December 1, 2025 • 36 mins
Cultural heritage, a challenging mentor and the bridge between free expression and disciplined practice.
Regina Linke is an illustrator and writer dedicated to celebrating traditional Chinese art and philosophy in a modern way.
Regina's childhood interest in drawing was initially stifled by rigid instruction, and she went on to study business in college followed by a career in international development. It wasn't until a move to Taiwan, her parents' homeland, that she reconnected with her artistic passion.
In Taiwan, Regina immersed herself in traditional Chinese brush painting. Despite an initial struggle with the structured learning environment, she credits her critical teacher with pushing her to develop a unique artistic voice, one that blends her Western upbringing with Eastern aesthetics.
This fusion led to the creation of The Oxherd Boy, an online comic that grew from her desire to explain complex philosophical concepts to her young son. Regina discusses the evolution of The Oxherd Boy into published books, and the challenges of adapting her deeply personal work for diverse audiences while staying true to the core message.
In this episode Regina offers invaluable advice for aspiring creatives: find joy in the process, but also embrace the discipline of practice and the humility to learn, while illustrating how unexpected paths can lead to profound artistic expression.
Key Takeaways
- Embrace structured learning to build foundational skills, even in creative fields, as it deepens your understanding and respect for the art form.
- A challenging or critical mentor can be instrumental in pushing you beyond your comfort zone to discover your unique artistic voice.
- Blending diverse cultural backgrounds and perspectives can lead to a richer, more distinctive creative style.
- Consistent creative practice is essential for growth, even when inspiration wanes; it keeps your skills sharp and fuels further development.
- Be open to the evolution of your work when collaborating with others, understanding that adaptation can broaden your reach and create new stepping stones for your message.
I would love some financial support to help me to keep making this podcast. Visit buymeacoffee.com/creativityfound
Want to be a guest on Creativity Found? Send me a message on PodMatch, here
Podcast recorded with Riverside and hosted by Buzzsprout
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Regina Linke (00:33):
My relationship with art was one of free
expression, which I didn't feelwas compatible with direct
instruction and someone puttingboundaries and having me do very
boring, very repetitivepractice work did not feel very
freeing and creative to me.
The Taiwanese studio, I think,was one in which it was more of
(00:57):
like a traditional painter'satelier, in which we were
expected to learn the history,the canon of traditional Chinese
art, the thousands of years,and to study the masters and to
learn how to replicate a lot oftheir techniques.
My confidence took a blow forsure.
At the same time, though, healso said that there was an
(01:21):
opportunity for me to forge myown past.
Hi, I'm Claire.
Claire Waite Brown (01:27):
For this podcast, I chat with people who
have found or refound theircreativity as adults.
We'll explore their childhoodexperiences of the art, discuss
how they came to the artisticpractices they now love, and
consider the barriers they mayhave experienced between the
two.
We'll also explore what it isthat people value and gain from
(01:49):
their newfound artisticpursuits.
And how their creative livesenrich their practical,
necessary, everyday lives.
This time I am speaking withRegina Linke.
Hi Regina, how are you?
Hi Claire, I'm doing well.
Thanks so much for having me onthe show.
You're very welcome.
(02:09):
I am looking forward to ourchat.
Start by telling me about yourrefound creative outlet.
Regina Linke (02:18):
Sure.
So uh right now I am dedicatedmostly to illustrating and
writing stories that celebratetraditional Chinese art and
philosophy in a modern way.
So, in short, really taking oldancient teachings and visual
(02:39):
arts and tailoring it for amodern and primarily Western
audience to open up theirperspective to a different way
of looking at art and life andhopefully sharing some of the
wisdom that has lastedthroughout the ages across uh
Chinese history.
Fantastic.
Claire Waite Brown (02:59):
When you were younger, did creative
activities play a part in yourlife, whether at home or at
school?
Were they encouraged?
Regina Linke (03:08):
Yes.
So when I was a child, Idefinitely had an interest in
drawing, in painting, in justexploring my world through
visual medium.
And uh this I think wassomething that really developed
in uh preschool.
(03:29):
And it was something that myparents didn't really know about
until my mom entered mypre-kindergarten classroom, and
there were all of these examplesand samples from the students'
artwork on the walls.
There was one that struck her,an image of a very
well-proportioned apple, andthere was a little worm crawling
(03:51):
out of it.
And she asked the teacher whoseit was, and the teacher said,
Well, it was your daughter's.
And it kind of took her bysurprise because I don't think
that it was necessarilysomething that I did all the
time, but given the opportunity,I definitely just enjoyed it
and um had some kind ofnatural-born gift for it.
(04:14):
And my mom especially felt thatthis was uh worth pursuing.
So she did sign me up for somebasic drawing lessons and uh I
did some, you know, relief workand pottery and things like
that.
She signed me up for kids'classes, but I think I was the
kind of kid who just um didn'tdo so well under direct
(04:37):
instruction.
And so I didn't really enjoythe classes because for me at
the time, especially at thatage, it was more of an outlet to
just play and to have fun.
So I didn't really pursue moreclasses in art and creativity
for a very long time.
(04:58):
Uh, it was mostly somethingthat I dabbled in here and there
when the inspiration struck,but for most of my life, it was
very haphazard and notstructured at all.
Claire Waite Brown (05:08):
So if you if you didn't like being taught to
do creative things, what wereyou like in school in other
topics?
Were you okay being taught?
Regina Linke (05:19):
Right, right.
Well, I think uh it goes handin hand with um my interests and
what perhaps when I was youngerI felt to be maybe mutually
exclusive.
So my relationship with art wasone of free expression, which I
didn't feel was compatible withdirect instruction and someone
(05:41):
putting um boundaries and uhhaving me do very boring, very
repetitive practice work did notfeel very freeing and creative
to me.
Whereas something that likemaths or or science or s or
history, in which the, you know,I felt maybe uh was a little
bit more uh structured already,a little bit more rigid.
(06:03):
And so my relationship with itwas different.
And so I actually excelled inthose classes and um, you know,
was open to more, more teaching,more direct teaching um in
those subjects because maybe Ifelt that they were more
compatible.
But, you know, I think as asI've grown older, the lines have
blurred so much more and therecan be so much creativity in the
(06:27):
maths and sciences, as much asyou might find in music or art.
And and so, but I I think, youknow, as a kid and even as a
young adult, I felt those lineswere definitely harder
boundaries that couldn't becrossed.
Claire Waite Brown (06:40):
No, I can understand that.
What were your plans for thefuture when you grew up?
Regina Linke (06:49):
Yes, I mean, uh I think that I didn't have very
strong plans.
And I think that as someone whodid well in school, and I went
to very, very academicallycompetitive high school with
lots of children offirst-generation immigrants who
knew that they, you know, weregoing into pre-med or
(07:11):
engineering.
I felt a little bit at a lossbecause uh my parents didn't
place any expectations on meprofessionally.
