Who gets to be called an artist? Turns out the reason you've always thought of quilts as 'just craft' and oil paintings as 'real art' has less to do with skill, and more to do with who was allowed to hold a brush. This week, Breallyn unpacks the gender and race politics behind art history — what gets called Art with a capital A, and what gets called 'a nice hobby' and why women artists so rarely made it into the first category.

Along the way: Persian rug weavers who sing the pattern into existence, the Black American women who stitched Underground Railroad escape routes into quilts and hung them in plain sight, and what it means that those codes were invisible to the very people trying to stop them.

Also: a birthday getaway that turned out to be the coldest day of the year in rural Victoria, Australia, a magnificent antique emporium that's sadly been closed for a decade, and the quiet return of a sound around the house that Breallyn had noticed was gone.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gretta Ziller grew up on a farm in regional Victoria playing violin at three, bagpipes at boarding school, and singing opera at Melbourne Uni — before her sister put on a Garth Brooks album and changed everything. Now she's an Americana artist doing it entirely on her own terms.

In this episode, Gretta breaks down what Americana actually is, why she'd rather sell you a $2 download than earn .003 cents on a Spotify stream, and what it took to co-write a song a week for an entire year.

Oh, and there's a new Chihuahua named Eleanor Rigby.

Visit Gretta Ziller online

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erik Parker has been a lot of things — guitarist, vocalist, live sound engineer, recording producer, guitar teacher, Nirvana tribute act, Satanic gospel cabaret performer, and teenage busker in the Frankston Mall. He joins us to talk about what a music career actually looks like when the work keeps shifting and expanding: the burnout, the reinvention, the collaborations you have to book before the beer is finished, and why he had to learn to get nervous again.

It's also a reunion — Erik was one of Lyndon's guitar students about 30 years ago — so there's a warmth and honesty here that goes deeper than the usual career chat. We cover grief, performance anxiety, the wedding gig where he refused to learn a Snow Patrol song (and then absolutely had to learn it), and the night his LPG gas tank fell off his car on the Calder Freeway, closing the freeway and ending a run of Adelaide gigs before they'd even begun.

Find Erik Parker on Instagram

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Lyndon and Breallyn on this episode of 'Pain In The Arts' as they explore the cost of constant connectivity. Inspired by author Jay Kristoff's bold advice for creatives, we dive into why putting down your phone and resisting the "misery machine" of modern technology is essential for artistic growth. We also discuss the shifting role of AI in the creative process—from the use of tools like Suno to historical debates on technological disruption in art—alongside the usual personal updates, including Bunnings adventures and exciting news about our new puppy, Lacey.

Transcript available here

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is creativity a gift for the few, or a fundamental human energy we all possess? This week, Lyndon and Breallyn explore the work of Australian designer Ben Rennie and his book, Lessons in Creativity: Stories and Strategies to Cultivate Your Creative Confidence.

We dive into why 'creativity' isn't actually 'art,' but an energy we can all access. By focusing on two specific pillars—curiosity and generosity—we discuss how to dismantle 'scarcity thinking' and the fear that ideas are a limited resource.

From finding inspiration in the details of a seashell to the bravery of sharing unfinished work, we look at how an abundance mindset can transform your creative agency. If you’ve ever felt like you 'weren't an artist,' this conversation is for you.

Ben Rennie website

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was originally released on October 28, 2025, and we're re-releasing it today due to the Easter break disrupting our usual scheduling — hope you enjoy it if you missed it the first time around!

In this episode, Breallyn and I discuss the essential role that hobbies and side projects play in a creative life. From my own cat-trapping adventures to furniture restoration and some pretty spectacular lapidary failures, we talk through how low-stakes creative outlets can actually prevent burnout and make your main artistic work better.

We get into the paradox of needing distractions from your art in order to make better art, the very real danger of accidentally raising the bar on a hobby until it stops being fun, and why that calm, clear creative headspace often shows up at the worst possible moment.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Pain In The Arts, where the pursuit of meaningful art meets the unpredictable demands of real life. In an era often described as a 'dumpster fire,' how do creative individuals maintain their sanity and continue their work? This week, Brea and Lyndon discuss the challenges of staying informed without losing your mind and explore how sensitive, big-hearted creatives can gather their energy to keep fighting the good fight.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Momentum exists, and it’s going to latch onto something—the question is, what?" In this episode, Lyndon and Breallyn explore the neutral force of momentum and how the "drifting" of daily life often carries artists away from their true creative goals. Inspired by the blunt insights of Grammy-winning producer Billy Hume, it's a look at the work ethic required to keep your art moving forward when life tries to pull you off course.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

Enjoyed this episode? Please share with a friend!

Support the show, access exclusive content, or explore our free tier on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/painintheartslife

For more from Creative Life Chronicles (website coming soon!) and the Pain In The Arts podcast, visit our website:

http://www.paininthearts.life

Recorded and produced at Morning Phase Recording Room.

Original theme music by Lyndon Wesley:

http://www.lyndonwesley.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.