January 26, 2025 • 22 mins
Making Fun A Habit Series
30 days to add fun to your creative practice. I will be going through Mike Brennan's Make Fun A Habit workbook and help you make fun a habit. I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike on my other podcast Find A Podcast About and talking about his podcast Creative Chats. This workbook leads you through steps to rekindle the fun in your life and get you into a space where you are your most creative. This is a 30-day book and I will tackle each day as if it were a week and provide insights on how to use his ideas in your creative practice. Each chapter is broken up with a short story, questions to ponder, action items, and tips.
Assignment
Questions
- What kind of experiences are you hoping to have?
- What are some of the places you have always wanted to visit?
- Have you heard about local hidden gems? Where are they?
Action Items
- Play Take The Long Way Home Game
Tips
- Local parks and gardens
- Local museums and art galleries
- Local shops and restaurants
- Local hiking trails
- Local festivals and events
- Local landmarks
The latest discussion on the Create Art Podcast, hosted by Timothy imo Brien, delves into the concept of creativity as a journey rather than a destination. Drawing inspiration from Mike Brennan's book 'Make Fun a Habit,' Timothy focuses on the theme 'Take the Long Way Home,' encouraging listeners to explore their environments to find inspiration for their artistic endeavors. As a Sagittarius, Timothy shares his personal inclination towards exploration and adventure, making a compelling case for embracing spontaneity in life and art. He recounts his own experiences with road trips and the treasure trove of creativity that comes from wandering without a set destination.
Throughout the episode, Timothy intersperses personal anecdotes with broader reflections on the significance of place in the creative process. He highlights the rich history of Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he resides, as a source of inspiration often overlooked by locals. By encouraging listeners to seek out their own local hidden gems—from art fairs to historical landmarks—he provides a roadmap for sparking creativity through exploration. This invitation to engage with one's surroundings serves as a critical reminder of the importance of being present and curious in our daily lives, which can ultimately enhance our artistic expression.
As the episode unfolds, Timothy offers a series of reflective questions and actionable steps designed to inspire listeners to embark on their own adventures. He tackles essential queries about desired experiences and long-held travel dreams, motivating listeners to take action and visit places that ignite their imaginations. Additionally, he emphasizes the value of companionship during these explorations, suggesting that friends can enhance the journey's richness and provide support in unfamiliar settings. Ultimately, this episode is a celebration of the creative journey, urging listeners to embrace exploration, foster connections within their communities, and create art that reflects their unique experiences.
Takeaways:
- Taking spontaneous road trips can spark creativity and lead to unexpected inspiration.
- Exploring your local area can reveal hidden gems and enhance your artistic practice.
- Don't underestimate the power of local festivals and art galleries for networking opportunities.
- Embrace the mindset of enjoying the journey, not just focusing on the destination.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Create Art Podcast CommentaryTake the long way home. Hello friend.
This is Timothy Kimo Brien,your head instigator for Create Art
podcast where I use my over 30years of experience in the arts and
education world to help youtame your inner critic and create
(00:27):
more than you consume. Sowe're in 2025 and we're continuing
on with our Make Fun a Habitseries. And what that is is it's
based on the book Make Fun aHabit by Mike Brennan, who I actually
interviewed on my otherpodcast, Find a podcast about. And
(00:48):
he has his podcast which iscalled Creative Chats. Basically
what this is, it's a 30 daybook and it has helps you put the
fun back in your creativity.And how it's set up is just like
this. Each day in the book,which is a chapter, he tells you
(01:11):
a little bit of a story basedon the idea of that chapter. And
then he gives you questions tothink about, tips to go ahead and
do, and then action items thatyou can try out and hopefully it
puts some fun back in yourcreative practice. I was so impressed
with this, I decided I'm goingto do all of the chapters as they're
(01:36):
each as their own episode. Sothat's what I'm doing here for you.
Now, if you're new to theshow, welcome aboard. But that's
what I'm doing in this series.Now naturally I'll be interspersing
interviews and other projectsthroughout the year, but so far,
right now we are at chapter19. If this is your first time listening
(02:01):
to this, the other chapters,the other episodes are, you know,
coming out every other week.So you can go back through the back
catalog and check that out foryourself. So with this chapter, chapter
19, which is title of Take theLong Way Home, was really intrigued
by it because, well, I'm nothuge into astrology, but I am a Sagittarius.
(02:26):
I was born in December. SoSagittariuses are wandering people.
