Show Up or Shut Up with Wendy Solganik

A podcast about making art for you, because you love the way you feel when you are creating and you just want more of that feeling.

Show Up or Shut Up with Wendy Solganik is a arts podcast hosted by Wendy Solganik, with 69 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Wendy Solganik hosts Show Up or Shut Up with Wendy Solganik, a arts show with 69 episodes published.

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  Episode #7

  Crystal Marie on Intuitive Collage, Salvaged Materials, and Finding a Creative Voice

  Aug 19, 20261h 47mS6

  Host Wendy Solganik interviews mixed media and collage artistCrystal Marie (formerly Crystal Neubauer), author of The Art of Expressive Collage and a 2018 Racine Art Museum Artist Fellowship recipient, about her life, art, and teaching. Crystal describes moving into a Chicago Little Village live/work storefront to stay near the art scene on an artist’s budget andtraces her maker roots to a craft-filled childhood. She recounts attending a university-affiliated high school, becoming a teen parent, working up through printing-industry project management, and later burning out while raising sevenkids in a blended family. Her professional art career began in the early 2000s through eBay paper packs, Somerset Studio, blog/Flickr communities, early publications and the book A Charming Exchange, then teaching at Art & Soul. Crystal explains evolving from whimsical collage to more restrained work, discovering encaustic to preserve ephemera, coping with mold-related illness that forced her to discard her paper collection, shifting to online teaching during the pandemic, and planning Fodder School projects including a handmade hair calligraphy brush challenge and texture-based collage lessons. 00:00 Meet Crystal Marie 02:26 Podcast Premise and Subscribe 03:49 Crystal’s Chicago Studio Life 08:26 Finding the Perfect Live Work Space 13:10 Early Making Roots 15:35 Scholarship to University High 22:04 Teen Parenthood and Survival 30:06 Creativity Through Beads and Sewing 31:50 Printing Career and Moving to Chicago 36:51 Brady Bunch Burnout 39:36 eBay Paper Hustle to Collage 41:57 Somerset Studio Spark 46:59 Blog Era and First Teaching Gig 49:54 Discovering Encaustic Wax 53:59 Basement Studio Beginnings 55:29 Shifting to Abstract Collage 59:24 Selling Art Online Early 01:01:12 Finding the Old Work 01:04:00 Book and Name Change 01:06:15 Intuition and Altering Papers 01:10:45 Mold Loss and Rebuilding 01:16:25 Pandemic Online Teaching Boom 01:19:51 Where to Buy and Follow 01:28:11 Illness and Career Upside Down 01:38:30 Fodder Challenge Hair Brush 01:43:05 Texture Fodder Classes Wrap

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  Episode #6

  Connie Fong: From Fodder School Superfan to Teacher—Playful Paper Dolls, Collage Calendars, and Finding Your Style

  Aug 17, 20261h 5mS6

  Wendy Solganik introduces season six, episode six of theShow Up or Shut Up podcast with guest Connie Fong, a longtime Fodder School member now teaching in Fodder School six. Connie, a Bay Area native and retired computer science professional who worked at IBM and in e-commerce at WilliamsSonoma, shares her lifelong crafting journey through knitting, scrapbooking, bookmaking, and mixed media, plus her love of bold black-and-white contrast, typography, and grungy pops of color influenced by artists like Robin Marie Smith. They discuss how Fodder School’s variety, pacing, and supportive community helped Connie develop her distinctive style, and her surprise atbecoming a teacher. Connie previews her Fodder Challenge whimsical paper dolls (inspired by Mindy Lacefield) and her Fodder School project: a collage-style monthly calendar using ransom letters. She also talks about learning to film online classes with help from her daughter’s former YouTube setup, selling journals on Etsy (Artful Play), daily pickleball, and her shyness about posting publicly on Instagram (@myartfulplay). 00:00 Meet Connie Fong 02:01 Podcast Premise 03:23 Bay Area Roots 06:03 Early Crafting Life 07:39 Supplies And Shopping 10:25 Tech Career Path 13:57 From Crafts To Mixed Media 18:31 Finding Her Style 25:03 Becoming A Teacher 27:41 Why Fodder School Works 33:00 Her Fodder Challenge Dolls 35:07 Finding Your Own Style 36:03 Paper Dolls Project 36:30 Calendar Collage Plan 37:21 Ransom Letters Method 39:38 Why Make Art Calendars 43:54 Storing Cutout Letters 45:51 How Style Evolves 50:44 Teaching Online Leap 51:52 Daughter’s YouTube Journey 55:15 Etsy Shop and Instagram 58:49 Pickleball and Family Life 01:00:17 Confidence and Closing

