Secret Sauce
Becca Borrelli
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Hosted by Austin Illustrator Becca Borrelli, Secret Sauce explores Art through a process-focused, spiritual, inclusive lens, that seeks to awaken everyone to the birthright of their personal artistry.
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4 days ago
Did You Know
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode is a nod to a holiday episode I did in 2020 around the Christian Christmas Story. That said, this episode has something for EVERYONE. Especially folks who aren't Christian, don't recognize Christmas, or have been wounded by religion.
Are there ways the Christmas Story might be expansive enough to include ideas about making and birthing ANYTHING to save us... not just a human baby? This episode was intentionally recorded to piggy back on the last episode: Art Will Save Us. The Christmas Story says a human baby will come save us. That very well may be true. This episode isn't an argument for or against the Christmas Story. Far from it. Instead I'm wondering if there's an expansion to the Christmas Story that includes more than a teenage girl in a stable. What if there's a story that includes you and me?
LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/
Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com
ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose.
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Nov 28, 2023
Art Will Save Us
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode is a call. The culture has narrowly defined artistry in the past, and has limited the ways we engage with making things. It has become downright brazen to suggest that art can save us. But is it? This idea has certainly has been trumpeted from artists across space and time. But like many beautiful ideas, the practical implications get "lost in the sauce." For example: How does art save? Often it feels like a nice platitude, but in the face of really tough stuff, also a little like frosting. Can art truly heal humanity? If you've found yourself contemplating even a morsel of this idea, this episode is for you.
LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/
Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com
ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator in Austin, Texas. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose.
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Jun 8, 2023
Art is a Wound Turned Into Light
Hello Creative Friends!
This episode is about creative wounding... something we ALL know about. Why is art uniquely lovely and painful at the same time? How has the culture narrowly defined artistry in the past, and how has that limited the ways we engage with medicinal qualities of making things? Have you found yourself so drawn to making certain things, and simultaneously certain you have no business doing those thing? Can this kind of wounding have an artistic purpose in and of itself? This episode is for you.
From the episode:
Jan Heaton: http://janheaton.com/
Music at the end: https://open.spotify.com/track/4YeKAwFn69ehnciOfi7Sbf
LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/
Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com
ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose.
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May 25, 2023
The Ugly Middle
Hello Creative Friends!
This episode is especially for ME this month. In fact, almost all of these episodes are for me... and by proxy YOU, because we're all doing this shit in the same sauce. Whether we know it directly or not, what we're contending with in our lives at this very moment is 100% relevant to what every other person on this blue and green planet is contending with... more or less.
This episode is about a stage of every creative work, whether it's in life or art. THE UGLY MIDDLE. There's no way to avoid this stage, but our current predatory capitalist structure shouts the opposite at us daily. If what you're making is ugly, you have no business making that thing. The truth is however, the ugly middle happens to literally everyone. Including "master artists" (or whatever that means.) In this episode I unpack the ways this looks for one of my truly skilled painter friends, for myself, my students, and how it shows up in life. Are you making ugly stuff? You my friend, are doing it right.
From the episode:
Paula Nelson: http://www.whoanelson.com/
LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/
Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com
ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose.
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Mar 30, 2023
Art as a Behavior
Hello Creative Friends!
This episode is for everyone who feels like an imposter making things... So Everyone. Myself included. Especially myself.
As we navigate a time of massive collective change, the stories we tell around artistry are changing too. One of those stories is about "who is an artist, and who isn't. Who should be making art, and who shouldn't." As old stories around these topics shift, so is the ground under our creative feet. How are new stories around artistry better prepared for helping us live better lives? How are we going to incorporate those better narratives into our creative practices?
LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/
Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com
ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose.
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Mar 14, 2023
Army of Artists
Hello Creative Friends!
It's been over two months since the last episode. I've been in a period of great transition artistically, and as I navigate what that looks like, I've been asking myself a lot of questions about what being an artist means to me.
For most of recorded post-Renaissance history, the Arts have been relegated to the entertainment section of society. When a Broadway actress steps out onto the stage, she's thinking about entertaining the audience... less commonly is she thinking about healing them.
We know Art does so much more than entertain, and yet since we live in a culture that is deeply suspicious of things we can't quantify, the ways our Arts create healing is acknowledged sure, but rarely honored.
In this episode I unpack the ways Art has created healing in my life, how making it can create healing for others, and how that collides with capitalist art structures. What does it mean for you as a maker to negotiate your art practice with healing and making money?
LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/
Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com
ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose.
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Jan 6, 2023
Like a Warhol
It's 2023, Art Friends! We are opening the new year with a sweet episode about January, the year ahead, and making change.
I believe artists are being called to expand into new ways of thinking about creative change. Rather than big sweeping swing for the fence that leave us exhausted and poised to fail, how can we lean into the power of change that "simply happens on it's own" in small bits over time?
This is a big deal for artists in 2023. We've been taught a lot of unsustainable things about creative change that leave us burnt out and dis-regulated. In this episode we dive into the ways Pop Artist Andy Warhol's screen prints can provide us with a helpful framework for embracing new modalities of creative change in 2023.
LINKS: Website: http://beccajborrelli.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/secretsaucepodcast/
Email: beccajborrelli@gmail.com
ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband, son, and their super-pups Layla and Rose.
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Nov 17, 2022
Art Pregnancy
Hello Creative Friends,
Is Art Making and Life Making always active? When we think of an artist, we think of someone painting, composing or dancing. When we think of someone living we think of them out and about, working, running errands, and traveling. The truth however, is that massive creative aspects of our art and lives are not active. They are quiet, internal... pregnant with something.
The culture does a poor job of educating us on this aspect of making life and art. Whole societies of people completely skim over the quiet, internal creative work that is so important to making new things. This sounds inconsequential, until you consider it in other terms. Imagine going into active labor with a human child and then once it was over, going into labor again. And again.
It sounds silly, and yet look around at the planet. There is evidence of human, social and systemic breakdown that absolutely results from unsustainable creative cycles such as perpetual labor without pause. How would our lives change irrevocably for the better as we learned to honor and tend to pregnancy periods in our lives and art?
ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives. ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose. Website: beccajborrelli.com
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Oct 26, 2022
Art at the Ballot
It's election season! In this episode I take on the beastly challenge of using Art to expand our perspective on voting, considering candidates, issues, and politics in general. Disclaimer, this episode offers far more questions than answers, however they are questions that are largely absent from our shared political discourse. They are also questions that (if we can hold them) might serve us tremendously as we make decisions about how we vote. Art can be a fantastic anchor for reframing how we live our lives, and that includes voting.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives. ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose. Website: beccajborrelli.com
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Oct 19, 2022
Like a Monet
Hello Creative Friends,
We are living through some doozie of times. I suppose every generation has said this, but WOO what a few years we've navigated. Art can be fantastically supportive at how we look at things. In this episode I deep dive into Impressionist painter Claude Monet and his art as an anchor for how we can look at our own art, our lives, and the world.
Full disclosure, I'm a trained artist, art educator, and business owner. I am not the beefiest when it comes to art history. This episode does it's best to unpack certain aspects of Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism and the portions of the 19th and 20th centuries they spanned, but for those of you history geeks, I might have messed on some details. Let me know!
Lastly, this episode contains triggering topics. The content references: politics, religion, sexuality and discrimination. Please consider your needs and listen if it is right for you.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives. ABOUT BECCA Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League. Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hunting for breakfast tacos with her husband and their super-pups Layla and Rose. Website: beccajborrelli.com
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Oct 11, 2022
Art Baby
Hello Creative Friends,
In 2016 when I launched my illustration business I posted a light comparison to "what I imagined" was a similarity between birthing a business and birthing a baby on social media. Woo! Was that a touchy subject! A lot of parent friends had an opinion on that one... and they were spicy. Interestingly however, parents who also worked for themselves all agreed: Business and Babies were similar.
This episode is about one of the similarities I've noticed now that I have firsthand experience with and Babies: They are catalysts for healing. The culture doesn't talk about this very often. In this episode I want to unpack the way that the crunchiness, discomfort, and downright pain of creating with our children/ creating with our art is in fact an entrance point into re-creating fresh new versions of ourselves.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as…
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Oct 2, 2022
Making Art with Something Bigger
Hello Creative Friends,
I'm excited to back for this episode. It's been a minute.
In this episode I talk about a topic that's near and dear to my heart: Using art making as a model for making tough decisions. In April of this year I shuttered most of my art business, even at the height of its success, to focus on my new son. No one was more surprised than me, to make that decision.