We like new things, we like toexplore new things. And he was telling
a story of his mom and he wentout just kind of on a road trip,
no particular place to go. Andthey found a lot of great things
(02:50):
on their trip home. And heused that for his creativity, for
his artistic practice. So thisis something that I highly recommend,
taking these kind of roadtrips with no particular place. You
know, grabbing a map, throwinga dart at it and go to that place
and explore it. You know, Ican't think of a better kind of trip
(03:13):
where you don't know what'sgoing to Happen you. You know, a
lot of times we are veryregimented in our vacations and in
our explorations. Sometimes wejust need to, you know, throw caution
to the wind and go out there.And maybe it's, you know, you don't
go halfway across the countryfor it. Maybe you just start with
(03:33):
your own town where you live.Myself, I live in Fredericksburg,
and there is a ton of CivilWar history and Revolutionary War
history right here in thistown. So definitely there's a lot
for me to explore that I'velived here for 11 years, 12 years
(03:54):
that I haven't explored. And Ishould just, being a Sagittarius,
I should be exploring out inthe local area that I'm at. So that's
something that I'm going to beworking on here in 2025. And I've
lived in many other places. Ilived in Rockford, Illinois, Chicago,
Illinois, Abilene, Texas,Richmond, Virginia. I lived in Carbondale,
(04:21):
Illinois. And, you know, Ilived in Mombasa, Kenya for a few
months when I was in the AirForce. So exploring around, finding
things that other people can'tsee is a form of creativity. And
a lot of times it's going tospark your imagination and your inspiration.
(04:42):
So if you're stuck withsomething, and you know how I feel
about, you know, writer'sblock or artist's block, just step
outside your door and go findsomething in your neighborhood, in
your town, your city, thestate that you're in. If you're outside
of the United States, you cando the same thing, explore your country.
(05:03):
And you're going to have a tonof inspiration that is just begging
for you to throw it down on acanvas or throw it down on a page,
or maybe you're a dancer andyou are inspired to create a dance
for all the little towns orcities or your neighborhood that
(05:24):
you're in. So let's go aheadand jump into the assignment, which
we always start off with thequestions. And the first question
is, what kind of experiencesare you hoping to have? And that's
in relation to, you know, thejourney that you want to take on.
And I look at it this way. I'mnot expecting anything. You know,
(05:48):
if something comes of it,great. If nothing comes of it, it's
an experience. The journey inand of itself is an experience. It
reminds me of a book by SaulWilliams that I have, I believe it
is said the Shotgun to theHead or one of his books. And I actually
got to meet Saul Williams, whois a musician, artist, performance,
(06:13):
poet, activist, and in thebook he wrote to me, enjoy the journey.
And I, you know, and then heobviously signed his name to it.
And I've kept that book forall these years. And that's kind
of a mantra that I live by,being a Sagittarius. Enjoy the journey.
(06:37):
And I know I said I'm notreally into astrology, and I'm not,
but I do take that to heart.The whole going on a journey, exploring,
never sitting in one place fortoo long, because if we sit in one
place too long, that can causeus to stagnate. If we're sitting
in our studios all the timeand not going out and reaching our
(06:58):
neighbors, then what are wedoing? So the next question is, what
are some of the places youhave always wanted to visit? Oh,
boy, do I have a list. So whenI was a kid, for some reason, I always
wanted to go to Tokyo, Japan,because I loved, you know, seeing
(07:19):
the comic books and the animethat was coming out of there. And
I always thought, you know,hey, this is such a foreign place.
I'll be, you know, so out ofplace here. And, you know, just to
soak all that in, soak allthat culture and soak all those experiences
(07:40):
in. That's someplace that I'vealways wanted to go. Another place,
which a lot of people findweird is I want to go to Turkey.
I want to go to Istanbul,because there is so much rich history
there that we don't reallyknow about or we're not taught about
here in the United States. SoI think it would just be a great
(08:03):
time to go there and check outIstanbul. You know, it's just one
of those things that I want togo. I want to get on a plane and
go right now and just exploreand, you know, find out if they've
got a coffee shop. Find out ifthey have a record store. I'm getting
ready to go on a work trip toEl Paso. I've been there once when
(08:27):
I was in the Air Force, but.And then one time I was there on
a bus trip to Phoenix, and westopped there for a few hours, and
I didn't really do anythingthere. So I'm excited to go to El
Paso in a couple of monthshere and check out their scene. You
know, the coffee shops, therecord stores, bookstores, all that
kind of stuff. So that's aplace that I'm going to go, definitely
(08:51):
visit, and I'll report back toyou on what I found. All right, the
last question is, have youheard about local hidden gems and
where are they? So here inFredericksburg There's a lot of local
hidden gems that are, youknow, within an hour of the actual
(09:12):
town that I live in itself.And there's. There's art fair up
in the Occoquan and Crozette,and I definitely want to check those
art fairs out. I haven't doneit yet, But I think 2025 is the perfect
year to do it. You know, whynot? I been here 11, 12 years now.
