Always Choose Orange

What in the world is a “clearness committee” and what could it possibly have to do with our creativity? In today’s episode, we make a few observations about a short excerpt from Parker J. Palmer’s book Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation and examine the relationship between feedback, question-asking, and increased clarity when it comes to our art and purpose. We also talk about the unique roles that critique and encouragement play at different stages of our creative process.If you want to learn more about the use of clearness committees in Quaker spirituality, here's a solid resource: https://www.fgcquaker.org/fgcresources/spiritual-practices/clearness-committees/

You know what they say, “you can’t spell artificial without art!” …What? What do you mean you haven't heard that? I'm sure someone, somewhere has said it… Anyway, in today's episode, we explore a provocative idea put forth in Carl Wilson’s book Celine Dion’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey To The End of Taste that in a sense, all authenticity in art is a kind of performance. If we adopt that perspective, it raises a lot of questions, including: how do I make art with conviction while simultaneously making it for an audience? Using examples from punk and emo concerts I went to in high school and college, as well as my personal experience making music of my own, we stumble through some possible answers.

After a two month hiatus, Always Choose Orange is back with a new episode! But here's the question — what exactly is it? A quiet manifesto? A book review for three Pulitzer Prize-winning meditations on the human experience? Or, is it merely a Trojan horse I'm using to transport some really great Ursula K, Le Guin quotes into your ears? Whatever it is, come ready to explore a way of reading that brings you deeper into the small, beautiful moments of your own life. Media mentioned in this episode:Paul Harding: A New Way To Think About Writing | How I WriteWhat Makes a Story | Ursula K. Le Guin

Andrea Burgay is a visual artist from Syracuse, New York, currently based in Brooklyn. Her practice centers on collage, sculpture, and mixed-media assemblage, often utilizing found and vintage materials to explore themes of transformation, decay, and renewal. Through layering, tearing, and reassembling paper, books, and ephemera, Andrea creates works that reflect the passage of time and the interplay between destruction and rebirth. In addition to her studio practice, Andrea is the founder and editor of Cut Me Up, a participatory collage magazine and curatorial project. Each issue features original artworks intended to be deconstructed and transformed by readers into new pieces, fostering a collaborative and evolving artistic dialogue.In this episode of Always Choose Orange, Andrea and I explore her creative rituals (including the reason she makes sure to start each day decisively), her approach to building series like Requiems and Reliquaries, and how she structures her studio environment so that she doesn't experience creative block. Andrea also shares some great entry points for people to dip their toes into the incredible world of modern collage. To top it all off, we talk about a few of the wildest and most experimental Cut Me Up submissions as well as some "inside baseball", including the type of glue Andrea uses to keep her pieces together. Website: https://www.andreaburgay.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreaburgay/Cut Me Up Magazine: https://www.cutmeupmagazine.com FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Alex Eckman-Lawn is a Philadelphia-based artist and illustrator known for his intricately layered, hand-cut paper collages. His work explores themes of control, psychological complexity, and the hidden architecture of the human body. Alex’s distinctive visuals have appeared across a wide spectrum of media, including comic books, album and book covers, music videos, t-shirts, and gig posters. He has collaborated with bands such as Afterbirth, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Imperial Triumphant, and his illustrations have been featured in acclaimed comics like Swan Songs, Awakening, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, and the Eisner Award-winning Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream. In this week's episode, Alex and I talk about the influence that the city of Philadelphia has on his art. We also discuss Alex's experience in art school and the power of artist communities (as well as a few ideas on how to find or create one). He then revisits the moment where he first stumbled upon his layered collage style and forever changed the trajectory of his career. Aside from sharing a first name, the two of us also share a lot of the same taste in art. As a result, we spend some time nerding out about what Alex learned through studying legendary artists like Frank Frazetta and Dave McKean, as well as some thoughts on how A.I. is affecting newer illustrators. At one point, Alex even pries open his vault and shares the valuable websites where he sources his collage material.Website: https://www.alexeckmanlawn.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexeckmanlawn/ FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Jon Guerra is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas, renowned for his distinctive style of devotional music. Jon describes his work as "less Sunday morning worship music and more Monday morning prayer music." His critically acclaimed albums — including Keeper of Days (2020), Ordinary Ways (2023), and most recently, Jesus (2025) blend poetic lyricism with minimalist instrumentation. Beyond his solo work, Jon collaborates with his wife, Valerie in the musical duo Praytell, and has contributed to film scores, notably composing additional music for Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life (2019).In this week's episode, Jon and I spend some time digging into his new album Jesus and the two-year journey to finish the project. We then talk about some practical ways to hone your musical instincts and Jon shares a powerful example of him not going with his first idea and allowing a song to evolve beyond his initial vision for it. We go on to discuss the importance of taking the time needed to make your best possible work rather than getting a project done just to get it done. If you're interested in songwriting and/or creating beauty that, in Jon's words, "puts people in contact with invisible things," there's a good chance, you'll enjoy this episode! Website: https://www.jonguerramusic.comInstagram: http://instagram.com/iamjonguerraDevotional Songwriting Masterclass: https://www.jonguerramasterclass.com/start FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Caroline Shaw is a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed. She often works in collaboration with others, as producer, composer, violinist, and vocalist. Shaw is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music, an honorary doctorate from Yale, five Grammys, and a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. She has written and produced for iconic artists and ensembles across the musical spectrum, including Rosalía, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Tiler Peck, Kanye West, Nas, the LA Phil, the NY Phil, and others. Her recent TV/film/stage scoring projects include “Leonardo Da Vinci” (Ken Burns/PBS), “Fleishman is in Trouble” (FX/Hulu), and “The Sky Is Everywhere” (Josephine Decker/A24). Her favorite color is yellow, and her favorite smell is rosemary.In this week’s episode, Caroline shares the background behind her Ringdown project (a collaboration with her partner Danni Lee) and talks about what it’s like for her to make music with someone she loves. Ringdown’s debut album Lady on the Bike comes out on May 9, 2025 and we talk about the heartwarming story that inspired the album name. From there, we dive into Caroline’s creative process and she outlines a fun exercise called “voice memo roulette”, describes how she builds her songs starting with the harmony first, and the two of us wax poetic on the benefits of Rhymezone.com for lyrical inspiration. To top it all off, we discuss the relationship between environment and creativity, the magic of old, janky instruments, and what Caroline listens for when she’s revising one of her works-in-progress.Website: https://carolineshaw.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolineadelaideshaw/ FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Getting lost is often thought of as a bad thing. However, when it comes to art, it can be a major contributor to our sense of enjoyment. This week's episode hones in on six access points to getting lost in something you love. From allowing your mind to freely associate to memorizing pieces of a poem, we'll examine some practical ways to look at art from a new angle. FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com