The ADHD Artist Podcast

Jamie McKelvie is a writer, artist, designer and director best known for his frequent collaborations with Kieron Gillen on projects such as Young Avengers and the critically acclaimed 9 volume epic, The Wicked and The Divine. He has designed several characters for Marvel Comics that have since been translated to screen, including Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel, Loki and America Chavez. Outside of comics, Jamie has worked with several bands including Tegan and Sara and Art Brut, and regularly collaborates with Chvrches, including directing the video for their song Bury It. He lives in Scotland with his girlfriend and their cat.

Check out episode 13 with Kelli, where we discuss opera, gaming, Terry Pratchett, letting yourself be ridiculous, and lots more!

Kelli Butler (known online as The Opera Geek) is a professional opera singer, aria slinging mercenary, and Actual Bard. * She is an award-winning (actually, not just from my mom) opera soprano whose roles include Queen of the Night, Hanna Glawari, Musetta, Violetta, and more.

When not performing - say, during a pandemic - she can be found playing games on her twitch channel or appearing in a multitude of other TTRPG/D&D shows, including the new campaign "Let's get Wildemount!", set in the Critical role universe.

Kelli is the co-author of the best-selling College of the Opera bard subclass for bards, which can be found on the DMsGuild. She lives in NY with her husband Justin and their two very irrational pets, Bones and Scotty.

About Kyla:

Kyla is a Toronto based, New Orleans bred Visual Artist with a passion for painting, intuitively portraying emotions and mindsets through her work. Struggling with ADHD and Mental Health, Kyla uses these as a tool to create her compositions. As her thoughts move a mile a minute, so does her paintbrush. Use of hyper-detail, layering, and hidden imagery within her work tricks the eye into multiple perspectives, leading each and every viewer to see something different depending on how they look at it. Ultimately, Kyla hopes to inspire neurodivergent individuals to utilize their disabilities as positive and unique traits, rather than as setbacks in life.

Kyla received her BFA in Visual Art from York University in 2018 and officially launched her art business, Kyla Yager Artwork, in January 2020. She has been drawing and painting since early childhood, leading to a consistent art practice for over 20 years.

You can find her work in online publications such as Art Habens, Beyond Words, and The Button Eye Review. View her work in-person at the Riverdale Gallery in Toronto and at Fly Right Galaxy Gift and Studio in New Orleans. If interested in murals, commissions, collaborations, workshops, or live painting, please email Kyla at [email protected].

🗣️ Quotes from Kyla Yager

"The best thing you can do as an ADHD person is just do what you are most passionate about every day, because then you'll never get bored."

"My process is so freaking fun. I just love making what I make. When I finish it, it's just because I've run out of room on the canvas."

"The biggest detriment that you can do to a creative professional career is putting in some work and then stopping because you feel like it's not working."

"I want to be a famous artist, not for the vanity of fame and fortune, but because I want to start a movement and make an impact on the fine art world."

"Collaboration over competition all the way."

For more information and to explore Kyla's art, visit her website at www.kylayagerartwork.com. Follow her on social media to stay updated on her latest projects and exhibitions.

Dani Bagel: Playing Piano through Panic Attacks, Tapping into your Uniqueness, Art and Music as Healing, Creating External Structure, and Making Music through Generations

Dani Bagel Bio

“I make music for myself”.
With this statement, Cape-Town based artist Dani Bagel announces her debut solo project,
“Magic in Her Hair”. The musician has created an EP that is unapologetically made on her
own terms and produced under her own label.
These songs are less distinct artistic approaches, than a reflection of different parts of the
same person. “They are all just me”, Dani says, “it’s not like I’m acting like somebody else”.
Audiences were first introduced to her sound four years ago, with her features on several
singles. First, came the release of Keagan John Moore’s “Lay it on Tonight” under the alias
Gabrielle, with the Cartel. In 2017, however, she released the first single as Dani Bagel,
‘Where Did We Go Wrong’. The deeply honest and atmospheric dancefloor sizzler, co-
written with Caleb Williams, introduced the strength of her pen. Since then, her
collaborations include Lebo Lukewarm (Swimming Practice), Omar Morto (Cruise Control)
and Gina Jeans (Smoke and Mirrors, co-written with Jimmy Nevis). With Magic In Her Hair,
however, Dani is stepping directly into the spotlight and into a new era of her career – one
completely driven by a commitment to making the music she wants to create, embracing both
individuality and collaboration.
The classically-trained musician took on co-executive producer role for the project alongside
engineer, Eldon Quirk (Sunset Studios) and Kooldrink – the young producer who has worked
with the likes of Sho Madjozi, Diplo, DJ Maphorisa and Youngsta CPT. Magic in Her Hair
draws together 6 producers between 5 eclectic songs, while paying homage to all of her
coming-of-age 1990s R&B albums. This EP is her version of seeking to create this kind of
work for a new generation.
What draws the different songs together is Dani’s musical DNA as a musician, and clear
creative vision. She describes this project as both an offering to audiences, and a dare
directed at herself, rooted in genuine passion and joy. With her collaborators, she explains
that “there was so much space given to just trying any idea” kind of idea.
The result is an eclectic, yet connected EP that makes space for experimentation, play and the
different moods and moments that reflect the diversity of what it means to exist and
experience life. The strength of her songwriting, commitment to honest lyrics, exploration of
deep feeling, playful extravagance and classical training are the album’s defining elements.
Azul is an interlude that Dani describes as a ‘whirlpool of thoughts’ written during a panic
attack, where she met her piano as a centering force. Okay (Co-written with Caleb Williams)
is a sentimental, emotion-filled conversation, that she explains that could be a way of
‘singing to yourself or someone else’, as the chorus constantly returns to the repetition of
“I’m ok”. Rooted in deep vulnerability the song finds the artist asking for permission to be
herself. Sturvy turns an insult into an anthem. Dani explains that her social anxiety and naturally inward nature often led to her being labelled and assumed to be “sturvy” by those
who don’t know her. The song is about dealing with and subverting these perceptions, and
while she starts out singing, by the end of it she blasts into bars. The anthemic Testing repeats
the refrain “testing the water”. As the song that builds and grows from its initial impulses, it
could be the motto of the entire project – which is unafraid to experiment and enter new
musical territories.
The album’s inspiration, too, draws from an eclectic set of artists - from Doja Cat’s exciting
experimental approach to Ariana Grande’s layered choral-esque vocal harmonies and HER
and Snoh Aalegra’s modern take on R&B. What connects these influences is their creation of
“women-led music”, as Dani gravitates towards artists who directly express their grit and
effortlessly move between genres and styles.
Magic In Her Hair is an EP that aims to intrigue. On her hopes for the project, Dani says, “A
person who listens to me for the first time will kind of be, I hope, intrigued by the kind of
artist that I can be”. She later definitively adds, “The kind of artist I am”.
For more information and interview requests, please contact [email protected]
Her Latest single “Testing” can be streamed https://lnkfi.re/Danibagel-Testing

