Authentic Obsessions

Risa Iwasaki Culbertson is a multi-disciplinary artist in San Francisco, CA with a focus in fiber arts, illustrating, and storytelling. Biracial and born in Japan, she creates art to bridge the gap between her two worlds. Inspired by the healing and connective power of humor and play, she creates her wacky, whimsical, and colorful work to process deep emotions in grief and joy, while creating places of belonging and finding ways to stay connected to those we love.Molly Meng talks to Risa about creating for the experience instead of the object, drilling down big feelings to the essence of their meaning, and and how the work you make often doesn’t make sense when you’re going through grief.TakeawaysOur job as artists is to be the steward to the stories and lessons that have been passed down.Artists are a great bridge for bringing people together.What have you done lately that has scared the shit out of you?You have to get extremely comfortable saying no.Make eye contact with all humans at every opportunity.LinksRisa Iwasaki CulbertsonRisa Iwasaki Culbertson on InstagramRisa Iwasaki Culbertson on Tiktok

Artist, teacher, collector, and storyteller Molly Meng is a force for good. Molly is heavily influenced by a scrap of paper, a single word, ​opera, rap, theremins, the thick cotton of an old book page, random sentences, and an overheard statement. Molly exudes optimism and curiosity, and believes we are ALL related and connected to each other. TakeawaysJust ask.On social media: Follow less, engage more.Same but different.Be here now. Let go.When you want to see beauty somewhere, if you don’t already see it, you have to create it. Make it come about.MentionedFollow Molly on InstagramMolly’s websiteThe Traveling Postal ClubMatthew FrederickFrench General workshopsJen Peterson’s Instagram - the pursuit of sunshineOn Being with Krista Tippett podcastChanel Miller

Priorities, patriotic quilts, procrastination, studio space evolution, and playing with the tension and finding the edge!Maura's journey began in 2011 when she followed her dream to merge gardening and quilting. Hailing from a family of quilters and tailors, Maura finds joy and meaning in connecting with her ancestors through her craft and preserving heritage techniques. A pioneer in hand-dyed fabrics and hand-stitched quilts, Maura has inspired an international movement by sharing her plant-based dyeing processes and using those colors in quilt making. Her brand, Folk Fibers, has become a sought-after choice for heirloom quilt collectors. At her home studio and garden sanctuary, Maura immerses herself in color, allowing the transformation from seed to plant, dye, and textile to inform her work. She shares her expertise by teaching workshops locally and abroad, emphasizing a balance of technique and play. Maura and her family live on a ten-acre woodland property near the lower Colorado River in Bastrop, TX. Embracing the seasons, Maura's connection to nature and authentic living continues to inspire her creative work.Takeaways:Once you sit down to work in this slow intentional process of hand sewing there’s a heartbeat, a quiet space, a discipline of being present and reflection, allowing the waters to clear.Artist dates are where creativity blooms.Quilts touch the deepest parts of people’s lives.There are many places in life where we have a need to control, but our art practice is a place where we can let go of that control.The work speaks for itself, it’s told to me in real time.Maura Ambrose Folk FibersMaura Ambrose on InstagramMaura Ambrose on FacebookAurora Silk natural dyes  

Glue & adhesives, rules & parameters, loving the outcome without loving the process (this is where discipline comes in!), purposefully making things that others might not want, and knots all come up in today’s episode with Lisa Solomon.Lisa Solomon is a studio artist that moonlights as a college professor and illustrator/graphic designer. Profoundly interested in the idea of hybridization (sparked from her Hapa heritage), her mixed-media works and large installations revolve around domesticity, craft, and personal histories. She often fuses "wrong" things together--recontextualizing their original purposes and incorporating materials that question the line between ART and CRAFT. She resides in Oakland, California with her husband, a teenager, two kitties, a three legged pit-bull, a dachshund mutt and many, many spools of thread. She is the author of - A Field Guide To Color, The Color Meditation Deck, a historical book on Crayola crayons, Knot Thread Stitch, and the illustrator for 20 Ways to Draw a Chair and Draw 500 Everyday Things. TakeawaysWhen it comes to making art, consider using the word ‘parameters’ instead of ‘rules.’Art is a space where you investigate things.Discipline is integral to everything.It’s not about only making work when you are inspired, it’s about the ACT of making.You can contribute to Lisa’s Japan Chroma Exhibit by sending material before May 30, 2025 to: PO BOX 99534, Emeryville, CA 94662Lisa SolomonLisa Solomon on InstagramLisa Solomon on BlueskyLisa Solomon on PinterestLisa Solomon on AmazonArtists Take ActionThis to ThatWalter Maciel galleryTadao Ando architect

