Does commerce feed or take away from your artwork? Does getting paid to do it validate your work? How do you make the leap from hobby to vocation in your work and more importantly, should you?
These are among the questions our Summer Series round table guests songwriter, John Mark McMillan, author/illustrator, Vesper Stamper & visual artist Brandon Willett discuss in this episode.
Patrons of the podcast can enjoy additional, patron-only content.
Read MoreJason “Jay” King is the founder and owner of World Citizen Media and a twenty-year veteran of the music industry. He manages Los Angeles based duo JOHNNYSWIM, Propaganda, and Pop writer/artist TRELLA. World Citizen’s core mission is to help BUILD, LAUNCH, and ACCELERATE meaningful projects, with strong foundations, that contribute good back into the world.
Jay’s background includes working with renowned artists including Platinum selling hip-hop group GRITS, 4th Avenue Jones, Hillsong United, Grammy award winner Israel Houghton, All Sons & Daughters, Fonzworth Bentley, Daniel Bashta, John Mark McMillan, Rhett Walker Band, and more. He has also worked along side brands such as Tumi Luggage, Macy’s, Fiat, General Motors, Southwest Airlines, St. Jude, and more in order to bring campaigns for his clients to life.
He held the title of VP of A&R positions for both Gotee Records (Universal Music Group) and Integrity Music (Sony BMG) before establishing World Citizen Media.
In this bonus episode, guest-host, JOHN MARK MCMILLAN, interviews Jay King about the role of artist management and navigating the “business” of art making.
Welcome to the Makers & Mystics Summer Series of artist interviews and bonus episodes! This episode features guest-host Vesper Stamper in conversation with calligrapher, David Chang.
David Chang is an NYC based artist merging the traditions of Western calligraphy and Eastern philosophy that is shaped by immediacy of his urban environment. Chang’s art is a sustained exploration into the significance and meaning of words and texts as embodied through physical gestures. Centuries-old eastern techniques in calligraphy find new form in the western alphabet as the artist shapes his own hermeneutics of the hand. The artist's brushwork, vacillating between traditional scripts and contemporary abstraction, issues statements of personal, cultural, and spiritual awareness, while it also retains an autonomous formal beauty full of urgency and grace.
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Read MoreShara Nova is a classically trained vocalist and self-taught multi-instrumentalist. She records dazzling, shapeshifting music under the moniker My Brightest Diamond.
Her music resists the conventions of genre, blending elements of rock, art pop, and chamber music into a sound totally her own.
Over the span of her career, Shara has released multiple ground breaking albums, as well as composed a baroque chamber opera titled, "You Us We All.” She has recorded as a guest vocalist with notable artists such as David Byrne, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, and many others. Her extensive collaborations with visual artists include contributions to the works of Matthew Ritchie, Matthew Barney and more recently, performance artist and vocalist Helga Davis on a collaborative film project titled Ocean Body.
In today’s episode, I talk with Shara about her background as an artist and some of the motivations informing her work.
If you are a patron of the podcast you can enjoy an additional episode segment with Shara on her experience as a working artist navigating our current cultural landscape.
Visit patreon.com/makersandmystics or see the show notes of this episode to sign up as a patron today.
Read MoreWe may not care to be famous or even desire to make art as a full time vocation, but we each carry a need for our work to matter. We want to know that what means something to us may also mean something to others or that what we give our time, attention and resources to may serve to beautify or to better the lives of those around us.
In this episode, I discuss what it means to make a significant contribution through our creative work. I invite the listener to reframe the narratives we believe about ourselves and our art.
What if our art isn’t about us? What if we learned to care less about what we have to lose and more about what we have to give?
In my work as a creative coach, I’ve encountered many artists who trip over concerns about self-promotion or what others may think about their intentions. But what if rather than being concerned over self-promotion or of having selfish motivations, we were more concerned over the loss of not offering the world our creative gifts?
This episode explores these concerns and offers a new way of seeing our relationship to our art.
ORDER STEPHEN’S NEW BOOK: NAMING THE ANIMALS
Photo Credit: Enowen Photography
Read MoreTemi Coker is a Multidisciplinary artist based in Dallas, Texas. He creates visually compelling artwork for campaigns, products, activations & more.
