The Creative Couch with Sam Marshall

Sam Marshall
  • 5.0 (19)
  • Arts

The Creative Couch is a podcast about creativity, doubt, and finding your own way of making work. Hosted by artist and coach Sam Marshall, it’s a place to talk honestly about making work, staying connected to creativity, and building confidence over time.

  1. 3 days ago

    Episode 19 : Burnout, Selling Art & Finding Your Direction

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Claudia, Sophie and Caroline, exploring burnout, artistic identity, selling artwork, creative validation and the challenge of moving beyond your comfort zone. Claudia is recovering from severe burnout after a lifetime of pursuing challenge, achievement and new experiences. Recently diagnosed with autism and ADHD, she finally has the time, space and resources to dedicate herself to art. Yet instead of feeling liberated, she feels paralysed. Torn between botanical illustration, oil painting, printmaking and mokuhanga, she worries that choosing one path means abandoning all the others. We explore the difference between curiosity and achievement, why art doesn't have a finish line, and whether her real challenge might not be choosing a medium but learning how to stay with something after the novelty has worn off. Sophie is a mixed-media artist and teacher from New York who dreams of making larger, more ambitious textile and mixed-media work. She has built a website and online shop but struggles to generate sales, dislikes markets and has consciously chosen not to use social media. As a result, she finds herself questioning whether she can justify investing more time, space and energy into her creative practice. We talk about the difference between an art practice and an art business, why sales aren't the same thing as validation, and how artists can build visibility without relying on social media. Caroline has been steadily drawing flowers for several months and feels ready to move beyond simple studies. She'd love to create richer, more complex compositions, but every time she tries she feels overwhelmed and doesn't know where to begin. We discuss how to create a simple still-life setup that can act as a stage for her drawings, allowing confidence and complexity to grow naturally over time. Also in this episode, I answer a quick listener question from Katharina about painting churches, landmarks and tourist attractions, and whether artists are allowed to sell postcards and artwork based on those locations. In this episode, I explore: • The difference between achievement and curiosity in a creative practice • Why some artists struggle when there is no clear finish line or measure of success • How burnout can affect the way we approach creativity • The relationship between novelty, mastery and artistic growth • Why sales should not be the sole source of creative validation • The difference between an art practice and an art business • Alternative ways to build visibility without relying on social media • How to move from simple studies to more complex compositions • The value of creating a familiar framework for your drawings • Why artists often worry about invisible rules that don't really exist Each dilemma is explored with both emotional insight and practical steps you can try in your own creative life. If you have a creative dilemma you'd like me to explore, please email me at: thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com If you're feeling stuck in your own creative practice and would like support, you can find out more about my creative coaching, workshops and artwork at: www.sammarshallart.com You can also find me on Instagram at @sammarshallart.

    43 min

  2. 16 Jun

    Episode 18: Digital Art, Creative Time & Leaving Teaching

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Mimi, Louise and Cally – exploring digital art, creative time, financial security and the realities of building a creative life. Mimi is a retired nurse, educator and psychotherapist from the Pacific Northwest who returned to her first love of making art later in life. She creates digital artwork using Procreate and produces giclée prints, but has repeatedly been told by local exhibitions that they "don't do digital work". We talk about misconceptions around digital art in the age of AI, why some art spaces may still be catching up with newer mediums, and how artists can find their audience even when traditional institutions don't yet understand their work. Louise is a hand embroidery artist from South Africa who left teaching to pursue her creative practice full time. While she feels incredibly grateful to be making a living through commissions, she finds herself with little time left for her own ideas, series and creative exploration. We discuss the tension between earning from creativity and protecting it, why your own work deserves a place in the diary alongside paid work, and the importance of creating boundaries around creative time. Cally is a printmaker and secondary school teacher who has spent more than twenty-five years balancing teaching with her artistic practice. Now in her fifties and feeling burnt out, she wonders whether she should take a sabbatical, retire early or continue teaching for a little longer. We talk about grief for the creative life we imagined we'd have, financial fears rooted in childhood experiences, and why building a runway towards change can sometimes be kinder and wiser than taking a leap into the unknown. In this episode, I explore: • Why rejection isn't always about quality, but sometimes about category and understanding • How artists working in newer mediums can help audiences connect with their process • The challenge of protecting personal creativity when paid work fills every available hour • Why creating boundaries around creative time can be just as important as earning from it • The grief many creatives feel for the artistic life they imagined they might have had • How financial fears rooted in childhood experiences can shape creative decisions decades later • Why gathering information can be more helpful than making dramatic leaps • The difference between taking a leap and building a runway towards change • How to make decisions from facts rather than fear Each dilemma is explored with both emotional insight and practical steps you can try in your own creative life. If you have a creative dilemma you'd like me to explore, please email me at: thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com You can also find me on Instagram at @sammarshallart.