(09:34):
So let's go definitely checkthat out. There's also the battlefields
that are just right outside oftown, and those are the Revolutionary
War battlefields. So Idefinitely would like to go check
those out because I have agood buddy of mine, Kyle Bondo, who's
a big Civil War andRevolutionary War history buff and
(10:00):
who also helped me, you know,really get serious about podcasting.
And he's gone through allthose fields, and I really regret
the time that I did not gowith him on those. So definitely
I want to check that out formyself and for my kids to let them
know, you know, the cool placethat they live at. I believe it was
(10:21):
maybe a year or two ago thatmy kids got to go on a field trip
to Jamestown here in Virginia.I've never been to Jamestown. I've
heard about it, never reallybeen. And that's, you know, about
an hour, two hour ride. And Idefinitely would love to go check
that out. They didn't have agreat time because it was a lot of
history, a lot of walkingaround, and they weren't really interested
(10:42):
in it. But I would definitelylike to go and give it a shot for
myself. And then there'sWilliamsburg, which is just another
couple hours away from ourhouse. And they have what's called
Colonial Williamsburg, where,you know, everyone dresses up in
the old garb and all that kindof jazz and. And, you know, has a
(11:03):
good time with that andteaches history and all that. So
I would love to check that outfor myself. Maybe I will. And I will
let you know via this podcastwhat I find. Okay, so Mike, for his
action items, has one actionitem, and that is play the Take the
(11:24):
Long Way home game. Basically,what that is is you and a buddy grab
a map and, you know, pick aplace and go there and just explore
wherever that is, and thenwrite about your experiences or somehow
record those experiences andjust do things that you wouldn't
normally do in a place thatyou've never been to. And the great
(11:48):
thing about it is you have abuddy there with you to go on that
trip and to just, you know,for Safety reasons. It's good to
have a buddy and, you know,just to have somebody there to help
you be a little bit more bold.Because sometimes when we're in a
new place, if we have a friendthere with us, then it's a lot easier
(12:09):
to be there. You have somebodyto talk to and somebody to share
the experience with versusjust going by yourself. Myself, I'm
more of a solo kind oftraveler, but I think that would
be a great idea for me to do.Whether it's just, you know, whether
it's with my wife and my kidsor with a friend or two here, definitely,
(12:32):
you know, that's somethingthat I need to do. So give that a
shot for yourself and let meknow what you decide to do. Okay.
So he ends off with about sixtips here. They're pretty easy. It's
all visiting local places. Sohe suggests visiting local parks
and gardens, local museums andart galleries. And art galleries
(12:56):
have had a kind of a bigresurgence. I know here in Fredericksburg,
we have what's called firstFridays and the first Friday of the
month. And a lot of towns havethis. The galleries are open late.
The artists are there. You canlook at their works, talk to the
artists, you know, and youmight get some inspiration just from
looking at other people's artor talking to other artists. And
(13:19):
it's a great way to get toknow your local artist. So if you're
practicing, you know, if, likemyself, we all know that I am horrible
at watercolors. I turn outmud. But very easily. I could go
to one of these art galleriesand seek out somebody that specializes
in watercolor and go, hey, canyou teach me how to not make mud
(13:43):
anymore? I'd really appreciatethat. I'll pay for lessons, but can
you help me out with that?That's something I am interested
in. There you go. If you'rehaving some problems with the art
that you're creating, why notgo and use those opportunities to
seek out people that couldhelp you out? Some other tips he
(14:04):
has is to go to local shopsand restaurants. Yeah. Support local
as much as you can. You know,the big box stores and the, you know,
the big corporations, they'vegot enough money. And the chain restaurants,
they've got enough money. Theydon't need your money. It's the local
mom and pop stores that needyour money. So go for it. Another
idea is going on local hikingtrails. Again, I bring up Kyle Bondo.