I think they wanted me to havea relatively stable profession,
but wherever my interests lay,they were willing to support me
in that direction.
But I never entertained theidea of pursuing a creative
(07:35):
career.
And so, like probably manypeople who didn't know what they
wanted to do, I kind of fiddledaround with a lot of different
classes.
And then finally, um, no, mydad was like, well, regardless
of what you do, you're gonnahave to learn to balance your
own books.
So why don't you get a degreein business?
(07:56):
I said, okay.
And I ended up getting abusiness degree at university,
and and it was uh one of thosethings that I sort of just fell
into without much passion, butwithout much complaint either.
It was sort of a thing to do.
I also majored in Spanishbecause I really loved the the
(08:21):
language.
I grew up in in Texas,actually, and so huge Mexican
and Central American influenceand on the culture there.
And it was interesting becausewhile I was getting my degree, I
ended up landing a very, verycompetitive internship.
They were kind of training usto enter management level
(08:42):
positions upon graduation.
And so my parents werethrilled.
You know, they were like, thisis great, you're just on this
fast track, and you're gonnahave this like stable job as
soon as you graduate.
And it was with a militarycontractor.
And um, I remember being atthis kind of recognition
ceremony um afterwards, and theygave us these like kind of
(09:02):
commemorative mouse pads for thecomputer, and it had like all
these like different missilesgoing off in different
directions.
And then it was like, you know,the Boeing company keeping
peace around the world.
And I was just like, wow, uh,it was sort of a moment of
epiphany, like, like, like,let's let's really think about
(09:26):
this, what you're getting into.
And so I decided to leave thatprogram, much to my parents'
dismay.
And um, I I ended up studyingabroad in South America and you
know, seeing more of the world.
And I um I ended up going intointernational development work,
(09:47):
taking my business skills andtrying to do uh good and not
evil.
And so my creativity in termsof you know my my drawing and
and things like that, it itended up taking, you know, sort
of a a different turn because asI was doing a lot of traveling
and living in South America, Istarted doing more um just uh
(10:09):
sketching, sketching what I saw,and uh eventually did uh as the
technology improved, did somedigital photography and things
like that, but still very much ahobby that supplemented kind of
the the other work that I wasdoing that gave me my daily
bread.
Claire Waite Brown (10:26):
Yeah.
Speaking of travel, how did youcome to uh go to Taiwan and
then what happened there thatkind of picked you?
That is the next phase.
Regina Linke (10:36):
Yes.
So I continued doing a lot ofdevelopment work when I moved
back to the US, primarilyworking with tourism boards and
governments on how to developtheir local economies around
tourism and hospitality.
That was uh work that I feltcombined private industry and
(10:58):
also just cultural exchange andin an industry that had a lot
more impact on the localpopulation, more so than a lot
of other industries thatappeared to me to be a little
bit more exploitative.
And so I was working there forquite a while.
And eventually, after I had myson, I was working from home,
(11:20):
and so was my husband.
And so we had this window ofopportunity in which my son was
still not quite at the age inwhich he was going to start
school yet, but uh we weremobile, and so I decided, you
know, why not take thisopportunity to live in a
different country again?
And so um we decided to move tothe other side of the world to
(11:43):
Taiwan, where this that's wheremy parents uh immigrated to the
US from.
And so we still had relativesand some friends there.
The plan was to live there fora couple of years, but of
course, with the pandemic, weended up staying almost five
years.
Uh, but it was a wonderful timein which uh I was able to
explore my cultural heritagefrom the ground.
(12:08):
And it was interesting becausewe had moved there and I had
gone there thinking, oh, well, II look like everyone here and I
speak the language and I'mgoing to immerse myself in the
local culture.
But it was a very interestingexperience in that I had come to
realize that really I was verymuch American.
And as an American, someone whogrew up in the States, I was
(12:32):
actually visiting myquote-unquote homeland as an
outsider and learning it andexperiencing it from a Western
lens.
And so being there, I decidedto start taking some traditional
Chinese brush painting classesbecause it was a kind of art
form that I had always admired,but couldn't really appreciate
(12:54):
or understand because theaesthetic is quite different
than uh Western stylecomposition and perspective and
the use of color and all of theexpressionism that goes into
Western art is um can be quiteopposite from the restrained,
more, I guess, balancedperspective of Eastern art and
(13:15):
how sparing it can look incomparison.
Um, so being interested inthat, I wanted to learn more
about it.
And so I found a studio and andstarted taking lessons there.
Yeah, so it was that's sort ofhow it how it all started and
snowballed.
Claire Waite Brown (13:33):
And with it being different, as you came to
realize, and with what wasspoken about earlier about those
blurred boundaries between aprescriptive way of doing
something and being taught, howdid you find that whole process
of then going back to beingtaught something that actually
(13:54):
needed to be taught because youdidn't necessarily know it?
Regina Linke (13:58):
Right, right, exactly.
It was really interesting.
I think um entering into acreative field as an older
adult, I I mean, I was I wasalready in my mid-30s, I guess.
Having having gone through theprocess now, I think that having
the awareness that I reallyknew nothing about this was
(14:22):
critical to my being able to beteachable, really.
If I had gone in thinking, oh,you know, this is just gonna be
free self-expression, like Iwould not have been able to
thrive in that studio at all.
Because the Taiwanese studio, Ithink, was one in which it was
(14:42):
more of like a traditionalpainter's atelier, in which we
were expected to learn thehistory, the canon of
traditional Chinese art, thethousands of years, and to study
the masters and to learn how toreplicate a lot of their
techniques and to put ourselvesin their shoes and to try to see
(15:03):
the world from the perspectiveof the masters.
And so it was not independentat all.
It was very structured and allof the practice in terms of the
technique, the line work, themixing of the colors, the um
learning how to properly mix theright density of ink to water,
(15:25):
and everything was verymeticulously done.
The preparation of yourworkstation, the paper that you
used, it was very regimented.
But I think at that time I wasalready open to just learning
the skills because it's almostlike you have to have the basic
(15:46):
building blocks before you canstart playing with them, right?
And so I was definitely moreteachable, more open to being
taught.
And it was great.
It was um a completelydifferent relationship that I
was able to open with creativearts.
And even though it wasn'tnecessarily play for me anymore,
it definitely deepened myrelationship and the and respect
(16:09):
for for all that came before.
I I really appreciated myteacher for showing me that.
Claire Waite Brown (16:15):
Yeah.
It reminds me of ballet.
Yeah, right.
That can then go into all thesedifferent dance styles where
the basic is the ballet, whichis quite difficult to do.
Regina Linke (16:27):
I know, right?
Um, and I mean, I I was only inTaiwan for five years.
And so for something likeballet or even someone who like
grew up in this uh discipline tospend so many years being
regimented and disciplined inyour practice, and then in order
to get past the plateau and toactually develop your own voice,
(16:47):
means breaking some of therules and breaking your past
relationship with the rules ishuge 180 and a huge ask, I
think, to be able to do that.
