What happens when your craft keeps improving, but the art world’s clock keeps ticking? Lyndon and Breallyn unpack the mid-career artist dilemma—too good to quit, yet somehow too old to be “emerging.” They talk about the art world’s unspoken timelines that leave little space for detours: caregiving, raising a family, or finding your calling later in life. It’s also a conversation about the hidden labour behind creative careers, and the families quietly making them possible.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.

What truly defines a creative workspace? Breallyn and Lyndon explore the reality of where art is made, referencing the call for "A Room of One's Own" alongside famous examples like Roald Dahl's writing hut and the house that became Motown. They dive into how diverse environments actively shape and inform the art that gets produced. It's a candid look at the powerful relationship between space and creativity, concluding the best place to create is simply wherever you are.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.

What if the best creative compass isn’t advice from others but your own instincts? In this episode, Breallyn and Lyndon talk about trusting your judgment—the balance between instinct and expertise that shapes every creative decision. From artists who thrived by backing themselves to others undone by poor guidance, they ask: when do you lean on outside voices, and when do you steer by your own?

It’s a conversation about self-trust, creative confidence, and why your judgment might just be the ultimate compass.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.

From secret codes in Michelangelo’s frescoes to the cost of grinding up rare pigments, history shows that art has always carried more than meets the eye. In this episode, Breallyn and Lyndon move from those hidden messages to the hidden value of creative work today—the money, time, and sheer persistence poured into art that audiences rarely see.

It’s a look at what gets tucked behind the canvas: the symbols, the sacrifices, and the true cost of making something worth remembering.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.

What if the biggest risks in art and life aren’t as dangerous as they seem? In this episode, Breallyn and Lyndon talk about the illusion of risk, reflecting on how fear can stall creative momentum while inaction often carries the greater cost.

From everyday mishaps to big creative decisions, they look at how wonder and uncertainty once fuelled curiosity, and how today’s information overload can leave us stuck. It’s a conversation about rethinking fear in art and life—seeing past imagined stakes, and finding the courage to keep moving.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.

Every artist knows the sting of comparison. In this episode, Lyndon and Brea explore creative envy—the mix of admiration, aspiration, and longing that shows up when you see someone else succeed. They talk about how envy can stall your work, but also how it can be transformed into energy for making your own.

Get the transcript here

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.

Brea returns from a creative retreat and talks with Lyndon about what solitude gave her: space to reset, organise her novel-in-progress, and rediscover the joy of writing without the noise of daily life. Together, they explore the fragile nature of inspiration, the challenge of protecting it once you come home, and why art needs both distance and closeness to thrive.

They also reflect on memory and how it shapes the stories we carry, the experience of coming back to suburbia after a year of travel, and how even small retreats—a weekend away, a walk on the beach, or a quiet corner—can help keep creative sparks alive.

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.

What happens when your art gets fed into the machine? This week, Breallyn and Lyndon dig into AI data mining laws and the Australian Productivity Commission’s latest report—the one creatives are calling a blueprint for theft. With copyright protections at risk and tech giants circling, they ask what’s really at stake for artists, livelihoods, and Australia’s cultural future.

It’s a serious chat about consent, compensation, and why artists are right to be worried when billion-dollar companies treat creative work like free fuel.

Stop Creative Theft here

Pain In The Arts is a Creative Life Chronicles production.

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.