Makers & Mystics

This episode is our second release from the Makers and Mystics LIVE series. This conversation comes to you from Charlottesville, Virginia and highlights excerpts from our discussion on Art As Healing. You’ll hear from a diverse panel of voices including Farm House community founder, Lauren Stonestreet, Philosopher, Bernard Hankins, Pastor and songwriter, Brendan Jamieson, Neuroscientist and Jazz musician, Nadine Michel and Doctor of Osteopathy, Dr. David MacDonald. In light of recent events, I felt this conversation on Art As Healing was timely and offers creative insights on navigating through difficult times and how art contributes to Healing for individuals and to society.I’ve said often that the artist is an architect of hope and a voice of reconciliation for a divided world. I think you’ll find the perspectives in this conversation to be helpful in finding our way forward and understanding the vital role of art as an agent of healing.*Patrons of the podcast have access to the full conversation which includes a spoken word performance by poet Latasha Strother and Nadine Michel’s story of traveling to Haiti, the country her parents immigrated from.Join The Makers & Mystics Creative Collective and support the making of these conversations on art, faith and culture.Connect with The Farm House communityBrendan Jamieson — http://allsoulscville.com/Connect with Dr. MacDonaldNadine Michel on Instagram @nadineonthejazzSend us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Vàclav Havel was a Czech playwright, political dissident, and consistent moral voice on human rights who went on to be elected President of the newly democratic Czech Republic. His life is a shining example of what artists can achieve when they have a robust sense of the time in which they have been placed in the world. Guest host Vesper Stamper talks about Havel’s life, work and spiritual perspective.Read Havel’s collected plays here, and his book on freedom of conscience here. Follow Vesper on Instagram @vesperillustration, or subscribe to her podcast on recovering artistic thinking, Vesperisms: The Art of Thinking for Yourself.Become a Patron! Help us further these conversations on art and faith by supporting us monthly. As little as $1. a month goes a long way to helping us continue these conversations and investing in the community of artists and truth seekers.Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