Temi’s use of vibrant colors and textures come from his upbringing in Nigeria as well as his love for the colors, patterns and storytelling of the African Diaspora. He has worked with clients such as: Adobe, HBO, Apple, and Facebook.
In today’s episode, Temi and I discuss color as a means of storytelling along with themes such as the business side of art-making, how to avoid burnout and the challenges of overcoming people pleasing to follow a sense of calling.
Read MoreJ.F. Martel is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has directed a number of French and English documentaries for Canadian television as well as created several dramatic short films. His writing has appeared on Reality Sandwich, The Finch, Metapsychosis, and in anthologies published by Tarcher-Penguin, North Atlantic Books, and Intellect Books.
His book Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice was published in 2015 by Evolver Editions;
The back cover tells us the book is an essential reading for visual artists, musicians, writers, actors, dancers, filmmakers, poets, anyone who has ever been deeply moved by a work of art.
I’ve read the book and I have to agree, J.F.’s ideas about art as an inborn human phenomenon that precedes the formation of culture resonates with own thoughts on creativity as an inherent part of our spiritual and human experience.
In this episode, I speak with J.F. about many of the concepts in his book including his thoughts on viewing the universe primarily as an aesthetic universe.
I’m excited to announce that J.F. will be one of our keynote presenters for this year’s The Breath & The Clay virtual experience taking place March 17-21, 2021. You can find out more about The Breath & The Clay and our theme of Re-enchantment at http://www.thebreathandtheclay.com/theme21
Read MoreAmy-Jill Levine (“AJ”) is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus and Short Stories by Jesus; four children’s books (with Sandy Sasso); The Gospel of Luke (with Ben Witherington III); and The Jewish Annotated New Testament (co-edited with Marc Brettler).
In 2020 she published The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently (with Marc Brettler); and Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven.
She is the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. AJ describes herself as an unorthodox member of an Orthodox synagogue and a Yankee Jewish feminist who teaches New Testament in a Christian divinity school in the Buckle of the Bible Belt.
In this episode, I talk with AJ about how we interpret Jesus’s parables and why having a clear contextual understanding of Jesus’s stories is important both spiritually and creatively.
Read MoreWell friends. We made it to the end of this unforgettable and unrequited year. Its fascinating now to look back at the catalog of discussions we had and see the unintended red thread weaving its way through the pathless maze of 2020. In fact, the cliché “Hindsight is 2020” becomes this moment’s most truthful refrain.
In this episode, I share highlights from some of my favorite conversations from the year. Highlights include my interviews with Kimbra, Elephant Heart, Padraig O’ Tuama, John Eldredge and others.
Read MoreSarah Hempel Irani has been sculpting expressive figures in clay and stone for nearly twenty years. Originally from Michigan, she moved to Maryland to apprentice with Jay Hall Carpenter, former Artist-in-Residence at the Washington National Cathedral.
Sarah has contributed sculptures to national shows and received several notable awards, including the Maryland Arts Council Individual Artist Award in 2009.
Currently Sarah is sculpting a seven-and-a-half-foot statue of renowned fashion designer, Claire McCardell, to be cast in bronze and installed in McCardell's hometown of Frederick, Maryland.
In this episode, Stephen talks with Sarah about her creative process as a sculptor, how technique and spontaneity work together and how practices such as centering prayer leads to unexpected astonishment in her art making.
This episode features song interludes from Songs of Water’s three song EP titled Bright Mystery.
**Virtual and a limited number of live tickets are available to The Breath and The Clay 2021 taking place March 19-21 in Winston Salem NC. You can find this link in our show notes and on our official website at http://www.makersandmystics.com.
Read MoreOne of the growing problems of our society that started long before but has been agitated by the COVID-19 pandemic is isolationism or the sense of loneliness and lack of meaningful social connections. Too much isolationism leads to individuals feeling a decreasing sense of responsibility or belonging to a group or a family. Therefore everything from littering to mass shootings could be rooted in the spiritual deficiency of belonging.
In this episode, Stephen shares on the artist's need to belong and the gift of creating a safe space to be in process.
