Show Up or Shut Up with Wendy Solganik

Yetunde Rodriguez is a Nigerian-American Printmaker, Abstract, and Multi-media Artist. Her work celebrates her love of color, pattern, texture and detail. These aspects of Yetunde's work pay homage to her Nigerian culture and heritage, while being firmly planted in the privilege of her American life. Yetunde is constantly motivated by the thought of ‘what if.’ She does not limit herself to any particular media, methods, or set of materials. Yetunde believes all can coexist to create beautifully. She is a pattern and color enthusiast. Yetunde delights in finding connections in the unexpected, in between spaces, and believes that her work should inspire joy. Yetunde is based in Dayton, Ohio. You can find Yetunde on Instagram @yaytoonday.

Raised in the diverse beauty of South Africa; moving from South Africa to Berlin Germany, to the UK, and now to the USA; Di Venter has always found her feet - and met her tribe -  in her new space through art and creating.  Never one to take the rules as unbreakable, Di likes to learn them, and then challenge them.  She loves playing with fabric in her art, and adding art to her sewing. Di suspects she will be taking classes her entire life, there’s always more to learn.

Kecia Deveney is a published mixed media artist, instructor, and world traveler, living at the Jersey Shore. As a mixed media artist, her eclectic style can be seen in fabric and textiles, jewelry design, sculpture-work, and painting. Creating is pivotal to Kecia and becomes, for her, art therapy. Her imagination comes to life and allows her temporary reprieve from her role as a full-time caregiver. Her work is about ingenuity and playfulness. Kecia travels across the world so she may inspire others to find their own artistic spirits. You can find Kecia on Instagram @keciadeveney.

Alison Bomber chose the name Words and Pictures for her blog and then later for Instagram because those are the two worlds she inhabits.  She is a freelance creative working with both words and pictures. Alison's first creative career was as a text and voice coach in the theatre, specializing in Shakespeare.  She is fascinated by the power of words, and how our voices shape our connection to the world.  And she is passionate to the point of obsession about sharing the profound excitement of speaking Shakespeare.  Alison started out as an actor and singer more than thirty years ago, and then shifted to become a text and voice coach.  She worked full time for the Royal Shakespeare Company for nearly ten years, and is proud to be an Associate Artist of the RSC.  Since going freelance, Alison continues to work with them regularly as well as with theatre companies around the world, including Theatre for a New Audience in New York and Song of the Goat Theatre in Poland. When Alison left the RSC more than a decade ago, a whole new creative form of expression opened up for her in mixed media, crafting and painting.   Alison now works (alongside theatre projects) as a freelance artist and designer, in watercolour and mixed media, collage and assemblage, and she is extremely proud and honoured to design stamps for PaperArtsy.  Her first stamp sets were words (of course!) - collections of quotes, gathered by theme.  Alison's newer stamp plates combine her own botanical sketches with theatrical, historical and personal ephemera, and advice from Culpeper’s herbal on the medicinal uses of the plants.    The Pictures part of Alison is still very much about storytelling, about connection, and about communicating emotions and ideas.  And she loves to combine words and imagery in her work.  As she has continued to explore new skills and techniques, nature has become a more and more important part of her visual storytelling, as well as a vital part of her everyday life.  Spending time in the natural world is a constant source of inspiration. Another link between the two creative paths, Words and Pictures, is Alison's passion for sharing the expertise she has developed in these two strands, teaching both one-to-one and in workshops and classes, both in person and online. You can find Alison on Instagram at @w0rdsandp1ctures and @b0hem1anh0me

Barb Smucker is a mixed media artist who enjoys layering collage papers and paint to create surprising results.  Adding lines, textures, shapes and colors onto a page or canvas allows her to experiment and find enjoyment in the discovery. When you look at her work, she hopes you see the play, the search, and a sense of harmony and spontaneity that she is always after in whatever she makes. Barb is inspired by the beauty found in many of the home arts, including quilting, stoneware pottery and all the gorgeous patterns found in linens and textiles. She is also inspired by nature. Barb has a window in her home studio that looks out toward trees and a stream.  The lines and organic material inspire her daily. Barb has been working at her art making and art practice for many years. Always looking for a way to combine her interest in art and psychology, she has discovered that the practice of art making itself is a wonderful and helpful thing to share.  Barb teaches classes locally out of her studio, with art centers, retreat centers and in galleries.  Whether she is teaching the principles of art, art journaling, collage, card making, abstract art or painting papers, Barb's goal is always the same. She wants to help people discover joy in the process of art making and notice that they have so much to share.

