The Creative Couch with Sam Marshall

Sam Marshall
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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.

  1. 10 uur geleden

    Episode 24: Success, Grief & Creative Overwhelm

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Kate, Susan and Coralie, exploring creative success, grief, burnout, overwhelm and how to protect the joy of making when life and work begin placing too many demands upon it. Kate returned to painting during lockdown after a twenty-year break from creativity. What began as a joyful, private practice gradually became a successful full-time career, with books, products, licensing opportunities and a large online audience. From the outside, she appears to be living the dream, but success has started to feel more like pressure than pleasure. We explore what happens when the artist and the brand become almost indistinguishable, why every launch can begin to feel like a verdict on your entire career, and how to create space for experimentation when creativity has become responsible for your income, identity and public success. Susan has spent approximately seven years caring for her parents while holding onto plans to develop her art practice and create a small business. Following the sudden death of her mother in May, she now has more time but feels lost, guilty and unable to enter her studio. At 64, she is telling herself there is no time to waste, but the urgency is leaving her frozen. We discuss why caring responsibilities were never an excuse, how grief can make new freedom feel more like absence, and why returning to creativity may need to happen gently, through the back door rather than the front. Coralie works digitally in animation, is developing a personal game project with her husband and is also caring for a very young baby. After revisiting The Artist’s Way, she has rediscovered her love of charcoal, coloured pencil, graphite, plein-air painting and paper miniatures. The excitement feels wonderful, but it quickly becomes overwhelming as she tries to turn every interest into a project or connect it to her professional work. We explore the difference between enthusiasm and capacity, why renewed creative energy after burnout needs to be protected, and how traditional materials might become a small place for play rather than another demanding part of her working life. Also in this episode, I share a recent Loving Lately recommendation: Languages of Loss by Sasha Bates. The book follows Bates as she navigates the sudden death of her husband, drawing on both her personal experience of grief and her work as a psychotherapist. I’ve been reading it partly to educate myself about grief, but it has also been helping me process the recent death of my friend Frances and think about how I can best support her wife Carly, who is one of my closest friends. In this episode, we explore: • Why success can begin to feel like pressure rather than pleasure • What happens when the artist and the creative brand become difficult to separate • Why every launch does not need to become a verdict on your entire career • How people pleasing can shape the work we make and the opportunities we accept • Why caring for somebody is never simply an excuse for not progressing • How grief can make newly available time feel like absence rather than freedom • Why telling yourself there is no time to waste can leave you unable to begin • How to return to the studio gently after loss • The difference between creative excitement and genuine capacity • Why every new interest does not need to become a project • How to protect renewed creative energy after burnout • Why creativity sometimes needs to remain private, playful and deliberately unproductive Each dilemma is explored through both its emotional and practical layers, with ideas and exercises you can apply to your own creative practice. If you have a creative dilemma you’d like me to explore in a future episode, I’d love to hear from you. You can 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.

  2. 21 jul

    Episode 23: Solo Exhibitions, Returning to Art & Creative Uncertainty

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Craig, Anouk and Linda, exploring artistic permission, returning to creativity after a long absence and building a creative life alongside chronic illness. Craig is a collage artist from Philadelphia who has completed an ambitious series of fifty bird collages. Although collectors are eager to buy the work, he's holding back because he dreams of exhibiting the entire collection in a solo exhibition. After approaching galleries without success, he's wondering whether organising his own exhibition would somehow make it less legitimate. We explore who gets to decide when an artist is ready, the difference between external validation and creative agency, and why sometimes the opportunities we wait for are the ones we're capable of creating ourselves. Anouk studied Fine Art after discovering a love of printmaking during her foundation course. But after feeling pressure at university to move away from work that seemed too illustrative, she gradually lost confidence and drifted away from making art altogether. Twenty years later she's rediscovering drawing and feels torn between returning to drypoint or embracing linocut. We discuss learning to trust your creative instincts again, why creativity rarely disappears completely, and whether becoming an artist is less about finding the perfect medium and more about consistently returning to the work. Linda has been living with chronic illness for more than a decade. Art has become a source of purpose, friendship and identity after having to step away from her previous career, but an uncertain benefits reassessment means she's unsure how to move her creative practice forwards without risking the financial support she relies upon. We explore what it means to build a creative life during seasons of uncertainty, how to balance security with ambition, and why laying creative foundations is never the same as standing still. Also in this episode, I share a recent Loving Lately recommendation: Clearabee. With all the building work and studio renovations happening here recently, they've made clearing bulky waste remarkably easy. I also really appreciate their commitment to recycling and diverting as much waste as possible from landfill. In this episode, we explore: • Why waiting for permission can hold us back creatively  • Whether organising your own exhibition makes it any less legitimate  • The difference between external validation and creative agency  • How to rebuild confidence after stepping away from art for many years  • Why creativity often finds different outlets, even when we're not making art  • Whether you really need to choose one artistic medium over another  • How chronic illness can reshape identity and creative purpose  • Why it's impossible to plan for every uncertain future  • The importance of laying creative foundations, even when life feels on hold  • Why becoming an artist is something we do through making, not something we're eventually allowed to call ourselves Each dilemma is explored through both its emotional and practical layers, with ideas and exercises you can apply to your own creative practice. If you have a creative dilemma you'd like me to explore in a future episode, I'd love to hear from you. You can 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.

