):
that they were able to do.
Now, I.
Lighting psychologically cando a lot of things for you.
If you're under, like,fluorescent lights, they can be really
harsh.
And if you have colored lightsgoing on, if you have black lights
going on, that can distort thecolor that you're seeing in whatever
(07:18):
you're creating.
And physiologically, you know, your.
Your physical state, it couldstrain your eyes.
So that way you can't see, oryou, you know, you see blurry.
You know, when I take off myglasses, things get a little bit
blurry.
So lighting is essential for you.
(07:40):
One thing that I do when I'mdoing painting is that especially
really detailed painting isthat I have these glasses that have
a light on them.
So the light is just rightabove the bridge of my nose, right
on my forehead there.
And I'll take off my regularglasses and they'll have a lens in
(08:02):
there that will blow things upfor me.
So that way I can really seethat fine detail.
Now, for riders, you're like,oh, well, you know, I can go into
a bar and smokey bar or acoffee shop and have that mood lighting
and all that.
Yeah, you can.
You can do that.
(08:22):
But it's best to, you know,have your.
Your lighting set up.
So that way, if you're doingmore of a visual art kind of thing,
then you can kind ofneutralize everything and neutralize
the effect of that lighting,except for actually being able to
(08:44):
see what you're doing.
This works for dance, too.
You know, I would say if youwant to add the lighting effects
later on to the piece, that's fine.
But when you're practicing,when you're creating it, you want
to have lights that don'tdistract whoever you have observing
(09:05):
it, you know, watching you doit to make sure that you're making
all the moves correctly.
And if you're, you know, asolo artist where, you know, you
don't have anyone looking overyour shoulder or directing you, maybe
you're videotaping yourselfdoing a dance or what have you do
it with, if you can, natural lighting.
(09:27):
Now, if you're in, you know,London and it's always raining there,
or Seattle and it's alwaysraining, they're always cloudy.
I know.
Or if you're in Arizona, it'sa bright, hot, sunny day, and the
light is just Intense.
You can always, you know,diffuse that in your workspace.
(09:48):
Myself, I use blinds andcurtains to kind of block out the
intensity.
But of course, I'm in my mancave, which is in my basement, and
I have a walkout basement, soit's easy for me to, you know, step
outside, get inspired, andthen come back in and control the
(10:10):
lighting there.
So definitely, you got to seewhat you're doing.
That's what I'm trying to getacross to you.
All right, let's talk aboutour tools.
Whatever we're using to create.
Whatever we're creating, havethem handy.
Don't start a session ofcreativity, of inspiration, and then
(10:36):
have to run around the house and.
And grab your stuff.
Whatever tools you need, havethem there.
Have them already laid out,ready to go.
Whether it's painting.
Have all your brushes, allyour paints, all your canvases, all
your palette tools, what have you.
Have your easel there.
Whatever those tools are, havethem at the handy.
(10:59):
And then another tool that Iwould have handy, have your water
bottle handy.
Have something to drink there,handy, whether it be tea or coffee
or whatever you're doing.
Maybe some snacks I alwayshave with me, and there's not a advertisement
for it, but I always havepumpkin seeds because it's.
It's nice to snack on.
(11:20):
It's a nice, healthy snack.
But always have that at thehandy and consider that one of your
tools, because it's essentialthat we stay hydrated, we stay healthy,
we stay, you know, energized.
Maybe it's a power bar or aprotein drink.
Whatever it is, make sure thatyou have all of your tools there,
(11:43):
because if they're clutteredall over the place, if you can't
find your stuff, if you'respending more time finding your stuff,
then you're living in a dump.
And if you don't have any ofthe tools and you get started up
and you're like, oh, I need toget this.
Oh, I need to get that.
Let me go down to the artsupply shop and go grab that.
Then that's just.
You're going to find differentthings to do.
(12:03):
It's going to break yoursession there of creating whatever
it is that you're creating.
Make sure that you're wearingclothes that are, you know, that.
That you can get dirty in,that aren't too constraining and
that are comfortable.
So I want you to be comfortable.
I want everything, you know,laid out for what you're going to
(12:25):
be creating and really setthat intention of, I'm going to create
something Right now.
All right.
Now that we've set up ourspace, we have, you know, made sure
everything is in there that weneed to have in there.