Jennifer Wilkin Penick's introduction to collage was in early childhood, when her mother cut up magazine pages and invited her to make "mosaics" from them, using paste and a small tin brush. Living for decades in Italy as an adult gave her weekly access to the vintage paper vendors of Rome's legendary flea market. She studied studio art and art history and these two interests converge in Jennifer's sometimes whimsical mixed media and collage works that frequently reference her relationship to (and nostalgia for) the artistic heritage of her adoptive country. In addition to being a practicing artist, she teaches art to children and adults and has been a Visual-Artist-in-Residence with MedStar Georgetown University Hospital's Arts & Humanities Program since 2018.

Suzanne is a multi-passionate artist who lives in Eastern Iowa with her husband. She has two adult children (who happen to be twins). Professionally, she has been a multi-talented wizard (aka school secretary), longarm machine quilter, stay-at-home mom, bank technology manager, computer network installer, t-shirt seller, and library page. (She shelved returned library books in high school. Favorite job ever.) Currently, she and her three cats publish Strawberry Moon Magazine, an independent magazine for art journalers. Note: Brush Magazine, mentioned in this episode, was created by Tanyalee Kahler.

Join me and fellow recovering people-pleaser Cynthia Frenette for a lot of reality and laughter. Warning: this episode has a lot of F-bombs! You can find Cynthia and all of her pretty, laugh-out-loud designs, on Instagram @cynthiafrenette and at her website cynthiafrenette.com. You are going to love her style, her story and her sense of humor!

Are you an art journaler, bullet journaler, or mixed media artist that just doesn’t feel confidence when writing in your chosen journal? It doesn’t have to be this way. Listen to this episode and find out why! For all the information about my new lettering course, Love Your (Imperfect) Letters, please visit HTTPS://Willa-workshops.com/p/love-your-imperfect-letters or go to willawanders.com

I’ve got big news! Megan Quinlan’s first ever solo course, Journal Into Your Art, is now live on the Willa Workshops! Join Megan and me as we discuss exactly what this handmade book and art journaling course is all about. Check out the course at https://Willa-workshops.teachable.com/p/journal-into-your-art-with-megan-quinlan

Are you an artist and art instructor who wonders if it’s okay for you to take other artists’ courses? Or if it’s okay for you to teach something that was inspired by another artist’s work or what you learned from them in a class you took? Is it okay to tag another artist while also promoting your own thing? In this episode, Sarah Gardner and I discuss a plethora social media etiquette and intellectual property questions. We are showing up here to have an open conversation about many sticky topics. I’m definitely not going to say that we have the answers, only our thoughts and experiences to share. Sarah is a Mixed Media Artist, art instructor, practicing attorney and soon to be published author of a book on mail art called “Share Your Joy: Inspired Mixed Media Mail Art.” You can find Sarah at her website, https://www.juicy-s.net, and on Instagram @juicy.s.art.

Faigie Kobre is a former early childhood teacher and director. She developed a passion for art in early childhood and gave workshops for early childhood schools and teachers on helping kids thrive through art that is developmentally appropriate. Faigie also spent 25 years as a high end portrait photographer. She switched careers in midlife to become an elementary school art teacher. This led her in a roundabout fashion to get involved in adult creativity. When starting to learn about adult creativity she became hooked on mixed media and started her website creativityreignited. Her goal was and still is to help women who don't feel creative (often as a result of past creativity scars) to reignite their creativity. Her initiation into adult creativity came through mixed media but then discovered the magical medium of alcohol inks. She now concentrates mostly on alcohol inks and gives in person and online classes on how to use this awesome medium. She likes to start people off by introducing them to alcohol inks makers(sharpies are alcohol ink markers too) which when mixed with alcohol become as fluid as the inks. She has a free 20 minute video showing you 6 different techniques you can use with alcohol ink markers. You can get that at https://www.creativityreignited.com You can also find her at @creativealcoholinking on instagram and https://www.facebook.com/creativealcoholinking

It’s August of 2022 and I’m back talking all things Instagram again. Given how much Instagram has changed and the users’ outcry over how badly the platform sucks right now, I’m here to offer my thoughts, plus some tips to customize your user experience and try to get back that loving feeling, if even just a little bit.

Join me for this short episode where I have a very impromptu chat with my friend Karen Hilsberg, artist, psychologist and Buddhist about the intersection between healing, creative practice and mindfulness. You can find Karen on Instagram @K_abby7.

Join me as I rant about the Instagram Reels problem and try to figure out how to keep Instagram the happy, inspirational community connection place that it has been for visual artists of all types. You can find out more about me at willawanders.com.