Big decisions often bring up a lot of turmoil. There have been large decisions in my life that have absolutely wrecked my quality of life. Over the years I've learned a lot about navigating those decisions in ways that preserves my well-being. Over time I realized those ways had a lot in common with being an artist.
Artists have so much in their arsenal that they don't realize. We're all taught to focus on the things we lack and improve upon them. In this episode I made the case that certain parts of the artistic mindset can be a tremendous ally to us as we make large life choices.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST We…
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Jul 5, 2021
How is an Artform
Hello Creative Friends,
I'm excited to back for this episode. It's been a minute, and I'm hoping by late 2021, Secret Sauce will be getting a new facelift and more regular content for YOU.
In this episode we talk about how "THE HOW" in our art-making is just as artistic as the WHAT. I tell some stories about how I've seen this play out in my own life and career, however as always the stories are about YOU. I'd like to make a case that when artists focus on how they make things, it's a game changer for art, work and life. In many ways, the HOW is the X-Factor in creative industries. It's the thing that differentiates some artists from the many. It's hard to quantify, and our culture still struggles with the invisible things. Thankfully artists have a leg up here. Listen as we talk about ways you can incorporate conscious use of process and "how" in your own art... and of course work and life. SPONSOR: This episode was sponsored by The HeART School: The Art isn't what we MAKE. The Ar…
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Mar 24, 2021
The Art of What You Hate
Hello Creative Friends,
In this episode we talk about our propensity (and when I say "our" I mean YOU, ME, EVERYONE's) to create the things we purport to deeply dislike in the world. AKA "Hate."
Hate is an overused word, but I think in this context it's good to talk about. I tell a few stories about how I've witnessed this play out in my own life (yup, steps down off the pedestal over here, I'm guilty of this all the time.) We all are guilty of it.
Art isn't just creating beautiful stuff. Art is a model for creating the coolest artwork of all... Our Lives. We don't need to do anything with the stories in this episode either. Just the knowledge that we're all wired to make what we don't want, can be incredibly powerful in reversing that trend when it comes up in the future. SPONSOR: This episode was sponsored by The HeART School: Art isn't what we MAKE. The Art is YOU. Join to see how making things with others creates more calm, peace and presence in your life. Discover the joy of be…
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Mar 2, 2021
Art Without at Audience
Hello Creative Friends, Comedian Bo Burnham famously said: "If you can live life without an audience, you should do it." In this episode we talk about sharing our art with an audience. Sharing art and our creative lives online has become almost as ubiquitous as breathing or eating. It happens so often it feels normal... but is it normal? Or is sharing with a large audience of potentially millions of people day in and day out very abnormal? What is lost when we extract an image for consumption, branding or capitalization? SPONSOR: This episode was sponsored by The HeART School: Art isn't what we MAKE. The Art is YOU. Join to see how making things with others creates more calm, peace and presence in your life. Discover the joy of being embraced by others on your creative adventures.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli.Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and u…
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Feb 2, 2021
Making Art is Intuitive
Hello Creative Friends, In this episode we talk about using our Intuition to make things, whether it's art or a LIFE. Over the last centuries the logic and analytical mind has been valued in art (and the culture) far more than the intuition. Intuitive styles of art-making were viewed as "low art," or not art at all. I share a story of how I reclaimed my own connection to intuition through my time as an art educator, and the way that 8 year olds blew my mind open around what it means to be an artist. Most of the time the art isn't the art. The art is YOU. SPONSOR: This episode was sponsored by the Intuitive Drawing On-Demand Series.
In this course explore your inner world through drawing. Go at your own pace and savor the material. You’ll have access to activities that re-build the creative trust you had as a child. Remember how to draw without thinking, and to tap back into the style that is uniquely and purely yours. You’ll have links to inspiring stories, workbook prompts to sp…
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Jan 25, 2021
Focus Your Fire: An Interview with Jade Gillon, Founder of Volta Joules
Hello Creative Friends, I'm thrilled for you all to meet Jade. She has a lot of wisdom to share, and I love listening to her, because when she drops knowledge you know that she earned it through living courageously. In this episode we talk about the origins of her jewelry making at Volta Joules, racism, social justice, metal music, being yourself and so much more. Jade's Secret Sauce is her ability to be truly unapologetic in her expression... artistically and in her life. Just being around Jade is like getting a huge permission slip from the universe to be as wild and as spacious as I can possible be. We all need that energy in our lives, and for that reason (and so many more) you will be so glad you checked out our conversation. If you want to follow Jade on social media, or purchase some of her work to adorn your beautiful bodies, you can find her at the links below: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voltajoules/ Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VoltaJoules?ref=seller-platform-mcn…
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Jan 21, 2021
Criticize Art Not Artists
Hello Creative Friends, It's been a minute. I've been navigating some big new changes over here that I'm excited to share very soon. This is episode three of season two, and something I've been mulling over for weeks, as I think about my place in this space and time as an artist. In this episode I share one of the most artistic things I've very witnessed in my life... and it's not a painting, or an art show, or even a cool movie. SPONSOR: This episode was sponsored by the Intuitive Drawing On-Demand Series.
