Making Problems to Solve

Mark Adams and Nick Toga are back and we go all over the place. We talk about how AI is affecting artists, and chat about historic ways artists have negotiated making their way through the world as artists inspired by the Mason Currey book “Making Art and Making a Living”. This inspires topics such as being honest and open, using your voice, and creative mischief. Stick around for a bit of encouragement at the end! Check out Mark Adams on Instagram Check out Nick on Instagram

Olivia Van Oot is a woodworker exploring quilt patterns in wood veneer. We learn about why craft schools are so important, how she discovered woodworking, and combined her experience with fabric to making quilt-inspired wood projects, lamps, furniture, and a wood dress. Check out Olivia’s work on Instagram and her web site.

Trevor is back with Patti Gilstrap to recap and chat about our experience at the Maker Camp Group Forge. The group forge event is a collaborative learning experience where a bunch of folks of varying levels of experience work together to bring a vision into reality over a weekend. This year’s project was an approximately 10 foot tall steel weathervane adorned with copper accents. We discuss as usual, the process, and the unique property of undo when working with hot metal. Thanks to Chris Cash and Matt Harris for leading the event and Curtis Bohn for sharing his metal forming tips.

Trevor Higgins, blacksmith, and obsessive skill sharer is back to discuss the quick win verses deliberate craft. How do we decide what level of perfection we are working towards? When is it about the results and when is it the process. We preview the Blackthorne Resort Maker Camp Group Forge coming up this weekend. Follow Trevor on Instagram.

This week I talked to Brittani Locke from the Soft Asylum. Brittani is a marbling artist making beautifully patterned silk scarves. She shares her introduction to marbling and later rediscovery of the art as well as how she shares the art through teaching and her demonstrations at the Catskill Mountain Maker Camp. Check out Brittani’s work on Instagram and her web site.

Leah Aripotch is a metal scultptor focusing on organic monstrous forms inspired by nature. We discuss the connections between observing nature, curiosity, and the creative process. We follow her journey from being a kid out in nature, to painting, jewelry making and metal sculpture. Check out Leah’s work on Instagram and her web site

The podcast is back with Derek Weston, a sculptor and fabricator from Philadelphia. We go over his journey from curious creative kid to college where he tried industrial design, but ultimately discovered sculpture. Learning to make things with tools lead him on the path to working as a fabricator and taking a break to explore and learn and meet other creative folks around the US, finally leading to starting his own shop where he does his best to work with clients that provide an interesting problem to solve! Along the way we discuss the value of art school, and cultivating your creative community. Learn more about Derek on Instagram and his web site.

John Graziano, Graz, is a good friend still, if you haven’t heard this one in a while, here is a repeat presentation of my chat way back from Episode 3 back in 2022. This time I talked with John Graziano, aka GrazMakes on your usual platforms, about curiosity and a constant desire to modify things to understand how they work and to take things apart to bend them to your will. Along the way we discussed the important discovery that, yes, you can make creativity a career and the joy of sharing what you’ve learned a way to show even more folks what making is all about. Check him out at @grazmakes on Instagram and YouTube. Find Graz at https://www.instagram.com/grazmakes/

Maya Buffett Davis is a sculptor currently pursuing an MFA in Ceramics at Colorado University Boulder. For the next couple of days you can view her show “Books are Machines” at the Bemis Public Library in Littleton, CO until February 14, 2026. Books Are Machines was made possible thanks to the support of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. We chat about the ideas behind the show including the relationship between the viewer and an interactive sculpture and inspiring attention. Learn more about Maya’s work on Instagram and her web site mayabuffettdavis.xyz

This week I talk to Sarah from Soul Bound Leather about how she discovered leatherwork, got connected with the knife making community, giving stories to her work, and where her work is taking her next. Check out Sarah’s work on Instagram and soulboundleather.com