Creative Crossroads
Welcome to Creative Crossroads, where creators share their stories and processes. Each episode features conversations with artists, designers, and makers about their work, inspiration, and creative journey.
Join us to explore how ideas come to life and learn from creators who are shaping their fields. Creative Crossroads: Where makers meet, and ideas grow.
Creative Crossroads
Experiment and Take Chances with Amanda Dunbar
In this episode of Creative Crossroads, hosts Ellyn and Catherine interview Amanda Dunbar, oil painter, printmaker, and PhD candidate in art history. Amanda shares insights into her creative process, emphasizing the importance of experimentation and learning from failures. She discusses how her journey in art evolved, including her foray into fiber arts during her pregnancy and the impact of the pandemic on her work. Amanda explains how she balances multiple projects, often working on several at once, including commissioned pieces. She provides valuable advice on overcoming creative blocks and self-doubt, stressing the significance of revisiting initial inspirations. Amanda also touches on the influence of her creative family background and how she hopes to inspire creativity in her children. The episode highlights the challenges and rewards of a creative life, offering inspiration and practical tips for artists at all stages of their journey.
00:00 Introduction to Amanda Dunbar
00:41 Defining Creativity
01:29 Amanda's Creative Process
03:23 Navigating Creative Blocks
07:11 Working on Commissions
10:17 Balancing Multiple Projects
14:40 Influence of Family and Upbringing
17:50 Creating with Kids
20:08 Amanda's Creative Spaces
22:10 Balancing Structure and Spontaneity
27:27 Overcoming Self-Doubt
28:52 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Thanks for joining us at Creative Crossroads! Keep creating and we'll see you again soon!
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Creative Crossroads. We've got a real treat for you today. Our friend Amanda Dunbar is here to share some insights into her creative process and what she's learned along the way. Amanda said that she's a maker and a scholar of makers, which is really cool. She's primarily an oil painter, a printmaker, and she's also a PhD candidate in art history. So lots to be learned here, and we look forward to diving right in. Hi Amanda, how are you?
Amanda:I am good. How are you, Ellen?
Ellyn:I'm great, and Catherine's here too.
Catherine:Amanda, we are so excited to chat with you today. And I think I think we want to start the conversation off today with you telling us what does it mean to you to be a creative person
Amanda:It's such a big word that can mean all sorts of things. I think everybody is creative. You're constantly creative, whether that's finding like a new root home, sometimes finding a new recipe to cook. I think when we're talking about creativity in the visual arts, it's really just about. Finding new materials and new ways to do something and just keeping it fresh by just experimenting a lot. So I think it's just creativity is just about trying lots of things, failing at most of them and having, success errors, but always learning and always being inspired to keep trying new things.
Catherine:You talked to us about how your creative process works when you're working on a creative project.
Amanda:Yeah. So a lot of people ask me this because and I really wish there was like a really. Crystalline this is, these are motivating words to go, go forth and do this, exactly. I think, for me, one idea leads into the next. If I'm that's actually how my PhD came about. I started painting because I saw books in an art history book that I thought were amazing, and I wanted to try to make this, so that I, Became a maker made. And then as I was making, I learned so much about art and making and materials, and I wanted to read more about it. And I realized there was like a, kind of a gap between people that make art and scholars who write about it. So I got really interested in that, which leads to just countless. Sources of inspiration for painting and it's like this feedback loop, right? I also During the pandemic I was pregnant And I wasn't really supposed to be touching oil paint and I really just needed to work with my hands and make something That's when I got into like I guess fiber arts for lack of a better word i'm by no means a professional but I found that it was a way to exercise a lot of the same muscles As painting. So looking at value, color, balance, overall composition, getting to zoom in and look at the overall picture and that. led into new ideas for painting, which led into new ideas for my dissertation, which that it's this big circle. So it's just one thing leads into another that you can't pre plan. You just go with the flow and just try to remain open to all possibilities.
Catherine:So how do you know when something Like if you're just gonna go with the flow with it, how do you know when something is done?