So I, yeah, it's incrediblethough, when it happens.
Claire Waite Brown (17:02):
So do you by this developing your own style,
breaking the rules, do youthink you're mixing a bit of you
know the heritages or the orthe genres of your American
self?
Is that how it developed?
Regina Linke (17:18):
Mm-hmm.
I was I was rather pushed intothat because uh my teacher, um,
at after a few years, he he'salways been very um very
critical.
He expected a lot from hisstudents, but at the same time,
I think he was also very honestand forthright about what what
each of us needed to hear inorder to keep progressing.
(17:42):
And so for some students, hedid keep in a more traditional
route.
But I think that knowing mybackground and also knowing that
I was a uh a mom to a young,you know, child with family
responsibilities, he knew that Ialso wasn't the type who would
spend 10 hours a day paintingand perfecting my work.
(18:05):
And so he did he said um to me,he uh one day, he's like, you
know, your your technique isn'tbad, especially for a Westerner,
but you are never going to be agreat traditional Chinese
painter.
And I grew up in the late 80sand 90s when everyone in the in
(18:25):
the US public school system wasgetting trophies and ribbons for
participating and, you know,wonderful effort, you know, you
get a certificate now.
Uh, you know, it was it was avery, very harsh thing to hear
from a teacher.
And I was, you know, my myconfidence took a blow for sure.
(18:46):
At the same time, though, healso said that there was an
opportunity for me to forge myown path because of my Western
upbringing, because of myfamiliarity with Western style
art and perspective.
And he did encourage me to veeraway from tradition, to not be
(19:08):
so concerned about the technicalaspect and being true to all of
the techniques that he hadspent the last few years
teaching me.
Um, and so I started to showhim.
You have given me permission tostart playing, so I will.
I did start, you know,branching out into different
illustrations inspired byChinese painting techniques.
(19:28):
And so these were littledrawings and projects that, you
know, I started uh showing himand he would give me, you know,
just one-on-one feedback andgive me tips on what else I
could think about and uh ways inwhich I could incorporate more
of the tradition into it or, youknow, balance it out with uh
some of uh my other ideas thatmight not be so traditional.
(19:50):
And so that really just morpheduh into the work that I do now,
in which I'm still trying tofind the right balance with
every piece, with every project.
And sometimes it will look moretraditional, and sometimes it
will definitely look more like amodern manga illustration.
Um but I think that uh part ofpart of finding your voice is
(20:51):
not necessarily something thatalways looks like what you did
before, but sounds like you asyou're going through the process
of creating the project.
And so um it's it's sort of amoving target, but it's been a
lot of fun to to kind of justwork through and dance with,
yeah.
Claire Waite Brown (21:12):
And the current culmination of that is
the Oxherd Boy and the stories.
Right, right.
So tell me about the birth ofthis boy and the stories and the
philosophies and and what youwhat you're doing with it.
Regina Linke (21:31):
Yeah, it's it's a it's really fascinating how it
all kind of developedsimultaneously.
So my son was about um fouryears old at the time and uh
coming into his own kind ofconsciousness and understanding
of or trying to understand andmake sense of the world.
And um, he had started becomingaware of death and also had a
(21:56):
really strong sense of fairnessand uh justice.
I think as as an only child formost of his life, you know, he
he really considered himself oneof us, you know, why do you get
to stay up later and I don't?
Or why do you, why is yourserving of ice cream larger than
mine?
Things like that.
(22:16):
There were also just questionsthat were very deeply, you know,
difficult to answer, even evenas an adult, you know, trying to
explain why, why there's ahomeless person on the street,
you know.
And so the things that Istruggled to answer to the
(22:37):
satisfaction of my son, youknow, I started looking towards
what was around me, you know,how how did Taiwanese society
and how does a Taiwanese mindsetapproach some of these
questions?
And a lot of it stemmed fromteachings from thousands of
years ago, uh, a lot of it fromConfucianism, but also from a
spiritual aspect, Buddhism andTaoism, you know, combining to
(23:01):
create kind of this uh Zenphilosophy, also figured in
large part with it.
So taking kind of both of theseelements and converting it into
writing, into a conversationaldialogue, and then adding
characters illustrated in thetraditional Chinese style, the
(23:22):
Oxherd Boy combined all of thoseaspects to visually make these
very tough and deep topicsaccessible to hopefully a child.
And so The Oxherd Boy was anonline comic, basically, that I
started on Instagram and umreally just took off from there
(23:45):
in a very strange andsurprising, but you know,
wonderful way, opened up acommunity from around the world
to to just um enjoy some ofthese comforting and inspiring
dialogues that also help me makesense of the world with my son.
And so that became a book inprint and then was uh adapted
(24:09):
basically into a storybook forchildren as well.
It's been such a gift to workon, really, because it's
something that now can be sharedjust uh with anybody who's just
looking for some something thatcan help make sense of the
world in a in a very um nice, uhcomforting, approaching way, I
(24:33):
think.
Claire Waite Brown (24:34):
And you didn't start it for the reason
of publishing, as you've justexplained.
So, therefore, how did theycome, the stories, and I know
there are more going forward aswell, I believe, come to come to
be um published as as books.
And and what was that processlike for you as well?
(24:54):
Because it's quite a personalproject that you then go, like,
give it to an agent or aneditor, and how do you let go of
your precious work?
Regina Linke (25:03):
Yeah, that's true.
I mean, I think that when Istarted writing it, it was
really an exercise inmaintaining a practice and
maintaining a touch point withcreativity, right?
And so, you know, going back towhat we had talked about in,
you know, my previousrelationship with art and and
self-expression, I knew that Icouldn't, I couldn't really
(25:26):
improve and I couldn't reallykeep going unless I established
a regular drawing and writingpractice.
And so the Oxford boy in theonline format was really a way
for me to maintain the practice.
And yeah, that doesn't soundvery exciting.
And certainly there were weeksin which I was like, well, do I
really have to make another one?
(25:47):
I'm kind of tired right now,you know.
But uh, you know, there thatthat's also kind of a necessary
part of creativity where, youknow, practice is part of it.
It's fuel.
And um, even if it's every workis not gonna be my best work,
you know, actually at leastputting it out there keeps keeps
(26:09):
my pencil sharp.
So when the when the Instagramaccount basically went viral, a
lot of people were asking abouta book.
You know, you know, it's like Idon't always want to look at my
phone when I want to look atyour work.
And I I completely understoodthat because social media can be
a very, I guess, dangerous isis an appropriate word, but I
(26:33):
mean it just becomes a timesink.
And it can be invasive, can'tit?
Right, right.
And so I understood that.
I get that someone might wantto just curl up with a cup of
tea with a book like this.
And so I started looking into,you know, how to publish a book.
And it it would have been somuch easier to self-publish, but
(26:54):
I was I was ready to to justsee, you know, okay, it'll
probably take 10 years, maybe,who knows.
Um, but as luck would have it,I ended up participating in a
Twitter pitch party called PitMad.
