Podcast
The Create! Podcast
Hosted by Ekaterina Popova · EN
The Create! Podcast (formerly Art & Cocktails) is your space for inspiration, encouragement, and practical insight at the intersection of contemporary art, creative business, and mindset.
Hosted by artist, coach, and Create! Magazine founder Ekaterina Popova, the show is designed to help you grow your art career, expand your creative vision, and build a sustainable, joyful life.
Through candid conversations with artists, entrepreneurs, writers, curators, and thought leaders—as well as empowering solo episodes—you'll find tools, ideas, and stories that remind you that life itself is your canvas, and you have the power to create a career and future that truly supports you.
Find us at www.createmagazine.co/podcast — where the conversation about art and business starts.
34episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Own Your Sales, Own Your Story: Economics of Art Fairs, Hidden Gallery Costs, and Bet-on-Yourself Career Strategies with Sharone Halevy & Alex Mitow
2w ago00:45:36Tap to summarizeWhat does it really cost to "get chosen" in the art world, and when does it make more sense to bypass the gatekeepers and bet on yourself? In this episode, we welcome back Sharone Halevy and Alex Mitow from The Superfair for an honest, unfiltered conversation about what art fairs actually are and why they matter for artists in 2026 and beyond. We strip away the smoke and mirrors of traditional gallery representation to talk about the financial realities nobody likes to admit out loud. From spending $6,000 on shipping for a dream international show only to surrender a 50% commission and fund your own travel, to Alex's story of sleeping in a Paris basement for three weeks while losing thousands on an exhibition that looked incredible on paper, we get real about the true price of "exposure". We also unpack why an art fair is one of the most powerful, concentrated feedback engines an artist can access, where a sale is just one small piece of the long-term value. We break down how to overcome the fear of representing yourself in a booth, how to turn casual visitors into loyal collectors, and why owning your narrative, your collector relationships, and your proceeds is worth more than waiting for permission. Plus, Sharone and Alex share an exciting look at what is next for The Superfair, including new fairs launching across the country. In This Episode: The Core of an Art Fair: What an art fair really is and the evolving role it plays for independent artists today. Beyond the Sale: Why real-time, in-person feedback at a fair is one of the most valuable career assets you can build. The Unspoken Costs of Gallery Shows: The reality of shipping fees, 50% commission cuts, and self-funded travel for international exhibitions. When to Be Paid vs. When to Invest: Be Paid: When a commercial business (like a restaurant, hotel, TV placement, or corporate collection) uses your artwork to enhance its own brand or revenue. Invest: When you are actively building your own collector community, retaining buyer contact information, and keeping 100% of your proceeds. Booth Strategy: Practical ways to overcome self-representation anxiety and turn casual passersby into long-term collectors. Dismantling Art World Gatekeeping: Why nobody "knows everything" about art, and why owning your story matters more than traditional validation. What's Next for The Superfair: Upcoming national launches and how artists can get involved this year. Listener Perk: Save $250 on Your Booth: Mention Create when applying or booking to receive $250 off any booth with The Superfair. Connect & Resources: Website: www.thesuperfair.com Book a Free Discovery Call: Schedule a 15-Minute Meeting with The Superfair Subscribe to Our Substack: Create! Magazine on Substack
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Turning Creativity Into Wealth: Bonnie Christine on Pattern Design and Living Your Passion
3w ago00:33:55Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I'm (host Ekaterina Popova) joined by Bonnie Christine, fabric designer, artist, and founder of a multi-seven-figure surface pattern design education business. We talk about what it actually takes to turn a creative gift into real income, how to get started in pattern design even with zero experience, why she believes we have a responsibility to pass on what we know to others, and how she's built her life around her passion rather than the other way around. Bonnie shares the full story, starting in her mom's quilt shop, teaching herself Adobe Illustrator with no design background, and working up the courage to cold call art directors until a company offered her a contract. In this episode: Turning a creative gift into real, sustainable income How to get started in surface pattern design, even with no prior experience Why passing on what you know is part of the creative journey, not separate from it Designing a life around your passion instead of the other way around Why she believes it only takes 10 seconds of courage to change everything Her "one thing a day" philosophy and the power of daily consistency What she's building now with Pattern+, Pattern Magazine, and Flowerie Connect with Bonnie Christine: Website: https://www.bonniechristine.com Podcast: The Professional Creative Stay connected with Create!: Join our Substack for weekly stories, resources, and behind the scenes updates: https://createmagazine.substack.com Visit https://www.createmagazine.co for artist opportunities, open calls, and more
