October 23, 2024 • 7 mins
In this introductory episode of Creative Crossroads, Catherine and Ellyn introduce themselves and their vision for the podcast. They discuss their backgrounds as lifelong creators, their passion for community-building, and their unique perspectives on creativity. The episode lays the foundation for future discussions with talented artists and explores how creativity impacts both the individual and the community. Join Catherine and Ellyn as they invite you into a vibrant community of makers and share insights that will inspire your own creative journey.
00:00 Welcome to Creative Crossroads
00:33 Meet Your Hosts: Catherine and Ellyn
00:43 Ellyn's Creative Journey
01:47 Building Creative Communities
03:17 Catherine's Creative Background
03:39 The Intersection of Creativity and Research
04:39 Vision for the Podcast
06:14 Encouraging Listener Creativity
07:35 Conclusion and Future Episodes
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ellyn (00:01):
Welcome to Creative Crossroads, your destination for
artistic inspiration.
Catherine (00:07):
I'm Catherine,
Ellyn (00:08):
and I'm Ellyn,
Catherine (00:09):
and we are your creativity ambassadors.
Are you ready to unlock yourartistic potential?
Join us as we explore thefascinating world of creativity
across all mediums.
Ellyn (00:19):
Each week, we'll sit down with talented artists who will
share their unique creativeprocesses challenges and
triumphs.
Catherine (00:27):
Whether you're looking for inspiration,
techniques, or simply acommunity of like minded
creators, Creative Crossroads ishere for you.
Today we thought we'd tell you alittle bit about ourselves and
our vision for this podcast.
So Ellyn, why don't you tell usa little bit about who you are?
Ellyn (00:43):
Okay, I think like a lot of people I am a lifelong maker.
I always Even as a child lovedmaking things and I grew up in a
creative house where makingthings was always an option.
all of my Christmas presentswere craft kits and different,
trying out different things.
As I grew older, I leanedprimarily to fiber arts.
(01:06):
I love quilting and sewing.
I actually started as a garmentmaker, but I never quite
followed the patterns the waythey were written.
I always added some kind ofcreative flair.
I'm a weaver.
I love to weave.
That's a newer craft for me, butI enjoy it very much.
I really thrive in community.
(01:26):
I don't like to be isolated.
I do enjoy an occasional day inmy studio, but I like to make
with others, to create withothers.
I feed off of my community and Ilove bringing other creatives
together as well.
So that's pretty much me.
Catherine (01:43):
Why don't you talk a little bit about different ways
that you've created communitywithin your creative world?
Ellyn (01:47):
Oh, sure, I think I've brought together like people
from our Quilt Guild in smallgroup situations, created, You
know, different small groupsthat sew together or do other
things together.
I've created several bees bothtraditional bees where people
make blocks for each other fromtraditional patterns and a
(02:10):
really fun improv bee where wehave folks from all across the
nation that sew for each otherand interact and we've become
really fun.
A real community, not justpeople who sew for each other
but people who enjoy eachother's company and feed off of
each other's creativity, thosekinds of things.
And I'm always inviting somebodyover to make with me in my
(02:33):
house.
Catherine (02:34):
Yeah.
I remember when I first met you,you were doing like Crafty
Tuesdays.
Ellyn (02:39):
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, I'd forgotten about that.
Yeah, for a long time, the firstTuesday of every month, I would
open up my house to anycreatives who wanted to come and
do whatever it is that they do.
We'd have people around thetable sewing.
or paper crafting, crochetingall different kinds of things.
(03:00):
And it was always fun to seewhat everybody was doing and to
learn from each other andexplore creativity together.
Catherine (03:06):
That's so cool.
You are really good at bringingpeople together for.
creative purposes.
Ellyn (03:10):
Thank you.
What about you, Catherine Whatdo you bring to the table that's
different?
Catherine (03:14):
I think like you, I am a lifelong maker and I grew
up also in a home wherecreativity was something that
was highly encouraged and Ican't imagine my life without
that.