Michael McConnell was born in Michigan, where he used to watch squirrels from the front window. He graduated from Columbus College of Art & Design, with an emphasis in lithography and painting, and landed in the Bay Area soon after, where he still lives. Making art is how Michael makes sense of the world and his forgotten childhood, creating visual narratives that examine the space between memory and nostalgia.During his conversation with Molly Meng, Michael talks about how falling in love with Joseph Cornell’s work allowed him to excavate his own language of “symbology.” He also reveals how the ropes and strings used in his work are about lineage and connection, symbolizing a narration thread.TakeawaysYou can figure out how you want to make something by learning how someone else makes something.Your personal life affects your artwork. If you’re feeling like you don’t have a voice, ask yourself what you want to say with your art. Are people listening?Slow down and let go of the expectation that you should crank the work out.Be careful what you start collecting!  Color becomes an environment for things and is about pushing something and taking it further.“Sometimes you just go into the studio and just sharpen pencils.” The Woodmans documentaryMichael McConnellMichael McConnell on InstagramMichael McConnell on BlueskyJoseph CornellCourtney CerrutiBrian McDonaldThe Woodmans documentary

Let the loose thread be dangling! Born and raised in New England, Sarah Haskell has a BFA in Textile Design from RISD and a Masters of Art and Healing from Wisdom University.  As a seeker, maker and creative pathfinder her medium is most often thread, investigating the mystery of encoded fabrics and the hidden language of cloth.Sarah talks about the soothing nature of weaving, the importance of community involvement, how the natural world and its objects (rocks, shells, pinecones) speak to her, and making work that you yourself need to see. Sarah uses embroidery, weaving, and natural dyes to explore personal truth and universal wisdom. I love how she describes her obsession as taking separate objects and putting them together in an organized structure that other people can respond to. She creates a structure from things that are chaotic.Takeaways:A sketchbook is a repository for your dreams, thoughts and ideas - all of it, everything!Weaving is a full body process.Thread is elemental- almost like DNA.Approach everything with an awareness of all the things we can see and those that we cannot.Make the work you need.Find a way to raise up all the boats in the harbor.Take off the backpack of self-doubt and keep forging ahead.Sarah HaskellSarah Haskell on InstagramSarah Haskell on FacebookMolly Meng

Melissa Guido is a multidisciplinary printmaker and illustrator whose work draws inspiration from fashion and costume design of the 1920’s. Melissa is currently living in Iceland for 9 months under a Student Fulbright Open/Study Research Grant where she is exploring Iceland’s sustainable textile practices and unique plant sources for natural dyeing. During our conversation Melissa talks about digital art, the magic of Iceland, the collaborative nature of printmaking and some surprising revelations about rulers and paper cutters. Her obsession with pushing boundaries is evident in her printing work –screen printing, letterpress, etching, lithography, and relief printing – as well as her current creative pursuits focused on traditional textile arts, natural dyeing, embroidery, weaving, and knitting.As the co-founder of Sourwood Press, a design and printing studio established with Brittany Emerson, Melissa leads a female-run business specializing in designing, producing, and selling products such as bandanas, stationery, and tote bags. Sourwood Press also collaborates with designers and businesses to create bespoke printed goods and products. TakeawaysWhat is the best possible way to make a piece shine?My skills were built over having lots of mistakes.Stay curious about tactile skills.Don’t ever wish your life away.Melissa GuidoMelissa Guido on InstagramSourwood Press on EtsyPeter Hristoff on InstagramChelsea CardinalLarry B WrightCharles YoderJillian Tamaki graphic novelistDafi Kühne on InstagramHamilton Wood Type MuseumPressing On: The Letterpress FilmNew York Collage EnsembleFulbright Student Fulbright Open/Study Research Grant

