In the Making - Say Yes to Yes with Shantell Martin

Say Yes to Yes with Shantell Martin

06/26/24 • 28 min

Teresa Au chats with artist Shantell Martin about how not fitting in–growing up in London, going to art school, and living in Japan–forced her to really know herself and launched her creative career. Shantell’s trademark continuous line art represents her quest to understand what makes us each unique, and to find ways for us to connect to one another. Her thoughtful and confident reflections, her spirit of sharing, and her sense of adventure will inspire you in your creative journey.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

How Shantell’s upbringing in working-class London shaped her identity
Why saying Yes to Yes and No to No is harder than it sounds
Shantell’s roundabout journey to art school and how it opened up her world
Why Japan felt more liberating to Shantell than London ever did
Shantell’s coming out story
The importance of being uncomfortable if you want to be creative
How Shantell came to live in New York
Reflections on big breaks vs. a slowly building career
Creating community amongst artists
Why LINES and PATHS are so important to Shantell
Mentors and mentoring
Shantell’s What’s the Point? Podcast
The connections between creativity and mental health

Shantell Martin is a public speaker, intuitive philosopher, cultural facilitator, curator, choreographer, songwriter, performer, and more. From fashion and celebrity collaborations to adjunct professor positions at MIT Media Lab, NYU Tisch ITP, Columbia University’s Brown Institute, and choreographing a ballet at the Boston Ballet, Shantell’s LINE constantly evolves.Creating new connections between fine art, education, design, philosophy, and technology, Shantell explores themes such as intersectionality, identity, and play.

Download Shantell’s font, Shantell Sans and make something creative. Check out Shantell’s What’s the Point? podcast to hear her interviews with Los Angeles-based artists.

Teresa Au (@tautastic) is an executive for community engagement at Adobe, where she focuses on empowering creatives and students via workshops, panels, and podcasts. On creating In the Making, Teresa says “I knew I wanted to amplify the incredible personal stories of the talented and unique humans I’ve been meeting online and at our Create Now events across the world.”

Learn more about this podcast, and find transcripts and links, at adobe.ly/inthemaking. In the Making is brought you by Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Past episodes of Wireframe can still be found in the show archive within this feed, or online on Behance.

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Adobe Creative Cloud provides apps, web services, and resources for all your creative projects — photography, graphic design, video editing, UX design, drawing and painting, social media, and more.

Learn more about the apps in Creative Cloud

What you’ll hear in this episode:

How Shantell’s upbringing in working-class London shaped her identity
Why saying Yes to Yes and No to No is harder than it sounds
Shantell’s roundabout journey to art school and how it opened up her world
Why Japan felt more liberating to Shantell than London ever did
Shantell’s coming out story
The importance of being uncomfortable if you want to be creative
How Shantell came to live in New York
Reflections on big breaks vs. a slowly building career
Creating community amongst artists
Why LINES and PATHS are so important to Shantell
Mentors and mentoring
Shantell’s What’s the Point? Podcast
The connections between creativity and mental health

Download Shantell’s font, Shantell Sans and make something creative. Check out Shantell’s What’s the Point? podcast to hear her interviews with Los Angeles-based artists.

Learn more about this podcast, and find transcripts and links, at adobe.ly/inthemaking. In the Making is brought you by Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Past episodes of Wireframe can still be found in the show archive within this feed, or online on Behance.

Adobe Creative Cloud provides apps, web services, and resources for all your creative projects — photography, graphic design, video editing, UX design, drawing and painting, social media, and more.

Learn more about the apps in Creative Cloud

Previous Episode

BONUS: Live from Adobe MAX London with Margot Bowman and Rachel Sale

For this bonus episode, host Teresa Au shares talks from Adobe MAX London, Adobe’s flagship event in Europe for learning and inspiration. First we hear from Rachel Sale, a UK-based illustrator who is currently an Adobe Creative Resident at London's Victoria and Albert Museum. Rachel shares what it’s like to actually work in a museum, have access to museum resources, and display her work there. Next, filmmaker Margot Bowman shares her artist's journey with the concept of permission--who needs to ask for permission to be creative? Who has the power in that dynamic? Margot’s conclusions are both empowering and surprising.