(14:28):
He's a huge hiker and biker.And, yeah, I really should have gone
on a lot of trips with him,but unfortunately I did not. But
definitely go, you know, ahiking trail. All you need is shoes
and some clothes, and thereyou go and somewhat of a sense of
direction. So don't get lostin the hills, because unless you're,
(14:48):
you know, listening to thispodcast, and then you can go ahead
and get lost in the hills andjust follow my voice back to your
car. A couple more things islocal festivals and events. I know
here in our town we have a lotof events and festivals, so definitely
check out your area therewhere you're at. Again, you're getting
(15:09):
out in public. You may bumpinto somebody that is interested
in the art that you're doing.You may bump into people that have
bought your art, whether it bea book or a painting or whatever
it is. You'll run into thosepeople. Or you may run into people
that are doing the same thingthat you're doing, and you build
your community that way. Oryou just go and have a good time
(15:30):
and have some fun. Then thelast tip he has is go visit local
landmarks again. You can'tswing a dead cat around this town
here in Fredericksburg and nothit some local historical monument.
So definitely check that outfor yourself and see what those monuments
are. Maybe it'll give you aninspiration to do a sketch or a painting
(15:53):
or whatnot. You never knowwhat you're going to see when you're
going around your local arealike that. Heck, you might have,
you know, you take your. Takeyour camera with you. I mean, they're
on our phones now, so youcan't really leave the house without
it. And there might be, youknow, some people, some other people
at the monument snap a pictureof it, you know, asking permission
(16:16):
for, say, hey, listen, I'mjust taking pictures here. I hope
you don't mind. And if theydo, then leave them alone. But if
they don't, you never knowwhat you'll find. And you might make
a friend, might make a client,might make a sale. You never know.
All right, well, I'm hopingyou got some ideas out of this for
(16:36):
yourself. Basically, it's getout of your studio, get out of your
house, and go search in yourlocal area for things that will give
you inspiration that will beyour next creation. So now I'm going
to switch on over to lettingyou know about a few programs that
(16:57):
I'm involved with. And one ofthem is how I get great guests, and
that's through a service thatI use called Pod Match, and that's
how I get the best guests forthis show. I do have a link to my
affiliate code in the shownotes there for you. So, yeah, I
do make a little bit of cash.I'm not going out and buying steak
(17:20):
dinners with it, But I reallyenjoy Pod Match. So if you're a podcaster
looking for good guests or ifyou have something to say, do you
want to be on podcasts? Checkout Pod Match for yourself. You're
going to hear a lot ofinterviews this year in the previous
years, and a lot of thoseguests that I got were directly from
(17:42):
Pod Match. So I definitelywant to thank the folks at Pod Match
for their service. Have youthought about how to, you know, if
you have a podcast, how toshare your podcast? What's the easiest
way to do it? Business cardsare nice, but people throw that away.
QR codes are, you know, stilla little bit weird to me. I don't
know about you, but yeah,scanning a QR code is, I don't know.
(18:07):
Well, I work with a groupcalled Podcast Beacon and what they
do is they make these littlewatches or key fobs or whatnot. And
if somebody says, hey, do youhave a podcast? You can say, yeah,
just put your phone over mykey fob or put your phone over my
wrist here and it'llautomatically pop up your website,
(18:28):
your podcast, on that person'sphone. And then you don't have to
worry about them throwing itaway. They, they have it right there
on their phone. They can golisten to it right away if they want.
So definitely check outPodcast Beacon. I do have my affiliate
link in the show notes therefor you. Now, if you got anything
out of this podcast, feel freeto share it with a friend. I'm not
(18:50):
going to yell at you too muchfor doing that. I won't yell at you
at all, I promise. If you wantto be on the show or if you have
ideas for the show, you canreach out to me. Timothyreateartpodcast.com
how easy is that? I mean, Icouldn't have designed it easier
than that, but definitelyreach out to me. I want this to be
(19:11):
a five star show in your mind.The best way for me to do that is
to know what you're thinking.I also do have a survey. It's the
2024 listener survey. Linksare in the show notes for that. Yeah,
I know it's 2025 now, Tim,update the survey. But if you would
(19:35):
like to go ahead and fill outthat survey, I would be highly appreciative
of that. I want to know what'sgoing on in your Mind, I want to
know how this is helping youor if I need to do things to make
it more helpful for you. Sodefinitely do me a favor, do me a
solid. If you got somethingout of the show, let me know in the
survey or reach out to me viaemail. I'm very responsive to it,
(19:59):
so I will definitely respondto you if you email me, as long as
you're not spam. And last butcertainly not least is I've started
a podcast consulting business.It's called TKB Podcast Studio. You
can findthat@tkbpodcaststudio.com and basically
(20:20):
what I'm doing there is I'mdoing podcast consulting and production.