I think it it's it's since kindof retired, but that's how I
found my literary agent.
(27:14):
We we talked, uh, we discusseduh new projects and kind of my
philosophy and and my ideas, andit was a great match.
So I ended up basically signingwith her within like three or
four months.
And her name's Liz, and Liz wasjust completely invested in
(27:37):
developing me as a writer and anillustrator, and she she knew
what I needed in order to get upto a professional level.
And she gave me exercises ondeveloping each character,
thinking through theirbackstory.
And all of these exercises cametogether in which, even though
I had some story ideas forchildren, um, they weren't
(27:58):
necessarily cohesive, you know,like kind of built a world
around them.
And, you know, they're kind ofjust like random and one-off.
But as I was going throughthese exercises, a lot of the
stories and the conflicts andthe potential plot lines sort of
develop themselves in a veryorganic way.
Because through the exercises,I was developing a universe and
(28:20):
creating consistencies in whichconflicts might naturally arise
between the characters and theirbackgrounds and what they
believed.
And so from that, we were ableto pull a number of really
strong plot lines and puttogether a cohesive proposal for
publishers to explore.
And she ended up pitching theOxherd Boy, you know, kind of
(28:43):
collection, which was, you know,what we had in mind before, you
know, kind of the Instagramaccount, but pulled together in
a more succinct kind ofcollection.
And then kind of the series ofchildren's stories, which uh
took ideas from the adult bookand really just fleshed them out
into uh narratives that wouldbe uh a lot more fun and
(29:06):
interesting for childrenanywhere from like four to eight
years old for them to actuallyenjoy.
Yeah, so uh those are the booksthat I'm working through now.
And it's uh each one has been avery special project in itself.
But uh, you know, like like yousaid, the more people, the more
cooks you invite into thekitchen, the the work itself is
(29:27):
going to evolve and change.
And so I think that has been alittle bit of a source of
growing pains for me because um,you know, as a solo creator,
you have full autonomy anddecision-making power into where
you want to take a particularwork.
And so to work with editors andart directors who might have
(29:49):
different ideas about what isgoing to appeal to others is um
it can be a bitter pill toswallow sometimes because it has
gone in in conflict with thephilosophy sometimes.
So it's like, you know, if I'llgive an example.
So in Taoism, a lot of um thephilosophy is about not uh
(30:12):
taking any deliberate actionthat goes against the natural
course of things.
Well, that does not fly wellwith American ideas of
exceptionalism andindividuality.
So I've had to dial back onsome of those ideas.
And it's a little sad, youknow, to me sometimes to have to
(30:33):
change a story that I feel likeuh should have been told a
certain way.
I think that I've I've had tocome to accept that, you know,
okay, like if this is a storythat is going to change in order
to help be a bridge to anaudience that's not ready, maybe
to read the actual story that Iwanted to tell.
(30:53):
Like I have to accept that thisstory is not the same story.
It's a different story and it'sa stepping stone story.
And the story that I reallywanted to tell.
Is a story that I'm going tohave to work on at a later date
or through a different project.
And maybe the readers are notgoing to be the same, but that's
okay, you know, becauseeveryone is coming to the story
(31:16):
at a different stage from adifferent perspective.
And some people might not beready for a certain story, but
they can at least enjoy thisone, maybe, and eventually grow
into something, something elsethat I'm working on.
And so yeah, it's it'sdefinitely an evolution in my
own perspective about the workand how much I'm willing to let
(31:37):
go or to change in order to tellthe stories that are most
suitable.
Claire Waite Brown (31:43):
It's interesting and it makes me
think of another question,because you're going further
away from what you experiencedwith your time in Taiwan by
being back in America and havingAmerican audiences.
So did you ever feel when youcame back to the US and you you
don't have that class situationand you're not so immersed by
that, did you ever feel it mightbe difficult to keep going with
(32:08):
this new interest and this newcreativity?
Or were you kind of like, look,I'm getting so many other
benefits from this in my life.
I'm back to America, I canreally, really use it well.
Regina Linke (32:19):
I think that uh being away from the environment,
it hasn't necessarily made mefeel more American.
Which I yeah, like I neverreally thought of that question.
But I feel like having beenimmersed in a place in which I
(32:41):
felt both a curiosity for andalso incredibly changed by,
bringing those perspectiveshome.
I don't know.
I feel like I I've held on tothem longer than I would have
expected, um, maybe because theexperience I think changed my
perspective and my relationshipwith art, um, with parenting,
(33:05):
being reflective about what isthe role of society and what are
the roles of families and howdo we live in the world.
You know, these are questionsthat really germinated with my
son in Taiwan.
And those are the ideas that Istill come back to even now in
the States and, you know, in theUS, where people do answer
(33:26):
those questions verydifferently, the the contrast I
think is always heightened in mymind.
And so I don't think uh it hasbeen so difficult to try to hold
on to those feelings and to tapinto them often with my work.
It's a it's a source ofinspiration, I think, for for
the work itself.
And striking that balance, Ithink, is always always there
(33:49):
too.
Yeah.
Claire Waite Brown (33:50):
Well, that's brilliant.
That's good.
Regina Linke (33:53):
Yeah, yeah.
I never thought of it, but II'm glad I'm glad you you
brought it up because I, youknow, to to put a finger on it
is yeah, it's a good feeling.
Thank you.
Claire Waite Brown (34:07):
Do you have any advice for others who wants
to try something creative but ishesitant?
Do you have any words of wisdomor just a little bit of
encouraging advice?
Regina Linke (34:22):
Yes, so I think that finding something that
brings you joy through creatingis just such an important part
of getting over our fears ofcreative work in general.
And I think that at least forme, sometimes it can be daunting
(34:44):
to feel like, oh, every everysingle act of creativity needs
to be laced with meaning andrepresents something about
myself that I'm putting out intothe world.
And, you know, well, what if Idon't have anything to say, or
what if it's not interesting, orwhat if it's not great?
That's a lot of pressure.
And um, and I think that it itshould be fun, especially when
(35:09):
you're starting out.
It should be interesting, itshould spark curiosity and to
tap into those feelings, Ithink, is um is is gonna be so
so important to getting over,you know, the the hesitation.
Um, and so to do the thingsthat feel um good and natural
(35:31):
and uh fun, I think is is justso important starting out.
And then also don't be like me,just where you don't want to be
teachable.
At some point, we all need tolearn.
And um it's good, it's goodalso to be to be humble, to, to
(35:54):
learn the skills, to do theboring work of the practice,
because that's the only way thatwe get better.
From my perspective, to becreative, you need those two two
poles.
You need the the fun, theletting loose, and then you also
need the discipline and thepractice.
They're they're kind of twosides of the same coin that
really lets us create our bestwork.
Claire Waite Brown (36:14):
Thank you so much, Regina.
Regina Linke (36:16):
How can people connect with you?
Sure.
