The Create! Podcast

You invest in a mentor, a course, or a new skill, and instead of feeling excited, you feel exposed. You see the artist you admire and wonder if you will ever get there. Your ego wants you to quit before you even start. Sound familiar?
This week Ekaterina gets honest about her own experience of evolving, trying new things in the studio, shifting her art, and the vulnerability, self-doubt, and resistance that showed up right alongside it. She turns that moment into the most important conversation you can have as a creative or entrepreneur: what to do with the gap between where you are today and where you want to go.
This episode will shift how you see your progress, your timeline, and your worth as an artist right now, before you have it all figured out.
In this episode:
Why your brain treats learning a new skill like a threat, and how to push through anyway
The one question that separates artists who grow from artists who stay stuck
What the research says about how fast you can build real confidence in a new skill (it is faster than you think)
How to stop comparing your Chapter 1 to someone else's Chapter 20
Why sharing your work before you feel ready is one of the highest-leverage moves you can make
What taking responsibility for your own success actually looks like on a Tuesday night
If you are an artist or creative entrepreneur who is learning something new, building something from scratch, or feeling behind, this episode is for you. You are not behind. You are not untalented. You are not too late.
Ready to stop figuring it out alone?
Kat has 3 spots open this season for one on one coaching. If you are an artist building a sustainable career, transitioning to full time, or growing a creative platform or mentorship practice, apply now at espopova.com. Applications are open and she is currently scheduling free discovery calls.
Resources:
One on one coaching: espopova.com
Create Magazine: www.createmagazine.co
Instagram: @createmagazine
Substack: createmagazine.substack.com

Emily Jeffords is back on The Create! Podcast and this one is for every artist who is quietly wondering if there is a better way to do this.
Emily is a painter, educator, and founder of the Making Art Work program - and she brings a level of honesty to this conversation that is genuinely rare. We talk about what it looks like to be in an "incubation year," the bravery it takes to begin again after you've already mastered something, and why the sale starts long before anyone opens their wallet - it starts when you fall back in love with your own work.
She shares the real story behind her commission journey, from charging 5% of what she charges now to intentionally opening just three spots for large-scale work and selling them all. We get into how she structures commissions entirely on her own terms, the nervous system collapse that was her 2021 burnout, and why she chose to scale her business down from seven figures - and has never looked back.
This episode is honest, practical, and genuinely grounding. I hope it gives you the permission slip you didn't know you needed.
In this episode:
What an "incubation year" actually looks like in your creative business
The bravery of beginning again after you've already mastered something
How Emily structures commissions so she stays creatively in charge
Selling older work - three tips for falling back in love with your inventory
Why she walked away from a seven-figure business and what she built instead
Burnout as a nervous system issue, not a productivity problem
The 1% a day mantra inside Making Art Work
What profitability really means for artists beyond money
Links mentioned:
Emily's free 4-day Share Your Work Challenge - starts March 24  
Emily's Making Art Work 9-week program 
Submit to Create! Magazine: - createmagazine.co/call-for-art

Most artists wait for the art world to invite them in. Daniel Arsham stopped waiting - and built his own gallery at 21 instead.
In this episode, Kat sits down with Daniel Arsham, one of the most sought-after artists of his generation, to talk about his brand new book Future Relic - a brutally honest handbook written for his 17-year-old self who dreamed of being an artist but had no roadmap to get there.
Daniel's iconic "eroded" aesthetic has made him a singular force in contemporary art, but behind that vision is decades of showing up, collecting failures, and building a career on his own terms - from gutting a Miami house to create a gallery space, to collaborating with Dior, Adidas, Pharrell Williams, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In this conversation, we get into:
Why art school teaches you to make the work but not build a career
How Daniel got gallery representation with Perrotin after four years of showing up
The mindset shift that makes walking into intimidating rooms possible
Why nobody remembers your failures - and why you should collect them anyway
How brand collaborations funded his practice without compromising his vision
The power of writing down ultra-specific goals
Why restraint is one of the most underrated tools in an artist's career
Whether you're just starting out or wondering how to take your practice to the next level, this conversation will inspire you and give you real, actionable perspective on what building a sustainable art career actually looks like.
Get the book: Future Relic by Daniel Arsham
Daniel Arsham's exhibition "Just Various Thoughts" opens March 5th at Perrotin New York.
Enjoying the show? Leave us a review on iTunes and share this episode with a fellow artist - it means the world.
Explore Create! Magazine, open calls, exhibitions, and free resources: createmagazine.com
Follow us on Instagram: @createmagazine
Read new articles on our Substack: createmagazine.substack.com

What does it mean to call yourself an artist - and who gets to decide? In this episode, I sit down with multidisciplinary artist, educator, and author Lisa Solomon for a wide-ranging conversation about the blurry line between art and craft, creative experimentation, and the practical realities of building a sustainable creative life.
Lisa's work spans embroidery, fiber, painting, and installation, and her new book is an absolute feast for the eyes - organized by color, featuring 20 artists working in 20 different mediums, with projects for all skill levels.
We talk about:
When you can (and should) start calling yourself an artist
The art vs. craft debate - why it's still happening and whether it even matters
How Lisa's grandmother's knitting and crocheting shaped her artistic identity
The pioneers who were excluded from art history because of their mediums - and why that's finally changing
Creative ADHD: how to balance experimentation with actually completing a body of work
What to do when you have a vision but not yet the skills to execute it (hint: lean in and trust your gut)
The Thousand Doily Project - a massive community collaboration 
How parameters and limitations can actually unlock more creative freedom
Funding your creative projects, budgeting for big ideas, and why having a day job isn't a compromise - it can be a gift
Why color is hard (especially purple) and what a Joni Mitchell retrospective taught Lisa about unexpected palettes
Lisa's new book is available at bookstores everywhere - or request it at your local library! You can also find her on Instagram at @lisasolomon and at lisasolomon.com. She's also running a watercolor retreat in California through City College Extension in late May.
Grab Lisa's new book: https://publishing.hardiegrant.com/en-us/books/art-craft-color-by-lisa-solomon/9781964786049
Links mentioned:
Submit to a Create! Magazine Call for Art: createmagazine.co/call-for-art
Join Create! Collective: createmagazine.co/collective

If you've ever felt like you had to hide certain parts of yourself to be taken seriously in the art world, this one is for you. I'm sitting down with my dear friend Marina Granger, founder of The Artist Advisory and host of the brand new MFA Podcast, for a candid conversation about what it really takes to step into your next level as an artist - from the inside out.
Marina spent years working at the intersection of practical gallery strategy and deeper identity work, but kept the mystical side of her practice quietly in the background. In this episode she's fully out, and we get into all of it - astrology, feng shui, human design, manifestation, and the very real money blocks that keep creative entrepreneurs stuck even when the revenue is growing.
This is part one of two because we simply had too much to talk about!
We cover:
Lunar New Year rituals and Marina's feng shui practice - including the 27-item trick for stirring prosperity in your home
Why Marina hid the cosmic side of her coaching for years and what finally changed
Being a manifesting generator and why doing many things is your superpower, not your flaw
The three levels of abundance work - conscious, subconscious, and nervous system - and why most of us only work on one
How your core identity shapes everything from the galleries you walk into to the clients you attract
The immigrant experience and cash overflow - why earning more doesn't automatically mean keeping more
Connect with Marina:
The MFA Podcast - available wherever you listen
1:1 programs and free resources at theartistadvisory.com
Also mentioned:
Reality Transurfing by Vadim Zeland
Current open call for Create! Magazine in partnership with Square One Gallery - submit at createmagazine.co/call-for-art