Rachel Sale is a London-based artist who focuses on collective making. Since 2019, she has been leading F.A.T. Studio CIC, a nonprofit arts organization that runs collaborative art projects from a storefront on Old Kent Road, southeast London. This year, she is the Adobe Creative Resident for Illustration at the V&A Museum, where she is exploring map making as a method for building self-compassion, community and visions of the future.

Margot Bowman, born and raised in London, uses the medium of film in all its forms as a creative vehicle for telling powerful human stories, centered on emotional truths. While she has primarily directed documentaries and commercials, she recently co-directed Amazon Prime’s The Tour ‘23, a feature documentary about the relaunch of Victoria Secret’s iconic fashion show as reimagined by 20 diverse women artists. Her documentary Coming Home, which premiered at SXSW 2022, was awarded Best Short at the prestigious Palestine Cinema Days, and was shortlisted for the International Documentary Association’s films of the year. She is now at work on her first feature film.

Shamima Begum leads Adobe Corporate Communications in EMEA, managing corporate reputation and brand purpose programs.

Learn more about this podcast, and find transcripts and links, at adobe.ly/inthemaking. In the Making is brought you by Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Past episodes of Wireframe can still be found in the show archive within this feed, or online on Behance.

Adobe Creative Cloud provides apps, web services, and resources for all your creative projects — photography, graphic design, video editing, UX design, drawing and painting, social media, and more.

Learn more about the apps in Creative Cloud

Next Episode

BONUS Creative Connection Live with Jack Watson and Dewey Saunders

For this bonus episode, host Teresa Au shares chats hosted by her Adobe colleagues Kladi Vergine and Elise Swopes. First we hear from Jack Watson, a brand designer, solopreneur, and social media star–all at just 21 years old. Jack shares how he discovered design tools, his foray into concert promotion, and how an international retailer found his work. Next, eclectic artist Dewey Saunders describes his artistic journey from pen-and-ink to collage to digital design. Plus, Dewey shares his musician origins, how he’s influenced by music, and why he’s a go-to collaborator for artists like Future and Anderson .Paak.

These conversations and more are from Creative Connection Live, an Instagram Live show hosted by Adobe evangelists that features one guest and three questions in 15 minutes. You can find episodes at @iamkladi, @swopes, and @lugidesign.

Need a place to plot your next creative endeavor? Remix this template in Adobe Express: https://adobe.ly/ITM-Bonus

Kladi Vergine is an award-winning Italian designer, visual strategist, instructor, and author, as well as the founder of Studio Printmysoul, a UK-based design boutique. She is also Sr Creative Cloud Evangelist and Community Advocate at Adobe, where she creates instructive content for creative pros, students, and beginners.

Jack Watson is a Manchester, UK-based brand designer with a passion for strategic positioning. Jack enjoys exploring different creative paths, mentoring upcoming designers, and staying inspired by the latest innovations in technology.

Elise Swopes is a NYC-based multi-hyphenate whose talents include public speaking and live hosting, NFTs and Web3, consulting, photography, videography, and more. Her artistic process involves using mobile apps to transform images into whimsical and magical creations, and she isn't afraid to turn the camera on herself, starring in campaigns for various brands. As Sr. Adobe Express Evangelist & Community Advocate at Adobe, she focuses on building and nurturing relationships in the creative community.

Dewey Saunders is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist working in collage, illustration, and computer-based graphic design. His artwork and album covers combine the tropical psychedelia of his native South Florida with hip-hop and pre-internet ephemera.

Learn more about this podcast, and find transcripts and links, at adobe.ly/inthemaking. In the Making is brought you by Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Past episodes of Wireframe can still be found in the show archive within this feed, or online on Behance.

Adobe Creative Cloud provides apps, web services, and resources for all your creative projects — photography, graphic design, video editing, UX design, drawing and painting, social media, and more.

Learn more about the apps in Creative Cloud