CRAFTCAST the Podcast #235
CRAFTCAST
What if your purpose isn’t something you have to find? What if it’s something that’s been quietly showing up in your life all along? In this episode of CRAFTCAST the Podcast: Where Soul Meets Craft, Patrik and I talk about finding your purpose and whether the clues may have been there much earlier than you realized. For me, the thread goes all the way back to when I was three years old. My grandmother showed me how to knit, and I remember being completely fascinated. But even more than wanting to make something myself, I had this feeling: “We have to tell more people about...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #234
CRAFTCAST
Polymer clay, color, pattern, creativity, and the courage to follow your own artistic path. In this episode, Patrik and I sit down with polymer clay artist and teacher Lucy Struncová to talk about her creative journey, where inspiration comes from, finding your own artistic voice, and what keeps you excited about making after years of creating. We’ll get into the magic of polymer clay, the role of color and pattern in Lucy’s work, the joys and challenges of teaching, and what happens when experimentation leads somewhere completely unexpected. Because sometimes the most interesting part...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #233
CRAFTCAST
What if your creative life doesn't follow the plan? What if the road takes you from biomedical engineering… to art history… to the technology industry… and eventually to becoming a metal clay artist, teacher, publisher and champion of a creative community? That's the wonderfully winding story of Brandy Boyd. On this episode of CRAFTCAST: Where Soul Meets Craft, Alison Lee and Patrik Kusek talk with Brandy about discovering metal clay in the early days of the medium, becoming a certified instructor, teaching for nearly two decades, and eventually becoming the editor and publisher of...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #232
CRAFTCAST
What if travel could change the way you see craft, culture—and yourself? Join Alison Lee and Patrik Kusek for a fascinating conversation with Gregory Hamilton Miller, founder of Ceramic Adventures. Gregory has spent years exploring the world through craft, including an apprenticeship with legendary Japanese potter Shimaoka Tatsuzo. Together, they’ll talk about craft as a doorway to culture, the magic of stepping off the beaten path, what we discover when we spend time with makers, and how travel can awaken our curiosity and creativity. We’ll explore the connections between making,...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #231
CRAFTCAST
Have you ever wondered why taking a break isn't always enough? In this episode of CRAFTCAST ~ Where Soul Meets Craft, Patrik and I have a heartfelt conversation about what it really means to do a hard reset after life's challenges leave you feeling creatively depleted. Over the past several months, I've personally walked through some difficult life challenges that made it almost impossible to feel motivated to create. That experience led me to realize there's a big difference between taking a break, going on vacation, and truly recovering. Recovery is about more than resting. It’s having...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #230
CRAFTCAST
Remember the feeling of the last day of school? The final bell rang, summer stretched out in front of you, and suddenly the world felt full of possibility. No schedules. No homework. Just endless days to ride your bike, build forts, make art, explore the woods, catch fireflies, or simply let your imagination lead the way. In this episode of CRAFTCAST ~ Where Soul Meets Craft, Alison and Patrik take a joyful trip back to those carefree summers and ask an important question: Where did that feeling go? Together they explore the freedom, curiosity, and creative play that came so naturally as...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #229
CRAFTCAST
We all go through those times where we feel creatively exhausted. The ideas stop. Everything feels harder than it should be, and we start to convince ourselves we’re failing because we’re tired. We are good at being hard on ourselves. In this episode, Patrik and I talk honestly about burnout, losing your creative mojo, and why being hard on yourself usually makes everything worse. We share some of the things that help us get through those stuck periods, from giving ourselves permission to make bad art, to stepping away for a bit, to remembering that creativity doesn’t completely...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #228
CRAFTCAST
Me: Be honest. If I walked into your studio right now, would I see: A) a clear, inspiring workspace… or B) twelve half-finished projects, three mystery tools, and something sticky? Patrik: First of all, the sticky thing is probably important. LOL Me: Of course it is. LOL Patrik: Look, people, love to say they’re “creatively stuck,” but sometimes, you just can’t find your pliers. Me: Never happened to me. LOL Patrik: I’m just saying, if your studio is fighting you, you’re going to lose. Me: And if your studio is too clean, where’s the personality? Patrik: Personality is not the...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #227
CRAFTCAST
Silver prices are up. Is your creativity up as well, or feeling the pinch? In this episode, Patrik and I sit down with the smart and resourceful Pam East to talk about what’s on every metal clay artist’s mind right now and how to keep creating when silver clay feels like a luxury item. Pam shares clever, real-world ways to stretch your materials (without sacrificing design), smart substitutions you may not have considered, and how constraints can actually push your work in exciting new directions. We also dive into inspiration. Where does it actually come from, and how to find it...
info_outline
CRAFTCAST the Podcast #226
CRAFTCAST
What really goes on behind the scenes of the craft world? This week on CRAFTCAST, we’re hanging out with Abby Glassenberg, co-founder and president of Craft Industry Alliance, and talking about the creative world from a whole different angle. Abby has her finger on the pulse of what makers are creating, teaching, selling, worrying about, and celebrating, so this conversation wanders into the real stuff like what’s changing, what’s surprising, what people in the craft world are quietly figuring out, and what still makes us laugh along the way. Expect honest insights, practical ideas, and...
info_outlinecraftcast. com
What if your purpose isn’t something you have to find? What if it’s something that’s been quietly showing up in your life all along?
In this episode of CRAFTCAST the Podcast: Where Soul Meets Craft, Patrik and I talk about finding your purpose and whether the clues may have been there much earlier than you realized.
For me, the thread goes all the way back to when I was three years old.
My grandmother showed me how to knit, and I remember being completely fascinated. But even more than wanting to make something myself, I had this feeling:
“We have to tell more people about this!”
Years later, when I was a Junior Girl Scout, I earned a Pen Pals badge. To earn it, we were given the names of Girl Guides in other countries to write to. I was matched with one girl in Australia and another in the UK.
We wrote back and forth on those wonderful thin airmail letters, sharing stories about our lives—and talking about what we were making.
I didn't know it then, but looking back now, I can see the thread.
Today, through CRAFTCAST, I work with creative teachers from around the world, including teachers in Australia and the UK.
That little girl who couldn't wait to tell someone else about what she was making is still doing exactly that.
My purpose was never simply making things.
It was sharing the excitement of making things and connecting creative people with one another.
Patrik and I talk about how you recognize those threads in your own life. Does purpose have to become your career? Can your purpose change? And what if you're still waiting for that big Aha! moment?
Maybe finding your purpose isn't about looking harder.
Maybe it's about looking back.
What have you always loved? What keeps pulling you back? What did you get excited about before anyone told you what you were supposed to be? And what have you always wanted to share with other people?
Your purpose might have been leaving you clues your whole life.