Private View Podcast by artist Mauren Brodbeck, on getting real about being a woman in the arts Mauren Brodbeck

Where my artistic inspiration comes from, how I bring it all together, and the purpose behind my artwork

Where does your inspiration come from? I think it’s important to look at who we are as creators and artists, acknowledge the different parts of ourselves, and think about where those pieces come from. In today’s podcast I’m sharing where some of my inspiration comes from and how I bring it all together to create my artwork.

I use a lot of color, graphic design, auditory, and word elements in my work. Part of this comes from the influences I was exposed to as a child, from my father who was an architect and artist, and also from the 80s visual and pop culture that I grew up in.

Humans have an amazing capacity to look both inside and outside of ourselves, accumulate ideas and emotions, and transform that into a creation from our hearts. I think this is why humans are constantly exploring and pushing our limits—because the more we explore, the more we understand ourselves. And that is what I’m trying to support with my art, creating a bit of a sanctuary so that we can let go and receive something new, something that will help us understand ourselves better.

The Private View Podcast is created by artist Mauren Brodbeck. She hosts two podcasts, PRIVATE VIEW and RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST, which is an inspirational movement, resource, and community for cis and trans women who want to be creative and live a creative life, but who feel alone and struggle to claim the time and space they need to fully realize their potential.

RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST is a series of conversations with outstanding women in the arts who are striving to live bold, authentic, creatively-fulfilling lives. In these interviews, they explore the themes of identity, vulnerability, authenticity, loneliness, alienation, discrimination, inspiration, empowerment, and social change.

In PRIVATE VIEW, Mauren shares her personal stories of discovery, process, practice, and the adversity she has encountered during her life and experience in the art world.

For more information, please visit www.rawradical.com

Letting fear direct our lives and actions might mean we hold ourselves back from what we really want… what if we use fear as a compass instead?

Fear gets a bad reputation as an emotion that holds you back. But I think that fear can actually be a very good thing for artists. Fear comes along when there’s a crossroad in front of us and we have to make a choice between what is familiar and the new and unknown—do we stay where we are, or do we take the new road? I see fear as a sign that it’s time to act, move forward, and go for whatever it is that we want.

Experiencing fear doesn’t necessarily mean that we are actually afraid, either. It could mean that we are carrying the fears of our immediate and past family members, and we need to do work to let go of those fears. But whether it’s a generational fear or simply the fear of trying moving into the unknown, I think we can use fear to guide us through our lives and use it as a way to chart a new life course into something completely different and amazing.

The Private View Podcast is created by artist Mauren Brodbeck. She hosts two podcasts, PRIVATE VIEW and RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST, which is an inspirational movement, resource, and community for cis and trans women who want to be creative and live a creative life, but who feel alone and struggle to claim the time and space they need to fully realize their potential.

RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST is a series of conversations with outstanding women in the arts who are striving to live bold, authentic, creatively-fulfilling lives. In these interviews, they explore the themes of identity, vulnerability, authenticity, loneliness, alienation, discrimination, inspiration, empowerment, and social change.

In PRIVATE VIEW, Mauren shares her personal stories of discovery, process, practice, and the adversity she has encountered during her life and experience in the art world.

For more information, please visit www.rawradical.com

When everything seems to be going wrong, then we should use our creativity to create art, create meaning, and create change

With all these hard things happening around us—the wildfires in Australia, the situations in the Middle East, the struggles that people are going through—I think it is important for those of us who are not living through those challenges to create. Those of us who are creating something are heros, in a way, because we are creating beauty and meaning for the world around us.

As a society, we don’t tend to value making art as much as we value making money. Things that are poetical or theoretical or emotional don’t tend to be valued as much. But those things are what make life beautiful, and are how we relate to one another. I mean—can you imagine a world without music or the theater or artwork? This is why we should use our creativity and celebrate it.

We all have creativity inside us, and I want to challenge you to think about what you can do each day to be a little more creative. If you need help, I created a five-step method for overcoming creative blocks (linked in the resources below), which I want to share with you. I think the biggest challenge is letting go of the temptation to compare ourselves to others. And even if you don’t feel like you “aren’t creative,” I want to challenge you to create something. Remember that it takes time for skills and creative vision to develop, and none of us started out knowing everything about photography or how to draw really well.

If we can all do something creative, and step outside our comfort zones every day, the world would change so much! So I want you to take on this challenge, and create, create, create!

The Private View Podcast is created by artist Mauren Brodbeck. She hosts two podcasts, PRIVATE VIEW and RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST, which is an inspirational movement, resource, and community for cis and trans women who want to be creative and live a creative life, but who feel alone and struggle to claim the time and space they need to fully realize their potential.

RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST is a series of conversations with outstanding women in the arts who are striving to live bold, authentic, creatively-fulfilling lives. In these interviews, they explore the themes of identity, vulnerability, authenticity, loneliness, alienation, discrimination, inspiration, empowerment, and social change.

In PRIVATE VIEW, Mauren shares her personal stories of discovery, process, practice, and the adversity she has encountered during her life and experience in the art world.

Resources Mentioned: Overcoming Creative Blocks in Five Easy Steps

For more information, please visit our website www.rawradical.com

We’re taught not to “brag,” but acknowledging the many aspects, accomplishments, and skills that make us who we are is important.

Today I want to talk about changing the way that we recognize our whole selves, all that we are, instead of just one small part. Our culture has taught us that bragging is not okay, and so most of us try to be humble and don’t fully recognize all of our talents or accomplishments. But by doing this, we’re really putting ourselves down.

