The Bodies of Work Podcast

In conversation with George Sawyer

George Sawyer is the lead fine woodworker and creator of Windsor Chairs at Sawyer Made, a family business started by his father in rural Vermont. George describes the evolution of his business and how both the studio and their natural surroundings enrich their children's lives. George explores how long commutes to school and out of town work commitments are challenging at times but overall manageable realities of life for he and his wife who run their business together.

In conversation with Mark Slee

Mark Slee is a polymath with a successful career in software engineering, music, and sculpture. Now based in the UK, Mark describes juggling his many interests and talents with the constraints and joys of parenting. In this candid conversation, we look at the time and energetic demands of both creative and academic work, and how they relate to life as a parent of young children.

In conversation with Chris Keating

Chris Keating is a free spirited, devoted father to a 10 year old daughter. He paints an honest picture of the messiness and beauty of parenthood and describes how his shifting priorities ostensibly lead to him ending his career as a performing artist/musician in the band, Yeasayer. He currently lives in Los Angeles, CA where he spends his time parenting, composing film scores and producing music. Helping his daughter realize her own creative visions brings him joy and fulfills him creatively.

In Conversation with Jim Drain

Jim Drain is a widely collected American Artist who has received numerous prestigious awards and has exhibited extensively across the United States and abroad. In this conversation, he describes the arc of his career from showing in Chelsea galleries and museums, to teaching as a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design to his current life as an educator, parent and artist with a more private studio practice. His story illuminates the leveling effect of parenthood through presenting somewhat universal practical and emotional shifts that professional artists go through in their transition into parenthood.

In Conversation with Bohyun Yoon

Bohyun Yoon is an imaginative, playful and brilliant glass artist based in Richmond, VA. His thought provoking work with glass employs its essential qualities to explore the human body and experience with a sense delight and wonder. Bohyun is an associate professor of glass in the Craft/Material Studies department at Virginia Commonwealth University. Bo shares intimate details about the struggles of parenthood as well as the enriching quality of taking on many roles: father, husband, artist, and professor. Family is a theme that infuses his current work.