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Start, Just Start: Unleashing Creativity with Todd Oldham
254 Plays26 days ago
In our latest episode of the ReBloom Podcast, we had the extraordinary opportunity to chat with the iconic designer and creative visionary, Todd Oldham. Renowned for his groundbreaking work in fashion, design, and the arts, Todd took us on an inspiring journey through his career, sharing invaluable insights and his unmistakable passion for creativity.
Todd’s lifelong love affair with art and design began humbly at a craft table in his childhood living room. This early spark of creativity grew into a dazzling career, marked by his unique ability to seamlessly blend joy, inclusivity, and artistry. One of the most compelling moments of our conversation was when Todd reflected on his transition from the world of high fashion to his current creative endeavors, many of which are designed to inspire children.
Todd’s work radiates a deep sense of playfulness and accessibility, reminding us all that creativity is for everyone. His belief in fostering imagination at any age is as refreshing as it is uplifting. Whether you’re an artist, a designer, or someone simply looking to rediscover your creative spark, this episode will leave you feeling inspired to embrace your passions and explore new paths.
Todd Oldham’s story isn’t just about achieving success—it’s a celebration of evolving with purpose, staying true to your passions, and finding beauty every day. This episode is not to be missed!
Website: https://www.toddoldhamstudio.com/
Smarts and Crafts: https://www.smartsandcrafts.com/collections/bundles
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toddoldhamstudio/
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Transcript
Embracing Life Changes
00:00:01
Speaker
Do you have a dream that is a small seed of an idea and it's ready to sprout? Or are you in the workplace, weeds, and you need to bloom in a new creative way? Perhaps you're ready to embrace and grow a more vibrant, joyful, and authentic life. If you answered yes to any of these, you are ready to re-bloom.
Introduction to 'Rebloom' Podcast
00:00:24
Speaker
Welcome to the podcast where we have enlightening chats with nature lovers, makers, and artisans as they share inspiring stories about pivoting to a heart-centered passion. Hello, I'm Lori Siebert, and I am very curious to hear from friends and artisans about the creativity that blooms when you follow your heart. And I'm Jamie Jamison, and I want to dig deep into the why behind each courageous leap of faith and walk through new heart-centered gardens.
00:00:54
Speaker
Each episode of Rebloom will be an in-depth conversation with guests who through self-discovery shifted to share their passions with the world. Get ready to find your creative joy as we plant the seeds for you to Rebloom.
Creativity and Children's Mental Health
00:01:11
Speaker
Oh, Jamie. Oh my God. I just want to go and hang out with Todd in his Pennsylvania home and make stuff because like that's been my savior my whole life is being this little maker because I was always very, very shy.
00:01:28
Speaker
still am very introverted. So there's nothing better to me than being with my grandkids and pulling out some clay or ah teaching them to crochet or whatever. And I just really love that he's focusing on that for children, because if we can instill that in in kids more and more, they they really need it. They need it for mental health reasons. They need it for anxiety. They need it for community. It's just something that is sorely, sorely needed. And I just can't wait to get some of the new products he has and share those with my family. um Because we we have been blessed, like he described his family, I've been blessed to have support from mine.
Impact of Childhood Creativity
00:02:19
Speaker
And um I just hope that people that don't feel like they have that can find that in themselves somehow. i I would agree and i I think it's so beautiful that the seeds of his creativity were planted in his living room on that table and they continue. And he's not only brought the joy that he experienced as a child, he's bringing that joy that he experienced as a child to other families. And yes, you can become a big designer and you can know stars and be very famous.
00:02:54
Speaker
But when you look back, it's really how you touched other lives and how you have helped people to grow or you've you've made them feel. And to make a child feel that they can succeed and they can feel that they can create joy in the world, I don't know that there's any better gift.
Meet Todd Oldham
00:03:16
Speaker
And what a beautiful man he is and and how special. And what a joy to have him on our show. Oh, aren't we lucky? Lucky day. I'm going to be smiling the rest of the day.
00:03:28
Speaker
as am I, and we hope our listeners will when they listen to Todd and his story. Thank you so much, everyone. Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to another very special episode of Rebloom. This episode is going to be colorful, magical and exciting. Hi, Lori. Oh, my God, Jamie, I'm about losing my mind today because we are interviewing one of my longtime design heroes.
00:03:58
Speaker
And I'm a little nervous. I'm kind of like shaking a little bit. So this is so so much fun to talk to him. I cannot wait. Well, I will let you go ahead and do the introductions. I'm equally as excited and I can't wait to hear his journey and go ahead.