    43 min

  3. 9 Jun

    Episode 17: Pricing Artwork, Creative Flip-Flopping & Hobby Businesses

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Caroline, Alison and Laurel – exploring the emotional complexity of pricing artwork, the overwhelm of constantly changing creative direction, and the question of whether a calming creative hobby should become a business at all. Caroline is a printmaker who has started selling her linoprints at fairs and markets, but pricing her work leaves her constantly second guessing herself. If a print doesn’t sell, she feels tempted to lower the price immediately, yet afterwards worries she has undervalued the work entirely. We talk about the emotional side of pricing creative work, the pressure of standing beside your work at fairs, why artists often struggle to separate value from self-worth, and how to develop a pricing framework that feels sustainable without losing accessibility and generosity. Alison started drawing and painting three years ago and has become completely obsessed with creativity, but finds herself constantly flip-flopping between watercolour, acrylic, mixed media and different artistic influences online. Every new artist she discovers sparks excitement, but also leaves her feeling creatively unanchored and unsure what direction to pursue. We talk about overstimulation in the internet age, the difference between curiosity and creative fragmentation, why style usually emerges slowly through repetition, and the importance of staying with something long enough to move beyond the initial excitement. After retiring two years ago, Laurel discovered crocheting and now describes it as “yoga for my hands.” She’s been making beautiful ponchos for friends and family and is wondering whether she should start selling them online through somewhere like Etsy. But with each piece taking weeks to make, she feels unsure whether she wants a business at all, or simply a gentler way of sharing her work. We talk about the pressure to monetise hobbies, the emotional shift that happens when creativity becomes commercial, and how to share handmade work without losing the joy that made you fall in love with it in the first place. In this episode, I explore: • Why pricing artwork is often far more emotional than practical • The pressure artists feel when selling work face-to-face at fairs and markets • How accessibility and sustainability can sometimes pull in opposite directions • Why social media can leave creatives feeling overstimulated and creatively fragmented • The difference between curiosity and constantly abandoning work too soon • How artistic style often emerges slowly through repetition rather than force • The pressure many people feel to monetise hobbies after retirement • Why creativity does not always need to become a full business • Gentler ways to begin sharing handmade work without losing the joy of making Each dilemma is explored with both emotional insight and practical steps you can try in your own creative life. If you have a creative dilemma you’d like me to explore, please email me at: thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com You can also find me on Instagram at @sammarshallart

    35 min

  4. 2 Jun

    Episode 16 : Creative chat with my Mum

    In this special episode of The Creative Couch, I’m joined by a very special guest… my mum. Before we headed off together to Italy for my recent drawing and printmaking retreat, I asked listeners to send in their questions for her — and this episode became such a lovely, funny and genuinely heartfelt conversation. We talk about all the things people are always asking me about her: her creativity, her sense of style, how she manages to look so glamorous at 80, and whether she secretly has some kind of fitness regime (spoiler: she absolutely does not). We also talk about motherhood, independence, confidence, ageing, supporting creativity in your children, and what it’s been like having a daughter who has always lived such a creative life. It was recorded just before we left for Italy together, so now that we’re back home again, it feels like a really lovely little snapshot of that moment in time. We didn’t manage to answer every question that was sent in, but thank you so much to everybody who contributed — there were so many thoughtful and brilliant questions. If you have a creative dilemma you’d like me to explore in a future episode, you’re always welcome to send it to thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com You can also find me on Instagram at @sammarshallart