So if you've ever thoughtabout doing a podcast, you can reach
out to me through the websitethere, there's an email associated
with it,timothykbpodcaststudio.com and definitely
check that out for yourself ifyou've ever thought about, hey, you
(20:42):
know, Tim's doing thispodcast. He's not that smart of a
guy. Maybe I can do a podcast.Maybe you can. And I'd love to help
you do that and make a betterpodcast than the one you're listening
to. Speaking about podcaststhat I run, another one is I run
the Find a podcast about andyou can find it at findapodcastabout
xyz. And that's where I helpyou outsmart the algorithm and find
(21:05):
your next binge worthypodcast. And a lot of times I get
the podcast host to come onthe show and get to ask them the
questions that you want me toask them. So give that a shot for
yourself. If you're lookingfor a new podcast to binge, check
out that show. All right,that's all I have for you here today.
I need to get on with my day.I'm going to let you get on with
(21:26):
your day, but I want to thankyou so much for listening to Create
Art podcast. It is a passionproject for me. It keeps me in an
artistic mindset at all timesand I'm hoping that you are getting
something out of it as well.If nothing else, maybe it's helping
you go to sleep at night. Thatwould be fine with me as well. But
(21:48):
I want you to go out there andtame your inner critic. Create more
than you consume. Go on ajourney this week. Let me know about
it. I want you to go out thereand create some art for somebody
you love. Yourself. I'll talkto you next time.
Create Art Podcast CommentaryTake the long way home. Hello friend.
This is Timothy Kimo Brien,your head instigator for Create Art
podcast where I use my over 30years of experience in the arts and
education world to help youtame your inner critic and create
(00:27):
more than you consume. Sowe're in 2025 and we're continuing
on with our Make Fun a Habitseries. And what that is is it's
based on the book Make Fun aHabit by Mike Brennan, who I actually
interviewed on my otherpodcast, Find a podcast about. And
(00:48):
he has his podcast which iscalled Creative Chats. Basically
what this is, it's a 30 daybook and it has helps you put the
fun back in your creativity.And how it's set up is just like
this. Each day in the book,which is a chapter, he tells you
(01:11):
a little bit of a story basedon the idea of that chapter. And
then he gives you questions tothink about, tips to go ahead and
do, and then action items thatyou can try out and hopefully it
puts some fun back in yourcreative practice. I was so impressed
with this, I decided I'm goingto do all of the chapters as they're
(01:36):
each as their own episode. Sothat's what I'm doing here for you.
Now, if you're new to theshow, welcome aboard. But that's
what I'm doing in this series.Now naturally I'll be interspersing
interviews and other projectsthroughout the year, but so far,
right now we are at chapter19. If this is your first time listening
(02:01):
to this, the other chapters,the other episodes are, you know,
coming out every other week.So you can go back through the back
catalog and check that out foryourself. So with this chapter, chapter
19, which is title of Take theLong Way Home, was really intrigued
by it because, well, I'm nothuge into astrology, but I am a Sagittarius.
(02:26):
I was born in December. SoSagittariuses are wandering people.
We like new things, we like toexplore new things. And he was telling
a story of his mom and he wentout just kind of on a road trip,
no particular place to go. Andthey found a lot of great things
(02:50):
on their trip home. And heused that for his creativity, for
his artistic practice. So thisis something that I highly recommend,
taking these kind of roadtrips with no particular place. You
know, grabbing a map, throwinga dart at it and go to that place
and explore it. You know, Ican't think of a better kind of trip
(03:13):
where you don't know what'sgoing to Happen you. You know, a
lot of times we are veryregimented in our vacations and in
our explorations. Sometimes wejust need to, you know, throw caution
to the wind and go out there.And maybe it's, you know, you don't
go halfway across the countryfor it. Maybe you just start with
(03:33):
your own town where you live.Myself, I live in Fredericksburg,
and there is a ton of CivilWar history and Revolutionary War
history right here in thistown. So definitely there's a lot
for me to explore that I'velived here for 11 years, 12 years
(03:54):
that I haven't explored. And Ishould just, being a Sagittarius,
I should be exploring out inthe local area that I'm at. So that's
something that I'm going to beworking on here in 2025. And I've
lived in many other places. Ilived in Rockford, Illinois, Chicago,
Illinois, Abilene, Texas,Richmond, Virginia. I lived in Carbondale,
(04:21):
Illinois. And, you know, Ilived in Mombasa, Kenya for a few
months when I was in the AirForce. So exploring around, finding
things that other people can'tsee is a form of creativity. And
a lot of times it's going tospark your imagination and your inspiration.