Amanda:That's a fantastic question. And I don't always. Sometimes it just, it comes to a logical conclusion, if that makes sense. That's something I'm honestly I'm struggling with a ton right now in actually writing a dissertation is because I'm like, Oh, but I could do this. Oh, but I could do this. Okay. And I keep reminding myself. What's that old adage? Perfection is the enemy of completion, or I can't remember exactly how that goes, but it's like a finished project is better than one that you'll never finish because you'll never achieve perfection. How do I know when it's done? I think, and I, this is what I say about when I'm making paintings, and I think this is true too, even in writing, when what I am doing to it Is no longer adding to the project. It's just, it's starting to take away from it. There's a really fine balance between overworking something and, to the point where it's just, you've ruined it, right?
Catherine:Mm-Hmm.
Amanda:I think some of that comes from practice, but also just, I don't know, sometimes it's instinct. You're like, I am messing with this so much. Am I making it any better? No, then it needs to just stop and breathe. And sometimes that means I have to put it away. For quite a while there's a project that I've been working on. This is actually where I met you guys. This is this little project. I shouldn't say little, it's an enormous project. That's, I've been working on over a year and a half and it's not, I'm not rushing it, but it's something that like, if I'm, if I realize that I'm twiddling with it too much, it just needs to go away. The same thing happens when I'm writing my dissertation. Like I will just be full force, cannot be stopped. I will go, days on end, barely sleep, forget the world. And then I will realize I just need to take a break because what I'm doing is no longer adding to it. So and again, one thing leads into the next. So it's if I can find a stopping place in a in one, piece of work, say it's a painting, I then have a really awesome springing off point for the next piece. Like I can. Okay, this is, I'm gonna call this done, but I'm not done with the idea, so I'm gonna try it again on the next one.
Catherine:I like that. So do you find that you work in series are they related or are they not?
Amanda:Loosely, yes, I would say work in series like loosely. It's easier if you're doing something like a painting series, or it's even easier printmaking series. Then you can really play with variations on a theme.
Catherine:Why is it so much easier to do that with printmaking?
Amanda:Because it lends itself to multiples like, you're literally making one, a main matrix that you can print many, many times unless you're doing a monoprint, and I'm, talking about etching or silkscreen or something like that, you make the key print, and then you can do a ton of things like, print it on different papers paint underneath it, then put the paint print on top of it, layer the order in which you like, if it's a, print that's got multiple colors you can alter the sequence in which you're painting, or printing them, rather. There's yeah, and you're still basically dealing with this same core image, but you, the varieties you can do with one are endless, and that's, I think that's one of the reasons that I got really interested in printmaking. It's because with painting, it's it feels too precious in a way to do like the same thing like over and over, although I will say I'm writing my dissertation on Monet, so there's definitely a place for that in painting, but yeah. I would say like loosely, I tend to work in a series or there's a general idea that I have and then that kind of tapers in to the new, something else, if that makes sense.
Ellyn:I'm listening and I know, from looking at your website and whatnot that you also do commissioned work and those kinds of projects. How is that different from your own creative process or is it different?
Amanda:I hate to say it depends, but it depends. So commissions are really interesting in that you have a really set, like a parameter, although there are definitely people that have commissioned me. They say literally, I don't care what the next thing is on your easel. I want it. That has happened, https: otter. ai My other favorite, and hey, if you're ever going to commission an artist to do something, if you want like the best work, do this. Say this is the space that I have. These are a series of your works that I like. Take that into mind or don't, but this is like the space I want you to fill with your art.
Catherine:Oh, I love that.
Ellyn:would be great.
Amanda:Yes, but it's also oh. Self doubt creeps in because you're like, Ooh, somebody really is going to live with this or, install this in a public place. So I really can't mess this up, but it also it's like freedom can be a cut two ways, right?
Catherine:Yeah.
Amanda:I've also had the complete opposite of that, where somebody has seen a painting and they essentially want me to recreate it like in a different color scheme. Or I do a, when I first started painting, I've moved away from this a little bit more, but. I did a lot of figurative work, especially children, and people would ask me all the time, I would love for you to make this painting, but put my child's face in it.
Ellyn:Oh gosh.
Amanda:Oh no, it, it really depends on the person that's asking and the kind of expectations that they have. How does that fit into the overall I guess trajectory of just or a series or like your own kind of workflow. I think that was the original question and I think, it's sometimes great to have a side project.