It's interesting.
I meet people who are like, Ohyeah, I'm not creative at all.
And that just doesn't resonatewith me.
Because I think that is such anintegral part of my identity.
But in addition to being alifelong creator, I am also a
(03:36):
researcher.
And my field is humandevelopment and family studies.
But within that, I look a lotat, like, how creativity impacts
how we interact with the peoplein our lives, right?
Like the important people in ourlives.
So I come at this from aslightly different angle, which
is more like that scientificresearch idea and you're coming
at it from such a practicalstandpoint, which is, I think,
(03:57):
compliments each other reallynicely.
Ellyn (04:00):
Right.
I don't have.
PhD in family studies,
Catherine (04:05):
which you don't need.
Absolutely.
I generally don't recommendthem.
Ellyn (04:11):
No, but I come from a lifetime of experiences and my
own practical experiences.
Catherine (04:17):
Yeah, you do.
And I think that like thatexperience, I don't know.
I love talking to you about justthe creative process, because
you've seen it with so manydifferent people, which is
really fun.
Ellyn (04:29):
So it'll be fun to explore those things together
and share them with otherpeople, our conversations.
What do you see us leading intowith the podcast?
Where do you see us going?
Catherine (04:41):
I see that as an opportunity for us to learn
about creativity and to exploreit Both from what the research
says about it, but also howpeople are actually doing it in
real life, right?
And so we can look at numbersand existing research, but we
can also hear from people abouthow they articulate their
creative process.
And then, I don't know, we'llsee what comes out of that.
Ellyn (05:03):
That's the piece that I'm really excited about is talking
to other creatives, getting toknow them and their history and
how that impacts what they'redoing today and their process,
how they create.
Catherine (05:16):
Yeah, I think that's where we really started with all
of this.
We were meeting, we were likegetting together and making art.
We met through Quilt Guild.
We were getting together makingart, and then we started talking
about what is it to be creative?
And I think for both of us, wewent through this transition of
we were mostly quilters.
We mostly identified as aquilter, and then we moved into
like painting and paper craftingand all these other different
(05:37):
ways of being creative.
And so we started asking How doother people do this process?
Ellyn (05:43):
And having conversations outside of our little creativity
days.
I love that my calendar alwayshas at least one day out in the
future that says art withCatherine.
Catherine (05:53):
Yeah, art with Ellyn.
Yeah.
And I love those days because wemake something right.
Sometimes we plan it andsometimes we just.
Bring our own supplies andfigure it out from there.
Ellyn (06:05):
So what do you hope?
I think, we can bring to thelisteners.
I'm thinking about how we canspark their creativity, maybe
get them thinking in a differentway.
Catherine (06:17):
Yeah, and I think sometimes just hearing about how
other people are approachingsomething helps you to think
about how you can learn a littlebit from other people's
processes.
Ellyn (06:26):
On the other hand, it might also affirm what they're
already doing.
Catherine (06:29):
This is very true.
Yeah, sometimes it's nice toknow you're not the only one.
Ellyn (06:34):
Sometimes we think, Oh, I'm so weird in the way I do
things or odd in the way Iapproach creativity.
But I think what we're going tofind, and we'll see, but I think
what we're going to find is thatpeople are all over the map with
their processes.
Catherine (06:49):
I think you're right.
And I think what we'll find isthat there's a lot of different
paths to getting to thatcreative outlet that people need
Ellyn (06:58):
and maybe it'll help some of us Get some of those works in
progress out of the closet andup on the design wall and
actually turn them into finishedProducts, I think that would be
great.
Catherine (07:09):
Some people prioritize finishing things.
Some people just focus onprocess
Ellyn (07:13):
And that's a great thing
Catherine (07:16):
It really is.
Ellyn (07:17):
That's a great thing.
So I'm looking forward togetting some new ideas and new
thoughts in my brain.