(04:42):
So if you're stuck withsomething, and you know how I feel
about, you know, writer'sblock or artist's block, just step
outside your door and go findsomething in your neighborhood, in
your town, your city, thestate that you're in. If you're outside
of the United States, you cando the same thing, explore your country.
(05:03):
And you're going to have a tonof inspiration that is just begging
for you to throw it down on acanvas or throw it down on a page,
or maybe you're a dancer andyou are inspired to create a dance
for all the little towns orcities or your neighborhood that
(05:24):
you're in. So let's go aheadand jump into the assignment, which
we always start off with thequestions. And the first question
is, what kind of experiencesare you hoping to have? And that's
in relation to, you know, thejourney that you want to take on.
And I look at it this way. I'mnot expecting anything. You know,
(05:48):
if something comes of it,great. If nothing comes of it, it's
an experience. The journey inand of itself is an experience. It
reminds me of a book by SaulWilliams that I have, I believe it
is said the Shotgun to theHead or one of his books. And I actually
got to meet Saul Williams, whois a musician, artist, performance,
(06:13):
poet, activist, and in thebook he wrote to me, enjoy the journey.
And I, you know, and then heobviously signed his name to it.
And I've kept that book forall these years. And that's kind
of a mantra that I live by,being a Sagittarius. Enjoy the journey.
(06:37):
And I know I said I'm notreally into astrology, and I'm not,
but I do take that to heart.The whole going on a journey, exploring,
never sitting in one place fortoo long, because if we sit in one
place too long, that can causeus to stagnate. If we're sitting
in our studios all the timeand not going out and reaching our
(06:58):
neighbors, then what are wedoing? So the next question is, what
are some of the places youhave always wanted to visit? Oh,
boy, do I have a list. So whenI was a kid, for some reason, I always
wanted to go to Tokyo, Japan,because I loved, you know, seeing
(07:19):
the comic books and the animethat was coming out of there. And
I always thought, you know,hey, this is such a foreign place.
I'll be, you know, so out ofplace here. And, you know, just to
soak all that in, soak allthat culture and soak all those experiences
(07:40):
in. That's someplace that I'vealways wanted to go. Another place,
which a lot of people findweird is I want to go to Turkey.
I want to go to Istanbul,because there is so much rich history
there that we don't reallyknow about or we're not taught about
here in the United States. SoI think it would just be a great
(08:03):
time to go there and check outIstanbul. You know, it's just one
of those things that I want togo. I want to get on a plane and
go right now and just exploreand, you know, find out if they've
got a coffee shop. Find out ifthey have a record store. I'm getting
ready to go on a work trip toEl Paso. I've been there once when
(08:27):
I was in the Air Force, but.And then one time I was there on
a bus trip to Phoenix, and westopped there for a few hours, and
I didn't really do anythingthere. So I'm excited to go to El
Paso in a couple of monthshere and check out their scene. You
know, the coffee shops, therecord stores, bookstores, all that
kind of stuff. So that's aplace that I'm going to go, definitely
(08:51):
visit, and I'll report back toyou on what I found. All right, the
last question is, have youheard about local hidden gems and
where are they? So here inFredericksburg There's a lot of local
hidden gems that are, youknow, within an hour of the actual
(09:12):
town that I live in itself.And there's. There's art fair up
in the Occoquan and Crozette,and I definitely want to check those
art fairs out. I haven't doneit yet, But I think 2025 is the perfect
year to do it. You know, whynot? I been here 11, 12 years now.
(09:34):
So let's go definitely checkthat out. There's also the battlefields
that are just right outside oftown, and those are the Revolutionary
War battlefields. So Idefinitely would like to go check
those out because I have agood buddy of mine, Kyle Bondo, who's
a big Civil War andRevolutionary War history buff and
(10:00):
who also helped me, you know,really get serious about podcasting.