  3. 14 jul

    Episode 22: Talking About Your Art, Saying No & Finding Your Style

    Editor's note: During Della's dilemma I accidentally referred to her as "Bella" several times. My sincere apologies, Della. It was a genuine slip during recording, and I'm very grateful to you for sending in such a thoughtful question. In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Penny, Helen and Della, exploring talking about your artwork, setting creative boundaries and finding your artistic style. Penny is preparing for her very first open studio after years of creating mixed media work. She's not worried about whether her artwork is good enough or how to price it. Instead, she's anxious about something many artists quietly dread: talking about it. We explore the difference between talking about your work and explaining it, why viewers don't always need definitive answers, and how conversations about art can become much richer when we invite other people to bring their own experiences to the work. Helen is a professional artist whose realistic drawings have helped her build a successful creative career. Alongside creating and selling her work, she also teaches, but she's realised she's developed a habit of saying yes to almost every opportunity that comes her way. We discuss why the habits that help us build a creative career don't always help us sustain one, how to become more intentional about saying yes, and why protecting time for your own creative practice is every bit as important as creating new opportunities. Della is a self-taught linocut artist who has spent the last six or seven years developing her printmaking practice. Recently she's found herself worrying about whether she has a recognisable artistic style, while at the same time becoming increasingly frustrated that her more ambitious prints don't always match the images she has in her imagination. We explore why style is often something that finds us rather than something we consciously create, the gap between our eye and our ability, and why spending more time drawing may be one of the best ways to become a stronger printmaker. Also in this episode, I share a recent Loving Lately recommendation: the Paul Noble language courses. As I continue learning Japanese, I reflect on why his calm, encouraging approach has made language learning feel so enjoyable and why his courses might be worth exploring if you've ever wanted to learn a language yourself. In this episode, we explore: • Why talking about your artwork doesn't mean explaining it • How to have more natural conversations with people viewing your work • Why artists don't need to have all the answers • The difference between building a creative career and sustaining one • Why saying yes to every opportunity can eventually hold you back • How to make more intentional decisions about your time and energy • Why artistic style is something you discover rather than design • The gap between your artistic eye and your current ability • How observational drawing can quietly make you a stronger printmaker • Why growing as an artist often means becoming more discerning, not more certain Each dilemma is explored through both its emotional and practical layers, with ideas and exercises you can apply to your own creative practice. If you have a creative dilemma you'd like me to explore in a future episode, I'd love to hear from you. You can 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.