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What Does It Mean to Feel Seen? A Conversation on Community and Serving Through Art with Artist The Tracy Piper
4w ago00:21:49Tap to summarizeWhat does it mean to feel seen? Five years ago, the Tracy Piper asked that question and turned it into SEEN, an ongoing portrait and storytelling project rooted in community and connection. In this episode, we talk about how the project began, how she has used her practice to serve the people around her, and what it takes to keep a personal project like this going year after year. Now in its fifth year, SEEN includes over 250 participants and five published volumes, with a new book and exhibition launching this July at Art Tower in Portland. In this episode: How motherhood led Tracy to start asking people what it means to feel seen The ritual behind SEEN, from open call to painting to exhibition Why the project is free to participate in What she's learned from five years and 250 stories Her new show and book launch in Portland this July Advice for artists building a sustainable creative practice Connect with the Tracy Piper: Website: www.thetracypiper.com Instagram: @thetracypiper Call For Art We're currently accepting submissions for Issue No. 59, guest curated by Indira Cesarine of The Untitled Space, deadline July 31st. We're also celebrating our 10th anniversary with an art prize, deadline also July 31st. Learn more at www.createmagazine.co. We share regularly on Substack at Create! Magazine, www.createmagazine.substack.com
Transcribe →How to Find the Right Gallery Partner: Signs to Look For
Jul 900:20:41Tap to summarizeGetting a gallery to say yes can feel like the end goal, but it's really where the real work begins. In this episode, Kat breaks down what makes a gallery partnership actually work for both parties, from the signs a gallery is genuinely invested in your career to the economics artists rarely get straight answers on. She also shares the questions worth asking before you sign anything, and how to evaluate a partnership you're already in. In this episode: The signs a gallery partner is genuinely looking out for your best interest What to watch for early in a gallery relationship How commission splits, payment terms, and exclusivity actually work The questions worth asking before you sign How to evaluate a gallery relationship you're already in Mentioned in this episode: Follow Create! Magazine on Substack: createmagazine.substack.com Submit to the Create! Magazine 10th Anniversary Art Prize: www.createmagazine.co/prize This episode is sponsored by Hecho Lovely. Monica Mejia Davenport is a private painter, and Hecho Lovely is where that art becomes something you wear. Every piece is handcrafted from carefully chosen materials, carrying the same intention as her studio work. Discover the collection at www.hecholovely.com and follow the studio on Instagram at @hecholovely. Enjoyed this episode? Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. We read every one and will share our favorites on upcoming episodes.
Transcribe →They Can't Take This From You: Coming Back to Your Practice, Again and Again
Jul 100:18:12Tap to summarizeIn this solo episode, Kat gets honest about a lesson she's still relearning 15 years in: protecting her own art practice. An inspiring gallery visit and a painful past experience resurfacing reminded her of what matters, how to protect it, and understand the value of our art and personal relationship to it. What You'll Hear The artist's date that reminded Kat to get back to the pure joy of art Her past solo show cancellation, and what resurfacing it taught her Why not every gallery experience is a bad one, and how to find the right partners How her first sloppy 100-day challenge changed her relationship to painting Chasing validation vs. finding satisfaction in showing up Join the Challenge Kat's Spend More Time With Your Art Challenge starts July 15, 2026. It's a 21-day commitment to showing up for your own practice, open to any medium. It is not a painting course (though three of Kat's own painting examples are included), it's about reclaiming your relationship with your art, one small commitment at a time. Join Spend More Time With Your Art → Loved this episode? Send Kat a DM on Instagram or email info@createmagazine.com, she'd love to hear from you.