And he's gone through allthose fields, and I really regret
the time that I did not gowith him on those. So definitely
I want to check that out formyself and for my kids to let them
know, you know, the cool placethat they live at. I believe it was
(10:21):
maybe a year or two ago thatmy kids got to go on a field trip
to Jamestown here in Virginia.I've never been to Jamestown. I've
heard about it, never reallybeen. And that's, you know, about
an hour, two hour ride. And Idefinitely would love to go check
that out. They didn't have agreat time because it was a lot of
history, a lot of walkingaround, and they weren't really interested
(10:42):
in it. But I would definitelylike to go and give it a shot for
myself. And then there'sWilliamsburg, which is just another
couple hours away from ourhouse. And they have what's called
Colonial Williamsburg, where,you know, everyone dresses up in
the old garb and all that kindof jazz and. And, you know, has a
(11:03):
good time with that andteaches history and all that. So
I would love to check that outfor myself. Maybe I will. And I will
let you know via this podcastwhat I find. Okay, so Mike, for his
action items, has one actionitem, and that is play the Take the
(11:24):
Long Way home game. Basically,what that is is you and a buddy grab
a map and, you know, pick aplace and go there and just explore
wherever that is, and thenwrite about your experiences or somehow
record those experiences andjust do things that you wouldn't
normally do in a place thatyou've never been to. And the great
(11:48):
thing about it is you have abuddy there with you to go on that
trip and to just, you know,for Safety reasons. It's good to
have a buddy and, you know,just to have somebody there to help
you be a little bit more bold.Because sometimes when we're in a
new place, if we have a friendthere with us, then it's a lot easier
(12:09):
to be there. You have somebodyto talk to and somebody to share
the experience with versusjust going by yourself. Myself, I'm
more of a solo kind oftraveler, but I think that would
be a great idea for me to do.Whether it's just, you know, whether
it's with my wife and my kidsor with a friend or two here, definitely,
(12:32):
you know, that's somethingthat I need to do. So give that a
shot for yourself and let meknow what you decide to do. Okay.
So he ends off with about sixtips here. They're pretty easy. It's
all visiting local places. Sohe suggests visiting local parks
and gardens, local museums andart galleries. And art galleries
(12:56):
have had a kind of a bigresurgence. I know here in Fredericksburg,
we have what's called firstFridays and the first Friday of the
month. And a lot of towns havethis. The galleries are open late.
The artists are there. You canlook at their works, talk to the
artists, you know, and youmight get some inspiration just from
looking at other people's artor talking to other artists. And
(13:19):
it's a great way to get toknow your local artist. So if you're
practicing, you know, if, likemyself, we all know that I am horrible
at watercolors. I turn outmud. But very easily. I could go
to one of these art galleriesand seek out somebody that specializes
in watercolor and go, hey, canyou teach me how to not make mud
(13:43):
anymore? I'd really appreciatethat. I'll pay for lessons, but can
you help me out with that?That's something I am interested
in. There you go. If you'rehaving some problems with the art
that you're creating, why notgo and use those opportunities to
seek out people that couldhelp you out? Some other tips he
(14:04):
has is to go to local shopsand restaurants. Yeah. Support local
as much as you can. You know,the big box stores and the, you know,
the big corporations, they'vegot enough money. And the chain restaurants,
they've got enough money. Theydon't need your money. It's the local
mom and pop stores that needyour money. So go for it. Another
idea is going on local hikingtrails. Again, I bring up Kyle Bondo.
(14:28):
He's a huge hiker and biker.And, yeah, I really should have gone
on a lot of trips with him,but unfortunately I did not. But
definitely go, you know, ahiking trail. All you need is shoes
and some clothes, and thereyou go and somewhat of a sense of
direction. So don't get lostin the hills, because unless you're,
(14:48):
you know, listening to thispodcast, and then you can go ahead
and get lost in the hills andjust follow my voice back to your
car. A couple more things islocal festivals and events. I know
here in our town we have a lotof events and festivals, so definitely
check out your area therewhere you're at. Again, you're getting
(15:09):
out in public. You may bumpinto somebody that is interested
in the art that you're doing.You may bump into people that have
bought your art, whether it bea book or a painting or whatever
it is. You'll run into thosepeople. Or you may run into people
that are doing the same thingthat you're doing, and you build
your community that way. Oryou just go and have a good time
(15:30):
and have some fun. Then thelast tip he has is go visit local
landmarks again. You can'tswing a dead cat around this town
here in Fredericksburg and nothit some local historical monument.
So definitely check that outfor yourself and see what those monuments
are. Maybe it'll give you aninspiration to do a sketch or a painting
(15:53):
or whatnot. You never knowwhat you're going to see when you're
going around your local arealike that. Heck, you might have,
you know, you take your. Takeyour camera with you. I mean, they're
on our phones now, so youcan't really leave the house without
it. And there might be, youknow, some people, some other people
at the monument snap a pictureof it, you know, asking permission
(16:16):
for, say, hey, listen, I'mjust taking pictures here. I hope
you don't mind. And if theydo, then leave them alone. But if
they don't, you never knowwhat you'll find. And you might make
a friend, might make a client,might make a sale. You never know.