Testing is a shout-out to loud long lekker nights full of debauchery and bubble. The
Naughty Nineties repurposed and packaged for
our modern ears. The anthem for ‘Remember
that party’. But the music and the vibe is not the
...

Anna is a young and talented ceramics artist who just graduated from art school (DURING A PANDEMIC!). In this episode, we discuss Anna’s experiences with ADHD and the side effects of medication (the choice between one’s physical health and the ability to focus). We chat about managing social anxiety, what it feels like to work with clay, and many other fun things! Check it out!

Bio:
Anna Wagner was born in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and has lived most of her life in Wichita, Kansas. In
2014, she moved to Arkansas to receive her Associates of General Studies at Arkansas State University - Beebe.
From 2015 - 2020, she attended UCA and graduated with a BFA in emphasis in Ceramics. In undergrad, Anna
received Internship Scholarships for artist Jason Briggs (2020) and the Clay Art Center (2019). Other scholarships
include a one-week class scholarship for Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (2019), UCA Performance
Scholarship (2018-2019), Wingate Foundation Scholarship (2018-2019), and Arkansas Academic Challenge
Scholarship (2015-2019). The artist was awarded The Student of the Year (Spring 2020), Senior Show Exhibition
Honors (Fall 2019), and Honorable Mention for the Annual Student Competitive (Spring 2019). She was
interviewed for UCA Artist Spotlight on ESPN (2019) and was interviewed for the UCA Vortex Podcast (2019).
Throughout academia, Anna was an active member of four of UCA’s fine art clubs: Vice President in Clay Club
(2018-2020); Sculpture Club (2017-2018); and BFA Critique Club (2018-2019). She and her peers brought multiple
arts and professional development opportunities at UCA, such as: reaching out to artists and bringing community
events like fundraisers, field trips, ceramic sales, pop-up shows, and public outreach. Anna volunteered and demoed
for art events around Conway such as the Empathy Project (2019), Eco Arts Fest (2018), and Female Foundry iron
pour (2018). She assisted and taught clay building and pottery throwing for her internship at the Clay Art Center in
NY (2019), Downtown Conway (2019), Clay Club’s Potluck (2018), and has taught a basic figurative drawing
session for her Study Abroad group in Spain (2018). She has also assisted artists, such as interning Jason Briggs
(2020), Adam Chau at the Clay Art Center gallery (2019), visiting artist Peter Pincus (2018), and visiting artist Ben
Butler (2017).

Artist Statement:
My body of work stems from the perspective of someone dealing with ADHD and draws
attention to the effects of taking Adderall mentally, socially, and physically. Since I began
discussing my experiences a few years ago, I have gathered inspiration from those who have
dealt with similar disabilities and medication side effects. With that I began illustrating these
narratives through portraiture and some text. The functional ceramic shapes signify my
personal struggles with medications that restrained my appetite. The looseness of the forms
juxtaposes against the detailed renderings of the portraits; a constant battle between who I
truly am verses who I wish to be. The individuals in my work are drained of color yet see and
experience world of gaiety and distractions.
Since childhood I have enjoyed the loud and vivid cartoons from comic books and television
shows. These vibrant hues find their way to the vessel forms. The translation results in bright,
colorful objects that seem to vibrate and hum with potential energy. Aiding in this perceived
movement, I created forms from pieced together shapes sometimes making no sense as
separate parts but finding their place as supports, feet, lids, or additions. This
discombobulation can be said as well for anyone with invisible mental disabilities, finding
their place and support in a community recognizing the struggles of those dealing with it.
If the vessels are used in a utilitarian sense, the imagery or discussion with these portraits
would be disrupted. Therefore, the function of these vessels is not the primary reason they are
vessels, but rather used as an esthetic, similar to the repeated “?!” speech bubble referencing
confusion. All to discuss the absence of a desire for food while taking Adderall. Some of the
portraits chosen are of those who have dealt with learning disabilities and felt ‘othered’ and
outcasted in some way. The work is physically structured and presented as portraits of those
who need a voice, filling the empty forms with stories, each one echoing my own.