In this course explore your inner world through drawing. Go at your own pace and savor the material. You’ll have access to activities that re-build the creative trust you had as a child. Remember how to draw without thinking, and to tap back into the style that is uniquely and purely yours. You’ll have links to inspiring stories, workbook prompts to spark creativity, and video demos on a variety of intuitive processes with simple materials.
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Dec 14, 2020
Nothing and Everything
Hello Creative Friends, This is episode two of season TWO! We are kicking off our first guest of season two with wildlife photographer Mark Anthony Munoz. Y'all I'm very excite for this episode. Mark is a fantastic storyteller, and has tremendously valuable insight on being an artist, monetizing work, and my favorite topic of all... BEING YOURSELF. Mark's beautiful work is (in my option) anchored into his ability to be authentically himself. You'll see what I mean when you listen. Park of Mark's Secret Sauce is his ability to be himself, and I promise you'll leave feeling warmer and shinier after an hour with him. Give it a listen and follow him over on Instagram. I am continually amazed at the birds and other animals he captures there. His good energy is felt by humans and animals alike. SPONSOR: This episode was sponsored by the Holiday Card Making for Comfort Series on December 19th!
Make things for yourself and for others during the holidays through joyful, meditative processes.…
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Dec 7, 2020
The Most Artistic Month of the Year
Hello Creative friends,
Welcome to Season Two!
This episode is sponsored by the Holiday Card Making for Comfort Workshop happening December 19th from 1-3 pm CST.
I spent a lot of time the last few months thinking about what this podcast wanted to be in 2021. This episode feels like the perfect initiation into a new season: December.
To me, December is the most artistic month of the year. It's the month that new things get born. It often doesn't feel that way of course. We're too busy shivering and mired in the commercial tribulations of the holidays. But if you think about the deeper stories happening in the holidays and with nature, there's fascinating teachings about how artistic December is when it comes to making art, work or a life.
If you're thinking about birthing something new, December is the first wave of contractions inward, prepping for a huge expression in the Spring. Contractions are not by their nature... fun. In fact, whether they're literal birthing contractions…
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Oct 26, 2020
Episode 22 Art, Vulnerability and Canaries
Hello Creative friends,
In this episode I tell the story of my art education thesis research at the University of Texas in 2010-12. I partnered with the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX to lead a summer art-making workshop with public school art teachers. During this workshop I led a study that wanted to answer the question: "How can art-making help art teachers reflect on their professional life?' The answers... like most Science... was not what I expected.
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We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast. We realize the invitation isn't for everyone. If you wou…
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Oct 12, 2020
Episode 21: Why do You Make Stuff?
Hello Creative friends,
In this episode I dive into one of my biggest fears that I think prevents a lot of makers from going directly into a fine art career, or working for themselves... the very real concern of marrying my deep love for making art with the often brutal concerns of capitalism.
In regards to this concern: I've found a lot of solace in an unlikely place. That place was the question: "Why do I Make Stuff?" As I have learned to authentically answer that question, I found that baked into it was another answer. The answer of how to protect one of my most precious assets, when putting it out into the world and market economy at large.
Video Reference: Sean Wes- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wghih3H27E
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We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine leve…
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Oct 5, 2020
Growler on Your Shoulder w/Jordan Goetz of Growler Domestics
Hello Creative Friends, This is episode TWENTY! We are kicking off our twenties with the first guest to the podcast: Jordan Goetz, Founder of Austin based Custom Furniture and Metal Fabrication business: Growler Domestics. You are all in for a treat. Jordan tells plenty of stories about starting a business. You'll be able to tell from this conversation, part of Jordan's Secret Sauce is his ability to connect with people. His storytelling is engaging and fun, and I think you're going to love what he has to share. We talk about his origin story, fear, courage, how he came up with the name "Growler," to name a few. Give it a listen and then follow him over on Instagram. We love his good-natured daily stories about shop-life and inspiring feed. IF YOU ARE A PATRON you are able to direct message us here, or email questions for Jordan to beccajborrelli@gmail.com. He will answer them in a special Q&A Roundup coming soon!