    31 min

  5. 26 May

    Episode 15: Artistic Ethics, Mailing Lists & Creative Identity

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Sarah, Lyn and Helen – exploring artistic ethics, building a mailing list from scratch, and the vulnerable question of whether to create under your own name or hide behind a brand. Sarah recently spotted a print in an exhibition that looked strikingly similar to another artist’s well-known work. The similarities immediately left her feeling uncomfortable and questioning where the line exists between inspiration and imitation. She found herself wondering whether she was overreacting, whether the gallery or artist would already know, and whether she had any responsibility to say something at all. How do we navigate those ethically blurred creative situations without becoming “the art police”, and what responsibility do artists have when something simply doesn’t sit right? Lyn is an abstract painter from Virginia who is trying to build a mailing list completely from scratch. Without a website, newsletter or strategy already in place, the whole process feels overwhelming and difficult to begin. We talk about the emotional resistance artists often have around self-promotion, how to start building an audience slowly and organically, and the practical realities of creating a newsletter through exhibitions, markets, workshops and genuine connection rather than aggressive marketing tactics. Helen lives in Mallorca and is preparing to start selling her prints, but finds herself stuck on the surprisingly emotional question of whether to use her own name or work under a brand identity instead. Her surname feels difficult, foreign and disconnected from the place where she now lives and makes work, and part of her wonders whether hiding behind a more carefully constructed brand would feel safer. We talk about visibility, identity, authenticity, belonging, and why people often connect more deeply to a real person than a polished brand. In this episode, I explore: • The emotional difference between inspiration and imitation  • Why ethically uncomfortable situations in the art world can feel so complicated  • Whether artists have a responsibility to intervene when something feels “off”  • How to begin building a mailing list from absolute scratch  • Why newsletters are more about connection than marketing  • The importance of growing an audience slowly and authentically  • Why many artists feel vulnerable using their own name publicly  • How branding can sometimes become a way of hiding  • Why authenticity and personality matter more than appearing “perfect” online Each dilemma is explored with both emotional insight and practical steps you can try in your own creative life. If you have a creative dilemma you’d like me to explore, please email me at: thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com You can also find me on Instagram at @sammarshallart

    33 min

  6. 19 May

    Episode 14: Framing Anxiety, Comparison & Blank Sketchbooks

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Barbara, Mimi and Juilette – exploring framing and exhibitions, comparison and creative growth, and the pressure we place on ourselves through sketchbooks. Barbara has started selling her paintings and is now thinking more seriously about exhibitions and presenting her work professionally. But framing has suddenly become a confusing world full of hidden rules and standards she doesn’t fully understand. From hanging systems and ready-made frames to worries about whether her work looks “professional enough”, she finds herself second-guessing every decision. How do you know what’s good enough when it comes to framing, and how do you stop presentation anxiety from undermining your confidence as an artist? Mimi has been painting watercolours for more than 35 years and has built a successful practice creating detailed miniature works that have sold well and received awards. But after immersing herself in classes, webinars, podcasts and online inspiration, she’s finding herself overwhelmed by comparison and increasingly disconnected from her own voice. At the same time, she’s trying to work larger and looser, but feels clumsy and discouraged every time she attempts it. Should she stay with the style she already excels at, or keep pushing herself into unfamiliar territory in the hope that something new might emerge? Juilette loves the idea of keeping travel sketchbooks and carefully packs beautiful drawing materials every time she goes away. But when she actually arrives, she freezes. Between perfectionism, pressure to make “good” drawings, and struggling to claim time for herself while travelling with her husband, she often comes home with a blank sketchbook and a heavy sense of disappointment. How do you build a genuine sketchbook habit without turning drawing into another thing to get right? In this episode, I explore: • Why comparison often increases when we consume too much creative input • The difference between growth and proof of failure • Why awkwardness is often a sign of expansion in your practice • How framing can become emotionally tied to legitimacy and professionalism • Why simple presentation is often enough for exhibitions and sales • The pressure sketchbooks can quietly carry • How perfectionism stops us from noticing small meaningful moments • Why creativity often begins to flow again when we lower the stakes Each dilemma is explored with both emotional insight and practical steps you can try in your own creative life. If you have a creative dilemma you’d like me to explore, please email me at: thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com