So if you are looking for sortof the inspirational messaging
from the work, oxherdboy.org isthe best place to be.
Um, I send out all of my newestmaterial and all of the newest
uh inspirational chats throughmy newsletter there.
If you're interested more inthe creator side,
(36:38):
Reginalinke.com is a place to gofor that.
And uh that's where we um I geta little bit more technical
about writing, drawing, kind ofthe creative practice and what
the industry has been like.
Different ways to connectdepending on what you're
interested in.
Thank you so much.
I've really enjoyed our chat.
Thank you.
This was a lot of fun.
Claire Waite Brown (36:59):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you did, perhaps you'd liketo financially contribute to
future episodes atbuymeacoffee.com/
creativityfound.
There's a link in the shownotes.
If you are listening on a valuefor value enabled app, such as
Fountain, TrueFans, or PodcastGuru, feel free to send a few
(37:21):
stats my way.
And if you have no idea of whatI'm talking about, you can find
out more by listening to mysister podcast called Podcasting
2.0 in Practice.
My relationship with art was one of free
expression, which I didn't feelwas compatible with direct
instruction and someone puttingboundaries and having me do very
boring, very repetitivepractice work did not feel very
freeing and creative to me.
The Taiwanese studio, I think,was one in which it was more of
(00:57):
like a traditional painter'satelier, in which we were
expected to learn the history,the canon of traditional Chinese
art, the thousands of years,and to study the masters and to
learn how to replicate a lot oftheir techniques.
My confidence took a blow forsure.
At the same time, though, healso said that there was an
(01:21):
opportunity for me to forge myown past.
Hi, I'm Claire.
Claire Waite Brown (01:27):
For this podcast, I chat with people who
have found or refound theircreativity as adults.
We'll explore their childhoodexperiences of the art, discuss
how they came to the artisticpractices they now love, and
consider the barriers they mayhave experienced between the
two.
We'll also explore what it isthat people value and gain from
(01:49):
their newfound artisticpursuits.
And how their creative livesenrich their practical,
necessary, everyday lives.
This time I am speaking withRegina Linke.
Hi Regina, how are you?
Hi Claire, I'm doing well.
Thanks so much for having me onthe show.
You're very welcome.
(02:09):
I am looking forward to ourchat.
Start by telling me about yourrefound creative outlet.
Regina Linke (02:18):
Sure.
So uh right now I am dedicatedmostly to illustrating and
writing stories that celebratetraditional Chinese art and
philosophy in a modern way.
So, in short, really taking oldancient teachings and visual
(02:39):
arts and tailoring it for amodern and primarily Western
audience to open up theirperspective to a different way
of looking at art and life andhopefully sharing some of the
wisdom that has lastedthroughout the ages across uh
Chinese history.
Fantastic.
Claire Waite Brown (02:59):
When you were younger, did creative
activities play a part in yourlife, whether at home or at
school?
Were they encouraged?
Regina Linke (03:08):
Yes.
So when I was a child, Idefinitely had an interest in
drawing, in painting, in justexploring my world through
visual medium.
And uh this I think wassomething that really developed
in uh preschool.
(03:29):
And it was something that myparents didn't really know about
until my mom entered mypre-kindergarten classroom, and
there were all of these examplesand samples from the students'
artwork on the walls.
There was one that struck her,an image of a very
well-proportioned apple, andthere was a little worm crawling
(03:51):
out of it.
And she asked the teacher whoseit was, and the teacher said,
Well, it was your daughter's.
And it kind of took her bysurprise because I don't think
that it was necessarilysomething that I did all the
time, but given the opportunity,I definitely just enjoyed it
and um had some kind ofnatural-born gift for it.
(04:14):
And my mom especially felt thatthis was uh worth pursuing.
So she did sign me up for somebasic drawing lessons and uh I
did some, you know, relief workand pottery and things like
that.
She signed me up for kids'classes, but I think I was the
kind of kid who just um didn'tdo so well under direct
(04:37):
instruction.
And so I didn't really enjoythe classes because for me at
the time, especially at thatage, it was more of an outlet to
just play and to have fun.
So I didn't really pursue moreclasses in art and creativity
for a very long time.
(04:58):
Uh, it was mostly somethingthat I dabbled in here and there
when the inspiration struck,but for most of my life, it was
very haphazard and notstructured at all.
Claire Waite Brown (05:08):
So if you if you didn't like being taught to
do creative things, what wereyou like in school in other
topics?
Were you okay being taught?
Regina Linke (05:19):
Right, right.
Well, I think uh it goes handin hand with um my interests and
what perhaps when I was youngerI felt to be maybe mutually
exclusive.
So my relationship with art wasone of free expression, which I
didn't feel was compatible withdirect instruction and someone
(05:41):
putting um boundaries and uhhaving me do very boring, very
repetitive practice work did notfeel very freeing and creative
to me.
Whereas something that likemaths or or science or s or
history, in which the, you know,I felt maybe uh was a little
bit more uh structured already,a little bit more rigid.
(06:03):
And so my relationship with itwas different.
And so I actually excelled inthose classes and um, you know,
was open to more, more teaching,more direct teaching um in
those subjects because maybe Ifelt that they were more
compatible.
But, you know, I think as asI've grown older, the lines have
blurred so much more and therecan be so much creativity in the
(06:27):
maths and sciences, as much asyou might find in music or art.
And and so, but I I think, youknow, as a kid and even as a
young adult, I felt those lineswere definitely harder
boundaries that couldn't becrossed.
Claire Waite Brown (06:40):
No, I can understand that.
What were your plans for thefuture when you grew up?
Regina Linke (06:49):
Yes, I mean, uh I think that I didn't have very
strong plans.
And I think that as someone whodid well in school, and I went
to very, very academicallycompetitive high school with
lots of children offirst-generation immigrants who
knew that they, you know, weregoing into pre-med or
(07:11):
engineering.
I felt a little bit at a lossbecause uh my parents didn't
place any expectations on meprofessionally.
I think they wanted me to havea relatively stable profession,
but wherever my interests lay,they were willing to support me
in that direction.
But I never entertained theidea of pursuing a creative
(07:35):
career.
And so, like probably manypeople who didn't know what they
wanted to do, I kind of fiddledaround with a lot of different
classes.
And then finally, um, no, mydad was like, well, regardless
of what you do, you're gonnahave to learn to balance your
own books.
So why don't you get a degreein business?
(07:56):
I said, okay.
And I ended up getting abusiness degree at university,
and and it was uh one of thosethings that I sort of just fell
into without much passion, butwithout much complaint either.
It was sort of a thing to do.
I also majored in Spanishbecause I really loved the the
(08:21):
language.
I grew up in in Texas,actually, and so huge Mexican
and Central American influenceand on the culture there.
And it was interesting becausewhile I was getting my degree, I
ended up landing a very, verycompetitive internship.
They were kind of training usto enter management level
(08:42):
positions upon graduation.
And so my parents werethrilled.