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We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages…
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Sep 21, 2020
Everything You Imagine is Real
Hello Creative Friends,
To me, Art-Making is so much more than making a THING. Art-Making can be a micro-model for the grandest artwork we'll ever make... our lives.
This episode is about one of the specific tools we use to create our life... STORY. Stories are tremendously artistic. We can tell a 100 different stories about one experience, and the stories we pick will paint the experience in very unique and powerful ways. We can literally change our histories, by telling the stories in better ways. If this isn't the baddest art-form I don't know what is.
I share a very recent story (something I rarely do), about a time I struggled to choose the better story around a challenging time.
Choosing the story we tell about an experience is (for me), the same as choosing the color crayon we draw with. The story makes the experience, rather than the other way around.
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We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relative…
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Aug 19, 2020
Episode 18:The Secret Sauce is You
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode digs deeper into one of the goals of Secret Sauce: To talk about the intersection of artist and art. When I first began having relative success working as an independent illustrator, I noticed something: As my work expanded, it began tugging on ME. I couldn't sleep. I had anxiety. I was perpetually overwhelmed. Overtime it became clear, as my work grew the container from which the work came from had to grow... and that was me.
But try as as I might, I couldn't find anything online about how to deal with this set of personal challenges as they related to artistry and work. Most of the resources I found were about things like: "How to create a spreadsheet of your work," or "How to Price Art," etc, etc.
In this episode I talk about the often unspoken phenomenon of You as the Secret Sauce. You are deeply connected to your work, and as things change with your work, you'll feel it in your body, mind and soul. I tell a few stories of how I navigated thi…
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Aug 7, 2020
Episode 17: Playing Shoestrings
Hello Creative Friends,
How do we make great art, when what we have to work with is meager? How do we create amazing new things, when resources are thin? This episode was inspired by the wise words of John Coltrane: "You can play a shoestring if you're sincere." Maybe shoestring music is exactly the kind of art the world needs right now. Maybe we don't need to have power to make powerful things.
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We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast. We realize the invitation isn't for everyone. If you would like to support us in other ways, please consider leaving a five s…
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Jul 31, 2020
Episode 16: Crisis Needs Artists
Hello Creative Friends,
Anyone here question their purpose during times of crisis? When the world is on fire, does what we make matter? In this episode I use a handful of stories to make a case for Artists during crisis. Not only do we need them... but they are imperative to moving forward.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST
We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast. We realize the invitation isn't for everyone. If you would like to support us in other ways, please consider leaving a five star review, or click subscribe.
Secret Sauce Patreon
***
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secre…
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Jul 26, 2020
Episode 15 The Reenchantment of Art
Hello Creative Friends,
In this episode I glom together some stories about viewing life, business and art through a lens of enchantment. In uncertain times, who the heck has time for fairy dust? This is my first stab at making a case that all of us should make time.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST
We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast. We realize the invitation isn't for everyone. If you would like to support us in other ways, please consider leaving a five star review, or click subscribe.
Secret Sauce Patreon
***
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast a…
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Jul 12, 2020
Episode 14: The Third Artwork
Hello Creative Friends,
What times we're in, huh? The "more" seems to keep getting... MORE. In this episode I make a case for making things together as the best chance of solving some of most looming creative problems.... and making things with people that we wildly disagree with.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST
We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast. We realize the invitation isn't for everyone. If you would like to support us in other ways, please consider leaving a five star review, or click subscribe.
Secret Sauce Patreon
***
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about…
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Jun 28, 2020
Episode 13: Just Ask Jason
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode I finally roped in my husband Jason. I'm excited to have him on, because inevitably when people ask me for advice about combining art with business, I share with them things Jason has told me. In this episode we talk about Jason's "Secret Sauce...." aka the soft skills that are so important to navigating the relationships that are integral to making anything in the world. This is a true right brain/left brain convo, as we dive into the ways his perspective can be useful for all makers.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST
We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast.…
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Jun 22, 2020
Episode 12: What We're Making When We're Not Making
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode is about what we're making when we're seemingly "not making." It's about how we're all profoundly creative and artistic just standing in a room in silence. What gets made in the pause between making? If you're painting, what happens in the space between strokes? I believe the answer is so much more than we can possibly understand. How can that inform making wild new art going forward? How can that inform making a wild new world?