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  Episode #5

  Stefanie Hunsaker: Mixed-Media Portraits, Self-Love, and the Long Game of Style

  Aug 14, 20261h 12mS6

  Host Wendy Solganik introduces season six, episode five ofthe Show Up or Shut Up podcast featuring Stefanie Hunsaker, a mixed media collage artist in northeastern Washington whose vibrant, layered portraits combine acrylic paint, fabric, scrapbook paper, and occasional embroidery and beading to explore self-love, trust, and empowerment. Stefanie shares herupbringing in eastern Washington near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, early creative influences including stained glass and sewing, and shift from high-school photography and marketing interests to a University of Washington visual arts degree spanning photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry. After years running a natural-light portrait photography business, she phased it out as her kids grew and, after moving to Spokane, found a new creative outlet through online classes that led her into portrait painting and collage. She discusses developing her portrait style over seven years, sellingoriginals and some prints via her website, challenges with marketing, preferred surfaces (mostly canvas), local art markets, and interest in more gallery opportunities. 00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest 03:19 Growing Up in Washington 05:02 Hanford and Stained Glass 12:01 Early Crafty Roots 15:40 School to Art Degree 25:45 Motherhood and Scrapbooking 30:16 Photography Business Era 37:54 From Photos to Fine Art 41:21 Starting Art Instagram 42:00 Curating the Feed 43:25 Finding Her Genre 46:30 Seven Years of Style 48:21 Chuck Close Advice 51:00 ADHD and Hyperfocus 52:53 Selling Originals and Prints 57:25 Materials and Embroidery 59:46 Kids and Art School 01:04:26 Sewing Machine Renaissance 01:07:07 Galleries and Local Shows 01:09:38 Art Markets and Booth Setup 01:11:20 Wrap Up and Thanks

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  Episode #4

  Lisa Goddard on Art Journaling as a Lifeline, Mixed Media Layers, and Building a Sustainable Creative Life

  Aug 10, 20261h 14mS6

  Host Wendy Solganik introduces UK mixed media artist, artjournaler, bookmaker, and new Fodder School Six teacher Lisa Goddard, who lives in Sheffield near the Peak District. Lisa describes studying fine art with a focus on textiles and sculpture, feeling lost after graduating in 2006, anddiscovering art journaling through artist Jen Worden, which became a daily practice for processing emotions, experimenting, and storytelling. While working for 18 years in University of Sheffield admin (including cybersecurity),raising two daughters, and teaching aerial hoops, she kept making art, built a social-media audience, taught in-person (and later online), and left her job just after COVID to focus on art. She discusses her studio setup, favorite techniques (collage, gesso, inky marks, stamping, textiles), thoughts on shifting social media, and previews her Fodder School projects: mixed mediamessage-in-a-bottle challenge and textile scroll books on vintage wooden spools. 00:00 Meet Lisa Goddard 02:06 Podcast Premise 03:28 Life in Sheffield 07:55 From Fine Art to Mixed Media 11:41 Art Kid Origins 13:45 Day Job and Family Balance 15:54 Aerial Hoop Surprise 18:45 Discovering Art Journaling 22:01 Finding Community Online 23:43 Daily Journaling Ritual 24:47 Go To Techniques 27:35 Sharing on Social Media 29:55 Teaching Beyond Journals 31:44 Process Versus Product 33:23 Life After Instagram 39:59 Fixing Your Instagram Feed 41:58 Teaching History and Family 43:13 Kids and Creative Talents 45:16 Fodder School Projects 47:28 Thrifting and Car Boot Sales 50:40 Scroll Books on Spools 53:15 Live Zoom Class Community 59:05 Retreat Dreams in Nature 01:02:26 Course Creation and Admin 01:04:35 Boundaries and Customer Support 01:10:13 DIY Course Platform Tech 01:12:50 Wrap Up and Thanks

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  Episode #3

  Gloria Gelo: From Corporate Life to Painting With Paper

  Aug 7, 20261h 21mS6

  Host Wendy Solganik introduces season 6, episode 3 guestGloria Gelo, a Cleveland-raised contemporary abstract mixed media artist now based in Calgary and a new Fodder School 6 teacher. Gloria shares her Croatian immigrant family background, early love of art and typography, and how adiscouraging community college instructor derailed her confidence and pushed her into business school and corporate roles, including foreign currency trading at Citibank in New York and a creative resume-led job at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. After moving to Calgary, raising three sons, and laterdivorcing and remarrying, she received a 2018 corporate payout that enabled her to return to art full time, experiment across media, and develop a layered, minimalist collage practice using self-made papers and asemic writing. She now teaches in person and online, is gallery-represented, and previews her Fodder School “Line to Layer” challenge and a concertina book project focused on creating personal collage papers blending analog and digital methods. 00:00 Meet Gloria Gelo 02:06 Podcast Intro and Format 03:44 Nerves and Zoom Setup 04:34 Life in Calgary 06:13 Cleveland Roots and Canada 10:17 Fodder School Connection 11:36 Immigrant Family Story 15:08 Croatian Traditions and Food 20:27 Early Art Spark 23:28 Art School Confidence Crash 28:13 Business Pivot and Corporate Life 32:13 Wall Street to LA Move 34:56 Universal Studios Creativity Win 36:59 LA Life and Cabinet Business 38:43 Life in the Valley 39:52 Business Sold Suddenly 40:33 Move Back to Calgary 42:16 Divorce and Remarriage 43:05 Layoff Sparks Art 45:00 Finding Mixed Media 49:36 From Process to Selling 52:33 Gallery Representation 55:50 Teaching Goes Online 01:00:19 Art as Communication 01:08:07 Typography Origins 01:13:58 Asemic Writing Tips 01:16:48 Fodder School Projects 01:20:49 Final Wrap and Goodbye

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