Transcribe →The Burnout Fix: Create Leverage, Force Multipliers, and What to Focus On to Move the Needle in Your Art Career (ft. Superfair)
Jun 2400:39:24Tap to summarizeIf you have ever felt like you are running a marketing agency instead of an art practice, you are not alone. In this episode, I sit down with Alex Mitow and Sharone Halevy, the dynamic duo behind Superfair, now in their 11th year as one of the most artist-forward art fairs in the country. We talk about what they are witnessing in real time across the artist community, why burnout is at an all-time high, and what actually works when you strip away the noise. We cover: Why social media has aged and what that means for your practice The concept of force multipliers and how to find yours What artists are doing that is getting in their own way Why in-person connection is the ultimate leverage point How to come back to life creatively when you are running on empty What it actually looks like to exhibit at an artist-forward art fair LINKS AND RESOURCES Book a free 15-minute discovery call with the Superfair team (mention Create! Magazine for exclusive listener discounts): https://calendly.com/d/cqt2-fkf-54v/15-minute-discovery-meeting Learn more about Superfair: https://www.thesuperfair.com Celebrate ten years of Create! Magazine with our first ever Annual Art Prize, open now through July 31: https://www.createmagazine.co/prize Submit to our current open calls and stay up to date on everything Create!: https://www.createmagazine.co Join us on Substack. Articles are free for your first seven days, and your support keeps us sharing artists, career tips, and resources with the community: https://createmagazine.substack.com CONNECT WITH SUPERFAIR Website: https://www.thesuperfair.com
Transcribe →The Art of Creative Loitering: A Permission Slip to Slow Down
Jun 1800:21:18Tap to summarizeWhat if the missing ingredient in your creative life isn't more productivity, but more loafing? In this solo episode, Kat shares a personal update from her summer and an honest reflection on burnout, rest, and the radical act of doing less. Drawing from the book Writing, Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd, she introduces the concept of creative loitering, and makes the case that your imagination actually requires aimless, unstructured time to do its best work. Kat reads from the chapter "Creative Loitering," explores why slowing down is not laziness but a prerequisite for original thinking, and shares how she has been building more space into her own life, from beach reads and Paris Review issues at the hair salon to long European-style dinners and mornings with no agenda. This episode is an invitation to reclaim your human mind, protect your creative energy, and trust that stepping back is sometimes the most productive thing you can do. In this episode: Creative loitering: what it means and why it matters for artists and makers Excerpts from Writing, Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd and Joie: A Parisian's Guide to Celebrating the Good Life by Ajiri Aki The analog bag trend and other small ways to reduce scrolling and add presence Join the conversation on Substack: https://createmagazine.substack.com Share what you're reading, how you're resting, and what you'd like to hear more of on the show. Follow Kat: Instagram: @ekaterinaspopova | @createmagazine
Transcribe →Summer Updates from Kat + The Mundane Is the Muse: Yahel Yan on Chairs, Hot Sauce, and 100 Days of Painting
Jun 500:42:49Tap to summarizeThis episode is two things in one: an honest, personal check-in from Kat as we head into summer, Q&A from our community. followed by a conversation with San Diego-based Mexican painter Yahel Yan, a Create! community member whose 100-day challenge journey ended in a full solo exhibition. Kat opens by sharing what has been on her mind lately, from the turbulence in the art world and the economy to a growing sense that artists deserve more privacy, more mystery, and more protection of the creative and intellectual work they have built over years. She reflects on the pressure to share everything online, the times that oversharing has cost her, and why she is choosing to reclaim some intentional secrecy, not as gatekeeping, but as a form of boundaries and self-respect. She also answers questions submitted by listeners through the Create! broadcast channel on Instagram, covering practical topics like what to do when you do not have a mailing list at an exhibition, how to approach interior designers as potential clients, how to identify your ideal collector when you are just starting out, and where collectors are actually discovering new artists today. Then Kat sits down with Yahel Yan, a Create! Magazine featured artist and community member, for a conversation about her winding path to painting, the deeply personal chair series that became her signature work, and what it felt like to complete and exhibit 100 paintings in 100 days. Yahel grew up in Mexico City, surrounded by color and the energy of a sprawling metropolis. After pursuing graphic design and building a family, she arrived in San Diego in 2000, pregnant with her third child, navigating a new country, a new language, and a new life. Art became her anchor. When her youngest started preschool, she returned to the studio and has been painting ever since. Her "Chairs Are People" series began in 2012, almost by accident. Yahel had always collected small chairs, filling her home with so many she joked there was nowhere left to sit. When she began painting them, something shifted. She started seeing chairs as personalities, as stand-ins for human presence, romance, grief, and memory. Many come from the street, discovered and abandoned, each one a mystery she gets to invent. Others she takes on what she calls field trips, photographing her own chairs in new environments before bringing them back to canvas. Earlier this year, Yahel participated in the Create! 