Read MoreThea Matthews is a San Francisco born poet, orator and activist whose work centers on the complexities of humanity, grief, and resiliency. In this episode, Stephen Roach to talks with Thea about her debut poetry collection published by Red Light Lit titled, Unearth [The Flowers] and about her journey of finding healing and resiliency through poetry.
Thea's empowering poems provide a path to healing and illustrate how survivors can find a safe place within themselves to reclaim their own identity and sexuality.
Her book has been described as an electrifying letter to family, country, and self, Unearth [The Flowers] is relentless in its journey through stages of grief and healing while celebrating life.
Julian of Norwich was a Medieval English mystic born around year 1342 and who died around year 1420. Much of Julian’s life remains unknown to us but what we do know of Julian comes from biographical passages in her book Revelations of Divine Love. This book, now considered a classic of contemplative literature, is the first known book to have been written in the English language by a woman.
The book recounts a series of mystical visions where she witnesses spiritual realities in beautiful and sometimes terrifying encounters.
Her visions, sometimes contrary to Church teaching, occurred at a time when the Church’s word and God’s word were taken as synonymous. To contradict the Church’s doctrine was seen as an offense toward God. Furthermore, to write and teach authoritatively as a woman was highly frowned upon, even dangerous during her time.
Although there is not a wealth of information about the life of Julian of Norwich, understanding the culture and circumstance in which she lived reveals the revolutionary nature of her writing and highlights why this Medieval mystic’s experience is pertinent for us today.
Read MoreRivers & Robots is an independent band from Manchester, UK whose sound explores acoustic and electronic elements beneath layers of devotional lyrics and worship themed motifs.
In this episode, Stephen talks with founding members Jonathan Ogden and Nathan Stirling about the creative exploration within their music and how context influences the art we make.
Read MoreIn this live, keynote talk, Makers & Mystics host, Stephen Roach shares with The Well Collab in Frederick, Maryland. This talk discusses what sociologist, Max Weber coined as “disenchantment” and the human need for reverence.
What does it mean to sit with the mystery and what is the artist’s role in bringing “re-enchantment” to a world devoid of ecstatic experience? Listen to this keynote for insights into these questions.
Here is a link to the episode referenced in the talk on The Metaphysics of Dirt & Breath.
Photo By: Ruthie Lucas
JUURI is a Tokyo-born muralist currently working from Oklahoma City. Her vibrant, figure-driven work fuses traditional Japanese imagery with modern, pop motifs.
Juuri’s large scale murals frequently serve in city-wide revitalization efforts and can be seen in cities across America and overseas in Israel. Her realistic watercolor faces surrounded by cultural elements, patterns or flora contain deep, personal symbolism and often represent a tenacious attitude of defiance in the face of defeat.
Her bold imagery, set upon canvases of brick buildings and urban landscapes is themed with messages of unexpected courage, hope and beauty.
“In a world full of chaos”, Juuri says, her art “is a way to find home." For her, home is a timeless place unaffected by current events, trends, and noise.
In this episode, Stephen talks with Juuri about her background as a muralist working within varied geographical locations and what it means to step beyond tradition into a sense of timelessness within her art.
Read MoreJennifer Dasal is the curator of modern and contemporary art at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, and she is the host of the independent podcast ArtCurious, which she started in 2016 and was named one of the best podcasts by O, The Oprah Magazine and PC Magazine. Jennifer’s book ARTCURIOUS: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History takes a colorful look at the world of art history, and reveals some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. In this episode, Stephen talks with Jennifer about some of the stories found in her book and why she feels that art history is important for modern creators to explore.
Read MorePádraig Ó Tuama is an Irish poet and theologian whose work centers around themes of language, power, conflict and religion. His poetry and prose has been published widely across Ireland, the US and the UK. For Ó Tuama, religion, conflict, power and poetry all circle around language, that original sacrament. In the context of public theology, he takes the received form of biblical texts and explores the civic and artistic dynamics of language, narrative and impact in these stories.
Pádraig is a voice for LGBT inclusion and for the value of arts in public life. He presents Poetry Unbound with On Being Studios, a podcast that explores a single poem in each episode.
