The Create! Podcast

Season Finale and a Gentle Pause

Winter doesn't have to be a complete pause button. It can be the season where your next chapter takes root in a warm, cozy cocoon filled with hope, trust, and a slower pace.

We're honoring 10 years of Create! Magazine, and I'm stepping back from the podcast for the rest of 2026 to rest, paint, write, and spend time with my family. The magazine and the podcast are not going anywhere. In this episode, I share how I audit my creative business to decide what to keep, what to simplify, and what to let go of, so there's room for what's next.

If you're a few years (or a decade) into your creative career and craving space, consider this your permission slip.

In this episode

• Celebrating 10 years of Create! Magazine and meeting our writers in person in Philadelphia
• Why slowing down is how I plan to keep showing up for the next 20, 30, 40 years
• Letting go like the leaves: making room for fresh growth
• Choosing what your garden is for, because there's only so much energy in a day
• Why I'm moving more of my thinking to Substack
• Why handmade work is becoming more valuable in the age of AI
• The audit questions I use:

• What do I want to be known for?
• If I had $10 million today, would I still want to do this?
• How much time am I really spending on each activity?

• Why breaks aren't forever, even when stepping away feels scary
• Making time for thinking: walks, notebooks and unplugging

Try this week: Pick one project to pause, simplify or let go of. Ask yourself the three audit questions above and notice which answer comes fastest.

Read more from us on Substack

• Create! Magazine: https://createmagazine.substack.com/
• Ekaterina Popova (my art and my writing): https://ekaterinapopova.substack.com/

I'll be writing there over the holidays!

Keep in touch

• Create! Magazine: https://createmagazine.com/
• Instagram: @katerinaspopova

Thank you for being in my world. I'll see you in the new year!

Toy or tool? How artists can use Instagram to build real community, meet collectors and find opportunities, without the hacks.

Alex Mitow, founder of Superfair, is back on The Create! Podcast, and this time we're talking about the app we all claim to be tired of and still open every day: Instagram. Alex has been on it since 2012 (his handle still carries the ghost of a Lower East Side hot dog restaurant), and I've been on it since 2014, back when it was photos with filters. Between us, it has brought collectors, galleries, jury opportunities and most of the friendships that built our careers.

So is it a toy or a tool? Alex says both, and that you get out of it what you put in. We share how to use Instagram as a front porch to your world, why your 2,000 real followers can matter more than someone else's 70,000, and the simple things that build trust faster than any trend.

In this episode

• Toy or tool: reframing the frustration and remembering what Instagram has actually given us
• Why the platform is favoring authenticity again, and why that's good news if you've never "gotten" the tricks
• "For what purpose?" The one question to ask before you chase views
• Followers versus prestige: the artist with 2,000 followers and a museum show
• Alex's in-person funnel: trade Instagrams at fairs, openings and coffee shops, and let your community snowball
• What to share beyond your art: what genuinely fascinates you, what you're proud of, advice you've lived, and opportunities for your peers
• Mixing personal and professional on one account, and why nobody has ever cancelled an art sale over a mindset post
• Instagram as the front door, or front porch, to your newsletter, studio, book, course and booth
• Best practices: fill the frame, use the back camera, pick one orientation and stick with it, keep text simple, and never post a flyer
• What's next for Superfair: Houston in February, Boston in September 2027, and Philadelphia, where I'll be showing with Alicia

Alex's list of what to share

• Your art, your process, your inspiration
• The things that genuinely fascinate you, even if they don't fit the grid (stories are perfect for this)
• Achievements, big and small, including the study you're proud of
• Real advice from your own experience: how you set up your booth, how you found your gallery, how you got published
• Opportunities for your community, shared as you come across them

Links

• Superfair: https://www.thesuperfair.com/
• Interested in a Superfair booth? Book a 15-minute discovery call with the Superfair team and mention Create! Magazine to save on your booth: https://calendly.com/d/cqt2-fkf-54v/15-minute-discovery-meeting
• Call for art, Create! Magazine: https://www.createmagazine.co/call-for-art
• The Create! Magazine Substack: https://createmagazine.substack.com/
• Alex on Instagram: @alexmitow4real

If you've put your artist dream on the back burner and it's time to come back, this episode is for you.