Catherine (07:22):
As am I, and I'm excited to meet like the really
cool people that we're going tobe interviewing.
Ellyn (07:27):
Me too.
So thanks for joining us at thecrossroads.
We look forward to spending lotsof time with you and
Catherine (07:36):
you can find us wherever you get your podcasts
and until then
Ellyn (07:40):
keep creating
Catherine (07:41):
and we'll see you at the crossroads.
Welcome to Creative Crossroads, your destination for
artistic inspiration.
Catherine (00:07):
I'm Catherine,
Ellyn (00:08):
and I'm Ellyn,
Catherine (00:09):
and we are your creativity ambassadors.
Are you ready to unlock yourartistic potential?
Join us as we explore thefascinating world of creativity
across all mediums.
Ellyn (00:19):
Each week, we'll sit down with talented artists who will
share their unique creativeprocesses challenges and
triumphs.
Catherine (00:27):
Whether you're looking for inspiration,
techniques, or simply acommunity of like minded
creators, Creative Crossroads ishere for you.
Today we thought we'd tell you alittle bit about ourselves and
our vision for this podcast.
So Ellyn, why don't you tell usa little bit about who you are?
Ellyn (00:43):
Okay, I think like a lot of people I am a lifelong maker.
I always Even as a child lovedmaking things and I grew up in a
creative house where makingthings was always an option.
all of my Christmas presentswere craft kits and different,
trying out different things.
As I grew older, I leanedprimarily to fiber arts.
(01:06):
I love quilting and sewing.
I actually started as a garmentmaker, but I never quite
followed the patterns the waythey were written.
I always added some kind ofcreative flair.
I'm a weaver.
I love to weave.
That's a newer craft for me, butI enjoy it very much.
I really thrive in community.
(01:26):
I don't like to be isolated.
I do enjoy an occasional day inmy studio, but I like to make
with others, to create withothers.
I feed off of my community and Ilove bringing other creatives
together as well.
So that's pretty much me.
Catherine (01:43):
Why don't you talk a little bit about different ways
that you've created communitywithin your creative world?
Ellyn (01:47):
Oh, sure, I think I've brought together like people
from our Quilt Guild in smallgroup situations, created, You
know, different small groupsthat sew together or do other
things together.
I've created several bees bothtraditional bees where people
make blocks for each other fromtraditional patterns and a
(02:10):
really fun improv bee where wehave folks from all across the
nation that sew for each otherand interact and we've become
really fun.
A real community, not justpeople who sew for each other
but people who enjoy eachother's company and feed off of
each other's creativity, thosekinds of things.
And I'm always inviting somebodyover to make with me in my
(02:33):
house.
Catherine (02:34):
Yeah.
I remember when I first met you,you were doing like Crafty
Tuesdays.
Ellyn (02:39):
Oh, that's right.
Yeah, I'd forgotten about that.
Yeah, for a long time, the firstTuesday of every month, I would
open up my house to anycreatives who wanted to come and
do whatever it is that they do.
We'd have people around thetable sewing.
or paper crafting, crochetingall different kinds of things.
(03:00):
And it was always fun to seewhat everybody was doing and to
learn from each other andexplore creativity together.
Catherine (03:06):
That's so cool.
You are really good at bringingpeople together for.
creative purposes.
Ellyn (03:10):
Thank you.
What about you, Catherine Whatdo you bring to the table that's
different?
Catherine (03:14):
I think like you, I am a lifelong maker and I grew
up also in a home wherecreativity was something that
was highly encouraged and Ican't imagine my life without
that.
It's interesting.
I meet people who are like, Ohyeah, I'm not creative at all.
And that just doesn't resonatewith me.
Because I think that is such anintegral part of my identity.
But in addition to being alifelong creator, I am also a
(03:36):
researcher.
And my field is humandevelopment and family studies.
But within that, I look a lotat, like, how creativity impacts
how we interact with the peoplein our lives, right?