Journey from Fashion to Philanthropy
00:04:17
Speaker
OK, well, this man.
00:04:20
Speaker
was an incredible fashion designer. um His work is so whimsical and the materials he used are unconventional and just so inspiring and then moved on to he's done a product line for Target.
00:04:40
Speaker
He's written books about some of my very favorite people, Charlie Harper, who I happen happened to have as a visiting professor when I was in college, which was amazing. ah Ed Emberly, which is an illustrator who I adore, Alexander Gervard, I mean, all of the things that he's into on and on too. So that's just going to be so fun
Todd Oldham's Creative Roots
00:05:01
Speaker
to hear. and One little quick story about Todd Oldham is that yous our guest he's our guest. um Years ago, I was doing these things called crafternoons where I would have artists come to our studio and we would make things and throughout the year and then we had a big auction at the end of the year.
00:05:20
Speaker
and donated money to children's charities and I reached out to several people who I admired who I knew were philanthropic and Todd was one of them and he kindly donated some product for the auction and then one day When he closed his fashion business, a truck pulled up in front of my studio with fabrics and buttons and all kinds of things from his studio, raw materials that I just, I lost my mind. So I've been following him. I went to his Wexner show. I read his books. I have my grandson using his handmade modern weaving um kit. So I just can't wait to hear his story. Hello, Todd. I can't wait. Well, let's welcome him. Hi, Todd. Hello. Thank you. Oh, my gosh. Thank you for those kind words. It's so nice to see you both or hear you both, I guess. Yeah. Well, we see you, but they don't. like We get to enjoy seeing seeing your beautiful space. Well, welcome to our podcast. And we're so excited to hear your journey. And can we even can we go back to maybe the seats? Can we go ahead, Lord? You have you have some I know some specific questions, too. Well, when that truck thing happened and all of those things happened, I got the pleasure of talking with your sister, Robin, and she described your family as the Waltons on crack, which I never forgot. And I know by just following you that you come from very creative roots. So can you tell us a little bit about what it was growing up in the Oldham household?
Fashion Beginnings and Challenges
00:07:01
Speaker
Yes. Well, um that my my that's not terribly untrue, what my sister said. we we We grew up, I mean, it was all very normal to me, but I realize in hindsight that how special it was
00:07:13
Speaker
that ah community and making and proximity, hanging out. like Those were the things that were important. so like we had i mean We had a TV, but no one paid attention to it because we had a craft table in our living room that we just made stuff all the time, all the time, but every day. That's neat. I've always felt that for my artistic endeavors, they're the most fruitful for me personally when I'm doing them. Like, you know, once i'm I finish, they then go to many other people's hands and their success might be deemed by like retail sales, which doesn't have anything to do with me. um So I've been very present during the making and that's that's kind of as a maker, that's all you really have. You know, the the real version of it is that joy when you get to see an idea bubble up like that. It's a real pleasure.
00:08:04
Speaker
Oh my god I so agree with that and I too have many craft tables in our household and our kids always grew up with that and now our grandkids and there's just something I see in my grandchildren now there's just a real um calmness that happens and it's calmness mixed with curiosity mixed with joy when they're when they're creating that's the recipe isn't it yeah and And to grow up in that environment is pretty amazing. So you you went on to, I believe you made your first collection when you were like 15? Is that right? Well, I started not not quite that young. I made my first when I was 18.
00:08:50
Speaker
ah But ah i so i I got a mono in high school and had to be stay in bed for about six weeks, so I taught myself to bead during that time. And it was really fruitful because that that kind of ah you know that that propelled me for during my fashion career for many over a decade, frankly.
00:09:09
Speaker
um but the I just loved to make stuff, whether it was a pie, or ah we were rewiring the walls in our garage, or we were painting, or whatever. It's just the the the joy of being near a magic trick, you know this idea that blooms or reblooms right in front of you. you know That's that's the the loveliest thing for me, is to get to to be near that jangle when something's created. you know There is nothing better than just getting your hands on something. And I so agree with that. My my creative joy, Todd, comes from flowers. I i have found that, but there, yeah, i I love flowers. I love creating with them. But it's it's just actually physically touching something and doing something. And I think I'm i'm prayerful that our that we will all go back to that because, and that children will have a lot more time doing that because it,
00:10:07
Speaker
I think that's where you grow exponentially in so many ways. And what ah what a blessing to have had that as a child, to have that craft table in your in your living room.