Painter Jacqueline Bermudez joins Kat to share how she returned to oil painting after 17 years in the corporate world, how she protects her vision from outside opinions, and the weekly art sessions she leads with children at a Miami hospital.

In this episode:

• How a childhood love of coloring and one high school painting class led Jacqueline back to oil painting in 2016
• Why portraits are her way of exploring the human mind and the inner world
• Her ongoing series, her own interpretation of the chakras, with animals and plants as symbols
• How to protect your inner voice while a new creative direction is still fragile
• What changed when she began treating her painting practice like a job
• How she painted her solo show in about 35 days, and why planning made it possible
• Her weekly art sessions with children going through bone marrow transplants

About Jacqueline Bermudez: Jacqueline is a self-taught portrait painter and photographer based in Miami. Born in Orlando and raised in Caracas, she returned to oil painting in 2016. Her work has been accepted into exhibitions including Woman Made Gallery in Chicago and the Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition at Blue Line Arts, and she is a resident artist at Miami International Fine Arts. Her paintings use vibrant color, bold patterns, and animals and plants to symbolize personal growth.

See Jacqueline's work: https://www.jacquelinebermudez.com/

Join me for the free Coffee House, every Wednesday at 12 pm Eastern. Bring your questions about your creative goals and get a look inside the Create! Collective membership. Sign up: https://espopova.com/free-coffeehouse

More from Create!

Free resources for artists: https://www.createu.co/free-resources Submit your work to our open call for art: https://www.createmagazine.co/call-for-art Create! Magazine Substack: https://createmagazine.substack.com/

Running a creative business can feel like the whole world is on your shoulders. The studio time, the bills, the marketing, the social media. In this episode, Kat shares why she is softening her own "do it all yourself" message and what she is doing to receive more support.

You will hear about the people who lifted her along the way, from her high school art teacher to friends who gave her a place to stay in college. She also opens up about a big loss in her business a few years ago and what she sees differently now.

In this episode:

• Why every career and business is built with a team behind it
• How hyper-independence speeds up burnout, and how to invite help in
• Kat's honest take on social media after two months of learning, a call with Meta, and plenty of viral challenges
• Why Substack feels so calm, and how it led to a painting sale to a collector who is also an author
• Simple ways to build your own community, like sharing an art fair booth, recommending another artist to your gallery, meeting for coffee, or painting together on Zoom
• Why writing down your dreams and then letting them go keeps your vision clear
• Trusting that an artwork will find its home at the right time

Join the Create! Coffee House Starting October 7, Kat hosts a free weekly Zoom room every Wednesday at noon Eastern. Bring your coffee and your questions about your art career, business, practice, or mindset, and come be seen and heard. Kat will also share a quick tour of the ways she can support you. Join here: https://espopova.com/free-coffeehouse

Create! Magazine Turns 10 Join us in Philadelphia on October 16 for our 10 year anniversary party and pop-up show. Get your tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/create-magazine-turns-10-pop-up-show-meet-up-tickets-2001784728008

Read Our Substack https://createmagazine.com/substack

Share your ideas Which topics and guests would you like to hear this fall? Email info@createmagazine.com.

If you enjoyed this episode, tag Kat in your Instagram stories. She loves seeing who is listening! @katerinaspopova or @createmagazine

Thinking about showing your work at an art fair but not sure where to start? In Part 1 of this two-part series, Kat sits down with Alex Mitow of Superfair to go back to the basics of selling your art in person.