(12:47):
Okay.
All of our tools all set upand all that good stuff.
And it's lit, so that way.
And not lit as in, oh, man.
But, you know, with lightingthat kind of lit, now we want to
personalize it a little bit.
All right?
You can set up a lot ofdifferent things in your space.
(13:12):
Maybe it's some of your own artwork.
Maybe it's somebody else's artwork.
I do both.
I like skulls.
I like skulls.
What can I say?
I like having skulls around me.
They're always smiling for me.
They're always smiling.
So that's what I have set upin my place.
And I also have set up.
I've got books in my littlelibrary here.
(13:35):
I've got my.
My vinyl collection, my comicbook collection here.
So that way, sometimes I'lltake a break.
I also have my TV set up here,which I don't.
I don't recommend, becausesometimes you can get lost into a
TV program or your PlayStationor your Xbox or what have you.
(13:56):
I have that set up for me.
Don't recommend it, but if youhave it there, that's fine.
Just keep it off.
Give yourself a break fromwhatever you're doing.
That way you can look aroundthe room and maybe it inspires something
for you for the piece thatyou're working on.
You can look up and go, oh,hey, there's a skull there.
(14:18):
And they're smiling.
Let me put a smiling skull inthis somewhere.
I don't know.
But make the space your own.
You've already dedicated aspace for it.
You've already lit the spacefor it.
So that way it's nice and warmand inviting.
It's, you know, it's organized.
(14:38):
It may not be clean.
You may have, you know, somespiderwebs going on or some dust
or whatnot, but at least it's organized.
And now we just need topersonalize it, make it you.
Whatever is going to inspireyou to continue that work, whether
it's a quote on the wall or achild's painting.
(15:00):
I actually have in front of meon the wall a couple of things that
my wife and my kids did.
It's the word podcast, with abunch of different icons all around
it, different colors and allthat kind of stuff.
And every time I do a pod, itreminds me that, you know, yeah,
I'm doing it for me and I'mdoing it for you, but I'm Also doing
(15:22):
it for them.
It's my longevity, it's my.
It's my legacy that I'mpassing on to them.
So that's what inspires me tokeep on doing what I'm doing.
So personalize that space for yourself.
It's your space.
If you want to paint the wallsall black, paint them all black.
I don't care.
I used to, you know, when Iwas in the Air Force, my dorm room,
(15:42):
I painted it all black becauseI thought that was cool.
And that's, you know, when Iwas wearing black eyeline nail polish
and, and, and all that kind of stuff.
But whatever that is for you,personalize it.
Make it your own.
(16:04):
All right, now that we've gotthis set up, we've got the space,
we know where we're going tobe at.
We've got it lit.
Stop it with it being litstuff, okay?
You have lighting, all right?
And it's, it's tidy, it'sneat, it's organized.
You have all the stuff thatyou need there.
(16:25):
You have your water, you'vegot your pumpkin seeds, you've got
your energy bar.
And, you know, you, it's.
It's personalized.
You've got, you gotinspiration all around you.
You know, you don't got to go anywhere.
You're.
You're in your spot, you're working.
Protect it.
Protect your time and yourspace, because now it's yours.
(16:49):
And you have done somethingcreative already right then and there,
just setting up the space,getting it the way you want it to
be.
That's a creative act all ofits own.
So get that space set up.
Do everything you need to doto it to get it to be the right spot.
Now, I'm not saying, you know,obsess over it.
Go spend a million dollars ona studio or, or anything like that.
(17:14):
Stuff like this can be done infairly cheaply.
You don't have to be amillionaire to do this.
You don't have to have all thestuff in there.
All the stuff that you see inmy room has taken years and years
and years to collect.
And in my life, a little, youknow, personal thing about me is
that I.
(17:37):
From the time I was 12 untilthe time I was about 40, I moved
every single year.
And now that I've been in myhouse for a number of years, since
about, what, 2014, and it's2025, as I'm recording this, I've
collected a few things.
I've got some.
I've got some stuff.
(17:57):
So it's going to be Horrible.
If I ever decide to move outof here, which I don't think I will,
just loading all this stuff up and.
And putting it in the truckand setting another place up.
Ah, no, I'm.
I'm done.
I'm good.
I'm gonna stay right where I'mat and I'm gonna continue to put
more things up on the wall.