You know, they were like, thisis great, you're just on this
fast track, and you're gonnahave this like stable job as
soon as you graduate.
And it was with a militarycontractor.
And um, I remember being atthis kind of recognition
ceremony um afterwards, and theygave us these like kind of
(09:02):
commemorative mouse pads for thecomputer, and it had like all
these like different missilesgoing off in different
directions.
And then it was like, you know,the Boeing company keeping
peace around the world.
And I was just like, wow, uh,it was sort of a moment of
epiphany, like, like, like,let's let's really think about
(09:26):
this, what you're getting into.
And so I decided to leave thatprogram, much to my parents'
dismay.
And um, I I ended up studyingabroad in South America and you
know, seeing more of the world.
And I um I ended up going intointernational development work,
(09:47):
taking my business skills andtrying to do uh good and not
evil.
And so my creativity in termsof you know my my drawing and
and things like that, it itended up taking, you know, sort
of a a different turn because asI was doing a lot of traveling
and living in South America, Istarted doing more um just uh
(10:09):
sketching, sketching what I saw,and uh eventually did uh as the
technology improved, did somedigital photography and things
like that, but still very much ahobby that supplemented kind of
the the other work that I wasdoing that gave me my daily
bread.
Claire Waite Brown (10:26):
Yeah.
Speaking of travel, how did youcome to uh go to Taiwan and
then what happened there thatkind of picked you?
That is the next phase.
Regina Linke (10:36):
Yes.
So I continued doing a lot ofdevelopment work when I moved
back to the US, primarilyworking with tourism boards and
governments on how to developtheir local economies around
tourism and hospitality.
That was uh work that I feltcombined private industry and
(10:58):
also just cultural exchange andin an industry that had a lot
more impact on the localpopulation, more so than a lot
of other industries thatappeared to me to be a little
bit more exploitative.
And so I was working there forquite a while.
And eventually, after I had myson, I was working from home,
(11:20):
and so was my husband.
And so we had this window ofopportunity in which my son was
still not quite at the age inwhich he was going to start
school yet, but uh we weremobile, and so I decided, you
know, why not take thisopportunity to live in a
different country again?
And so um we decided to move tothe other side of the world to
(11:43):
Taiwan, where this that's wheremy parents uh immigrated to the
US from.
And so we still had relativesand some friends there.
The plan was to live there fora couple of years, but of
course, with the pandemic, weended up staying almost five
years.
Uh, but it was a wonderful timein which uh I was able to
explore my cultural heritagefrom the ground.
(12:08):
And it was interesting becausewe had moved there and I had
gone there thinking, oh, well, II look like everyone here and I
speak the language and I'mgoing to immerse myself in the
local culture.
But it was a very interestingexperience in that I had come to
realize that really I was verymuch American.
And as an American, someone whogrew up in the States, I was
(12:32):
actually visiting myquote-unquote homeland as an
outsider and learning it andexperiencing it from a Western
lens.
And so being there, I decidedto start taking some traditional
Chinese brush painting classesbecause it was a kind of art
form that I had always admired,but couldn't really appreciate
(12:54):
or understand because theaesthetic is quite different
than uh Western stylecomposition and perspective and
the use of color and all of theexpressionism that goes into
Western art is um can be quiteopposite from the restrained,
more, I guess, balancedperspective of Eastern art and
(13:15):
how sparing it can look incomparison.
Um, so being interested inthat, I wanted to learn more
about it.
And so I found a studio and andstarted taking lessons there.
Yeah, so it was that's sort ofhow it how it all started and
snowballed.
Claire Waite Brown (13:33):
And with it being different, as you came to
realize, and with what wasspoken about earlier about those
blurred boundaries between aprescriptive way of doing
something and being taught, howdid you find that whole process
of then going back to beingtaught something that actually
(13:54):
needed to be taught because youdidn't necessarily know it?
Regina Linke (13:58):
Right, right, exactly.
It was really interesting.
I think um entering into acreative field as an older
adult, I I mean, I was I wasalready in my mid-30s, I guess.
Having having gone through theprocess now, I think that having
the awareness that I reallyknew nothing about this was
(14:22):
critical to my being able to beteachable, really.
If I had gone in thinking, oh,you know, this is just gonna be
free self-expression, like Iwould not have been able to
thrive in that studio at all.
Because the Taiwanese studio, Ithink, was one in which it was
(14:42):
more of like a traditionalpainter's atelier, in which we
were expected to learn thehistory, the canon of
traditional Chinese art, thethousands of years, and to study
the masters and to learn how toreplicate a lot of their
techniques and to put ourselvesin their shoes and to try to see
(15:03):
the world from the perspectiveof the masters.
And so it was not independentat all.
It was very structured and allof the practice in terms of the
technique, the line work, themixing of the colors, the um
learning how to properly mix theright density of ink to water,
(15:25):
and everything was verymeticulously done.
The preparation of yourworkstation, the paper that you
used, it was very regimented.
But I think at that time I wasalready open to just learning
the skills because it's almostlike you have to have the basic
(15:46):
building blocks before you canstart playing with them, right?
And so I was definitely moreteachable, more open to being
taught.
And it was great.
It was um a completelydifferent relationship that I
was able to open with creativearts.
And even though it wasn'tnecessarily play for me anymore,
it definitely deepened myrelationship and the and respect
(16:09):
for for all that came before.
I I really appreciated myteacher for showing me that.
Claire Waite Brown (16:15):
Yeah.
It reminds me of ballet.
Yeah, right.
That can then go into all thesedifferent dance styles where
the basic is the ballet, whichis quite difficult to do.
Regina Linke (16:27):
I know, right?
Um, and I mean, I I was only inTaiwan for five years.
And so for something likeballet or even someone who like
grew up in this uh discipline tospend so many years being
regimented and disciplined inyour practice, and then in order
to get past the plateau and toactually develop your own voice,
(16:47):
means breaking some of therules and breaking your past
relationship with the rules ishuge 180 and a huge ask, I
think, to be able to do that.
So I, yeah, it's incrediblethough, when it happens.
Claire Waite Brown (17:02):
So do you by this developing your own style,
breaking the rules, do youthink you're mixing a bit of you
know the heritages or the orthe genres of your American
self?
Is that how it developed?
Regina Linke (17:18):
Mm-hmm.
I was I was rather pushed intothat because uh my teacher, um,
at after a few years, he he'salways been very um very
critical.
He expected a lot from hisstudents, but at the same time,
I think he was also very honestand forthright about what what
each of us needed to hear inorder to keep progressing.
(17:42):
And so for some students, hedid keep in a more traditional
route.
But I think that knowing mybackground and also knowing that
I was a uh a mom to a young,you know, child with family
responsibilities, he knew that Ialso wasn't the type who would
spend 10 hours a day paintingand perfecting my work.
(18:05):
And so he did he said um to me,he uh one day, he's like, you
know, your your technique isn'tbad, especially for a Westerner,
but you are never going to be agreat traditional Chinese
painter.