Alex has helped more than 5,000 artists show their work across 40+ fairs. He shares how to choose your first art fair, why your hometown is often the best place to begin, and how to price your artwork so new collectors can say yes. You will also learn how Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) give artists clear, doable goals that lead to sales, like meaningful conversations and new email subscribers.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How to choose your first art fair with confidence
• Why a local, low-stress first show sets you up for success
• What KPIs are and how artists can use them to grow sales
• How to price your booth with a mix of small, medium, and large original works
• Why accessible entry points help you build a loyal collector base over time

Get $250 off your Superfair booth Superfair is expanding to Philadelphia and Boston and now offers multi-fair bundles to help you plan your year. Book a call with the Superfair team to find the right fair for your practice, and mention Create! Magazine on your survey and discovery call to receive $250 off your booth. Book your call: https://calendly.com/d/cqt2-fkf-54v/15-minute-discovery-meeting

Keep learning on Substack Pricing inspired one of our most popular Substack posts, and we continue the conversation there. Subscribe to join our creative community and get more resources for your art career: https://createmagazine.substack.com/

Coming up in Part 2: Alex returns to talk about curating your booth, starting meaningful conversations with buyers, and more insider tips for art fair success.

If you have been feeling hopeless or down about your art career, you are not alone. This episode comes straight from the heart, and it is an invitation to rekindle even the tiniest spark of hope that incredible things are ahead, no matter where you are right now.

As I reflect on 10 years of Create! Magazine and 10 years of working for myself, I keep coming back to basics. Expecting support before I know how it will arrive. Noticing the opportunities I do have, even when things are not perfect. And paying attention to the whole picture, because just like in nature, something is always growing even when other things look like they are dying.

I share my own recent season of negativity, the moment a friend lovingly told me I give up too quickly, and the small, unglamorous example of a HYROX race that reminded me how cause and effect really works. When you show up, even imperfectly, even for 10 minutes, results follow.

This one includes a little tough love. If you are ready to come out of a fearful cycle and start showing up for yourself again, I hope it helps.

In this episode

• Why our brains have a negative bias, and how the news and art market reports feed it
• Delete, generalize, distort: why "no one is buying art" is never the whole truth
• The law of cause and effect and taking responsibility for your success
• What a HYROX race taught me about showing up when it is not your top priority
• The friend who told me to stop giving up so quickly
• What follow-through looks like in a real art practice: the sketchbook, the newsletter, the pitch, the reel
• How catastrophizing keeps you from ever giving your work a fair chance
• Why micro habits beat marathons
• Allowing opportunities to find you, even in a slower economy
• Stopping three feet from gold, and honoring the months left in 2026
• Why art is abundance: wellness, connection, self-trust, and income
• Daisy Fancourt's research on art and health (check out her book, Art Cure, and her episode on the show)
• Emotional regulation as the foundation of any selling strategy
• An introduction to my new program, Art Is Abundance

Join Art Is Abundance

Art Is Abundance is my new six-week live program for visual artists who want more abundance in their lives, both financially and in confidence. We cover the mindset and emotional regulation that make showing up possible, plus practical strategy for monetizing your work and getting seen by the right people, whether you want to work with galleries, run an independent practice, or build a hybrid career like mine.

Six live Zoom calls, Fridays at 12pm ET, October 2 to November 6, 2026, with lifetime access to the recordings. Join this month and save $300.

Join here: https://espopova.com/art-is-abundance-course

Questions? Email me at info@createmagazine.com

How do you find the courage to step off the "practical" path and fully commit to your creative calling?

In this episode of the Create! Podcast, Kat talks with painter and coach Lacie Martinez about coming back to her creative voice. Lacie shares how her background in apparel design and kinesiology shapes her vibrant, richly textured figurative paintings.

We talk about the vulnerability behind her debut exhibition, which celebrated the unfiltered, deeply connective realities of motherhood, and how she turned personal loss into a calling to hold space for other women. Lacie opens up about taking the leap into full-time art and how she now helps others move past limiting beliefs and live in full alignment.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Reclaiming her identity as a painter after years on a "practical" career path
• Finding her way back to the canvas and working through the fear of not being "good enough"
• The story behind her debut exhibition and the connective threads of motherhood
• Turning grief into purpose by hosting retreats and creating safe, uplifting spaces for women
• Navigating the transition into full-time art and helping others build their dream lives through coaching

Programs & Community

Art Is Abundance Live Coaching Program

If you love what you make and you're ready for your work to support your life, this six-week live program is for you. Together we'll work through money mindset, preparing your work for sale, selling your originals, getting seen by the right people, and building multiple income streams, then turn it all into a clear action plan. Founding pricing is open through September 30.

