Creative Catch-up: Recent Episodes
James Whitman & Stephanie Smith
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) finally stamp out the gremlins that have plagued the podcast over recent weeks, and have a good old catch-up about their current projects.
They compare notes about Earth Requiem and A Place Unknown at Arts Centre Washington. Then Steph chats about her experiences with Creative Age and powering through the latest iterations of her Skin Maps. James shares some of the work he's been doing with Northern Stage and floats an exciting idea he's had for a second podcast.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship. Music by Sam Whitman.
James (the writer) catches up with Steph (the artist) about the massive piece she's exhibiting as part of Earth Requiem at Arts Centre Washington.
Steph explains what the exhibition is all about, and how the figurative consumption in her work turned into the literal consumption of all her time and headspace for the duration of the project!
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship. Music by Sam Whitman.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) chat about the progress they've made with their various arty farty projects.
Steph has had a fun month, working with other creatives and continuing her work with Creative Age, but this hasn't left her much time for skin mapping. Meanwhile, James has found the fun in his writing, is cracking on with his Northern Stage residency, and is coming to the end of his Creative Development Fellowship with Sunderland Culture.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship. Music by Sam Whitman.
Steph (the artist) chats with James (the writer) about his favourite thing in the whole wide world: his Bullet Journal!
James talks Steph through the principles behind Bullet Journals, the key practices, and some common pitfalls. Will Steph go back to her Bullet Journal, or will she stick with her wall of sticky notes and what-not?
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship. Music by Sam Whitman.
Steph (the artist) and James (the writer) each chat about how their works in progress are going.
James explores the darkest depths of his procrastination pit, while Steph is grateful to Steph of Creative Catch-up Past for helping her get back on track after a challenging couple of weeks.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship. Music by Sam Whitman.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) each chat about one of their major influences.
Steph nerds out over Maggie Hambling's intimate portraits and fluid mark-making style. James goes into Chuck Palahniuk's 'dangerous writing' style, and the ways he gathers and works on the messed up stories he tells.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship. Music by Sam Whitman.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) have both had busy months, starting new projects and making progress with others.
Steph chats about the participatory work she's doing with Creative Age, a new system for keeping herself on task, and progress she's made with A Lady at her Toilet. Then James gets into the community arts residency he's doing with Northern Stage, some podcast craic, and how his writing is going.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) is blocked, so Steph (the artist) shares some exercises with him from The Artist's Way (by Julia Cameron).
Steph shares a breakthrough she had about why she stopped arting for fifteen years, and James explores some of his own negative self-talk.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) chat about their 2021, exploring the highs, the lows, and what's next.
Steph has a couple of cracking new opportunities to get good and giddy about, while James can't wait to start an exciting year-long community arts residency.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) chat about their New Year Resolutions, using the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Steph comes up with an idea to help her stay focused, while James tries to tackle his apparent reluctance to write unless absolutely necessary.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) chat about how their projects have gone a bit pear-shaped over the past couple of months, and troubleshoot the heck out of them.
Steph explores the challenges of creating work that is more personal in nature, while James deals with disruptions, feeling the overwhelm, and finding the joy in writing.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
Steph (the artist) chats with James (the writer) about her trip to Amsterdam. (Just the arty farty bits, though).
Over three days, Steph visited the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, and the Moco (Modern Contemporary) Museum to find inspiration for her Skin Maps. It's fair to say she came back more full of beans than a vegan burrito.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) and Jay Sykes (the audio producer) nerd out about Out on the Wire, a graphic novel about podcasting and narrative journalism by Jessica Abel.
While Steph is away in Amsterdam, James and Jay explore what makes a great story, preserving voice, and structuring stories or podcasts.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
Steph (the artist) and James (the writer) chat about 'on-ramping' - the stuff we do to get our best selves from bed to desk in the morning.
James loves positive habit-stacking, while Steph is all about managing her work space. They also explore what to do when the wheels get wobbly, and set you an on-ramping challenge.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
Steph (the artist) and James (the writer) nerd out about the wonderful Michael Rosen and his ideas about play.
James chats about some of the ways he incorporates storytelling games into his writing workshops, while Steph explores the sense of wonder in her artistic practice.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
Steph (the artist) and James (the writer) catch up on where they're at with their skin maps and Another Sunderland.
After a productive month, Steph chats about the danger of shiny new banana skins. James explores how he fell back in love with his work in progress by reconnecting with his original inspiration.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) chats with Steph (the artist) about novellas-in-flash.
Using My Very End of the Universe as a jumping off point, James explores this fresh approach to long-form storytelling using an assemblage of micro-fiction, and how he is using this to write Another Sunderland.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
Steph (the artist) and James (the writer) catch up on each other's current works in progress.
James explores the aftermath of the Plymouth shooting and his own emotional health, while Steph chats about how she developed her laundry triptych into skin maps.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
Steph (the artist) chats with James (the writer) about her recent visit to the Paula Rego exhibition at Tate Britain.
Paula Rego's work has become hugely influential for Steph. In this episode Steph explores some of her favourite pieces, and the impact they've had on her own creative practice.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) chat about their current works in progress.
Steph explains what her skin maps are all about, while James explores the idea of an urban fantasy set in Another Sunderland, and what an undercover operation involving incels might be like.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) chat about the book 'Show Your Work' by American poet and writer, Austin Kleon.
They look at some of the ways the book inspired this podcast, and how to use Kleon's ideas to engage with potential fans and other creatives.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
James (the writer) and Steph (the artist) chat about who they are, what Creative Catch-up is, and why they're making it.
Season 1 of Creative Catch-up was produced as part of a Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.