And I grew up in the late 80sand 90s when everyone in the in
(18:25):
the US public school system wasgetting trophies and ribbons for
participating and, you know,wonderful effort, you know, you
get a certificate now.
Uh, you know, it was it was avery, very harsh thing to hear
from a teacher.
And I was, you know, my myconfidence took a blow for sure.
(18:46):
At the same time, though, healso said that there was an
opportunity for me to forge myown path because of my Western
upbringing, because of myfamiliarity with Western style
art and perspective.
And he did encourage me to veeraway from tradition, to not be
(19:08):
so concerned about the technicalaspect and being true to all of
the techniques that he hadspent the last few years
teaching me.
Um, and so I started to showhim.
You have given me permission tostart playing, so I will.
I did start, you know,branching out into different
illustrations inspired byChinese painting techniques.
(19:28):
And so these were littledrawings and projects that, you
know, I started uh showing himand he would give me, you know,
just one-on-one feedback andgive me tips on what else I
could think about and uh ways inwhich I could incorporate more
of the tradition into it or, youknow, balance it out with uh
some of uh my other ideas thatmight not be so traditional.
(19:50):
And so that really just morpheduh into the work that I do now,
in which I'm still trying tofind the right balance with
every piece, with every project.
And sometimes it will look moretraditional, and sometimes it
will definitely look more like amodern manga illustration.
Um but I think that uh part ofpart of finding your voice is
(20:51):
not necessarily something thatalways looks like what you did
before, but sounds like you asyou're going through the process
of creating the project.
And so um it's it's sort of amoving target, but it's been a
lot of fun to to kind of justwork through and dance with,
yeah.
Claire Waite Brown (21:12):
And the current culmination of that is
the Oxherd Boy and the stories.
Right, right.
So tell me about the birth ofthis boy and the stories and the
philosophies and and what youwhat you're doing with it.
Regina Linke (21:31):
Yeah, it's it's a it's really fascinating how it
all kind of developedsimultaneously.
So my son was about um fouryears old at the time and uh
coming into his own kind ofconsciousness and understanding
of or trying to understand andmake sense of the world.
And um, he had started becomingaware of death and also had a
(21:56):
really strong sense of fairnessand uh justice.
I think as as an only child formost of his life, you know, he
he really considered himself oneof us, you know, why do you get
to stay up later and I don't?
Or why do you, why is yourserving of ice cream larger than
mine?
Things like that.
(22:16):
There were also just questionsthat were very deeply, you know,
difficult to answer, even evenas an adult, you know, trying to
explain why, why there's ahomeless person on the street,
you know.
And so the things that Istruggled to answer to the
(22:37):
satisfaction of my son, youknow, I started looking towards
what was around me, you know,how how did Taiwanese society
and how does a Taiwanese mindsetapproach some of these
questions?
And a lot of it stemmed fromteachings from thousands of
years ago, uh, a lot of it fromConfucianism, but also from a
spiritual aspect, Buddhism andTaoism, you know, combining to
(23:01):
create kind of this uh Zenphilosophy, also figured in
large part with it.
So taking kind of both of theseelements and converting it into
writing, into a conversationaldialogue, and then adding
characters illustrated in thetraditional Chinese style, the
(23:22):
Oxherd Boy combined all of thoseaspects to visually make these
very tough and deep topicsaccessible to hopefully a child.
And so The Oxherd Boy was anonline comic, basically, that I
started on Instagram and umreally just took off from there
(23:45):
in a very strange andsurprising, but you know,
wonderful way, opened up acommunity from around the world
to to just um enjoy some ofthese comforting and inspiring
dialogues that also help me makesense of the world with my son.
And so that became a book inprint and then was uh adapted
(24:09):
basically into a storybook forchildren as well.
It's been such a gift to workon, really, because it's
something that now can be sharedjust uh with anybody who's just
looking for some something thatcan help make sense of the
world in a in a very um nice, uhcomforting, approaching way, I
(24:33):
think.
Claire Waite Brown (24:34):
And you didn't start it for the reason
of publishing, as you've justexplained.
So, therefore, how did theycome, the stories, and I know
there are more going forward aswell, I believe, come to come to
be um published as as books.
And and what was that processlike for you as well?
(24:54):
Because it's quite a personalproject that you then go, like,
give it to an agent or aneditor, and how do you let go of
your precious work?
Regina Linke (25:03):
Yeah, that's true.
I mean, I think that when Istarted writing it, it was
really an exercise inmaintaining a practice and
maintaining a touch point withcreativity, right?
And so, you know, going back towhat we had talked about in,
you know, my previousrelationship with art and and
self-expression, I knew that Icouldn't, I couldn't really
(25:26):
improve and I couldn't reallykeep going unless I established
a regular drawing and writingpractice.
And so the Oxford boy in theonline format was really a way
for me to maintain the practice.
And yeah, that doesn't soundvery exciting.
And certainly there were weeksin which I was like, well, do I
really have to make another one?
(25:47):
I'm kind of tired right now,you know.
But uh, you know, there thatthat's also kind of a necessary
part of creativity where, youknow, practice is part of it.
It's fuel.
And um, even if it's every workis not gonna be my best work,
you know, actually at leastputting it out there keeps keeps
(26:09):
my pencil sharp.
So when the when the Instagramaccount basically went viral, a
lot of people were asking abouta book.
You know, you know, it's like Idon't always want to look at my
phone when I want to look atyour work.
And I I completely understoodthat because social media can be
a very, I guess, dangerous isis an appropriate word, but I
(26:33):
mean it just becomes a timesink.
And it can be invasive, can'tit?
Right, right.
And so I understood that.
I get that someone might wantto just curl up with a cup of
tea with a book like this.
And so I started looking into,you know, how to publish a book.
And it it would have been somuch easier to self-publish, but
(26:54):
I was I was ready to to justsee, you know, okay, it'll
probably take 10 years, maybe,who knows.
Um, but as luck would have it,I ended up participating in a
Twitter pitch party called PitMad.
I think it it's it's since kindof retired, but that's how I
found my literary agent.
(27:14):
We we talked, uh, we discusseduh new projects and kind of my
philosophy and and my ideas, andit was a great match.
So I ended up basically signingwith her within like three or
four months.
And her name's Liz, and Liz wasjust completely invested in
(27:37):
developing me as a writer and anillustrator, and she she knew
what I needed in order to get upto a professional level.
And she gave me exercises ondeveloping each character,
thinking through theirbackstory.
And all of these exercises cametogether in which, even though
I had some story ideas forchildren, um, they weren't
(27:58):
necessarily cohesive, you know,like kind of built a world
around them.
And, you know, they're kind ofjust like random and one-off.
But as I was going throughthese exercises, a lot of the
stories and the conflicts andthe potential plot lines sort of
develop themselves in a veryorganic way.
Because through the exercises,I was developing a universe and
(28:20):
creating consistencies in whichconflicts might naturally arise
between the characters and theirbackgrounds and what they
believed.
