Show Up or Shut Up with Wendy Solganik

Host Wendy Solganik introduces UK mixed media artist, artjournaler, bookmaker, and new Fodder School Six teacher Lisa Goddard, who lives in Sheffield near the Peak District. Lisa describes studying fine art with a focus on textiles and sculpture, feeling lost after graduating in 2006, anddiscovering art journaling through artist Jen Worden, which became a daily practice for processing emotions, experimenting, and storytelling. While working for 18 years in University of Sheffield admin (including cybersecurity),raising two daughters, and teaching aerial hoops, she kept making art, built a social-media audience, taught in-person (and later online), and left her job just after COVID to focus on art. She discusses her studio setup, favorite techniques (collage, gesso, inky marks, stamping, textiles), thoughts on shifting social media, and previews her Fodder School projects: mixed mediamessage-in-a-bottle challenge and textile scroll books on vintage wooden spools.
 
00:00 Meet Lisa Goddard
02:06 Podcast Premise
03:28 Life in Sheffield
07:55 From Fine Art to Mixed Media
11:41 Art Kid Origins
13:45 Day Job and Family Balance
15:54 Aerial Hoop Surprise
18:45 Discovering Art Journaling
22:01 Finding Community Online
23:43 Daily Journaling Ritual
24:47 Go To Techniques
27:35 Sharing on Social Media
29:55 Teaching Beyond Journals
31:44 Process Versus Product
33:23 Life After Instagram
39:59 Fixing Your Instagram Feed
41:58 Teaching History and Family
43:13 Kids and Creative Talents
45:16 Fodder School Projects
47:28 Thrifting and Car Boot Sales
50:40 Scroll Books on Spools
53:15 Live Zoom Class Community
59:05 Retreat Dreams in Nature
01:02:26 Course Creation and Admin
01:04:35 Boundaries and Customer Support
01:10:13 DIY Course Platform Tech
01:12:50 Wrap Up and Thanks

Host Wendy Solganik introduces season 6, episode 3 guestGloria Gelo, a Cleveland-raised contemporary abstract mixed media artist now based in Calgary and a new Fodder School 6 teacher. Gloria shares her Croatian immigrant family background, early love of art and typography, and how adiscouraging community college instructor derailed her confidence and pushed her into business school and corporate roles, including foreign currency trading at Citibank in New York and a creative resume-led job at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. After moving to Calgary, raising three sons, and laterdivorcing and remarrying, she received a 2018 corporate payout that enabled her to return to art full time, experiment across media, and develop a layered, minimalist collage practice using self-made papers and asemic writing. She now teaches in person and online, is gallery-represented, and previews her Fodder School “Line to Layer” challenge and a concertina book project focused on creating personal collage papers blending analog and digital methods.
 
00:00 Meet Gloria Gelo
02:06 Podcast Intro and Format
03:44 Nerves and Zoom Setup
04:34 Life in Calgary
06:13 Cleveland Roots and Canada
10:17 Fodder School Connection
11:36 Immigrant Family Story
15:08 Croatian Traditions and Food
20:27 Early Art Spark
23:28 Art School Confidence Crash
28:13 Business Pivot and Corporate Life
32:13 Wall Street to LA Move
34:56 Universal Studios Creativity Win
36:59 LA Life and Cabinet Business
38:43 Life in the Valley
39:52 Business Sold Suddenly
40:33 Move Back to Calgary
42:16 Divorce and Remarriage
43:05 Layoff Sparks Art
45:00 Finding Mixed Media
49:36 From Process to Selling
52:33 Gallery Representation
55:50 Teaching Goes Online
01:00:19 Art as Communication
01:08:07 Typography Origins
01:13:58 Asemic Writing Tips
01:16:48 Fodder School Projects
01:20:49 Final Wrap and Goodbye

Host Wendy Solganik introduces Francine Dunigan as a newFodder School 6 teacher and mixed media artist known for vibrant, graphic collage using found papers, painted papers, and gel prints. Francine, based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, shares her BFA background in communication design from Kutztown University, her shift toward fine art and fiber studies during a semester abroad in England, and how design principles shaped her visual style. She describes discovering gel printing through artists like Elizabeth St. Hilaire, creating marketable wall art and selling at local art shows, and designing stencils for Joggles. Francine discusses the complexity of resin finishing, her goals to teach more classes, and her experience navigatingendometrial cancer treatment, emphasizing self-advocacy and how art and journaling supported her during recovery. She previews teaching fussy-cut pear collage in Fodder School.
 
