
316: STRETCH your creative imagination! (w/ Felix Semper)
Explicit content warning
12/10/18 • 45 min
Felix Semper is a Cuban American painter and sculptor. He gained popularity with his sculpture of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. which he crafted from thousands of layers of glued paper.
Semper's work has been collected by global corporations and celebrities such as Business Insider, Marriott International, Champs Sports, A$AP Rocky, Wendy Williams, Elvis Duran, Ryan Seacrest, and Kelly Ripa from Live with Kelly and Ryan, as well as numerous private collectors and institutions.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/felixsemper
In this episode, Felix discusses:-How he describes his unique sculptures.
-Taking a long break from his artistic endeavors.
-How cutting paper in a print shop was one of the seeds that had been planted long before he started his sculptures.
-His career building properties and what happened during the housing crash in 2008.
-Getting back to his creative roots as a means of healing his pain.
-The way that he creates his material by gluing pieces of paper together.
-How time disappears while he is making his art.
-The spontaneous and explosive bursts of creativity that he gets through his painting, which helps him balance the monotonous and long process of creating one of his sculptures.
-The doubt that creeps in as he starts a piece (and the eventual moment of recognition when the piece appears, sometimes weeks or months later).
-The structural integrity of his sculptures and how people have to learn how to handle them.
Felix's Final Push will inspire you to start to snowball your creative efforts until you can’t control it any longer! Quotes:“I went back to my roots and started drawing to heal my wounds and to heal what was happening on my outside.”
“We think that everything has been invented and everything has been done, but in reality it hasn’t. There’s still so many angles you can take just based on your creativity.”
“It was something that I was doing for healing, waiting for the next thing in my life to happen, never knowing that this was the thing that was going to happen.”
“I don’t want to do anything else for the rest of my life. I want to do art.”
“I wake up every morning and go to my studio and start working and I am the happiest person on earth.”
Links mentioned:Kelly & Ryan Anniversary Mugs [YouTube]
Felix Semper's Frida [YouTube]
Connect with Felix:Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
On the next episode:David Kochberg of Goodnight, Sunrise: Website / Soundcloud / Spotify
Join the discussion in the Facebook group!Felix Semper is a Cuban American painter and sculptor. He gained popularity with his sculpture of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. which he crafted from thousands of layers of glued paper.
Semper's work has been collected by global corporations and celebrities such as Business Insider, Marriott International, Champs Sports, A$AP Rocky, Wendy Williams, Elvis Duran, Ryan Seacrest, and Kelly Ripa from Live with Kelly and Ryan, as well as numerous private collectors and institutions.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/felixsemper
In this episode, Felix discusses:-How he describes his unique sculptures.
-Taking a long break from his artistic endeavors.
-How cutting paper in a print shop was one of the seeds that had been planted long before he started his sculptures.
-His career building properties and what happened during the housing crash in 2008.
-Getting back to his creative roots as a means of healing his pain.
-The way that he creates his material by gluing pieces of paper together.
-How time disappears while he is making his art.
-The spontaneous and explosive bursts of creativity that he gets through his painting, which helps him balance the monotonous and long process of creating one of his sculptures.
-The doubt that creeps in as he starts a piece (and the eventual moment of recognition when the piece appears, sometimes weeks or months later).
-The structural integrity of his sculptures and how people have to learn how to handle them.
Felix's Final Push will inspire you to start to snowball your creative efforts until you can’t control it any longer! Quotes:“I went back to my roots and started drawing to heal my wounds and to heal what was happening on my outside.”
“We think that everything has been invented and everything has been done, but in reality it hasn’t. There’s still so many angles you can take just based on your creativity.”
“It was something that I was doing for healing, waiting for the next thing in my life to happen, never knowing that this was the thing that was going to happen.”
“I don’t want to do anything else for the rest of my life. I want to do art.”
“I wake up every morning and go to my studio and start working and I am the happiest person on earth.”