00:10:18
Speaker
I also feel that um creating is so therapeutic and you know, yes we're recording this at a time where I feel like even more creativity and and kindness and connectivity and all of those things are going to be ever more important. um Just wanted to throw that in there. i agree with you It's a very In times, well, depending on your point of view, and I don't think we want to turn this into any political, no yeah but in times of of super challenge super challenging social situations, I've always found that um the artists are the sav and the winners here because we we are the ones that can create new pathways and new connectivity
00:11:08
Speaker
and and rebuild through the things that make us human. And right now, we've slipped away from a lot of those. So yeah I have full faith.
Artists' Role in Challenging Times
00:11:19
Speaker
I'm ah an older man now, and I lived through ah the AIDS crisis in the 80s. I know what that despair was like, and you know that it's I've been taken aback the last few weeks about how similar the feeling of today feels like that in the early 80s. We just didn't know what was going on. But the thing that got us through all that was the beautiful joy of community and helping. And you know we took care we took care of our own. Agencies were set up to help people who are bound with AIDS keep their pets. And I think that's what's going to happen now. We we will we will celebrate our communities.
00:11:58
Speaker
ah invite anyone else that wants to join us, that would be great. But um it's really important right now to be ah joyful and beautiful and try your best because it's just otherwise we're going to drown.
00:12:12
Speaker
Yeah, I I so agree with that. but Well, let's get back to your story, which is which is full of joy. OK, so i had I I have a question. I read that one of the first collections you did, you bought some T-shirt material, you bought a bunch of material and pitched it or sold or not pitched it, but you actually um sold it to was it Nordstrom or or Neiman Marcus and One of my first customers, they um i had ah my grandmother had bought, there was a some like a Ben Franklin or something that was going out of business. she She bought all the dye boxes for me. So I got this giant box of like every color of dye. So um ah I went and bought 50 yards of thermal thermal fabric, like for thermal shirts and made out of that and hand dyed it all in my bathtub. my finger I was great at my elbows for about a year.
00:13:10
Speaker
I mean, not learned about gloves, apparently. and So it was ah it was magic, but it was my entire career and my entire um existence is is that it's just, you know, my mom always knew I was going to be late home on garbage day. I just love digging around in what's here.
00:13:29
Speaker
And trying to come up with something new because until we, which is now since we focus so much on kids creativity through our new smarts and k crafts collection, we until we can make reuse a natural way a natural inclusion into creativity.
00:13:45
Speaker
I don't know what's going to happen in a positive way. It's it's nothing but but ah scariness. So we'll just like change change the idea of it. But I was brought up like that. we just yeah There was a TV out in front of our neighbor's house that I went and got my mom and we put it on the wagon and took it home and took the TV part out and we put the sink in it and we made a new bureau for our bathroom.
00:14:07
Speaker
I just share a quick story about my little grandson Holden who's ah he calls himself an oddist already. He's six and he comes home from school often with his pockets full of stuff that he's foraged around on the parking lot during recess. And he tells, Kenzie will unload his pockets with and she's like, what is all this stuff, Holden? He says, well, it's stuff of my projects and I have to put it in my pockets because the teacher will take it away and flow it away. So And I'm like, I just laugh because I'm like, Oh my God, he is such a mini me because I can't go anywhere without picking up something rocks or whatever it is. the best habit What a great read you're doing a great job that kids is going to be mad. Yes.
00:14:54
Speaker
Much to my daughter's chagrin because she's more of a um less is more kind of girl and I they come home from Mimi's house with all this. She calls it crap. I call it. tresh but She's an artist, too. So she love I'm sure down. and She probably loves it. But Well, i think because you've got to two sensibilities going, you've got muchness and spareness. So I bet we're going to see a new kind of, ah you know, some new friction from from your grandson. That's usually what does it when two things are bumping against each other, you know, they both rub off a little bit and you get something brand new. Yeah, I know. i Okay, so so
00:15:35
Speaker
you go wait I was let me ask so so with the first this first collection that you did in your bathtub with your gray hands you had the courage to reach out to Neiman's that's a big step I mean that's a huge do you remember back and to yeah did you just walk in with it or did you have a connection or because that's a big deal I had um I had connections. I had a friend that was, you know, I had friends, everybody in Dallas kind of knew each other and I was the only person that didn't work in humans. Like everybody else I knew worked in this way or some people had corporate jobs, but mostly where they were in the kind of more helpful ah situation. So it was an interesting time. i
00:16:15
Speaker
Creativity was okay, but the the my friend ran into my friend was with his boss, a buyer there, and they ran into me on the street as I was going, I think, to see Vendles or something. and So they kind of like mentioned it and then we got together. But i it never once occurred to me not to just do something. It it just. That's great. You just have to. I guess I just didn't really care what people thought so much about it.
