297: How to balance the creative scales (w/ Cassie Stephens)

Cassie Stephens teaches art at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. She spends a lot of her free time sewing wacky outfits to accompany art lessons, thrift shopping and just making stuff.

She is also the creator and host of the podcast Everyday Art Room, a podcast that offers a glimpse into the world of elementary art and offers advice, stories and ideas to improve your teaching.

In this episode, Cassie discusses:

-Going from a comfortable identity as the “weird artsy kid” in high school to an uncomfortable self-conscious lack of identity in college.

-The difference in mentality between her fine art classes and her art education classes and classmates.

-The biggest lie she was ever told and how it stayed with her for years.

-How she put so much effort into teaching art that she let go of creating for herself for seven years.

-The ways in which she got back to her personal creative side.

-The ways she tries to align her DIY creative side with her teaching side.

-How she balances her time.

-The logic and emotion behind her decision to stop pursuing painting.

-Why we should never create from a place of obligation or guilt, because the work will always reflect those emotions.

-Why we lose our childlike excitement for creativity.

Cassie’s Final Push will remind and inspire you to LOVE the creative person inside of you!

Quotes:

“I had to decide – did I want to be an artist? Or did I want to be an art teacher? Because I was led to believe that I couldn’t be both.”

“Because I spent so much of my time figuring out how to teach art and trying to do the best job that I could, I completely let go of the idea of creating.”

“It’s like a vitamin deficiency. When you’re a creative person and you’re not creating, then something feels off and wrong. You’re not taking your vitamins.”

“I am still an epic poor manager of time but somehow I force myself to find time and to make time.”

“I spent so much time letting my professors in my head and losing track of who I was and why I loved painting.”