  4. 7 jul

    Episode 21: Exhibiting, Printing & Opting Out

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to four thoughtful creative dilemmas from Jen, Laura, Sheena and Nikky, exploring art appreciation, printmaking, selling artwork, creative identity and the complicated relationship between creativity and success. Jen is preparing for an exhibition in her own studio later this year and has been reflecting on the difference between how artists are taught to critique and discuss artwork and how the wider public often experiences it. Beyond "I like it" or "It's not really my thing", many visitors seem unsure how to respond at all. We explore whether artists can create opportunities for richer conversations around their work, why so many people feel intimidated by art, and whether perhaps nobody ever really taught us how to look. Laura is a printmaker and collage artist who is considering opening an Etsy shop or online store and is wondering whether to invest in printing her own reproductions or work with a professional printer instead. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches, the questions worth asking when choosing a printer, and why you don't necessarily need to build tomorrow's business before you've made today's sales. Sheena joined one of my drypoint workshops last year and has since been happily printing editions from traditional lino. Her dilemma is one that many printmakers quietly wonder about: how do you know when it's time to stop, clean the block and start again? We talk about trusting what the print itself is telling you, the myth of the secret printmaking rulebook, and why experience often matters more than formulas. Nikky spent several years building a successful creative practice alongside a demanding full-time career, taking commissions, selling work and exhibiting regularly. But somewhere along the way, the joy disappeared and the thing that had once been a refuge became another source of pressure and expectation. After stepping away from selling her work, she found herself rediscovering the pleasure of making art simply for herself. We explore the pressure to monetise our creativity, the assumption that every artist should aspire to work full time, and whether success might sometimes mean protecting our relationship with creativity rather than growing it. Also in this episode, I share a recent Loving Lately recommendation: the Paul Noble language courses. As I prepare for a week of intensive Japanese study in London, I reflect on the role his gentle and encouraging approach has played in my own language learning journey and why they might be worth exploring if you've ever wanted to learn a language yourself. In this episode, I explore: • Why so many people feel intimidated by art and unsure how to respond to it • How artists can encourage richer conversations around their work • The difference between judging art and experiencing it • The advantages and disadvantages of printing your own reproductions • The questions worth asking before choosing a professional printer • Why you don't need to build tomorrow's business before you've made today's sales • The myth of the secret printmaking rulebook • How to know when your lino block is telling you it needs attention • The pressure to monetise creativity and turn passions into businesses • Whether becoming a full-time artist should always be the end goal • Why protecting your relationship with creativity may sometimes matter more than growing it • What it really means to call yourself an artist 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.

  5. 30 jun

    Episode 20: Creativity After Crisis, New Studio & Interrupted Practice

    In this episode of The Creative Couch, I respond to three thoughtful creative dilemmas from Grace, Mary Lou and Kelly, exploring creativity after crisis, returning to the studio after major life changes, chronic illness, momentum, artistic identity and the spaces we create around our work. Grace wrote in after her seven-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes earlier this year. After months of hospital appointments, sleepless nights and constant vigilance, she has found herself returning to the studio feeling like a different person. A large woodcut she began before the diagnosis no longer feels as though it belongs to her, and she finds herself questioning her instincts and worrying more about what other people think of her work. We explore what happens when the mindset of monitoring and control follows us into the studio, the difference between play and curiosity, and whether creativity sometimes needs shelter before it needs an audience. Mary Lou is preparing to move back to Canada after several years living and making work in Belgium. Alongside shipping containers, boxes and studio equipment, she'll also be reunited with years of older work and materials waiting in storage. She's wondering how to approach setting up a new studio and creative routine without becoming overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff surrounding her. We discuss how old work can act as research rather than clutter, why some work quietly finishes its role in our lives, and how to create a studio that supports the artist you've become rather than the artist you used to be. Kelly lives with a chronic pain condition affecting her hand, meaning periods of painting and making are often interrupted by flare-ups and surgery. She finds herself repeatedly losing momentum and struggling to find her way back into projects after time away from the studio. We talk about the difference between a creative practice built around consistency and one built to survive interruption, the idea of grieving momentum, and how to leave a breadcrumb trail back into your work for future versions of yourself. Also in this episode, I share a recent Loving Lately recommendation: The Daffodil Years by Helen Bain, a beautifully written fictional account of Sylvia Plath's later life in rural Devon that explores the woman behind the mythology and offers a quieter, more human portrait of one of literature's most iconic figures. In this episode, I explore: • What happens when a period of crisis or vigilance follows us into the studio • The difference between play, curiosity and creative freedom • Why creativity sometimes needs shelter before it needs an audience • How to honour older work whilst making space for who you're becoming • How moving countries or studios can become an opportunity for reflection and reinvention • Why old work can be a form of research rather than simply storage • How to create a studio that supports the artist you are now • The difference between a creative practice built around consistency and one built to survive interruption • Why some artists may be grieving momentum rather than losing motivation • Practical ways to return to projects after unexpected breaks and interruptions 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.

  6. 23 jun

    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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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

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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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  • Maker
    Sam Marshall
  • Jaren actief
    2026
  • Afleveringen
    25
  • Beoordeling
    Veilig
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Creative Couch with Sam Marshall
  • Website van aflevering
    The Creative Couch with Sam Marshall
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