Ellyn:Ah,
Amanda:so you can get a little bit of distance from kind of like the main thrust of the work you're doing, if that makes sense. So if you're working on some big series, it's nice to have a little bit of a side project that doesn't quite have the same maybe momentum behind it so that you can get a break and you can get fresh eyes on the thing that you're doing. So How does it fit in and it depends like if you're really flowing with your, uh, another series and somebody asks you to stop and do this thing and there's a really hard deadline and that's kind of like, but then I always remind myself that it is such an incredible privilege to have somebody want Something that I have made, so that usually gets me over the Slight frustration of having to deviate, some time or energy away from the thing is that I like really keen to do, but, I think all of it's just, so rewarding to have people interested in your work full stop, so it all works out.
Ellyn:So I'm hearing you say, though, that you often work on more than one thing at a time. Is that normal for you to have multiple things going on?
Amanda:Girl. Yes, and I would love to say that I am one of those people that's yes, I only work on one thing, and I work it to completion, and then it's done, and then it's like this discrete Project that I can put away or the gallery can have or however, as far as painting I, there's at least eight to 10 going at once. And I haven't even been painting that much lately. I've been working on a dissertation of which I have. Three of my five chapters in, in on the go and, this week gets, I know you as a fiber artist, which I'm not sure I would put that label on myself by any means, but as far as just work with textiles, I have at least four of those going. And, okay, and my, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I taught myself how to knit.
Ellyn:Wow.
Amanda:I have that going on too. I always have something. I always have something. Yes. And it's a terrible thing, but it's also a great thing because it helps you. I think again, they feed into each other and you get ideas for things as you're doing other things. And I keep a lot of notebooks and I'm sure I forget a lot of things, but yeah, there's always a ton..
Ellyn:You have a record of what you're doing.
Amanda:Yeah, some evidence. I wish I had I've seen like Da Vinci's notebooks where he's writing these ideas in and I'm just like, man, I don't have that level of detail, but it's might be just like, like some terrible little thumbnail sketch. I'm like a couple of words, but it's enough to trigger me. Or I've just got like lots of lots. Of post it notes and art history books and patterns and Pinterest. Oh my gosh. When Pinterest became a thing, I went to town.
Catherine:I did too. Pinterest is great for inspiration.
Ellyn:I agree. maybe this is a dumb question, because maybe this doesn't happen to you, but do you ever get stuck? Do you ever get where you don't know what to work on, or you don't know what to do next, or there's always something going?
Amanda:that is not a dumb question at all. Yes, I think we all get those. blocks sometimes where it just feels like nothing you're doing. You don't really just feel like doing anything. You're like uh, everything I do sucks and I don't like it, or I it's all of your projects are in what I call the butt phase,
Catherine:Wait, explain more about what that means.
Ellyn:we need to hear that.
Amanda:There comes a point in every project that you start with great enthusiasm, it is going, going, going, you're excited, you've got your materials, you've got your inspiration pictures you, you're, you're, what do you call it those dream boards, what do you call those? I don't have one, but do you know what I mean? Like there's inspiration quotes or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. You've got all your materials and everything's gathered and you've gotten maybe like a third of the way into it. And all of a sudden you hate everything about it. And you're just like this. Why not? What do I do? That is the butt face. You have to get through the point where. It's become a little monotonous, and you're not really sure of the outcome, or that you're gonna like the outcome. that, that's the butt phase.
Ellyn:So how do you get through
Amanda:you just gotta plow through it, man. You just have to have faith in yourself, because on the other side of that, even if you don't like the finished product, you have always learned something. Even if it's, I really don't like doing this, or I really hated this or this color scheme is just not working for me. And the great thing about, say with fibers, it seems like you can always reclaim those materials. Painting, ha ha, you can reclaim canvases, and I have done that many times. You can't reclaim the paint, but you've always learned something,
Ellyn:great.
Amanda:I Promise I sound like this guy. Like just crazy optimist. I'm not, but yeah, I get blocks where everything's I, everything seems like it's in the butt phase. And then I just have to, you know, go outside with my kids for a while or like doom scroll or just watch movies or just not think about it for a while.