All right, well, I'm hopingyou got some ideas out of this for
(16:36):
yourself. Basically, it's getout of your studio, get out of your
house, and go search in yourlocal area for things that will give
you inspiration that will beyour next creation. So now I'm going
to switch on over to lettingyou know about a few programs that
(16:57):
I'm involved with. And one ofthem is how I get great guests, and
that's through a service thatI use called Pod Match, and that's
how I get the best guests forthis show. I do have a link to my
affiliate code in the shownotes there for you. So, yeah, I
do make a little bit of cash.I'm not going out and buying steak
(17:20):
dinners with it, But I reallyenjoy Pod Match. So if you're a podcaster
looking for good guests or ifyou have something to say, do you
want to be on podcasts? Checkout Pod Match for yourself. You're
going to hear a lot ofinterviews this year in the previous
years, and a lot of thoseguests that I got were directly from
(17:42):
Pod Match. So I definitelywant to thank the folks at Pod Match
for their service. Have youthought about how to, you know, if
you have a podcast, how toshare your podcast? What's the easiest
way to do it? Business cardsare nice, but people throw that away.
QR codes are, you know, stilla little bit weird to me. I don't
know about you, but yeah,scanning a QR code is, I don't know.
(18:07):
Well, I work with a groupcalled Podcast Beacon and what they
do is they make these littlewatches or key fobs or whatnot. And
if somebody says, hey, do youhave a podcast? You can say, yeah,
just put your phone over mykey fob or put your phone over my
wrist here and it'llautomatically pop up your website,
(18:28):
your podcast, on that person'sphone. And then you don't have to
worry about them throwing itaway. They, they have it right there
on their phone. They can golisten to it right away if they want.
So definitely check outPodcast Beacon. I do have my affiliate
link in the show notes therefor you. Now, if you got anything
out of this podcast, feel freeto share it with a friend. I'm not
(18:50):
going to yell at you too muchfor doing that. I won't yell at you
at all, I promise. If you wantto be on the show or if you have
ideas for the show, you canreach out to me. Timothyreateartpodcast.com
how easy is that? I mean, Icouldn't have designed it easier
than that, but definitelyreach out to me. I want this to be
(19:11):
a five star show in your mind.The best way for me to do that is
to know what you're thinking.I also do have a survey. It's the
2024 listener survey. Linksare in the show notes for that. Yeah,
I know it's 2025 now, Tim,update the survey. But if you would
(19:35):
like to go ahead and fill outthat survey, I would be highly appreciative
of that. I want to know what'sgoing on in your Mind, I want to
know how this is helping youor if I need to do things to make
it more helpful for you. Sodefinitely do me a favor, do me a
solid. If you got somethingout of the show, let me know in the
survey or reach out to me viaemail. I'm very responsive to it,
(19:59):
so I will definitely respondto you if you email me, as long as
you're not spam. And last butcertainly not least is I've started
a podcast consulting business.It's called TKB Podcast Studio. You
can findthat@tkbpodcaststudio.com and basically
(20:20):
what I'm doing there is I'mdoing podcast consulting and production.
So if you've ever thoughtabout doing a podcast, you can reach
out to me through the websitethere, there's an email associated
with it,timothykbpodcaststudio.com and definitely
check that out for yourself ifyou've ever thought about, hey, you
(20:42):
know, Tim's doing thispodcast. He's not that smart of a
guy. Maybe I can do a podcast.Maybe you can. And I'd love to help
you do that and make a betterpodcast than the one you're listening
to. Speaking about podcaststhat I run, another one is I run
the Find a podcast about andyou can find it at findapodcastabout
xyz. And that's where I helpyou outsmart the algorithm and find
(21:05):
your next binge worthypodcast. And a lot of times I get
the podcast host to come onthe show and get to ask them the
questions that you want me toask them. So give that a shot for
yourself. If you're lookingfor a new podcast to binge, check
out that show. All right,that's all I have for you here today.
I need to get on with my day.I'm going to let you get on with
(21:26):
your day, but I want to thankyou so much for listening to Create
Art podcast. It is a passionproject for me. It keeps me in an
artistic mindset at all timesand I'm hoping that you are getting
something out of it as well.If nothing else, maybe it's helping
you go to sleep at night. Thatwould be fine with me as well. But
(21:48):
I want you to go out there andtame your inner critic. Create more
than you consume. Go on ajourney this week. Let me know about
it. I want you to go out thereand create some art for somebody
you love. Yourself. I'll talkto you next time.
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