Catherine Ricketts, essayist, songwriter, writing instructor, and author of The Mother Artist: Portraits of Ambition, Limitation, and Creativity, is my guest today.

We talk about:

• The historical underrepresentation of mothers in the art world and the societal factors contributing to this.

• The tension between caring for children and dedicating time to creative work.

• The importance of support systems, self-belief, and a sense of purpose for mothers.

• The value of art created by mothers and how we can all support all caregivers in their creative pursuits.

Connect with Catherine on IG

Catherinedanaricketts.com

Order “The Mother Artist”

Find Merideth on her book tour

Order “The Artist’s Joy”

In the final installment of this inspiring series, Robin White, Joshua Long, Lorrie Fredette, and Merideth Hite Estevez read their Artist's Oath.

The culmination of Merideth's book, "The Artist's Joy," the Artist's Oath is a powerful coaching exercise that helps artists name how they want to show up in the world and what they believe. When we stay connected to our values, we are able to move through creative challenges and tough decisions with confidence and grace for ourselves and others.

In this episode:

Robin White

Joshua Long

Lorrie Fredette (photo cred Deborah DeGraffenreid)

Merideth Hite Estevez

Connect with Merideth on her book tour

The culmination of Merideth's book, "The Artist's Joy," the Artist's Oath is a powerful coaching exercise that helps artists name how they want to show up in the world and what they believe. When we stay connected to our values, we are able to move through creative challenges and tough decisions with confidence and grace for ourselves and others.

This episode features Artist's Oath's written and read by Kelsey Bogan, David James, and Karen Rege.

The culmination of Merideth's book, "The Artist's Joy," the Artist's Oath is a powerful coaching exercise that helps artists name how they want to show up in the world and what they believe. When we stay connected to our values, we are able to move through creative challenges and tough decisions with confidence and grace for ourselves and others.

About the artists in this episode:

Kelsey Bogan:

Kelsey IG

Kelsey's Facebook

David James:

David James IG

The Moonlit Wild (David James, bass)

Karen Rege:

Connect with Karen on Facebook

Karen’s LinkedIn

Listen to Karen’s Music

Connect with Merideth on her book tour

In today's episode, Merideth chats with artist, composer, and songwriter Angela Sheik. Angela (whose name you may recognize from every episode's credits as our resident theme songwriter here at Artists for Joy) composed a full-length anthemic jam for Merideth's new book "The Artist's Joy." In this episode, you'll hear the complete track for the first time!

They also discuss how central community is in finding sustainable creative practice and what to do when you feel like quitting.

"The Artist's Joy" theme song, "Oath to Joy," will be available to stream and download in August, but for now, enjoy this world premiere here on the podcast.

Follow Angela on Spotify

Angelasheik.com

Buy Merideth's book (a best-seller new release in the creativity category on Amazon!)

Join The Artist's Joy Creative Cluster

This week on the podcast, Merideth gives the mic to Kenneth Moton, a TV news journalist and childhood friend, and together they dive deep into her new book, The Artist's Joy.

Kenneth and "Meri" explore the book's relevance to a broad audience, Meri's motivation for writing the book, her journey of creative recovery, and the concept of using creativity as a means of self-discovery. They explore themes of vulnerability, the healing power of music, and the spiritual dimension of creativity.

Order The Artist's Joy

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• Confide in someone
• Cultivate consistent practice
• Offer Compassion to others and yourself
• Consider the "spotlight effect"
• Craft your worthiness words.