When it comes to spiritual formation, our individual temperament plays a large role in how we connect to God, one another and the world around us. There is not a one size fits all for how we approach the spiritual life. In fact, the same systems that bring us clarity and definition can also leave us frustrated or feeling confined to search for God in a manner contrary to our natural temperament.Best-selling author and speaker, Gary Thomas insists that it’s better to discover the path God designed you to take–a path marked by growth and fulfillment, based on your unique temperament. In this conversation, Gary and I discuss his nine Sacred Pathways, where he strips away the frustration of a one-size-fits-all spirituality and guides you toward a style of relating to God that frees you to be you.For the artist or the creative, understanding our unique make up and how we most easily connect with God enables us to live and create from a deeper authenticity. Instead of fostering a compulsion to imitate or conform to an exterior, homogenized form of faith, discovering the beauty of God’s unique path for our lives opens the way for greater possibility in our creative work.Gary ThomasJoin Our Creative Collective!Your monthly support makes these conversations possible. Thank you for investing in building bridges between art, faith and culture. Follow us on InstagramOfficial WebsiteSend us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Leonardo Da Vinci was an artist, scientist and inventor. His capacity to metaphorically dream while awake, through the use of his imagination, enabled him to perceive the natural world as a playground for investigation, exploration, discovery and invention. This mentality would lead him to creative innovations in various fields of study including painting, architecture, mathematics, engineering, anatomy, botany, cartography. and much more. Today, Leonardo da Vinci is historically recognized as a genius, who played an influential role in the Renaissance period through the use of his creativity to impact culture. This artist profile is guest-hosted by Morgan Ruth Chin-Yee, a creative, art educator, and member of the Breath and the Clay team. Visit her website, MRCY, and follow her on Instagram @morgan.ruth. Connect with our guest host Morgan Ruth Chin-YeeMusic in this episode by GlasseaJoin the Makers and Mystics Creative Collective.Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Kimbra Lee Johnson is a singer, songwriter, producer + musician from New Zealand, now based in New York City. Her award-winning, debut album Vows was released in 2011. In 2012, she appeared on Gotye’s multi-platinum single, Somebody I Used To Know.Kimbra’s music pushes the boundaries of genre and style juxtaposing pop sensibilities with influences in Jazz, R & B, and electronic music. Lyrically, Kimbra expresses the deeper longings of the human heart. Her poetic verses draw from personal experience, imaginative religious imagery and reveal a depth of honesty, vulnerability and reflection.In this episode, I talk with Kimbra about her creative process and the deeper experiences of the artist’s life. Kimbra OfficialVisit Kimbra’s Patreon! Join Our Creative Collective and receive additional interview segments with our guests, regular book discussions and access to our private, online creative group. This episode is Sponsored by: Rogue Blue MediaBooks and authors discussed in this episode:Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted OrlandBig Magic by Elizabeth GilbertI’ll Take Your There: Pop Music & The Urge for Transcendence by Bill Friskics-WarrenThomas Merton, Teresa of Avila, Frederick BuechnerThank you for listening! Be sure to follow us on Instagram @makersandmysticsLeave us a kind review on iTunes!Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Carey Wallace is the author of Stories of the Saints, The Blind Contessa’s New Machine, The Ghost in the Glass House, Choose, New Thing, and the forthcoming Discipline of Inspiration. Her work has appeared in Time, the Awl, The New Decameron, and Detroit’s Metro Times. She has spoken to students at Princeton, Yale, Julliard, Pratt, Emory’s Candler School of Theology, and the Festival of Faith and Writing, and taught at The Glen Workshop. She has released a dozen records with her brother as The Wallace Bros., and shown her fine artwork in Detroit and Brooklyn. She is the founder of the Working Artist’s Initiative, which helps emerging artists establish strong creative habits, and the Hillbilly Underground, which draws nationally-recognized filmmakers, writers, fine artists, and musicians to rural Michigan each summer. She lives and works in Brooklyn with her poorly-behaved Appenzeller, Bandit.In this episode, Stephen talks with Carey LIVE in New York City (recorded October 2019) about the nature, the origins and the discipline of inspiration.Carey WallaceBecome a Patron! Your monthly contribution gives you access to additional Patron-Only content, membership to our creative collective and regular book discussions on books and topic related to the podcast.Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Cynthia Newland is an artist, educator, speaker and wellness consultant. She is the founder of Alible3 – Nourishing the Body, Soul and Spirit, providing educational resources and equipping tools for holistic health. With her work in the area of wellness, she partners with the Health Made Simple community. Cynthia is the founding Director of Feet Speak Dance, a dance company whose mission aims to use dance to teach, inspire and bring a rich art filled experience to all whom they encounter.In this episode, Cynthia talks with Stephen about the importance of physical nourishment, nutrition and general health in the life of the artist.Cynthia NewlandMusic By: Cest’ LisJoin The Makers & Mystics Creative CollectiveSend us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Social distancing can feel a bit destabilizing. All of our habits and routines and normal ways of functioning are suspended and we have to adopt new daily rhythms, ways of doing life and finding work. For the artist, this can lead to questions about the validity of our work and where art-making and creativity belong in a time of global crisis. But it is vital for our own mental and emotional health that we are formed by a clear narrative and see the true place of art as a needed response. Making art during times of crisis positions the artist to become a protest against despair. The artist pushes against losing our identity and our humanity in the face of war, disease or whatever opposition stands against living an unimpeded, beautiful life.In this episode, Stephen shares about the role of perception, the mischief of God, and the need for art in our current climate of isolation and uncertainty. Become A Monthly PatronMusic in this episode by: Songs of WaterC’est LisFollow us InstagramSend us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

Heather Stringer is a therapist, artist, and ritual maker. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, WA and a Fellow with the Allender Center. She completed her M.A. in Counseling Psychology at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology and the Externship Program at The Allender Center. Heather has a practice of creating narrative informed trauma therapy as well as creating rituals for people marking a significant event in their life.Heather believes that when we are intentional about engaging the particularities of our bodies, memories, and stories, an opening for healing and change are possible.In this episode, Stephen Roach talks with Heather about her niche of combining ritual making with performance art in ways that foster healing and inspire a more creative approach to everyday life.Connect with Heather StringerEnd Bumper by Aaron StrumpelJoin the Collective!Send us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.

We are calling all creative arts communities, individuals, seekers, believers, skeptics, doubters, craftsmen and bakers, tongue talkers and Quakers, anyone who needs community in the midst of quarantine. Come hang with us this Friday night at 7 pm Eastern time. The communion time will be hosted by our Makers and Mystics creative collective along with Justin McRoberts and members of The Breath and the Clay community. Normally, this would be a patron-only event platform but this Friday we are opening it up to everyone!When the world says “don’t gather,” I don’t know, maybe it’s the punk rock left in me from my "angsty" teenage years but I say, let’s outsmart the system and move, not in rebellion, but in the opposite spirit. Communion.Follow the link button to sign up today and join us Friday night.Sign Up for the Online Communion!Become A monthly Patron!Music By C’est LisFollow Us on InstagramFollow The Breath & the ClaySend us a textSupport the show Get Tickets to The Breath and The Clay 2026 featuring Malcolm Guite, Jon Guerra, and Jonathan Pageau! March 20-22 in Winston-Salem, NC.