I'm going to continue toimprove my space, improve the lighting,
(18:19):
improve the tools that I use,make sure everything's organized.
And I. I gotta tell you rightnow, it's not super duper organized,
but if you're living in a spotthat's kind of all over the place,
all your.
All your stuff is all over theplace, and it looks like a dump.
Take time each and every day,or as much as you can.
Maybe it's 10 minutes.
(18:41):
Clean a little.
Clean a little corner of thisup, clean a little corner of that
up.
And, you know, just go aheadand get that space set up, because
this is for you.
And protect your time, too.
Set a certain time, you know,whether it be once a week, every
day, once a month, whatever itis for you, set up that time and
(19:01):
protect that time.
Put it on your calendar.
Don't disturb me from this tothis on this day, because I'm going
to be working on something.
Now.
If you have it all organizedand set up and inspiration hits you
and it's outside of that time,then you can go right to it and knock
it out of the ballpark andhave a good time with it.
But if your.
(19:23):
If your stuff is alldisorganized, all discombobulated,
that's our $42,000 word forthis episode, discombobulated.
And I'm wondering if thetranscripts will reflect that correctly
or not.
Who knows?
But if.
If you get everything all setup, then you can do that creativity
(19:47):
on the spur of the moment atany time.
But set up a time where you'regoing to be doing this.
For me, I do a lot of myrecordings on Sunday morning.
My wife, she should be asaint, you know, says, hey, I need
you to go create something.
And when it's nice and quiet here.
(20:09):
So usually I get up beforeeverybody, have my coffee, have my
water, do some French lessons,do a little bit of meditation, and
then I go at it.
I just run right at it.
And I try to squeeze as muchcreativity out of that time on Sunday
mornings as I can, so that wayI can get that out of my head.
(20:32):
Now, you know, do I carrynotebooks with me?
Do I You know, carry my, myphone with me, and if I have an idea,
you know, throw it in a, youknow, a voice memo.
Sure, absolutely.
But then I come back here intomy space and do some, create some
creative projects.
(20:52):
So definitely protect yourspace and protect your time.
All right, so here's my finalthoughts and challenge on this episode
for you.
(21:14):
So your workspace can be awork in progress.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
Okay.
Maybe the lighting you can'tdo anything about because you live
in an apartment.
And I remember an apartment Iused to live in was very dark and
drab in Chicago, had a greatview of the lake, but the view of
(21:37):
the lake was a very, verytunnel vision kind of thing.
And it had bedbugs, too.
Oh, God.
But it can be a work in progress.
It does not have to be perfect.
You don't have to get it rightthe first time.
Just continue to work on it.
Okay.
I don't expect, you know, youto have, you know, a 50,000 square
(22:03):
foot warehouse and have allthe Whiz Bang stuff and, you know,
we'll talk about differentchallenges that you're going to have
and different constraints andall that kind of stuff in future
episodes, but just make thespace for you.
You deserve it.
You deserve a space to create.
No matter where you're at, nomatter what your situation, you deserve
(22:26):
that space.
So create that space for yourself.
And that's kind of where westart with our creative journey is
creating that space where wecan feel free to go ahead and do
the art that we want to do.
My challenge to you is this.
So you're out there and youhave your space.
(22:49):
I'd like to see what yourspace looks like.
So the challenge is take.
Take a picture of your space.
I'm sure you've got a cell phone.
If you don't, go grab adigital camera or something like
that.
But take this picture, yourspace, and send it to me, and you
can email it to me.
Timothyreateartpodcast.comnow, if you want me to share it with
(23:12):
everybody, that's fine.
I'm happy to do that.
But, yeah, I'm not going toshare it unless you tell me I can
share it, but I'm justinterested in what you have going
on, where you're at.
And maybe, you know, I stealan idea or two because that's what
good artists do.
We steal ideas all the time.
Maybe it inspires me to dosomething with my space.
I'm pretty happy with mine.
(23:33):
But for those of you that arelistening to the audio pop on over
to my YouTube channel, and youcan kind of see what my space looks
like on the video here.
All right, so that's your challenge.
Now, I don't want you to, youknow, go spend a fortune on this
(23:54):
stuff.
Put it together slowly,thoughtfully, and deliberately.
But just think of these five,five areas that you're going to need
to do.