One of my recent On Display interviews was with Barbara Polla, who is not only a medical doctor and a politician, but also a poet, a writer, and a gallery owner. During the interview we talked about how she managed to do it all, and how women can step into their power to do everything that they want to.

In my studio, we also talked about a song that I wrote called “I am,” in which I talk about the many aspects of myself, such as being an artist, a mother, a sexual woman, an activist, and a feminist. I think it’s important to acknowledge that we are not just one thing, but many things, and there are many aspects to our personalities and who we are.

Also related to this idea, I recently read a book called The Abundance Project, by Derek Rydall, and in it he mentions Henry David Thoreau, an American essayist, philosopher, and transcendentalist, who said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” I love this idea of “wealth” not being just money, but a wealth of ideas, of connection, of participation. It reminds me of the movie Yes Man, with Jim Carey, and also an art project “Yes To All” by Sylvie Fleury.

The idea of acknowledging everything that we are is counter what we’ve learned and what we’re used to, but it’s really just acknowledging our true nature.

The Private View Podcast is created by artist Mauren Brodbeck. She hosts two podcasts, PRIVATE VIEW and RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST, which is an inspirational movement, resource, and community for cis and trans women who want to be creative and live a creative life, but who feel alone and struggle to claim the time and space they need to fully realize their potential.

RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST is a series of conversations with outstanding women in the arts who are striving to live bold, authentic, creatively-fulfilling lives. In these interviews, they explore the themes of identity, vulnerability, authenticity, loneliness, alienation, discrimination, inspiration, empowerment, and social change.

In PRIVATE VIEW, Mauren shares her personal stories of discovery, process, practice, and the adversity she has encountered during her life and experience in the art world.

For more information, links, and to subscribe to the newsletter, please visit www.rawradical.com and follow us on social media:

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When we find ourselves in the “same” situation over and over again, intuition can help us break free from repetitive old patterns.

How many times have you told yourself “never again,” only to end up in the same situation a few days or months later? The people involved or the circumstances might be different, but the underlying situation is the same, and it is frustrating every time it comes up.

It’s normal to think that something must be “wrong” with us, but I think it’s really about our egos and intuition. As humans, we’re scared of change, whether that manifests consciously or unconsciously. We also know, intuitively, what needs to happen for us to create the change we want. But when we step out of our comfort zones, the ego tries to protect us by throwing up obstacles.

I began thinking about this because I recently found myself repeating old patterns of behavior with a project I have been working on. I’d been planning this project for a long time and was very excited to start, but once I finally did start working on it, my brain started telling me that I still had other, more important tasks to complete. I realized that the resistance was an old behavioral pattern that I thought I’d overcome.

I think the best way to overcome this problem is by being very aware of our intuition and listening to our hearts. Also, Alan Seale, who is a wonderful coach, has some good insight into how it is our ego trying to keep us safe rather than a deliberate attempt to self-sabotage.

The Private View Podcast is created by artist Mauren Brodbeck. She hosts two podcasts, PRIVATE VIEW and RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST, which is an inspirational movement, resource, and community for cis and trans women who want to be creative and live a creative life, but who feel alone and struggle to claim the time and space they need to fully realize their potential.

RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST is a series of conversations with outstanding women in the arts who are striving to live bold, authentic, creatively-fulfilling lives. In these interviews, they explore the themes of identity, vulnerability, authenticity, loneliness, alienation, discrimination, inspiration, empowerment, and social change.

In PRIVATE VIEW, Mauren shares her personal stories of discovery, process, practice, and the adversity she has encountered during her life and experience in the art world.

For more informations and links, please visit www.rawradical.com

Subscribe to the newsletter for more inspiration and follow us on social media:

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Knowing the “why” behind your art is important for maintaining your creative drive and passion

I think it’s important for us, as people and artists, to identify and examine what motivates us to keep doing the work we do. Determining our motivators that not only helps us keep our focus, but it helps keep us in touch with what makes life worth it and keeps us moving forward in a direction that is aligned with those values.

One of my favorite artists, Louise Bourgeois, said that “Art is a guarantee of sanity.” I really agree with this assessment. We are lucky, as artists, to have an opportunity that many other people do not—the opportunity to create something that could really affect someone else deeply.

The possibility of affecting someone else and this idea of taking part in something that is bigger than myself is a powerful motivator for me and a big part of the reason I create my artwork. I want to find a little poetry and beauty in the middle of the crazy lives we lead and through my work, inspire other people to live their best lives and step out of the mould that society has created for us.

The Private View Podcast is created by artist Mauren Brodbeck. She hosts two podcasts, PRIVATE VIEW and RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST, which is an inspirational movement, resource, and community for cis and trans women who want to be creative and live a creative life, but who feel alone and struggle to claim the time and space they need to fully realize their potential.

RAW AND RADICAL WOMEN IN THE ARTS PODCAST is a series of conversations with outstanding women in the arts who are striving to live bold, authentic, creatively-fulfilling lives. In these interviews, they explore the themes of identity, vulnerability, authenticity, loneliness, alienation, discrimination, inspiration, empowerment, and social change.

In PRIVATE VIEW, Mauren shares her personal stories of discovery, process, practice, and the adversity she has encountered during her life and experience in the art world.

For more information, please visit www.rawradical.com and subscribe to the newsletter. Visit us on social media @rawradical