SUPPORT THE PODCAST
We have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast. We realize the invitation isn't for everyone. If you wou…
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Jun 15, 2020
Episode 11: You Actually Have Two Jobs
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode is a (slightly) later follow up to Episode 8: You Have One Job. I don't really know how to to describe this episode in a paragraph, so I'm not going to. It's a long episode. I honestly wonder how I just talked for 90 minutes straight. I supposed my husband wouldn't be surprised. ;) You'll have to dive in, and hopefully come out unscathed.
On that note, we have been overwhelmed with wonderful messages from you all about the future of this relatively new baby podcast. She was endeavored during the beginning of the pandemic, and I'm excited to say that my work is mostly back to it's pre-quarantine levels. For that reason, we decided to make a Patreon that you might consider to support if you feel called. $3 a month might not sound like much, but will make a world of difference in this podcast. We realize the invitation isn't for everyone. If you would like to support us in other ways, please consider leaving a five star review, or click subscribe.
S…
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Jun 8, 2020
Episode 10: Lightening Before Thunder
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode is about the creative power of energy. A philosophical foundation of my work and business is that energy is profoundly artistic. We are making things all the time, even simply standing in a room! I wanted to share a story about a teacher that first taught me how energy is even... a thing. It's certainly hard to talk about with words. I hope that the story in this episode can get a part of the truths around the experience... at least as I see it.
This is a tremendously transformative time we are in. What we are making and putting out there is traveling farther, and impacting stronger than every before. I think an awareness of energy's existence as a creative tool, is incredibly helpful before we begin the very important work that lies ahead.
I love you. Thank you for being here,
Becca
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Secret Sauce explores artistry as…
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Jun 2, 2020
Episode 9
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.
ABOUT BECCA
Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin Independent School District, University Hospital- Cleveland, the Austin Downtown Alliance and the Anti-Defamation League.
Becca is most inspired by the invisible connections between all things. Her work aims to be a playful, bright, and hopeful interpretation of the world's whimsical and magical sides. She has fallen in love with her hometown in Austin, where she spends free time exploring nature and hun…
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May 25, 2020
Episode 8: You Have One Job
Hello Creative Friends,
This episode is for the graduate kiddos.
You Have One Job... and it's do figure out what you truly want, and do it. Simple. Not Easy (in the slightest).
Doing what your soul truly wants is the greatest gift you can give to the world. Far more damage is done to the planet and others by those living quiet, lives of desperation trying to live in a way they "believe they should live."
Interestingly though, we're usually taught the virtues of sacrificing what we deeply want for others. In this episode I tell some stories about the contrast I experienced living in both ways. This is for the graduates, but also for me. I still need these stories even now, and I hope it serves you in personal ways as well.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.
ABOUT B…
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May 11, 2020
Episode 7: Are Artists Essential?
Hello Creative Friends,
It's fair to say that in this time, we are understanding and re-defining the word "essential" in new ways. Especially during times of collective distress, it's easy to feel like making or creating is not only unhelpful, but selfish. How DO artists matter? What do they offer? Would the world miss them if they were gone?
If we imagine a world without art, I think we can collectively agree that feels immediately and viscerally awful. But why? That's harder to articulate. In this episode I tell the story of how an art lesson with 7 year olds, taught me a unique way that artists are in fact, VERY ESSENTIAL.
Artists are deeply needed right now, but the ways they're needed are very different than other essential workers. Understanding the ways we serve people beyond making things is a great first step in moving forward authentically and our own special offerings. AKA Secret Sauce.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredient…
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May 4, 2020
Episode 6... We Came Here to be Magic
Hello Creative Friends,
Last week I spoke about being invited to let go ideas of "being right" when we make things. If we're not here to be "right," a continuation of that is this episode: "We're here to make magic." Magic is an elusive thing isn't it? The word conjures up many ideas, and also very few of those ideas are "grasp-able." Maybe we think of Harry Potter or fantasy movies, but how does magic apply in the "real world." For that matter: "What is the real world anyway?"
