Ever wonder where the creativity you loved as a child went, and how you can bring it back? You’ll uncover the idea of a creative birthright and learn to quiet the inner critic that insists you must be all logic and no art. You’ll see how creating a safe, playful space can turn uncertainty into joy, even when your first sketches feel like “bad art.” Pull up a chair, step into the warm light, and let your imagination settle in like an old friend waiting just for you.
“You don’t lose it when you grow up; you just misplace it.”– Monette Satterfield
Discover what it means to reclaim your creative birthright and reconnect with your inner creativity.
Explore the balance between being analytical and creative, and why both can coexist.
Learn why embracing imperfection is essential for creative growth.
About the Hosts
Nicole Fende is a published author and board game designer. Monette Satterfield is an artist working outside the velvet rope. Together they host Holding Creative Space, a podcast from Creatopia, an imprint of Tesseray Publishing.
Keep creating. We are holding the space.
Transcripts
Nicole Fende
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Welcome in to the inaugural episode of Holding Creative Space. I'm Nicole Fende, and I'm joined by my co-host, Monette Satterfield. So why are we here today? Monette, I'd love for you to kick off.
Nicole Fende
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What inspired you or what drew you into the idea of doing a podcast about holding creative space?
Monette Satterfield
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Well, I have been working as an artist for a long time, and most recently I've started working in what I will call more of the outsider tradition and outside of the traditional creative strictures that people work with. And I noticed that people are struggling to express their creativity and to have permission and to have some companionship. And I would very much like to be in the position of helping them find their creative birthright.
Nicole Fende
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Oh, I like that creative birthright.
Monette Satterfield
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Those are my words.
Nicole Fende
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Tell me more about that. Tell me more about this. What is a creative birthright?
Monette Satterfield
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We're all creative. We're born that way. We absolutely are. I mean, everyone talks about how creative children are.
Monette Satterfield
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Well, they are, but we all are. You don't lose it when you grow up. You just sort of forget it and misplace it. And maybe you're absorbing all the messages from all the places that we have so many places now that tell us you're not creative, or you're not doing that right, or you need to learn more, or there's something else you need to know before you're allowed to do this,
Monette Satterfield
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or that's just not the right way. And you already know how to do these things. You really do. and I feel like I'd like to be in the position of helping show people the way back to their own creativity.
Nicole Fende
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So if this were video rather than a podcast, people could see my bobblehead agreement because I am nodding ferociously in agreement for me because I was very creative as a child and then along the way was told, okay, you need to grow up, you need to be serious, you need to be corporate, you need to do all these things and it's very easy to let it slip away and let those other voices take over, or to convince yourself, because I'm very analytical, I can't also be creative. That's been part of my journey, and you've been wonderful in helping me explore, rediscover, and be, and you've used this term, my creative companion. I'd like to use, yeah, I'd like to use the podcast to offer some of that experience to our listeners.
Monette Satterfield
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Okay. I'm, I'm right here with you, guiding light in the forest. That's my job. And I do want to just say that, that idea that I'm analytical, I'm not creative.
Monette Satterfield
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It's just tough. It's nothing nonsense. It's not true. It's not true.
Monette Satterfield
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You can learn these things. They're all skills. Creativity is even a skill to some degree and you can get better at it the more you do. So I don't buy that one either.
Monette Satterfield
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I think it's something that, um, many, many would be, I like, or frustrated creatives have been hiding behind because it's easy to say, well, I'm analytical and I don't, um, I don't know how to do that. That's, that's, that's easy. Sometimes it's harder to actually, try and try to be creative and see what happens because it won't be great at first. And so that can be painful.
Monette Satterfield
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And yeah, I hear you laughing. And I want people to know that it's okay if it's not great. It's okay if it's not perfect. It probably won't be.
Monette Satterfield
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I mean, I make art, bad art to this day. So I want people to know that and to do it anyway and to do it for the joy of it.
Nicole Fende
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I really want to emphasize joy and feeling a sense of relief and embracing the uncertainty of the process. So, you know, when people are looking to tune in and listen to us, you know, looking at that We are holding a space that was why we named it holding creative space for holding a space for you the listener to play in to feel safe in to feel like you can be inspired guided have companionship. That is the goal of the podcast and whether you haven't picked up a pen or paintbrush or clay or whatever you're sat down in front of a piano, whatever your choice of expression is, whether it's been 60 years or six minutes, the space is here for you.
Monette Satterfield
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Yeah. We're keeping the lights on.
Nicole Fende
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Keeping the lights on and someone is home.
Monette Satterfield
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Yeah.
Nicole Fende
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So, I think That's it in a nutshell. We can do a little foreshadowing and say, we're going to talk more about permission and how technique can be a trap and those voices in your head that aren't helping. reconnecting with your creativity. Those are all coming in future episodes.
Nicole Fende
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Plus we would encourage you to, if you have a thought or question or an idea that you want us to talk about on the podcast, we'd love to hear it because we don't have all the questions or all the answers. We do have thoughts, lots of them. So keep, keep listening, subscribe to our podcast and let's see where the creative muse takes us.