Join us this October: https://espopova.com/art-is-abundance-course

Create! Substack Subscribe for more interviews, artist stories, and reflections: https://createmagazine.substack.com/

Connect with Lacie Martinez

• Website: https://www.laciemartinez.com/
• Camp Conqueror Summer 2027 Retreat: https://www.laciemartinez.com/campconquerorawomensretreat
• Conquer & Crush 3 Month Challenge: https://www.laciemartinez.com/conquer-crush-3-month-challenge
• Substack: https://substack.com/@laciemartinez
• She Who Conquers Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/she-who-conquers/id1805457551
• Art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laciemartinez.art
• Main Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_laciemartinez_
• Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacie_shewhoconquers/

A lot of us went to art school and never actually learned how to paint. We were told to go make something and figure it out, which is great, but it often leaves us limited by our ability to bring our ideas to life. If that's you, you're not alone, and this episode is a permission slip to learn something new if you feel stuck.

My guest today is Alonsa Guevara, a Chilean American artist whose work has been exhibited internationally and featured in Forbes, Time Out New York, and VICE. I had the privilege of working with Alonsa and learning more organized ways to mix paint, organize color temperature, and more.

On this episode, we talk about her evolution from conceptual work to more realism in her paintings, and she also announces her new course, Alive Nature, here for the first time. Focusing on florals, botanicals, and fruit, it spans seven modules and is built so a complete beginner can follow along.

The waitlist gets first access and a discount. Doors open September 16 and close September 20. Links to join are below, and yes, I'm on that waitlist myself!

Come find us on the Create! Magazine Substack too. That's where I share essays on galleries, pricing, and building a creative career you love. https://createmagazine.substack.com/

🔗 Links & Mentions

• Join the Alive Nature Course Waitlist: https://www.waitlistcourse.com/alonsaguevara
• Follow Alonsa Guevara: @alonsaguevara on Instagram
• Visit Alonsa's Website: https://www.alonsaguevara.com

💡 Episode Highlights

• The Reality of Art School: Why many traditional and contemporary programs focus heavily on conceptual thinking rather than the technical craft of painting.
• The Power of Observation: How practicing through careful study and copying helps build an internal visual library for future original work.
• Decoding Color Temperature: Understanding how subtle shifts in temperature can make a painting feel alive rather than flat.
• Intuition as Knowledge: Redefining intuition not as random luck, but as accumulated technical knowledge and experience.
• Inside Alive Nature: A breakdown of Alonsa's brand new online course designed for all skill levels, with step by step guidance on botanical and fruit painting.

How do you translate the memory of a landscape into a rich, tactile painting? And how do you sustain a meaningful studio practice when life and work get demanding?

In this episode of the Create! Podcast, Kat sits down with Lansing, Michigan-based visual artist and educator Laurén Gerig. Laurén shares her thoughts on place attachment, building expressive paint surfaces, and using poetry to set the stage for intuitive studio sessions. We also dive into the realities of balancing a demanding day job in academia with an active exhibition schedule, and how small micro-moments in the studio can help you overcome creative fatigue and keep momentum alive.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Capturing the psychological bonds we create with landscapes and nature
• The tactile joy of thick mark-making, paint accumulation, and surface texture
• Using poetry as a studio ritual to transition into making work
• Navigating life as both a practicing artist and a university gallery director
• Making room for low-pressure, small-scale work like 20-minute charcoal drawings
• How running and stepping away from the easel can serve as the ultimate creative reset

Connect with Laurén Gerig:

• Website: https://www.laurengerigart.com
• Instagram: @laurengerigart

Stay connected with Create! Magazine:

• Subscribe to the Create! Substack for more artist stories and reflections: https://www.createmagazine.substack.com
• Submit your work for an upcoming issue of Create! Magazine: https://www.createmagazine.co/call-for-art

Imagine pouring your heart into a massive sculpture, only to watch it crash to the floor. What if that disaster was exactly what your practice needed?