100 Day Challenge, painted all 100 pieces, and turned them into a solo exhibition, presented as grids of nine that let viewers spend hours discovering objects they had not noticed at first glance. She shares why she never planned to show the work publicly until she simply had to. In this episode, you will hear: Kat's solo Q&A segment: What is weighing on her in the art world right now, and how she is choosing to respond Why she is reclaiming privacy and mystery in her practice and her business What to do when you do not have a mailing list at a show (and how to start one) How to approach interior designers as potential clients for your work How to identify your ideal collector when you are just starting out Where collectors are actually finding emerging artists today Conversation with Yahel Yan: Growing up in Mexico City and how that shaped her palette, energy, and sense of movement Why she chose graphic design over fine art, and how that path served her Moving to the United States with two children and one on the way, and how creativity helped her build community in a new country The origin of "Chairs Are People" and how chairs became characters with stories and feelings Finding chairs on the street and taking her own chairs on "field trips" to photograph in new environments Joining the Create! 100 Day Challenge and discovering unexpected joy in painting food, hot sauce, and other overlooked objects Exhibiting all 100 paintings as a grid installation and the experience of seeing them as one complete body of work What is next: a ceramics workshop in Maine with her daughter Links mentioned in this episode: Yahel Yan on Instagram: @yahel.yan.art Yahel's website: yahelyan.com Create! Substack (subscribe free or paid): createmagazine.substack.com Create! broadcast channel: follow @createmagazine on Instagram Join the next 100 Day Challenge cohort waitlist: www.createmagazine.myflodesk.com/challenge
Transcribe →Simplifying Content Creation for Makers with Brand Photographer Nicole Bedard
Jun 100:25:55Tap to summarizeContent creation burnout is real, and if you have ever hit a wall with showing up online, this episode is for you. Ekaterina sits down with Nicole Bedard, brand photographer, video storyteller, and strategist who specializes in helping makers, artists, and designers capture their authentic studio flow and process. Nicole shares how small, consistent commitments and intentional visual storytelling can help you attract the clients, collectors, and opportunities you actually want, without the overwhelm. In this episode: Why content creation feels so hard for artists and how to move through it How to capture your process in a way that feels natural and authentic The role of brand photography and video in building trust with collectors Practical strategies for showing up consistently without burning out Links: Nicole Bedard: www.nbphotog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nbedardphotog LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicolebedardphotovideo Brand Visual Checklist: https://bit.ly/brand-visuals Sponsor: Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2026, over $77,000 in prizes including a $10,000 grand prize. Deadline July 17, 2026. Enter at https://beautifulbizarreartprize.art/ Substack: createmagazine.substack.com
Transcribe →What Survives the Fire: Larry Ossei-Mensah on Clay, Curating, and Creative Excellence
May 2600:46:49Tap to summarizeIndependent curator, cultural critic, and co-founder of ARTNOIR, Larry Ossei-Mensah, joins us for a deeply reflective dialogue on his dual identity as a high-profile champion of the arts and a dedicated ceramic artist. Larry pulls back the curtain on his stunning debut ceramic solo exhibition in New York, What Survives the Fire, and shares invaluable wisdom on the patience it takes to build a practice that stands the test of time. Whether you are an emerging creator navigating the contemporary landscape or an established practitioner looking to protect your studio time, this conversation is a rich, peer-to-peer exploration of what it truly means to live a life dedicated to art. In this episode, Larry and Kat discuss the shift from photography and global curatorial projects to discovering a profound, tactile language in ceramics, how clay continually humbles you and why that is a beautiful metaphor for life, practical strategies for protecting studio time while balancing high-profile community work, making decisions driven by intuition and discernment rather than spectacle, how strategic international travel and cross-cultural dialogue shape a creative practice, and why doubling down on maker culture is one of the most important things we can do right now. Connect with Larry: Instagram: @larryosseimensah ARTNOIR: @artnoir.co | artnoir.co All About Clay: @allaboutclayny Subscribe to our Substack for exclusive behind-the-scenes articles, exhibition highlights, and digital resources: createmagazine.substack.com Ready to share your work with the world? View our latest open calls at createmagazine.co/call-for-art
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