00:00 Meet Francine Dunigan
02:05 Podcast Premise
03:27 Joining Fodder School
06:51 From Gel Prints to Collage
08:33 Roots and Art School
10:56 Design Skills and Marketing
14:49 High School Art Foundations
19:52 Making Time as a Mom
21:42 Discovering Gel Printing
24:03 Selling at Art Fairs
31:56 Pricing and Originals
37:07 Health Scare and Advocacy
47:54 Art as Healing
48:49 Art Through Chemo
49:44 Hope After Clear Scans
50:20 Tennis During Treatment
51:48 Mindfulness Art Journals
52:42 New Stencil Line
55:48 Fodder School Pears
59:00 Using Tissue Layers
01:00:03 Resin Reality Check
01:06:00 Bigger Work Experiments
01:07:52 Color Inspiration Stories
01:10:39 Teaching Goals Ahead
01:17:23 Fodder School Live Event
01:19:34 Quilts From Your Designs
01:22:01 Closing Thanks

Season 6, Episode 1 of the Show Up or Shut Up podcastfeatures host Wendy Solganik interviewing mixed-media artist and designer Lori Siebert, a new Fodder School teacher. Lori shares early art training from age seven, her Cincinnati roots, and studying graphic design at UC’s DAAP with its co-op program. She describes founding her design firm in 1987, growing it to about 12 employees, and creating branding and illustration-based work for clients including Target, Bath & Body Works, Nickelodeon, and Universal Studios. Lori explains moving into art licensing over 20 years ago via SURTEX, how licensing works, and balancing client-driven themes with more personal work shown on Instagram. She discusses mentorship and community, building travel-teaching “street cred,” and upcoming retreats (Mexico City, Ireland, Provence, Waco, Vermont, Chautauqua, France, Connecticut). Lori previews her Fodder Challenge birds and a Fodder School fodder-flower bouquet project.
 
00:00 Meet Lori Siebert
02:36 Podcast Premise and Intro
04:50 Early Art Roots
05:59 Cincinnati and Staying Put
07:52 DAAP and Design Training
11:45 Family Influence and High School Art
16:06 From Design Firm to Big Clients
21:05 Burnout and Finding Licensing
22:24 How SURTEX Works
25:48 Licensing Reality vs Heart Art
28:24 Products in Stores and Samples
32:15 Turning 60 and Choosing Fun
33:08 Building Travel Teaching Retreats
37:21 Mexico City and Frida House Dreams
41:25 Mexico City Museums
42:32 Travel Health Tips
43:25 Language Barrier Hacks
44:39 Street Art Vibes
46:04 Starting the Design Firm
48:03 DAAP Fine Art Electives
49:45 Adapting the Business
52:49 Handmade to Digital Workflow
55:22 Ceramics Detour and Return
01:00:08 Clay Practice and Selling
01:01:44 Retreat Community Magic
01:03:01 Upcoming Trips and Chautauqua
01:05:11 Fodder Projects Birds Flowers
01:08:30 Wrap Up and Next Meet

Host Wendy Solganik interviews quilting instructor Heather Kojan, a modern quilter with traditional roots, founder of the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild, and Willa Workshops instructor behind Threaded and Sewn, The Modern Improv Pillow, and the upcoming in-person retreat Fodder School Live (sold out; August 2026). Heather recounts growing up crafty (crochet, sewing), studying business, working in radio, restaurants, and a small catering business, then making her first quilt in late-80s colors and quilting casually while raising kids. She describes discovering modern quilting through blogs/Flickr, starting a guild to build community in Baltimore, and “faking it till you make it” into lecturing and national teaching, patterns, publications, and retreats (including a large Lancaster retreat). Heather explains her income streams, extensive travel, and plans to reduce travel while creating more Willa Workshops content that merges mixed media and textiles, including future collaborations and a planned co-taught Fodder School 7 lesson. 
 
00:00 Meet Heather Kojan 
02:05 Podcast Premise and Intro 
03:39 Why Heather Now 
04:44 From New York to Virginia 
10:02 Early Craft Obsessions 
12:46 College and Career Detours 
16:26 Radio Restaurants and Catering 
19:48 First Quilt and Family Life 
23:03 Modern Quilting Awakening 
25:06 Starting a Quilt Guild 
28:23 First Lectures to Full Time 
30:56 Income Streams and Recognition 
33:35 How She Booked Teaching Gigs 
34:32 Cold Email Breakthrough 
35:53 Applying and Getting Noticed 
37:04 Taking Over the Retreat 
38:55 What Happens at Retreats 
41:14 Finding Fodder School 
46:13 From Student to Collaborator 
50:57 Building Online Courses 
59:08 Planning the Next Chapter 
01:01:38 Travel Burnout and Ego 
01:06:15 Slowing Down and New Hybrids 
01:11:34 Recruiting Teachers and FS7 
01:14:24 Wrap Up and Thanks