Shift to Children's Creativity
00:16:41
Speaker
So and if you didn't like it, that was fine. I mean, I don't like everything I do, but um that's cool. I mean, I don't like everything either, not just mine. But so if that's that's ah that's it seems sort of natural and reasonable. Right. So if you let that be. me Absolutely. Let it be. Then you can just kind of do your own stuff.
00:17:01
Speaker
I think maybe one of the reasons you feel that way at least this is my thinking and I kind of feel this way too is because you're such a maker and you just if somebody if something doesn't work out you're just gonna move on to the next thing the next creative endeavor and it's just gonna keep you know one thing builds on to the next on to the next and you take little nuggets from each one and you just add it to the next thing or It's just the toolbox shifts. I'm the exact same thinker and person no matter what I do. But because I was brought up with the idea that you can do anything, the idea, but I know that this is not exactly true. But I certainly feel like I can try anything. It just makes it, it made it really easy. Oh, I love that. so what So when you decided to leave the fashion world, what what led up to that pivot?
00:17:58
Speaker
Well, there was a couple of things. um it's I'm pretty low key and pretty introverted. So i could do I could pop my face out and do that kinds of things, but it was a colossal amount of effort for me and very...
00:18:13
Speaker
a big effort for me. um So like I wasn't a natural fit for it. But because of the, you know, we had our own factory in Texas and we just could make stuff ourselves. And I would go back in and work with all these kind of dead industries. Like like sublimation printing was like a thing for t-shirts in the 70s. It was completely gone by the 90s. But I found a hosiery manufacturer that could still do that. I didn't think of that as a limitation. I just made what I could, which was exploring all these other versions of things that weren't in the industry, traditionally in the industry. And it gave us a huge leg up because our toolbox was completely unique. It didn't didn't have anybody else's tools in it.
00:18:58
Speaker
I love that. I absolutely love that. And so, but you, you made a decision because partly because you're an introvert, but I'm sure there were other things. And when you did make that decision, were you, and I guess, knowing now more about your personality, you probably weren't anxious at all. And you were probably ready to explore something else right away. Or did you take a break or?
00:19:24
Speaker
I did had had a coffee break in my head for about four years, but I built so many things during that time period. Um, but I, it was super fun. And because, you know, I had the the great luxury of of working for myself and but my family business when things, nobody ever needed anything I ever did. So if I was going to do it, I better be sincere and bring it. And if it wasn't mattering to me in those same ways and and the explorations weren't fulfilling, I just, it seemed like a charade to carry on. And I didn't have like 12 diffusion lines and all this other stuff that
00:20:00
Speaker
you know, people would, I mean, i had plenty of people get very angry at me that we stopped. There was a lot of other people that had built businesses like perfume and shoes and that kind of stuff. So I'm sorry, that was a problem, I get it. But I- Oh, around me, around your brand, you mean? Around the brand, around the brand. Kind of that stuff. Those people weren't super psyched. But I don't regret it at all, at all. um And at the same time, yeah what the thing I heard endlessly was, ah this is, this It went on for too long. I love what you do, I could never afford it. These things were glued together, these two sentences. And I got very tired of it. Because I just thought why, what's, I mean, doing stuff for rich people is is deeply boring. And ah only for rich people, I mean. And I wasn't really, that's not my sensibility. So I wanted to do something that had all that heart in it, but that was not attached to anyone being disincluded because of money.
Creativity and Youth Development
00:20:55
Speaker
So we started focusing on um kids' creativity.
00:20:58
Speaker
And that was, ah that's been such a rewarding, you know, adventure. It's shape-shifted many times through this adventure. ah But the thing about is it is it makes a difference. I know those, I know the teenage kids now that that experience this stuff. You know, I've seen the kids at the Cooper Hewitt events. You you It's not pretend. This is not pretend. Yeah, maybe that looks like they're gluing popsicle sticks and those kinds of stuff. But there's structural integrity that's required when you're gluing popsicle sticks. There's form. There's volume. the There's you know visual design, physical design. There's so many tenets in this that we know. So we've tried to set up these smarts and crafts kits to be as friendly.
00:21:44
Speaker
for young makers but also for caregivers and families because if I'm sure you've stepped on a Lego before in your life and this is not great. So having a place to teaching teaching good working habits is just as important as encouraging great design. Because you know like I've written written chapters on cleaning up in some of my kids' books, because it's really important. But cleaning up also means like sorting out your supplies, picking up the trash, and putting it in the other place you can reuse it later. So I don't know. It's it's it's ah it's a very, very rewarding situation.