In this episode of The Create! Podcast, host Ekaterina Popova talks with multimedia visual artist, curator, and educator Rebecca Casement. Based in Michigan, Rebecca creates affective, abstract sculptures and installations using ceramics, mixed media, sound, and textiles. This conversation explores her practice of pushing materials to their breaking point and why building instability into artwork mirrors life's unpredictability.

Episode Highlights:

• The Beauty of Instability — why Rebecca intentionally builds heavy, precarious clay sculpture with a high likelihood of breaking in the kiln
• A Shift in Perspective — the story of a shattered personal sculpture that changed her entire artistic mindset
• Art as a Lifestyle — how to ditch the burned-out artist trope, protect your physical energy, and bring joy back into a daily studio practice
• Carried Together — inside her new collaborative project featuring 14 women artists exploring community and care

About Rebecca Casement: Rebecca Casement is a multimedia visual artist, curator, and educator who creates affective abstract sculptures and installations. Raised in rural Michigan, she developed a habit of creative experimentation with materials that carries into her studio practice today. Focused on material language and history, her work is both emotive and honest. Rebecca holds an MFA in Studio Art and a Certification in College Teaching from Michigan State University.

Connect with Rebecca: https://www.rebeccacasement.com/

Community & Opportunities: Join our Substack for fresh articles, longer-form insights, and community conversation. Submit your work to our current open call, The Artist's World, juried by Marina Press Granger, at createmagazine.com/call-for-art.

In this episode of the Create! Podcast, Kat sits down with artist, author, and board-certified art therapist Leah Guzman to explore how creativity can serve as a sanctuary for healing, emotional expression, and personal evolution. Together, they unpack the pressure artists put on themselves, navigating creative burnout, taking intentional breaks from exhibiting, and why the physical act of making art is proven to lower stress and regulate the nervous system. Leah shares practical, low-friction habits to help you reconnect with your art practice without judgment or attachment to the final result. In this episode, we chat about:

• How art functions as emotional expression and healing during major life transitions.
• The neuroscience behind art therapy and lowering cortisol levels.
• Letting go of high-pressure exhibition timelines and career perfectionism.
• Simple studio hacks to eliminate friction and build a daily creative habit.
• Leah's upcoming Creative Soul Retreat and using body mapping, animal guides, and focus wheels to clear mental fog.

Connect with Leah Guzman & Resources:

• Join Leah's 3-Day Creative Soul Retreat ($7)
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/art.therapy.online
• https://www.leahguzmanstudio.com/creative-soul-society-membership

Stay Connected with Create! Magazine:

• Subscribe to the Substack: https://createmagazine.substack.com
• Official Website: https://www.createmagazine.com/

In this episode, Ekaterina Popova welcomes back artist, muralist, author, podcaster, and educator Brandi Hofer to discuss the evolution of her multifaceted creative life. They dive into the realities of being a working artist and mother, why it is essential to embrace play without judgment, and how to quiet the self-doubt often picked up in traditional academic spaces. Brandi shares the story behind her viral, accessible portrait techniques, her monumental 3,082 square foot Truth and Reconciliation mural project, and her upcoming creative retreat in Portugal scheduled for June 2027. This conversation is an honest, approachable, and inspiring reminder to trust your gut and make space for genuine creative joy. Key Topics Covered

• Multifaceted Creativity: Embracing the seasons of your life and allowing your artistic interests to evolve.
• Shattering Art School Myths: Why tools like projectors are just another way to create, and how to let go of perfectionism.
• The Power of Play: Returning to your art practice without judgment and rediscovering the childlike wonder of making.
• Big Projects & Manifestation: Insights into Brandi's massive community murals and her upcoming 2027 creative retreat in Portugal.
• Balancing Motherhood and Art: Navigating family life, community building, and carving out space for your passions.

Connect with Brandi Hofer

Join the Retreat

Portrait Class

• Website: https://www.brandihofer.ca/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandihoferstudios

What 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: https://www.thesuperfair.com/

•

Book a Free Discovery Call: Schedule a 15-Minute Meeting with The Superfair

•

Subscribe to Our Substack: Create! Magazine on Substack

In 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

What 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: https://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, https://www.createmagazine.substack.com

Getting 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: https://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 https://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.

In 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.

If 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/

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What 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

This 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