What I Wish I'd Known When I Stopped Making Art w/ Jennifer Chiles | The Creative Collective Podcast

For about ten years, Jen barely made art. She was training to become a PA, starting a career in pediatric cardiac surgery, and raising small kids, and in her head, making art meant a big acrylic painting and enough time to finish it. Looking back, she wishes someone had told her she could just carry a little watercolor sketchbook around in her tote bag. Jennifer Chiles is a painter, ceramicist, and art educator who has taught kids and adults for years, and she co-founded Creative Club Retreats with Emily. She talks about how her art came back when she took a break from medicine and moved to Denmark, how she lost the playfulness somewhere between art school grades and commission work, and what it looks like now to keep both careers going at once. In this episode, they discuss: Why Jen is the person at work who gets asked to draw the medical diagram for a family How art school grades and commission work made her a perfectionist, and how a much more casual sketchbook habit changed that Painting flowers with her dad as a kid, and how he kept nudging her to make things What her creative week looks like now, from sketching with her son at the bagel place to sketchbooks that never quite make it onto the walls Why adults come to an art table with more hesitation than kids, and why people talk more easily when they're making something side by side And the sketchbook argument continues: first page, or wherever it opens Resources & Links Jennifer Chiles: jenniferchilesart.com and Instagram: @jenniferchiles.art Creative Club Retreats 2027 Life of Color - Allie's new project! Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠ You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life. And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.