Creative Playdate Episode 25: Four Starts with F for a Reason - Tom and Amanda Froese

Tom’s Portrait by Sharalee Prang

Tom’s Portrait by Sharalee Prang

The last episode of 2018 features an interview with the lovely Tom and Amanda Froese. Tom is a commercial artist whose work can be seen in publications like The Walrus and Harvard Business Review. He also creates illustrations for children's books, beer labels and even ceramics. Amanda is a Design Director at Partners & Hawes and is able to work from home alongside Tom.

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Tom and Amanda tell the story of how they met, worked in the same office awkwardly, and ultimately got together. We discuss working from home with young kids and why Tom decided to move his studio from an off-site location, back into his home.

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I try to get some 4-year-old advice from Tom and Amanda but, as you can hear at the beginning of the episode, 4 is just plain hard.

Tom is also a top teacher at Skillshare and we talk about his new class, Odd Bodies: Illustrating Expressive, Stylized People. If you don't know anything about Skillshare, you will absolutely want to check it out and sign up for this class using the link above. I plan on taking it first thing next year - or maybe even over the holiday break.

Creative Playdate is syndicated at IllustrationAge.com and the theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz.

I am going to transition away from the show's individual social media accounts, because it's simply too time-consuming to manage both and I think I've mostly got duplicate followers. So please follow me on Twitter and Instagram and you can see my illustration at www.michellekondrich.com.

If you haven't yet, please subscribe, rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Now go play!

Creative Playdate Episode 24: Steve Folland and Being Freelance

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After chatting with Steve Folland on his podcast Being Freelance last year, I knew I wanted to get him onto Creative Playdate. If anyone is mastering the art of freelancing while parenting, Steve is.

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Steve started working freelance full-time when his children were young. We talk about Steve's work and how he managed to take off the entire month of August while his kids were on vacation from school and how sometimes saying no is the best thing for YOU, not just your business.

Steve also talks about when and why he started creating his weekly vlog and how it serves as a journal and sometimes as a very efficient form of therapy.

Photo by Jeremy Freedman

Photo by Jeremy Freedman

I also turn the tables on Steve by asking him for Two Truths and a Lie - something he does with his podcast guests. I think you'll be as shocked as I was!

Creative Playdate is syndicated at IllustrationAge.com and the theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz.

You can follow the show on Twitter and on Instagram and you can learn more about me and my work at michellekondrich.com.

If you haven't yet, please subscribe, rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Now go play!

Creative Playdate Episode 23: Selina Alko

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In episode 23, I interview children's book author and illustrator, Selina Alko. We met briefly at ICON10 in Detroit where she was serving as the VP (thanks to Scott Bakal for the introduction) and I was happy to have the chance to chat with her in a more conversational setting.

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Selina grew up in Canada and lives in Brooklyn, NY. She has two children who are in the middle of adolescence and we talk about what that looks like at home. We discuss the challenges and benefits of raising biracial children in New York and we also talk about whether or not being a mother slowed down her career.

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Creative Playdate is syndicated at IllustrationAge.com and the theme music was created by Thomas James and Jason Ritz.

You can follow the show on Twitter and on Instagram and you can learn more about me and my work at michellekondrich.com.

If you haven't yet, please subscribe, rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts!

Now go play!