Ellyn:so talk about your kids. They I'm sure they see you creating and they see who you are. How do you think that's influencing your kids and their creativity?
Amanda:A little bit they're really little. So I just had, I don't have two little boys. One just turned two that well, two and four, and they both had summer birthdays and it is now, still September. So they're newly minted, still two and four year olds. So I haven't had a lot of my things out working around them just because they are extremely busy and nothing would stay in the spot that it stays. He, they do see the fruits of that though. For example they've got quilts that are very much in use around the house. Lots of like pillows and things. Yeah. Up in the house, we've got my paintings, they're hanging I did a, there's a project that I've done with my parents, my dad, specifically, called Precious Rebels, where it is Swarovski covered guitars. We did a lot of those.
Ellyn:wow.
Amanda:Oh yeah, PreciousRebels. com, go check it out. Or you could probably even find it on YouTube, because they look way cooler when they're moving. But anyway, so we have like, I'm looking over here. There's five of them that are hanging up, like just off of the playroom. So there's, there's stuff around and it killed my soul slightly that my four year old was not that interested in coloring or painting. He, he's obsessed with trucks. Like he said wheel before he said mama I
Ellyn:That's funny.
Amanda:think yeah. wheel? A wheel? A wheel? Yeah. I'm like, save mommy! Wheel? Okay, anything remotely round. But now that he's getting a little bit older and they're introducing him to some of these kind of projects in preschool like, he, I think, sees how excited I get when he brings home a wheel. His art. And so now every day, Mommy, I made art for you. So I don't know. It's still not his favorite thing to do. Sadly, he would much rather be outside, playing in the dirt with trucks, but we shall see. And my two year old, my barely two year old we shall see you with him, too. He likes to scribble with the crayons, and I will encourage lots of that, but I don't know how, I don't know how it's gonna affect them, or if they're gonna be interested in that. I don't know. Hopefully, I really need to like, hang out with one of my kids and like, make things. My gosh. I hope so.
Ellyn:That's the
Amanda:But we'll see.
Ellyn:I
Amanda:Yes. Man,
Ellyn:had to have three to get that creative kid. Just saying.
Amanda:I don't know, there's enough like, stuff going on in our house where we're making things. Even my father, he is he's an engineer, so he we build. Their Halloween costume and like he builds things around the house and he's got my older son involved in that. So there's at least some sort of creative thing going on. So it may not manifest itself in painting, printing, he's probably not going to start knitting. But I think, I hope that we sparked those ideas in him that he can make things.
Ellyn:How was that? It sounds like you were raised by creative parents, maybe? How was it for you as a child? Were you knee deep in creativity even when you were little?
Amanda:yeah, pretty much. And I don't think I realized it was like creativity as such. But, when I was little, my mom had a knitting business, so she just was always doing cross stitch knitting. My grandmother was a tailor. And was always knitting and they were always, so a lot of textile stuff around, like a lot of fibers. And they were basically just doing things that were utilitarian. They would knit us sweaters cause we were Canadian and it was cold. And my mom knit us blankets cause it was cold. it Was, so it wasn't necessarily like, I'm going to make this art piece for whatever, but she did a lot of, Clothing and she would sew the drapes and my dad like built additions onto the house and there was always like things like plans, things happening, being made. And then as I got older and I started painting, like I, my mom got interested in painting too. So she, that's what she does now. She is getting, I think she's phasing out her nursing career. She was a nurse for, many moons. And I, she still is, I should say, but she's. Phasing that out and really got into painting, hello. There's lots of, there's lots of it around and there's lots of, encouragement and stuff. And my dad loves to play the guitar and that's where the guitar thing came into, and he's already drafting blueprints for, different buildings he's going to put on the property. Not that's a huge property, but all the dreams that he's gonna, that he's gonna renovate the house and do all that. Yeah, there's a lot of, oh, I should say this, my mom she bakes a lot too. She's got, she does these insanely elaborate cakes and cookies. Just, so yeah, just always, that was always going on around me. But I'm not sure, nobody was like a professional artist as such. And it wasn't like, we were going to galleries and stuff for the weekend, but it was like any time that, you'd sit down and watch TV and, mom was knitting something, or I have a lot of memories of sitting under my mom's feet while she was at the sewing machine, so
Ellyn:So it was modeled for you.
