The Spark File with Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien
Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien
Your one stop shop for creative ideas and inspiration. Sign up for our newsletter HERE. Each week on The Spark File podcast, Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien reach into their spark files and share stories, ideas and fascinations to ignite your imagination. Obsessed with creativity, Blackwell and Camien also talk with artists and makers, movers and shakers who have taken the spark of inspiration and fanned it into a flame. Hear from inspiring creatives like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Bareilles, Eric Stonestreet, Jonathan Groff, Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich, Zachary Quinto, Leslie Odom Jr, Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Billy Eichner, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Karen Olivo, Sutton Foster, Michael R. Jackson and many more about their passions and their failures, their inspirations and their aspirations. Refill your creative fish pond with new ideas and fresh perspectives. Listen, then take it and make it! Learn more at thesparkfile.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 3, 2020 • 1h 34min
Creativity Sparks: Bombshell + Fewer, Better
This week's episode features two very different sparks from Susan and Laura's spark files. First, the surprising and far reaching impact of this Bombshell beauty's life's work, then the potentially peace-creating, space-making philosophy of 'Fewer, Better.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 30, 2020 • 32min
Makers: Part 2: Freestyle Love Supreme's Anthony Veneziale and Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan
This week's episode of The Spark File is Part 2 of Susan and Laura's conversation with Freestyle Love Supreme's Anthony "Two-Touch" Veneziale and Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan. Recorded LIVE from The Spark File New Year 2020 Creativity Workshop in NYC, Anthony and Shockwave share their belief in restorative play, mental fitness and the ability to learn how to learn. Plus, the unforgettable story of Anthony taking a tennis ball to the, well,... balls during a performance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Brutal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 27, 2020 • 1h 26min
Creativity Sparks: Making Change + Self Reliance
This week on The Spark File, Susan and Laura share new inspirations — the many ways the arts (and crafts!) can come to the rescue when it's time for Making Change, and the increasing need for Self Reliance in a world of uncertainty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 23, 2020 • 31min
Makers: Part 1: Freestyle Love Supreme's Anthony "Two-Touch" Veneziale and Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan
In this episode, recorded LIVE from The Spark File New Year 2020 Creativity Workshop, Susan and Laura share in the flat out delight of Freestyle Love Supreme's Anthony "Two-Touch" Veneziale and Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan. We talk of overriding the fear mechanisms in our brains to allow for more freedom in expression and creativity and the belief that improv skills can benefit everyone. Plus, they're just hella cool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 20, 2020 • 1h 23min
Creativity Sparks: The Sparks of Nancy Blackwell + My Friend Fear
In this weeks episode, recorded LIVE from the The Spark File 2020 New Year Creativity Workshop, Susan and Laura share sparks near and dear to their hearts. From the deeply personal and close to home, The Sparks of Nancy Blackwell to the universally spark-ish, equally feared and revered, My Friend Fear, inspired by the book by Meera Lee Patel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 16, 2020 • 40min
Makers: Meta Wagner Part 2: Identifying Your Creative Type (And Its Evolution)
Ready for Part 2 of The Spark File conversation with Creativity Expert Meta Wagner? Susan and Laura dig into the remaining Creative Types — Sensitive Souls, Gamechangers and Activists and question whether we can evolve into other areas? Can we be a combo-platter of motivations? Plus! Meta helped us create a survey — take the quiz and find out what Creative Type you currently are! Your “type” is based on what most sparks you to do anything creative. Understanding your strongest motivations will help you keep your creative flame blazing, even through doubts or setbacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 13, 2020 • 1h 17min
Creativity Sparks: Creative Spaces / Gathering Places + The Sparks of Amy Poehler
This week, Susan and Laura dig into their personal spark files and share new ideas ready for the taking and making, including the endless ways Creative Spaces / Gathering Places can light your fire; and the entire multi-spark-verse of Amy Poehler -- a woman truly lit with inspiration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 9, 2020 • 45min
Makers: Meta Wagner Part 1: Writing the Book on Creative Types
This week, Susan and Laura dig into the meaty topics of talent, dedication and purpose with Meta Wagner, author of What's Your Creative Type? Harness the Power of Your Artistic Personality. In Part 1 of 2, Meta shares the driving passion and purpose behind the 5 Creative Types. You can't help but question, what is YOUR 'why'?Plus! Meta helped us create a survey — take the quiz and find out what Creative Type you currently are! Your “type” is based on what most sparks you to do anything creative. Understanding your strongest motivations will help you keep your creative flame blazing, even through doubts or setbacks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 6, 2020 • 1h 21min
Creativity Sparks: Hand Lettered Signs + Unfinished Art
In this week’s episode, Susan and Laura dig into two fresh sparks — the skill and the psychology behind Hand Lettered Signs and Unfinished Art — the compassion to complete it, the foresight to plan for it, and the only way to avoid it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 2, 2020 • 58min
Makers: Okorie "OKCello" Johnson: Ancient Instruments/Modern Technology, the Energy of Uncertainty, and Liminal Space
In this weeks bonus episode, Susan and Laura talk with the singular maker Okorie "OKCello" Johnson about his exploration of the cello as a path to self-expression. Creating while in a liminal space, Okorie draws energy from the tension of uncertainty and questions unanswered. From the very start of his career, his cello has helped pave the road to the development of a narrative art that is uniquely his own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