00:22:19
Speaker
and i'm I still am kind of surprised that we feel like we're on our our own island over here. you know I just would have thought there'd be more more going on. Go ahead, Jamie.
00:22:34
Speaker
I was going to say, you know, first of all, Todd, I i say thank you as a man. I'm and i a new grandmother. So hopefully, like Lori, I will be bragging on bragging on the creativity of my grandson and future grandchildren in a few years. But I had very creative kids, too. And I think I love the fact that you've returned that craft table to everyone else's home or dining room table or to their living rooms, because I think as a parent,
00:23:03
Speaker
um We got going certainly in the 90s and the 2000s down the tech world and everything became very electronic. I remember saying to friends, our Christmas tree underneath the Christmas tree, you'd have these bigger boxes when the kids were little or crafts or things like that. And then the boxes became very small because they were all the tech equipment.
00:23:25
Speaker
and and To me, that's sad because to what you described even growing up, we need to have the ability to use our hands to be creative, to think outside of the box, to create just from your heart. And I think that lets you look at the world a whole lot differently. so what I love so many things about what you said, moving away from an exclusive product to an inclusive product and certainly bringing it back to the children because the children will then grow and be able to see things in a beautiful, colorful
Balancing Analog and Digital Creativity
00:24:03
Speaker
way. So, what well, it was a huge pivot. yeah
00:24:06
Speaker
hey yeah yeah starting This you know creativity when I was nine, is the base the the roots and the base is still there, but the toys are different. And this digital world that we're in um cannot be ah ignored and is brilliant and fascinating. But the most exciting thing is is when these analog and digital experiences hold hands, and then new things come from them.
00:24:30
Speaker
um like for For instance, we I'm editing this morning a stop motion video on the simplest of of ah editing equipment now that you know used to be where you'd have to go to Sony to edit. um Now it's you know I'm doing it in my living room, but we're still editing stop motion that we shot frame by frame and moved. so it's this merger There's the perfect example of this merge, but we can't extract one or the other because it's not going to make a balanced human any longer.
00:24:57
Speaker
You know, you cannot be away from electronics. It just doesn't work like that any longer. i You know, it's interesting. ah Oh, you're right. Let me just jump in and then I'll, you know, see, Lori and I get so excited. We we talk over each other. i I spend the summers in Chautauqua, New York, and we have brilliant speakers that come in. And I'm recalling, as you're speaking, we had a gentleman come in who was in charge of the Shakespeare program in inner city Washington.
00:25:22
Speaker
And he said, look, I'm not trying to create more actors and actresses. I'm trying to create more um scientists and mathematicians, because if we have kids who can embrace the arts and embrace creativity, they look at the world differently. They look outside of the box. And that's exactly what you're creating for these children is, yes, they're yes, there's, and you know, there's both of them, the analog and the virtual and, it you know, but it.
00:25:50
Speaker
Yay. I'm just thrilled. And Lori, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Lori had something to say, too. Well, I was just going to share that i was ah I was a very shy kid. And so creating was always such a safe place for me to you know hole up in. And I watch that now in, um again, little Holden, our grandson. he He has some anxiety issues. And like I taught him how to crochet. Oh, great.
00:26:19
Speaker
He will sit there for hours. He only can chain stitch so far because he hasn't mastered the second row, but he'll be at our house and he will chain stitch all night long till it goes down our entire hallway.
00:26:34
Speaker
I sit by his pillow when we go to bed and then wakes up in the morning and goes at it again. And it just, I can see how calming it is to him. So I think, you know, there are so many mental health struggles with young people. And so I feel like maybe getting away from technology and social media and being on the phone all the time and you know playing around with popsicle sticks or yarn or baking a pie. or It's so healthy for people to do more of that. It rejuvenates. you know yeah it It literally repairs. so we We need to honor ourselves and support our families by allowing that time, you know encouraging.
Family and Artistic Environments
00:27:19
Speaker
that time. The other facet of that that's really important for me is gardening and outdoor living. The respect that we can learn for the plant world and all its synergy is just fascinating. Actually, that's my next book. I'm working on a garden book. I've been working on it for a long, long time, so I'm pretty excited about this.
