A Life Creative Podcast
This is a weekly show where listeners learn how creators navigate their careers in the arts, and find community with like-minded people who face similar challenges and joys while pursuing their passions. We'll be talking with photographers, artists, interior stylists and designers, food stylists, crafters, creative content creators, writers, publishers, marketers, and so many more. If you're interested in a career in the arts or any creative field, or you just want to know how creators are inspired and execute on their ideas you'll want to catch this show, and if you're looking for a creator community you've found your people here.
Episodes
50 episodes
Episode 50 | Clay & Cuttings with Ceramicist Frances Palmer
Frances Palmer's path to creating her own pottery studio and cultivating a fabulous flower garden comes down to focus and dedication. She put the time in to learn and develop her craft with an eye toward building a sustainable busi...
Episode 49 | Everyone Needs an Editor with Author and Book Editor Ellen Morrissey
What does it take to turn an author's vision into a bestselling book? Book editor Ellen Morrissey has done it more than ten times over. After 16 years at Martha Stewart Living — where she shepherded dozens of books to publicatio...
Episode 48 | Piecing it Together with Artist James Gallagher
A divorce and the pandemic aren't the events most people credit for their creative breakthrough — but for collage artist James Gallagher, they were turning points.In this episode of A Life Creative, host Melañio Gomez<...
Episode 47 | Forms and Functionality with Designer David Weeks
David Weeks is a Rhode Island School of Design graduate who is recognized for his iconic lighting designs crafted in his Brooklyn studio. Post college he made his way to New York City and did what many artists do: freelance and say...
Episode 46 | Maker in Motion with Contemporary Dancer & Graphic Designer Clinton Stringer
Followers of A Life Creative podcast may recall that host Melañio Gomez lived in Brussels, Belgium for 10 years. During that time he met today's guest—Clinton Stringer—who is an accomplished contemporary dancer, having danced for 8...
Episode 45 | Creative Balance with Interior Stylist & Artist JC Garcia-Lavin
Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, JC Garcia-Lavin came of age as part of the city’s vibrant art scene before building a successful career as an interior stylist, working with brands like CB2, Williams Sonoma Home, West Elm, Crate & B...
Episode 44 | Personal Spaces with Design Editor & Author Wendy Goodman
Lucky for us at A Life Creative podcast our friend Stephen Kent Johnson--who photographs interiors for the likes of Architectural Digest--introduced us to Wendy Goodman-- who writes the Design Hunting column for New York magazine ...
Episode 43 | Evolving by Design with Sharon Gresh, Creative Director and Partner at Standard Issue
Sharon Gresh is the co-founder of Standard Issue, a multi-disciplinary design consultancy, founded in 2005 with her husband, designer Michael McGinn. Sharon and I worked together early on in my career, and she's been ...
Episode 42 | From Recipe to Reach with Content Creator Tara Bench
Show Notes: The Easy Bake Oven (cooking with a lightbulb!) featured prominently in food content creator Tara Bench’s early years, like it did for many of us. But Tara took that early passion many steps further, cultivating a ...
Episode 41 | Influencing Style with Interior Stylist Eddie Ross
Eddie Ross is a designer and author known for his resourceful, layered approach to interiors and entertaining. Raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, he developed an early appreciation for well-designed homes and, on the advice of Martha S...
Episode 40 | Drawing Conclusions with Designer & Illustrator Rob Wilson
Rob Wilson is a designer and illustrator who switched paths mid-career. After working for more than 20 years at a Dallas design firm he founded his own practice. He has a long-established habit of sketching in little Muji notebooks,...
Episode 39 | Evocative Patterns with Aux Abris Founder Karen Robert
Karen Robert founded Aux Abris, a wallpaper design and manufacturing company, in 2015. The lead up to this chapter in her professional design career started when she was just 17 years old and discovered by a modeling agency ...
Episode 38 | Culturemaxxing with Co-Editors of Editors@Large Kate Betts & Michael Boodro
Michael Boodro and Kate Betts came of age in magazine publishing’s pre-millennium heyday, meeting at Vogue in the 1990s while working for Anna Wintour during her early years at the helm. Kate spent her formative career ye...
Episode 37 | Ethereal Botanicals with Artist Sourabh Gupta
PROGRAM NOTE: the next new episode of A Life Creative will air in a couple weeks, in the meantime check out the video versions of past episodes on YouTube and subscribe to our Substack for more on A Life Creative and our featured gue...
Episode 36 | Style that Fits with Fashion Stylist Emma Pritchard
Melanio and Emma have worked together on commercial photo shoots including one fantastic gig with Olympic athletes on the slopes of a Utah ski resort a few years ago. Fashion styling is one of those glamour professions that is often misun...
Episode 35 | Ranch to Table with Author & Rancher Elizabeth Poett
Sharing with the world what life is like on a 14,000 acre ranch in Southern California is the vision and effort taken up by Elizabeth Poett. She's written the cookbook The Ranch Table and her family and life on Rancho San Julian was the subject...
Episode 34 | The Making is the Meaning with Creative Director Gael Towey
In 1990 Gael Towey helped launch the very first issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine, establishing its iconic visual style and serving as Chief Creative & Editorial Director for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO). Imagin...
Episode 33 | Back on Broadway with Actor Jim Newman
Jim Newman is a long time pal of host Melanio Gomez having met years ago as new homeowners in Asbury Park, NJ. On this episode he shares how he built his career in the performing arts, debuting on Broadway early on in The Who's Tom...
Episode 32 | The Geometry of Clay with Ceramicist Devin Wilde
Artist Jeff Wallace (from episode 4) joins Melanio to co-host this episode with guest Devin Wilde. Devin channeled drive and discipline across competitive cycling as a teenager, getting through Stanford's architecture progra...
Episode 31 | A Writer's Voice with Writer & Author Jaya Saxena
Since high-school age, Jaya Saxena has been drawn to the process of creating thoughtful and articulate essays. The craft of capturing a vibe in one's own perspective and voice in a manner that resonates with readers is the art and ...
Episode 30 | The Power of Home Cooking with Author and Founder of Mad Hungry, Lucinda Scala Quinn
Show Notes: With Thanksgiving just around the corner it is especially timely to chat with Lucinda Scala Quinn, Author and Founder of Mad Hungry. Melanio and Lucinda share the heritage-inspired dishes that are on their holida...
Episode 29 | Under the Surface with Decoupage Designer and Entrepreneur John Derian
This year John Derian celebrates 30 years of his eponymous boutique and antiques shop on 2nd Street in New York City's East Village neighborhood. His path took him from a creatively inspired childhood in Massachusetts to New York City as ...
Episode 28 | A Return to Conceptual Art with Artist Julia Wachtel
Julia Wachtel is a conceptual artist who thrived in the New York City art scene of the 1980’s among contemporaries like Robert Gober, Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman. Her art looks at the interplay of advertising and other commercial ...
Episode 27 | Botanical Impressions with Photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo
Ngoc Minh Ngo is a photographer whose poetic eye captures the quiet beauty of the natural world. Known for her evocative images of flowers, gardens, and interiors, Ngoc’s work reveals the harmony between art and nature. Born in Vietnam and base...
Episode 26 | High Style with Interior Designer Rebecca Robertson
Stylist, author, and interior designer Rebecca Robertson shares the story of how she developed an appreciation for antiques and collectibles at a young age and a lifelong interest in designing sets that has been a throughline in her career.&nbs...