Amanda:definitely yes.
Ellyn:So where do you create now? Tell us about your space or spaces.
Amanda:My yeah, so there is a studio space here at our house that that's where I did the bulk of my painting. I don't get to go out there very much right now because number one, toddlers, like I don't get to like just peace out and go out there and to my mom, like I said, has really started using the studio quite a bit. And I know when I'm working I don't really love to be disturbed. So it's leave her alone. We do our stuff. I have some studio space that I will be getting at, hopefully, any time now. From the university, where I am working on my PhD. But in the meantime, there are, I've been doing quilting at like the retreat center. I do stuff, the evening just at home and in the room that the common room here with my family like I'll sit there with procreate and draw or I will be sitting here typing away on my dissertation. That's taken up a ton of time, too, as far as, like, why I'm not in the studio, but fiddle away with hand quilting, or knitting, or coloring,
Catherine:do you see yourself as more of a messy maker, or are you a tidy creator?
Amanda:I want to say I'm organized but I'm definitely not. My parents call me Messy Mandy. That is I'm the tidiest oil painter I know, to be fair. And I know some oil painters that it can really go wild. I can contain it to an extent. But as far as the rest of, yeah, no, I spread out it's, I always have I'm reminded here when I've seen you guys at the retreat center and I'm like, Nope, I'm just going to be in my one little designated spot and despite my best efforts, every single time I'm spread out over four or five tables, but it's my place that's I have to see it. It's if out of sight, out of mind, so it all needs to be out.
Catherine:No, I think that's a, I feel that's a natural part of creating, for me at least. So I get that. How do you balance structure and spontaneity in what you do?
Amanda:As far as let me just make sure I understand the question. So structure and spontaneity as far as, like, how, what does one organize time? Or how does one, strike that balance between those two things, like in a piece of art? Or Yes.
Catherine:To both either. Yeah, yes, to both.
Amanda:Okay, fair enough. I schedule time to be spontaneous, if that makes sense.
Ellyn:It does.
Amanda:So I have, yeah, I definitely have responsibilities. I have things I have to get done. So there, I do the things that I have to do the chores and, the childcare, and if I've got. Grading papers or if I've got that kind of thing, like I do that and then I know on, this day and that day, those are my full throttle, make things day, or this is my three hours of zone out, like make stuff. And as far as I think in a piece of art, it's, it's the same philosophy. Like I'm structuring it enough that it's. There are spaces for spontaneity, but enough that I can get, at the end of the day, something that I want. If that makes sense. I should probably reword that a little bit better. When I'm approaching a piece of art, I think I would say it's more there's like a controlled improv part of it. So with a painting, you start off with a general idea, and you start off with, My general drawing, but then within that, go nuts, experiment with color, experiment with texture experiment with brushwork, within, but within kind of the scope of the frame that I've set for myself. And I think the same would be true, yeah, and I think the same would be true, too, even With say for example, like the quilts that you have seen me do. I start off with a pretty strong idea of what I want the overall structure to be. But then within that, I will play. I think if you allow yourself to have too many variables, it gets really overwhelming really quickly. So if you focus on, say for quilting, if you give yourself like a limited palette, You can go crazy with shape or the way you're gonna do your blocks. I think if you are gonna be very interested in the structure of the blocks, then you can go unlimited with color. I think you need to pick the thing that you are willing to go and have your intuition just go crazy. Just, you need to structure enough that you can go crazy and just feel like at the end of the day you're going to have something that's balanced.
Ellyn:So does that change from project to project or is it usually color for you or usually shape? Is it different with each situation? Makes
Amanda:I think it's different with each situation, and I tend to, I think, alternate the things that I'm interested in experimenting with, so I love the idea, we were talking earlier about printmaking. I love the idea of having that initial key block that you can then Go crazy with the paper the color underneath the color of the ink That's a really fun way to feel really experimental whereas I think if You know with painting it's a little bit It's a little bit harder to do that but I try to give myself a general idea of this is the subject of the painting and this is the feel i'm going for but other than that like You Go. Go crazy. And it either works or it doesn't. But yeah, I think I try to vary up the things that I'm varying. It's good exercise.