00:27:40
Speaker
Well, gardening through your eyes is going to be fantastic because yes your garden is like no one else's garden. yeah it's it's It's really fun. I'm having a great time. But I think that when you can fold in the parts that make us great, make us great humans for ourselves, the part where you just like, you know, you're well when it's feeling well, they're pretty much informed by the experiences when you surround yourself with, you know, creativity and nature and and encouraging. And, you know, everybody, i we're all speaking ah that it's very normal that we grew up like we did, and it's not. You know, we're really lucky. um So, it's I find it really important to try to figure out how do how do we encourage people that don't didn't have those two parents that were, you know, clapping for our our ah
00:28:29
Speaker
the way we rearrange the plates for dinner, you know, and like any any creative effort was like, yes, yes, you know, keep going. I lived in like a, what is it, like a, in an improv house where it was always yes and, like you because it was safety, but if it was like an adventure, sure, let's try it, you know. That's amazing. Yeah, I teach at a lot of retreats and a lot, and I've had people Like one friend brought her long time friend last year and she had spent 30 years as an accountant and had never made art before. And and she um it's just so interesting to me when people like that attend my retreats and they'll they'll say, well, I'm not an artist. Well, I'm not creative and all of that. and
00:29:15
Speaker
I always say, well, I'm not a saxophone player, but if I had the passion for it and I wanted to learn, I could i could be that. So there's this, I don't know, some people think you either have that or you don't.
00:29:31
Speaker
And I really don't believe that at all. I believe there's we are all creative souls in some way and everybody has different passions. Well, even creativity in the linear arts is important. you know I'd like to think these efforts make artists and you know and painters or whatever you'd like to be. But I know they also encourage encourage you know to be FDA screeners and and you know ah dna DNA magnifiers. There's all kinds of other things that are not traditionally attached to art making that benefit from this kind of creativity. Absolutely. Absolutely. yeah absolutely i think Everything and everyone benefits from creative efforts, even slightly adjacent.
00:30:14
Speaker
Absolutely. So today, um I know that you had the handmade modern at Target for a while. I don't believe that's there any longer. yeah We've moved on with that. And what what is so exciting to me is actually this week, we're launching our new, ah we're calling it our ultimate smarts and crafts kits. And we've tried to make it you've heard me I'm trying to make it easy for the parents as well for the kids and working with his retail stores.
00:30:41
Speaker
They just don't allow us to help make it easier. You know, they they really, they have a lot of ideas and and businesses kind of really shaky in a lot of these big box stores. So we're, we're, you know, weighing up for another adventure, which is trying to go, like I mentioned earlier in in this going to our community and.
00:30:59
Speaker
ah We're going we're opening. I'm so excited about it. It's a kind of a ah village where we we only are selling a handful of things, but they're all ultimate kits. So it was like a whole bunch of on the goes or ultimate craft kit. This is mega things with 6000 pieces in it. They're really oh my gosh. Should you not be able to afford any of that? There's right now there's 40 something pieces of content between ah DIY stuff to just like demystification about literally any facet to do with creativity. um And it's it's it's at smartsoncrafts.com. And ah it just for me, it it did everything right. Because if you will if you want to purchase stuff, that's great. We'd be happy to ah that you got it.
00:31:47
Speaker
But I don't want anyone to feel like they can't come here because they don't have money. So there's actually way more to do that doesn't have to do with money. And I think that that feels very good to me. Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to check this out. It's launched already. I'm not sure when we're when when you guys go.
00:32:06
Speaker
ah But we have launches this Friday. the What day is that? It will be launched and we will make sure that we've got a link for our our ah listeners, too. So absolutely. And um that is fabulous. i That is just incredible that you and I love that. I love the inclusivity that you have and that you're creating in this in this latest chapter. And well, that's been some big, big carrots.
00:32:32
Speaker
You know, I recognize them looking like that, but they've not been in any way like that to me. They just are literally a new, they're just in a funny way in my head. It's like I'm standing in a circle, a big circular table that just keeps spinning around me and whatever's in front of me that I make stuff out of it.
00:32:48
Speaker
Oh, I love that. I need to do a drawing or a painting of that. I just had a visual come by my head of that. It kind of makes sense, right? It kind of makes sense. So in my head, that's what it looks like. So it might be scissors and fabric, or it might be popsicle sticks, or it might be wiring to build. I'm coming to you from a house I just completed a month ago I built for my dad.
00:33:17
Speaker
um its it's really It's really important to keep it moving. Keep it moving. you know Let's take a quick minute and thank our amazing sponsors. Our podcast is proudly brought to you today by Jet Creative and Urban Stems. Jet Creative is a women-owned marketing firm committed to community and empowerment since 2013.
00:33:41
Speaker
Are you ready to Rebloom and build a website or start a podcast? Visit jetcreative dot.com backslash podcast to kickstart your journey. They will help you bloom in ways you never
Pursuing Creative Passions
00:33:55
Speaker
imagined. And bonus, our listeners get an exclusive discount when you mention Rebloom.
