Pain In The Arts

What does it mean when your creative life goes quiet, when nothing's moving, nothing's landing, and the work that used to flow just... doesn't?Brea brought this concept to the table and it turned out to be quite fitting for the moment. Sitting in the studio late on a cold, winter's night with a couple of gin and tonics, I warmed up to this idea of 'creative winter'.In this episode, Brea talks about the season of dormancy. The stillness that feels like stagnation, the brutal pruning of projects or habits that can feel like loss, and the subterranean root growth you can’t see, but makes the next season possible.Put your headphones on if:Your work has stalled - and you're agonising over whether it's just a temporary season or a sign to pack it all in.You're suffering from 'season envy' - watching someone else hit their glorious creative summer while you're sitting in the dark, freezing.You know something needs to be pruned - a project, an old commitment, a bad habit. But you’ve been hanging onto it out of sentiment or guilt.You need permission to go dark for a bit

What does it actually take to write a book with your best friend, across two continents, for years?This week we're joined by Dom Shorthouse and Shannon Davis from the podcast An Appropriate Amount of Soup, and things get wonderfully chaotic. Dom and Shannon co-authored a novel by sending chapters back and forth, each trying to outsmart, and occasionally sabotage, the other. Now they're both writing their own trilogies, Shannon has two self-published novels available on Amazon, and Dom is building a Dungeons & Dragons fine dining experience that has yet to receive a single booking.Warning: this episode contains a detailed analysis of wassail, a child calling a substitute teacher 'Whorehouse,' and a serious discussion about whether an appropriate amount of soup is actually achievable.You might want to listen if:• You've ever started a creative project with a friend and wondered who was actually doing the work• You're a writer trying to figure out how to grow an audience without surrendering your soul to the algorithm• You've been putting off the scary second half of a creative project (the part where you have to show it to people)Shannon has written a couple of great books.Humbuckle/Ramshackle - Read a sample hereThe Town In The North - Buy it hereCheck out Shannon and Dom's podcast - An Appropriate Amount of Soup Instagram @soup_pod

What if the biggest thing standing in the way of your art is the story you keep telling yourself? This week on Pain In The Arts, we dive into the 'untrustworthy narrator' in our own heads and explore how outdated assumptions hold back our art practices and careers. We talk about separating your identity from your work, learning to say no, and fighting for your creative time. (Featuring a one-armed neighbour, a near-disastrous winery set, and a lesson on Main Character Energy).Listen if you:Suspect the voice in your head has been answering your creative questions using old, outdated data. Need a gentle push to stop talking yourself out of your next creative move and start protecting your time. Feel like you're navigating the gap between knowing what to do in your creative life and actually doing it.

What does a creative household actually look like from the inside when you're the kid?We've been wanting to do this episode for a while and this week we finally got around to it, mostly because our guest was available after breakfast.Gray Wesley is 19, plays drums in Melbourne alt-metal band Mindstain, handles most of their bookings and social media, and also happens to be our son.  We chat about his jump from playing a childhood drum kit to booking gigs, handling venue logistics, and playing iconic stages like Revolver Upstairs. We discuss the reality of playing in Melbourne's underground music scene, the financial challenges of being a young artist, growing up in a creative home, and why the live music community matters more than ever.You might want to listen if:You're a young musician trying to figure out how bands actually workYou're a parent watching your kid navigate the arts and wondering what they're taking inYou've ever hauled a drum kit up a narrow staircase and questioned your life choices

Is creativite expression a luxury — or has your brain been waiting for it all along?In this episode, Breallyn breaks down the fascinating neuroscience of the creative mind across an entire lifespan. From the hyperplastic minds of toddlers to menopausal brain fog, all the way to a 70-year-old jazz guitarist still lighting up a room, we trace what creativity actually does to the brain as we age.As it turns out, the thing you keep pushing to the very end of your daily to-do list might be exactly what your brain needs most!This episode is for you if:You're waiting for life to calm down before getting back to your art (spoiler: it won't).You are navigating perimenopause or menopause and want to reclaim your identity, focus, and mental clarity.You've written off learning something new because you think you're too old, too busy, or too set in your ways.

Life has a way of making a mockery of your best intentions. We set out to do a Pain in the Arts health check and discovered that neither of us has touched a watercolour in weeks, but perhaps Brea has found a new obsession?We talk about where we're actually at with our creative projects, why the minor side quests have quietly stepped into the breach, and what happens when the chaos of school holidays, support worker changes, and a new assistance dog lands on top of everything else.We also get into calm marketing — whether we've actually been doing it, or just fooling ourselves — and what Lyndon found when he finally sat down to look at all the data.And we end up somewhere we didn't expect: on the importance of being kinder to yourself about how much you're actually doing, even when progress feels invisible.You might want to listen if:Your creative practice has been swallowed by school holidays, caregiving, or just lifeYou've been meaning to revisit your social media strategy but keep putting it offYou find yourself saying "I haven't done anything this week" and then remembering you actually did a lotYou like the idea of calm marketing but aren't sure if it's working