Ellyn:Sure is. That would stretch you, right?
Amanda:I hope so.
Catherine:We are actually coming to the end of our time. Is there anything else that you want to share about your creative process or how you or that you want to share with people about creativity?
Amanda:Just don't be afraid of it. You can, if you're working in textiles or fibers, you can always reclaim the materials. If you're making paintings, everybody makes bad paintings. Everybody makes bad painting, but like you have to get through the bad ones to get to the good ones and please don't let that stop you from trying things that you want to try, gather inspiration gather support, get it. I will say this. I think one of the things that I love so much about the fiber arts is the sense of community. That doesn't happen in painting that I have found. And I miss, I don't know, your audience, who, what kind of medium they're geared towards, but I would say if you have a community of supportive artists around you, totally lean on them. Get ideas from them, share with them, work with them it's awesome. But just in general, to not be scared to try things. What's the worst that can happen,
Catherine:point.
Amanda:That you didn't try. That you have regrets. So yeah, don't, and everybody's creative. Everybody's creative.
Ellyn:advice.
Catherine:I love that.
Amanda:Yeah, just trust yourself.
Catherine:I have one more question for you. You had mentioned that like sometimes self doubt creeps in. What do you do? How, what do you do when that happens? How do you get over that?
Amanda:Oh, what do I do when self doubt creeps in? I remind myself of why I was enthusiastic about the project to start with, because I think self doubt can be crippling, and it's a really hard thing to overcome, and even if, and this is speaking of someone that's made close to a thousand paintings, and has written many papers, and has You know, done many artistic things. I still don't feel like I'm a real artist in a lot of ways. And I let that kind of get to me sometimes, but. Then I remind myself of what it is that it drew me in the first place, right? What is it about this thing that I can't quit doing? And sometimes it's with the fiber arts I am obsessed with these materials. They are just beautiful. They're, you can do so many cool things with them with painting. Painting is my first love. It is. my lifelong love. It is something I can't stop looking at even when I'm not making it. I'm studying it. I want to know all of the things. But I, that's what I would say is just remind yourself of what it is that inspired you to start your art, whatever it is in the first place, because that is the source.
Catherine:so much, Amanda. I really appreciate what you shared with us today. I feel like I walked away with feeling inspired.
Amanda:Oh, that's so nice. Okay. Great. Cause I'm just like, it is funny. I think when I had kids, I knew that it was going to take me away from making, I knew it would. And it's been hard, I think, to get myself back into the idea of, yes, you are a creative, you're a creative person that has done amazing things and you have these, talents that you can use. It's been nice to get to revisit that and tap back into it too and to remind myself of who I am. So this is I'm really happy that you interviewed me too. I'm glad you're inspired. I think it's really interesting you're asking about this, because it's just I hit that so hard the other day with writing my dissertation. I'm just like, what are you doing? Ah, but then
Catherine:I think it's something that's so common and it comes up so much in academia, but also in the art world, like that idea of imposter syndrome that somehow I ended up here by accident and I don't really belong and nobody else and everybody knows that I don't belong or I'm hiding it really well, but I think we have to, I always tell my students when they start saying, I don't belong here. I'm like, you have to name it. You have to say I am feeling like an imposter, but that is not true. And I think we have, we can do that in our creative worlds in the same way and to recognize that just because I'm feeling that does not make it true.
Amanda:yeah. And I think there's something like incredibly freeing about knowing that other people feel like that
Catherine:Oh, it's so important. Yes. Yeah.
Ellyn:Absolutely. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what else you come up with and where all of this leads you going forward. It's really fun to watch. It'll be great.
Catherine:right.
Amanda:thank you guys for having me do this. I hope it helps somebody. I hope, I'm glad to hear it inspired you guys,
Ellyn:Absolutely did.
Amanda:bit,
Ellyn:Thanks for making the time. Thanks for taking time to talk with us and share and explore and you've given me a lot to think about and I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way.
.png)
.png)