Links mentioned:Kelly & Ryan Anniversary Mugs [YouTube]
Felix Semper's Frida [YouTube]
Connect with Felix:Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
On the next episode:David Kochberg of Goodnight, Sunrise: Website / Soundcloud / Spotify
Join the discussion in the Facebook group!Previous Episode

315: Follow your gut before your head stops you! (w/ Aimée Hoover)
Aimée Rolin Hoover is a contemporary animal painter who is originally from Philadelphia, PA but currently lives/works in southern California.
Whether her subject is a canine, cow or a black rhino, her hope is that her work offers the viewer—in some small way—what animals have the power to do in person: to inspire us to be exactly where we are in the present moment. A space in which we don’t necessarily have to think or understand, but instead feel and connect.
Her paintings hang in collections all over the world, from the U.S. and Canada, to Europe and South America.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/315
In this episode, Aimée discusses:-Her reflections from her Fly Mask series.
-Saying “yes” to Between Worlds despite her fear of collaboration, being on camera and putting herself in an unknown scenario.
-What it was like to work with Black Light King.
-Her earlier lessons on collaboration.
-Why she decided to make her fourth year of 30for30 paintings her last.
-Her dedication to move toward what she doesn’t know.
-How she doesn’t want her work to be for everybody.
-How she handles her e-mail list.
-The support that she receives from her husband, Scott (especially during the busy times).
Aimée’s Final Push will inspire you to go with your gut! Quotes:“Once I have an idea, I just have to get it out.”
“I hadn’t been that scared in a really long time. Like truly scared.”
“Just go with your gut. I think our heads get in the way of the work that we create or the excuses we give ourselves to not do our work.”
“You need to go towards what excites you and pulls you into being creative.”
“Follow your gut before your head gets in the way!”
“Do the weird stuff. People out there are waiting for your weird stuff.”
Links mentioned:Between Worlds: Two Artists Fuse Styles On One Canvas
Connect with Aimée:Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
On the next episode:Felix Semper : Website / Instagram
Join the discussion in the Facebook group!Next Episode

317: Put yourself in position for luck to strike (w/ David Kochberg)
David Kochberg is a musician, a mechanical engineer and the co-founder of Goodnight, Sunrise, an indie-rock-and-roll-superfun-party band based in Toronto, Canada.
David started out in engineering, but discovered a love for music and became a mostly self-taught guitarist, drummer, songwriter and producer.
Goodnight, Sunrise has played almost 300 shows across Canada and the UK and they have started their own label called Rejection Records for their band business operations.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush/317
In this episode, David discusses:-How he got into music later in life.
-Why he left his job in mechanical engineering to travel the world for 14 months.
-The perspective that you can achieve by experiencing the rest of the world, especially when you are being intentionally introspective.
-Coming home to Toronto and the experience of making music more of a part of his life by joining a band.
-What makes a successful and “easy” creative collaboration.
-Maintaining a creative relationship despite the romantic relationship working out.
-How to make sense of the puzzle pieces that are floating around creative people’s heads.
-The balance of a day job with a creative side hustle.
-Building up confidence to tell other people that he is a musician before any other definition of himself.
-Learning to be happy with the success of creating music as opposed to the “acclaim” that one particular song receives.
-Putting yourself in the position to capitalize on luck.
-Opening for Bon Jovi and how that experience shaped his view of opportunity.
David's Final Push will remind you that you can’t win the lottery unless you buy a ticket, so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there! Quotes:“A big pattern in my life is coming up with really great ideas and then not following up with them. That’s something that I constantly still struggle with.”
“Set yourself up for luck to strike you. Then if luck does strike, you will actually be able to make the most of it.”
“Any time I think that’s impossible, I always remember that we did open for Bon Jovi, and that’s technically impossible, so anything is worth a shot.”
“Look at every opportunity that comes your way as a chance to try something out and learn from it.”
“Confidence and self-confidence are much more in our control than we realize.”
Links mentioned:Remember Now (live, opening for Bon Jovi)
SUCCESS LOVES SPEED (YCP Ep. 239 w/ Maria Brophy)
Connect with David and Goodnight, Sunrise:Website / iTunes / Spotify / Bandcamp / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Join the discussion in the Facebook group!If you like this episode you’ll love
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