In this episode, Padraig and I share a conversation on his background as a poet, theologian and how the arts and language play a central role in reconciliation and conflict resolution.
Padraig’s work in language and conflict resolution is a vital contribution to finding a way forward through our current cultural moment.
Patrons of the podcast can enjoy the full, unedited interview at: http://www.patreon.com/makersandmystics
Read MoreThis Season Premiere Episode features a conversation with writer and director, Ryan Daniel Dobson of the feature film HOSEA, along with the film’s music composer, Michael Gungor of Gungor music and The Liturgists podcast.
After studying theology in college, Ryan turned his attention to the entertainment industry with a focus on marrying theological and philosophical concepts to powerful visual storytelling.
The feature film HOSEA follows this trajectory with a modern adaptation of the biblical narrative by the same name. The film takes place in the southern landscape of Oklahoma and follows the story of a young girl by the name of Cate and her childhood friend Henry. Cate’s story is one of substance abuse, mental illness, prostitution and the search for self-worth and acceptance.
In this episode, I talk with Ryan and Michael about the film, their creative collaboration and why it is important to reconsider familiar spiritual narratives apart from inherited cultural interpretations.
You can discover more about the film by visiting Hoseafilm.com
Read MoreKhalisa Rae is an activist, poet, and educator in Durham, North Carolina, and a graduate of the Queens University MFA program. She is the winner of the 2020 Bright Wings Poetry Contest.
In this Bonus episode, Stephen Roach and Ashley Blake talk with Khalisa Rae about poetry and the importance of telling our story. Khalisa performs two of her poems, including her winning poem, The Way Out and the title poem from her upcoming collection, Ghost In A Black Girl's Throat.
You can read Khalisa's and the other winning poets at: http://www.makersandmystics.com/brightwings
Read MoreThe three strands of art, faith and culture encompass the ethos of Makers & Mystics and provide the guidelines for our topics and discussions. We believe that the path of the maker and the path of the mystic are one and the same. The creative life is inherently spiritual and healthy spirituality will always be expressed through creativity.
Makers & Mystics is committed to asking the questions, honoring the mysteries and leaving room for our listeners to wrestle with what answers resonate in your own creative space. We are called to be the architects of hope and counter the harshness of life with the opposite spirit, in beauty and creativity. So let poetry be our protest. Let generosity, humility and kindness lead the revolution. This is who we are and this is what this podcast is committed to advocate.
Listen to this short, season interlude from Stephen Roach as we prepare to go into Season 8 of the podcast!
Image by Erika Masterson http://erikamasterson.com/home/fine-art-erika-masterson/
Read MoreElephant Heart is the husband and wife musical collaborative of Jason and Victoria Evigan. Jason Evigan is an award-winning producer and songwriter responsible for some of today’s biggest hits from artists such as Maroon 5, Madonna, Ellie Goulding, and Rufus Du Sol. Victoria Evigan is a musician, visual artist, set designer and stylist known for using make up, hair, environments, and fashion to create contemporary expressions of the Elephant Heart ethos. Victoria is also the principal operator of Picture This, Elephant Heart’s not for profit organization.
Patrons of the podcast can listen to additional interview segments with Jason and Victoria about Picture This, making their own instruments and Jason’s work as a music producer.
In this season finale episode, Stephen talks with Jason and Victoria from their home studio in Los Angeles, California about the spiritual dynamics and creative processes within their music.
Read MoreMarcel Duchamp was a visual artist, writer and avid chess player born July 28, 1887 near Blainville, France. His works are characterized by irony, movement and the dissolution of pre-conceived notions about art. Duchamp was an artist who defied categorization. He sent shock waves through the art world with the premiere of his line of found, manufactured objects called Readymades.
In this episode, Stephen shares a brief glimpse into the life of this eccentric artist as well as a spiritual interpretation of Readymades and Duchamp’s piece, Fountain.
Read MoreA Boy & His Kite is the music project by Colorado singer-songwriter and producer, Dave Wilton. In this episode, Stephen talks with Dave about the silence of God, expressing joy and grief through art, and the creative process behind his latest release, The Path Became A Ghost.
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