00:34:01
Speaker
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00:34:29
Speaker
I've also noticed that you have other creative people in your family, like your, I think it's your nephew, Presley. Oh yeah, I come. And oh my God, the things he's making. and Amazing. So it looks like it's like... You mentioned your grandmother was also creative, so it seems like there's a lineage to this or it's in the family DNA. It was kind of sweet. my it's You're speaking of my nephew Presley, who's an outrageous talent, like a crazy gifted guy. But he grew up the same way I did with my mother basically raised him.
00:35:09
Speaker
Oh, really? and I mean, my my brother was hes my brother's son, and he was very present, too. I'm not trying to say that that that was not it. But he he grew up in the factory. Literally, he had a ah playroom next door to my mom's office. So the first things he ever saw were people making things.
00:35:24
Speaker
So he's very unusual. But i I've read a funny review that said it's not so he's not so much of a nepo baby, but just seems to be a really talented family. It's like, well, we're really lucky. Yeah. Because we yeah there's a lot of there's a lot of practice in my family and a lot of freedom. And that led to a lot of creativity. you know we' We've interviewed some other people on the podcast who are very, very creative. and they their parents in looking out for them thought that steering them towards something far more practical was the way to go. And, you know, several of them, that's why they've been on the podcast. They they decided, yeah well, okay, I'm going that route because I thought I had to do that.
00:36:12
Speaker
but then they finally came to terms with, you know, that's really not how I want to live my life. I really, there's something deeper inside me that I want to explore. And so that's really the crux of this, of this podcast, which you're a little bit of a different animal because continuous pivot, I think. like probably use pivot yeah yeah yeah but It's a nice go about things. It's deeply irregular and people often don't know what to make of you or or to do with you if you're interfacing with like normal situations, but it's worth the trade.
00:36:52
Speaker
and um The thing that I learned very on that the only thing that counts is during the making, that saved my life because I've never been attacked. to I mean, lots of things I've made have been you know disasters at retail, um but that to me didn't matter that much. So it did to others, I promise you, but not to me so much.
00:37:18
Speaker
well But, you know, what a gift to have parents, though, and i'm I'm going back to what you said earlier that there was always the word yes. Yes, please create. Yes. And celebration of what you were doing, regardless of what it was. And I think the fact that there was always a yes in front of you encourages that creativity. And I love that you're doing that for these kids, too. This is ah this is brilliant. but So I guess what what we maybe hope to do with this podcast is if if you're not getting that yes from maybe your family or people in your life, maybe find a way to say yes to yourself. And who know if something's really, really grumbling or rumbling inside that you want to explore, no matter what it is,
00:38:10
Speaker
We just really want to encourage people to do it and just stick your toe in the water and try because it's amazing how I believe the universe opens up to that and oh things will come your way that you really did not expect. It's like you're writing an invitation to a party, you know, when you, when you focus like that, because it's just anything is possible and it could all go. And the thing about it is it's when you adapt to a life of that being like the reason that you're kind of alive. It really, it's a nice life and you don't get so dented. But there's one thing I've always encouraged people to when they want to try something new and it's this really almost too simple thing and it's just starting starts.
00:38:57
Speaker
So if you don't know where you're going or you don't have everything in place, that doesn't matter. um It's much better that you just start. Start something. Start one facet of it. Start writing it down. Start making it. Start dreaming it. Whatever the start means to you. And you'll just be thrilled at how the doors fly open. and But it's for some reason, a lot of people have ah confidence and bravery issues starting. You know, you're worried, am my am I not good at this? Are people going to comment? And it doesn't matter if you're good at it, because the only thing that matters is that you're present while you're making it and you're open to the ethers or whatever you, however you think about being fueled by creativity, then it counts.
00:39:39
Speaker
And you're going to be the best mom, or dad, or sister, or teacher, or anything you can be when you sort of have that openness as a foundation, I've
Inclusivity in Art
00:39:48
Speaker
found. So getting to devote so much time to ah kids' creativity, or in the case of my books, like you mentioned, Alexander Girard. That's my my new book that just came out with Phaidon. And to getting to shine a flashlight on these truly like extraordinary, masterful, joyful entities, I mean, it's pretty great.
00:40:09
Speaker
Yeah, I can't wait to buy that book. That's on my Christmas list. Oh, it's lovely. It's it's it's really it's lovely. oh Yeah, I think I'm gonna ask for several of your books because I have some but I don't have all of them. So okay. I think I think everybody should ask for his books for Christmas and for the holidays. Absolutely. and And I'm so glad that that the kits um kits will be out too and the new site will be up too before the holidays too. So we'll make sure, you know, I think what you said, what you just said is important too. So you both
00:40:41
Speaker
um i I create in a different way. I create through the florals. I create through my photography. I often will say to Lori, I wish my hand would do what my brain wants. I can see it, but I can see it through the lens and I can also see it when I'm styling or when I'm when i'm with the florals.