In this episode I reflect on a time that I brushed up against an experience that defied all of my previous earthly understandings. I share how that experience changed and re-shaped the way I view my work and myself as an artist, and how reconnecting with your own ideas around magic might serve you as well.
Sources referenced in this episode:
Soul Tarot School
Haven Meditation
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Se…
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Apr 27, 2020
Episode 5: We Didn't Come Here to be Right...
Hello Creative Friends,
How are you all doing during this time? Last week, I found myself reflecting on a larger narrative for what the heck artists are doing here. Yes, we make beautiful things. Yes we feel under the surface of the world to make those things. Yes, we're here to serve others as "soul workers." But's what's the larger point of all that in a world that really seems all about dominating things, making money and surviving?
Full disclosure, sometimes the stories on this podcast were storied that I need(ed) in the past. Sometimes the stories are ones I need, present tense. This is one of those latter stories, so it's "soupier" and more in the works than past episodes. All said, I'm feeling really called to share it right now.
In this episode I reflect on "being right" when we make things. I stir together stories about a Dave Chappelle quote, chimpanzee documentary, and making small art biz decisions in a time of uncertainty. I have no idea what's going on, but sometimes…
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Apr 19, 2020
Episode 4: We're Artists We're SAF Part 3
Hello Creative Friends,
In the third and final part of the "We're Artists We're Sensitive as F***" series, I talk about the nature of work, and how sensitivity changes the experience we have with it.
What are the assumptions and misconceptions of how we view work? Do we view "making a living" as our most important contribution? Why have we collectively created a world where most of us feel we must do work that we don't want to do? What do we believe about people who are not productive in the material world? What do those people believe about themselves? And moreover, how do these things play out in a time when work as usual has been severely interrupted?
In this episode I tell the story of when business as usual in my personal and professional life experienced a massive breakdown, and how it gave way for more sustainable stories around my own contributions to the world. Can we tell new stories about work that are more sustainable?
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a p…
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Apr 13, 2020
Sensitive as F*** with Austin Art Talk
Hello Creative Friends,
This is audio from my conversation last week with host of Austin's pre-eminent Art podcast: Austin Art Talk. I have been a fan of Scott David Gordon and his thought-provoking art interviews since nearly the podcast's inception. He's incredibly easy to talk to, and in this episode we dive into why artists are sensitive. I also share some stories I've never shared publicly before... yep, he's a great interviewer like that. If you like our conversation, check out more of his interviews here, and consider supporting him on Patreon.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.
ABOUT BECCA
Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive m…
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Apr 5, 2020
We're Artists We're SAF: Part 2
Hello Creative Friends,
Why are Artists Sensitive? What if it's for a very good reason? In Part 2 of 3 in the We're Artists We're SAF Series, we expand upon the work Artists are actually doing. I use a sports hero from my hometown of Cleveland- LeBron James- as a metaphor for how an Artists work is deeply misunderstood, and how that misunderstanding can paralyze creatively powerful people. How can a renewed understanding of what's happening under the surface when we make things, give us courage to make the things we most truly desire?
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.
ABOUT BECCA
Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and spea…
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Mar 27, 2020
We're Artists We're SAF
Hello Creative Friends,
If Secret Sauce is the thing only we can put into the world... what keeps us from doing that? In this episode I talk about making friends with sensitivity. That can be hard to do in a world that still largely views sensitivity as weakness. How can renegotiating the stories we tell ourselves about being sensitive, give us more power to create authentically in art and life?
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.
ABOUT BECCA
Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, meditation and the benefits of art-making. Clients include Visa, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin I…
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Mar 22, 2020
What is Secret Sauce?
Hello Creative Friends,
In the inaugural episode, I share the inspiration for this podcast, and the tale behind the name (ciao bella to my Italian roots). What is Secret Sauce, and what is it that the world most needs from us? What if it's not to be the best? What if it's be ourselves? And how in the world do we do that when the world tries its darnedest to make us be like everyone else? Can a global pandemic provide space for being our authentic, weird, creative selves a little easier?
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Welcome to Secret Sauce, a podcast about the secret ingredients in life and work, hosted by Becca Borrelli. Secret Sauce explores artistry as a helpful framework for inspiring meaning and understanding in our everyday lives.
ABOUT BECCA
Becca is an illustrator-educator and part founder of Austin-based female maker collective: Lemon House. She spends most of her time designing adult coloring books, interactive murals, and speaking to organizations about mindfulness, me…
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