Artist, teacher, collector, and storyteller Molly Meng interviews artist and illustrator Elizabeth DeJure Wood for today’s episode. They discuss the authenticity of non-human animals, being fully present, generating ideas and limiting options.Elizabeth has a creative background in ceramics, graphic design, illustration, and fine art. She loves drawing every day and enjoys developing novel visual solutions for clients. Molly and Elizabeth met in the beautiful coastal town of Portsmouth New Hampshire where they both reside.TakeawaysAnimals are inherently authentic.Staring into space is important for your creative life.An extended eye to eye with an eel makes an impact.Being fully present in the moment to moment makes a really great life.Keep your instruments or tools of play in sight so you can express yourself fully whenever you need.Generating ideas often come during the ordinary moments and while moving our bodies.Limiting options in the media you use helps with discipline and getting into a more regular art practice.Elizabeth DeJure WoodElizabeth DeJure Wood on InstagramElizabeth DeJure Wood on YouTubeElizabeth DeJure Wood on LinkedInElizabeth DeJure Wood on BlueskyElizabeth DeJure Wood on PinterestMolly Meng

SarahPedlow, founder of ThreadWritten, is an artist working with embroidery and cultural preservation through workshops, textile travel tours, and fine art. ThreadWritten supports women artisans, traditional textile practices, and the preservation of heritage through research, education, and the cultivation of a global community of makers.While participating in an artist’s residency in Budapest, Hungary in 2009, Sarah fell in love with Hungarian embroidery and clothing during a visit to the Ethnographic Museum. The experience led her to seek out women embroidering in the written style in Transylvania, Romania, and start ThreadWritten in 2012, first with artisan-made bags and pillows. Since 2014 she has focused on education, lecturing, and teaching cultural embroidery workshops. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she moved to Amsterdam, NL, in 2019, and to Rotterdam this year.TakeawaysNotice what feels nourishing to you. Keep your antenna up and remain curious and creative.Each part enriches the other part.Keep the channel open – the gist of a longer quote by Martha Graham“A miracle is a shift in perception.” Marianne WilliamsonSarah PedlowSarah Pedlow on InstagramThreadWrittenThreadWritten on InstagramTim IngoldA brush with…podcastMuseum of Ethnography, Budapest

Krista V. Allenstein, Midwest Optimistic Artist, loves neon signs, old buildings, dollhouses and the culinary delights of Kwik Trip. She loves painting things often overlooked as beautiful. Monkeying around with words and phrases makes her especially happy. Krista often wishes she had a camera in her eyeball so she could share how she sees the world. Her paintings attempt to make that wish a reality. During our conversation Krista talks about embracing chaos, being uncomfortable with compliments, middle-age anonymity and invisibility, and the crippling nature of looking backwards. Krista is a true Francophile who would move to Paris if she could get away with it. She embraces and reveals all the parts of her authentic self – from her contagious optimism and positivity to her control freak tendencies.A graduate of the School of Visual Arts (NYC), Krista has had the opportunity to participate in exhibitions at the Lakefront Festival of the Arts (In 2023 as the featured poster artist), Des Moines Arts Festival, Columbus Arts Festival, Oconomowoc Arts Festival, Madison Art Fair On the Square, Cincinnati Artfest, Free Range Art, Frank Juarez Gallery, Gallery 2622, MARN Gallery, 2020 Wisconsin Artist Biennial, and a 2019-2020 ARTservancy and MARN mentor/mentee appointments.TakeawaysSee the world not the way it is but the way you prefer it to be.Tightly controlled situations aren't that interesting.You have two choices. You could live your life being scared something terrible is going to happen again, or you could just live your life and assume it's not going to.You’re exactly how you’re supposed to be whether you like it or not.The key to successful art is when people know that you mean exactly what you put out there and you're not trying to be someone else, you’re not trying to say something you don't mean. People respond to that kind of authenticity.Krista V. AllensteinAmélieThe Regal Find, Madison, WisconsinNews in Slow FrenchFinch