Finding, you know, creatingthe, you know, naming the space.
It's your space.
I call mine the man cave.
Make sure it has good lighting.
(24:15):
Not lit, good lighting.
Okay?
Make sure that.
Have that.
Make sure all your tools are,you know, not all over the place,
but they're there for you.
And don't forget hydration andfood, snacks, pumpkin seeds.
Make sure that's there for you.
Decorate it.
Make it your own.
(24:36):
Put your thumbprint all overit, all right?
And then protect it.
Don't let anyone trash it.
Don't let anyone, you know,even me.
I'll be.
If you send me a picture ofit, I'm not gonna, you know, critique
it or anything like that.
I'm just, you know, hey,that's a great idea.
Fantastic.
If you want me to share itwith everybody, great.
(24:58):
I'm more than happy to do that.
But protect that space in thattime because that's what we all need
and that's what we all deserve.
All right.
I hope you got something outof this.
This is something new that I'mtrying out for Korean art podcast
(25:21):
with the video and, and, andthe new music and the whole new artist
compass idea.
It's something I've beenworking on for a while now, and you're
going to be seeing it for thenext, oh, probably six months or
so.
I do already have guests linedup for this.
If you would like to be inthis series of the new artist studio,
(25:47):
Reach out to me.
Timothy Create Art Podcast.comis where you can reach out to me
at.
What I'll do is I'll send youthe list of topics I'm going to be
going over for this whole series.
And let's say you missed one.
That's okay because I'm goingto be doing a oops, I didn't get
(26:07):
my entry in on time episode,and then I'll be doing a best of
episode so you have time toget in there.
Reach out to me.
I'd love to see what yourspace looks like and I'd love to
have you on the show and, youknow, get your ideas.
These are going to be conversations.
(26:28):
They're not going to be interviews.
I mean, if you Have a book tosell or something like that, that's
fine too.
I don't, you know, I don't care.
But I want these to be moreconversational versus so tell me
about yourself and what areyou doing and blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah.
No, we're just going to takethese ideas that new artists need
(26:49):
to know and we're going to betaking our experiences and talking
about them.
So that's what I'm looking forwhen I'm talking about these conversations.
And if you want to be on thisshow, I'm interested in hearing what
your thoughts are.
So definitely reach out to me.
Timothyartpodcast.com now, ifyou got something out of this, share
(27:12):
it with a friend.
Maybe you've been doing artfor years and you got a friend that's
just starting up and you'relike, man, how do I, you know, yeah,
give this, you know, give,give them good ideas on how to start
off.
By all means, take this, shootit on over to them.
I, I'm not going to cry.
Not too much.
No, I won't cry at all, I promise.
(27:33):
I promised myself I wasn'tgoing to cry.
But anyhow, share it with a friend.
Speaking about sharing thingswith friends, I run another podcast
called Find a Podcast about,and you can find it at findapodcastabout
xyz.
And that's where I, you know,comb through all the podcasts that
are out there and find theones that I think are binge worthy
(27:55):
so that way you can outsmartthe algorithm.
So go on over there, check it out.
I even do interviews with someof the podcasters.
And if you're looking for yournext binge worthy podcast and to
outsmart the algorithm, Find apodcast about is what you need.
Now, this year here in 2025, Idid start my own podcast consulting
(28:17):
and production company andit's called TKB Podcast Studio.
You can find it attkbpodcaststudio.com and that's where
I help my clients over therelead through the noise with quiet
professionalism.
So if you've ever thoughtabout starting up a podcast and you're
like, man, that Tim guy can doit, I, I think I can do it.
(28:39):
Absolutely you can do it.
And I'm going to show you how.
Reach out to me over there.
All right, folks, that's all Ihave for you today.
I hope you got something outof it.
Can't wait for the nextepisode to drop there for you.
Trying to, gonna try to dothese every, every two weeks.
So look out for it in abouttwo weeks from the time that you
(29:00):
see it, okay?
Go out there, tame that inner critic.
Create more than you consume.
Start with your space.
Start creating with your spacebecause it's yours.
It's not mine.
It's not Aunt Matilda's.
I don't even have an Aunt Matilda.
But if I did, it's not hers.
It's your space.
(29:22):
And go out there and make someart for somebody you love yourself.
I'll talk to you next time.
It.
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