Like the important people in ourlives.
So I come at this from aslightly different angle, which
is more like that scientificresearch idea and you're coming
at it from such a practicalstandpoint, which is, I think,
(03:57):
compliments each other reallynicely.
Ellyn (04:00):
Right.
I don't have.
PhD in family studies,
Catherine (04:05):
which you don't need.
Absolutely.
I generally don't recommendthem.
Ellyn (04:11):
No, but I come from a lifetime of experiences and my
own practical experiences.
Catherine (04:17):
Yeah, you do.
And I think that like thatexperience, I don't know.
I love talking to you about justthe creative process, because
you've seen it with so manydifferent people, which is
really fun.
Ellyn (04:29):
So it'll be fun to explore those things together
and share them with otherpeople, our conversations.
What do you see us leading intowith the podcast?
Where do you see us going?
Catherine (04:41):
I see that as an opportunity for us to learn
about creativity and to exploreit Both from what the research
says about it, but also howpeople are actually doing it in
real life, right?
And so we can look at numbersand existing research, but we
can also hear from people abouthow they articulate their
creative process.
And then, I don't know, we'llsee what comes out of that.
Ellyn (05:03):
That's the piece that I'm really excited about is talking
to other creatives, getting toknow them and their history and
how that impacts what they'redoing today and their process,
how they create.
Catherine (05:16):
Yeah, I think that's where we really started with all
of this.
We were meeting, we were likegetting together and making art.
We met through Quilt Guild.
We were getting together makingart, and then we started talking
about what is it to be creative?
And I think for both of us, wewent through this transition of
we were mostly quilters.
We mostly identified as aquilter, and then we moved into
like painting and paper craftingand all these other different
(05:37):
ways of being creative.
And so we started asking How doother people do this process?
Ellyn (05:43):
And having conversations outside of our little creativity
days.
I love that my calendar alwayshas at least one day out in the
future that says art withCatherine.
Catherine (05:53):
Yeah, art with Ellyn.
Yeah.
And I love those days because wemake something right.
Sometimes we plan it andsometimes we just.
Bring our own supplies andfigure it out from there.
Ellyn (06:05):
So what do you hope?
I think, we can bring to thelisteners.
I'm thinking about how we canspark their creativity, maybe
get them thinking in a differentway.
Catherine (06:17):
Yeah, and I think sometimes just hearing about how
other people are approachingsomething helps you to think
about how you can learn a littlebit from other people's
processes.
Ellyn (06:26):
On the other hand, it might also affirm what they're
already doing.
Catherine (06:29):
This is very true.
Yeah, sometimes it's nice toknow you're not the only one.
Ellyn (06:34):
Sometimes we think, Oh, I'm so weird in the way I do
things or odd in the way Iapproach creativity.
But I think what we're going tofind, and we'll see, but I think
what we're going to find is thatpeople are all over the map with
their processes.
Catherine (06:49):
I think you're right.
And I think what we'll find isthat there's a lot of different
paths to getting to thatcreative outlet that people need
Ellyn (06:58):
and maybe it'll help some of us Get some of those works in
progress out of the closet andup on the design wall and
actually turn them into finishedProducts, I think that would be
great.
Catherine (07:09):
Some people prioritize finishing things.
Some people just focus onprocess
Ellyn (07:13):
And that's a great thing
Catherine (07:16):
It really is.
Ellyn (07:17):
That's a great thing.
So I'm looking forward togetting some new ideas and new
thoughts in my brain.
Catherine (07:22):
As am I, and I'm excited to meet like the really
cool people that we're going tobe interviewing.
Ellyn (07:27):
Me too.
So thanks for joining us at thecrossroads.
We look forward to spending lotsof time with you and
Catherine (07:36):
you can find us wherever you get your podcasts
and until then
Ellyn (07:40):
keep creating
Catherine (07:41):
and we'll see you at the crossroads.
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