00:41:01
Speaker
And I think what you're saying is just important because as I started on the journey, I laugh, I started as ah started with a watercolor class and I was really, really, really, oops, we've got lots of bells and but whistles today. I know, it's it's the it's the story of our podcast. so That's That's all right. It just adds a little add a little spice to it. it's like It is and I but I had started down that path and what it I knew that I loved it to you to to your point. I just started started that creativity and it opened the whole door and I didn't know where it was going to go and certainly I wouldn't have told you that it was going to leave me.
00:41:40
Speaker
to a path of of photography and floral photography but I did know that I needed to have that creativity in my life and that's what we hope that our guests or our our listeners really know that whatever it may be, if it's cooking, if it's gardening, if it's drawing, writing, whatever it may be to just keep exploring and to start and I love how you said that, start, just start, just do it for you.
00:42:06
Speaker
No judgment. Do it. just and And the more that you can approach everything with that that that pathway, it's just incredible. the the It's like fertilizer on on everything. you know You just get better everything. Yeah. Because you're you're you're you're open. It's really just a matter of kind of staying out of your way of sorts. you know harder Harder to do than say.
00:42:29
Speaker
but um you know in the end it is just really a lot of opinions and we're in subjective art so you know we might both like it or we might both not like it but we're both right because it's subjective and that's just fine so if you can just kind of like Just honor a few of the base base tenets of the deal, um then you can get through it pretty pretty easily. Not that it doesn't hurt when somebody you want to like what you do doesn't, or you know but here we are. Yeah. yeah Well, that's always going to be a given, but you know you can always
00:43:04
Speaker
like I love when I teach the the people that kind of gather together, they know what my work is like and they know it's going to be about color and windy and all of that. and It's just fun when you're with those kindred spirits and not everyone's going to be like that or see things that way and that's okay. But everybody has their tribe or everybody has their people that are going to connect to things they're doing. and Even if they don't, like you said,
00:43:32
Speaker
I just love the process. The process is so fun. And, you know, I've painted over canvases because like, you know, two years later, I hate it. And I'm like, Oh, I think I'm just gonna paint over that and see what it looks like now.
00:43:46
Speaker
it look like no it's the joy That's the joy is just the process, the making. And I love that you're working with kids because I think kids are masterful at that. Yeah. you know Somebody who's They just, they don't judge, they don't have a preconceived notion of what the drawing has to be. And I just love watching their brains work. It's incredible. I my i feel like we I witnessed sort of an unlearning with kids because they just are so vibrant and then they lose their competences because of, you know, peer pressures and other things as they are going. But the ones that can can flip that,
00:44:27
Speaker
where it just gets bigger is the older you get. that That's where you get this this magic, you know? Yeah, absolutely. And it's it's all it's not just fields like you know fashion and the arts either. It's you know the culinary stuff, ah DNA studies. I mean, it's all the same kind of creativity and AI. Yeah, computer science is all of it. it's all It's all fascinating. And I love that there's all these new things. but the thing We are humans and we're in our bodies and this is this thing, this reward from creativity is real and it doesn't matter whatever happens on the outside and all the additions, the digital additions, that's true. The thing on the inside sticks and stays. So we just have to welcome these new things in and invite them to play with this in a way that doesn't diminish that.
Closing Remarks and Encouragement
00:45:19
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:45:23
Speaker
Oh my gosh, this has been the most incredible, incredible interview with you. Thank you, Todd, so very much for your time.
00:45:37
Speaker
Oh, my gosh, we build with you or told do crafts with you. I want to come garden with you. could choose a york laural you're You're a little closer to me than Laurie is, but ah I love that we're just visiting three different states. But thank you so much. It was just lovely to be with you. and I ah so appreciate your insights and your kind words. So ah and thank you for doing this. I hope I hope that people will be encouraged by hearing your stories about reblooming.
00:46:07
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you. Well, thanks everyone. Thank you. And thank you everyone for joining us. Peace, love, and read blue. Life is too short not to follow your passions. So go out there and let your heart plant you where you are meant to be and grow your joy.
00:46:26
Speaker
We will be right here sharing more incredible stories of reinvention with you. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode of Rebloom. Until next time, I'm Jamie Jamison. And I'm Lori Siebert. Peace, love, and Rebloom, dear friends.