    41 min

  7. 12 May

    Episode 13: A Creative Conversation with Laura Smith

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I’m joined by painter Laura Smith for the first in a new series of creative conversations with artists, friends and fellow creatives about their practice and creative lives. Although the podcast began with me responding to creative dilemmas sent in by listeners, it was always my intention to intersperse those episodes with longer, more open-ended conversations with other creatives, and I’m so happy to be starting that part of the podcast with Laura. Laura and I have known each other for years. We both studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and later at the Royal Drawing School, and in this conversation we settle in for a thoughtful, wide-ranging chat about painting, creativity, teaching and the realities of sustaining a creative life over time. We talk about studio life, living and working in London, balancing creative practice with other commitments, and our experiences of social media and Instagram as working artists. We also discuss painters we admire, including Giorgio Morandi, the importance of looking slowly, and the artists and exhibitions that have been inspiring us lately. Along the way, we share recommendations, reflections on teaching, thoughts on creative pressure, and some honest conversation about the quieter, less visible parts of maintaining an artistic practice. You can find Laura on Instagram at @Laurajrsmith. We’ll be returning to creative dilemmas next week, so if you’ve got a dilemma you’d like me to respond to, you can send it to thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com.

    1hr 2min

  8. 5 May

    Episode 12: Instagram Burnout, Pricing and Creative Pressure

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Dana, Lou and Alan – exploring the frustration of Instagram, the fear around raising prices, and the pressure of making the most of a creative opportunity. Dana runs a small creative business making lino prints inspired by coastal architecture and tide lines, and once found Instagram a really supportive place to share her work. But as the platform has changed, her reach has dropped, growth has stalled, and the pressure to keep up with reels, trends and constant posting has started to take over. What once felt like connection now feels like performance, leaving her questioning both her work and her place on the platform. How do you continue using Instagram without letting it drain your energy or define your sense of progress? Lou has been running creative workshops that are gaining momentum, with returning participants and fuller classes, but financially things aren’t adding up. After factoring in travel, materials and venue commissions, she’s barely paying herself, yet feels nervous about raising her prices in case it puts people off or disrupts the growth she’s seeing. When is the right time to increase your prices, and how do you do it without losing the people who already support you? Alan has rebuilt his creative practice later in life and is now developing his work through printmaking, selling at markets and running workshops. He’s recently been accepted onto an artist residency, giving him two weeks of dedicated time and space to make work. But instead of feeling free, he feels torn between planning too rigidly and risking failure, or going in unprepared and wasting the opportunity. How do you approach something like this without turning it into a test, and how do you balance structure with spontaneity? In this episode, I explore: • Why your relationship with Instagram matters more than the algorithm  • How expectations around visibility and growth can quietly drain your energy  • The difference between being busy and being financially sustainable  • Why underpricing often comes from fear rather than strategy  • How to approach opportunities without turning them into something to get “right”  • Why structure and spontaneity aren’t opposites, and how they can support each other Each dilemma is explored with both emotional insight and practical steps you can try in your own creative life. If you have a creative dilemma you’d like me to explore, please email me at: thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com

    45 min
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5
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19 Ratings

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The Creative Couch is a podcast about creativity, doubt, and finding your own way of making work. Hosted by artist and coach Sam Marshall, it’s a place to talk honestly about making work, staying connected to creativity, and building confidence over time.

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