And so from that, we were ableto pull a number of really
strong plot lines and puttogether a cohesive proposal for
publishers to explore.
And she ended up pitching theOxherd Boy, you know, kind of
(28:43):
collection, which was, you know,what we had in mind before, you
know, kind of the Instagramaccount, but pulled together in
a more succinct kind ofcollection.
And then kind of the series ofchildren's stories, which uh
took ideas from the adult bookand really just fleshed them out
into uh narratives that wouldbe uh a lot more fun and
(29:06):
interesting for childrenanywhere from like four to eight
years old for them to actuallyenjoy.
Yeah, so uh those are the booksthat I'm working through now.
And it's uh each one has been avery special project in itself.
But uh, you know, like like yousaid, the more people, the more
cooks you invite into thekitchen, the the work itself is
(29:27):
going to evolve and change.
And so I think that has been alittle bit of a source of
growing pains for me because um,you know, as a solo creator,
you have full autonomy anddecision-making power into where
you want to take a particularwork.
And so to work with editors andart directors who might have
(29:49):
different ideas about what isgoing to appeal to others is um
it can be a bitter pill toswallow sometimes because it has
gone in in conflict with thephilosophy sometimes.
So it's like, you know, if I'llgive an example.
So in Taoism, a lot of um thephilosophy is about not uh
(30:12):
taking any deliberate actionthat goes against the natural
course of things.
Well, that does not fly wellwith American ideas of
exceptionalism andindividuality.
So I've had to dial back onsome of those ideas.
And it's a little sad, youknow, to me sometimes to have to
(30:33):
change a story that I feel likeuh should have been told a
certain way.
I think that I've I've had tocome to accept that, you know,
okay, like if this is a storythat is going to change in order
to help be a bridge to anaudience that's not ready, maybe
to read the actual story that Iwanted to tell.
(30:53):
Like I have to accept that thisstory is not the same story.
It's a different story and it'sa stepping stone story.
And the story that I reallywanted to tell.
Is a story that I'm going tohave to work on at a later date
or through a different project.
And maybe the readers are notgoing to be the same, but that's
okay, you know, becauseeveryone is coming to the story
(31:16):
at a different stage from adifferent perspective.
And some people might not beready for a certain story, but
they can at least enjoy thisone, maybe, and eventually grow
into something, something elsethat I'm working on.
And so yeah, it's it'sdefinitely an evolution in my
own perspective about the workand how much I'm willing to let
(31:37):
go or to change in order to tellthe stories that are most
suitable.
Claire Waite Brown (31:43):
It's interesting and it makes me
think of another question,because you're going further
away from what you experiencedwith your time in Taiwan by
being back in America and havingAmerican audiences.
So did you ever feel when youcame back to the US and you you
don't have that class situationand you're not so immersed by
that, did you ever feel it mightbe difficult to keep going with
(32:08):
this new interest and this newcreativity?
Or were you kind of like, look,I'm getting so many other
benefits from this in my life.
I'm back to America, I canreally, really use it well.
Regina Linke (32:19):
I think that uh being away from the environment,
it hasn't necessarily made mefeel more American.
Which I yeah, like I neverreally thought of that question.
But I feel like having beenimmersed in a place in which I
(32:41):
felt both a curiosity for andalso incredibly changed by,
bringing those perspectiveshome.
I don't know.
I feel like I I've held on tothem longer than I would have
expected, um, maybe because theexperience I think changed my
perspective and my relationshipwith art, um, with parenting,
(33:05):
being reflective about what isthe role of society and what are
the roles of families and howdo we live in the world.
You know, these are questionsthat really germinated with my
son in Taiwan.
And those are the ideas that Istill come back to even now in
the States and, you know, in theUS, where people do answer
(33:26):
those questions verydifferently, the the contrast I
think is always heightened in mymind.
And so I don't think uh it hasbeen so difficult to try to hold
on to those feelings and to tapinto them often with my work.
It's a it's a source ofinspiration, I think, for for
the work itself.
And striking that balance, Ithink, is always always there
(33:49):
too.
Yeah.
Claire Waite Brown (33:50):
Well, that's brilliant.
That's good.
Regina Linke (33:53):
Yeah, yeah.
I never thought of it, but II'm glad I'm glad you you
brought it up because I, youknow, to to put a finger on it
is yeah, it's a good feeling.
Thank you.
Claire Waite Brown (34:07):
Do you have any advice for others who wants
to try something creative but ishesitant?
Do you have any words of wisdomor just a little bit of
encouraging advice?
Regina Linke (34:22):
Yes, so I think that finding something that
brings you joy through creatingis just such an important part
of getting over our fears ofcreative work in general.
And I think that at least forme, sometimes it can be daunting
(34:44):
to feel like, oh, every everysingle act of creativity needs
to be laced with meaning andrepresents something about
myself that I'm putting out intothe world.
And, you know, well, what if Idon't have anything to say, or
what if it's not interesting, orwhat if it's not great?
That's a lot of pressure.
And um, and I think that it itshould be fun, especially when
(35:09):
you're starting out.
It should be interesting, itshould spark curiosity and to
tap into those feelings, Ithink, is um is is gonna be so
so important to getting over,you know, the the hesitation.
Um, and so to do the thingsthat feel um good and natural
(35:31):
and uh fun, I think is is justso important starting out.
And then also don't be like me,just where you don't want to be
teachable.
At some point, we all need tolearn.
And um it's good, it's goodalso to be to be humble, to, to
(35:54):
learn the skills, to do theboring work of the practice,
because that's the only way thatwe get better.
From my perspective, to becreative, you need those two two
poles.
You need the the fun, theletting loose, and then you also
need the discipline and thepractice.
They're they're kind of twosides of the same coin that
really lets us create our bestwork.
Claire Waite Brown (36:14):
Thank you so much, Regina.
Regina Linke (36:16):
How can people connect with you?
Sure.
So if you are looking for sortof the inspirational messaging
from the work, oxherdboy.org isthe best place to be.
Um, I send out all of my newestmaterial and all of the newest
uh inspirational chats throughmy newsletter there.
If you're interested more inthe creator side,
(36:38):
Reginalinke.com is a place to gofor that.
And uh that's where we um I geta little bit more technical
about writing, drawing, kind ofthe creative practice and what
the industry has been like.
Different ways to connectdepending on what you're
interested in.
Thank you so much.
I've really enjoyed our chat.
Thank you.
This was a lot of fun.
Claire Waite Brown (36:59):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you did, perhaps you'd liketo financially contribute to
future episodes atbuymeacoffee.com/
creativityfound.
There's a link in the shownotes.
If you are listening on a valuefor value enabled app, such as
Fountain, TrueFans, or PodcastGuru, feel free to send a few
(37:21):
stats my way.
And if you have no idea of whatI'm talking about, you can find
out more by listening to mysister podcast called Podcasting
2.0 in Practice.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.