Making Meaning
43 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsMaking Meaning is a podcast exploring the meaning behind what we make. Artist Ruth Singer talks to creative people about why they make and create. Ruth loves finding out how artists, writers, coaches, researchers and others use challenging and complex stories within their work. She is interested in what matters to them and why they choose to create what they do.
Ruth Singer has been making textile art professionally for 18 years and before that worked in the museum sector and has wide ranging interests in all kinds of creative practice. Words are really important to her; she writes books, shares a lot of her work online and loves talking about creative practice to other people who get it. Ruth also works as a mentor to artists and creative businesses and is always learning about what drives creative people to make interesting and complex things.
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Episodes
#42: Making Meaning - Co-creation
June 10, 2024 23:11 - 21 minutes - 16.7 MBIn my nearly 20 years of creative work, I've developed a real passion for creating artwork with the input of others, either in group making or through contributions of stories. This podcast explores what I mean by co-creation and what benefits it brings to me and those who contribute. Find out more and read the transcript at https://ruthsinger.com/2024/06/11/co-creation-making-meaning-podcast-episode-42/ The gallery of co-created projects is here https://ruthsinger.com/co-creation-proj...
#41: Making Meaning - Reflective Practice
May 23, 2024 00:00 - 19 minutes - 18.8 MBI find being reflective in my creative work incredibly useful and have done for many years. In this essay / podcast I share how I came to reflective writing or journalling and some of the other ways I am reflective about my work with others. This was part of my Cultures of Care Group in May 2024. Find out more: https://ruthsinger.com/2024/05/16/reflective-practice-making-meaning-podcast-episode-41/
#40: Making Meaning - Research as a care practice
April 27, 2024 23:30 - 23 minutes - 18.4 MBThis new podcast episode, the first in a series of four, is a recording of my first Cultures of Care Group talks. For these sessions I write an essay to share on an aspect of care in creative practice. In this first session, April 2024, I chose to talk about research as a creative care practice. Find out more: https://ruthsinger.com/2024/04/23/research-as-a-care-practice/
#39: Making Meaning - Artist Support Recipes
February 18, 2024 00:30 - 1 hour - 60.5 MBArtist Support Recipes is a group of artists interested in artist support and development. In this podcast we reflect on our learning during a year of research and discussion about what artists need to thrive. The group members are Ruth Singer, Sharon Adams, Gillian McFarland, Collette Rayner and Liz Nilsson. Find out more https://ruthsinger.com/2024/02/17/making-meaning-podcast-episode-39-artist-support-recipes/ and at artistsupportrecipes.wordpress.com
#38 - Making Meaning with Claire Morris-Wright
February 04, 2024 02:30 - 33 minutes - 26.3 MBThis week I'm talking to artist Claire Morris-Wright, an artist in neighbouring Northamptonshire, who I've known for a few years and always enjoy talking too. We talk about looking closely and thinking deeply, about slow processing of ideas and about sharing and connecting as a fundamental part of both our practices. Read more: Membership and Mentoring are all here: https://ruthsinger.podia.com/ Support the podcast with a donation or subscription ruthsinger.com/podcast-fundraiser K...
#37 - Making Meaning with Amy Twigger Holroyd
December 31, 2023 01:42 - 52 minutes - 42.3 MBIn this end of 2023 episode, I'm talking to Amy Twigger Holroyd, who is Associate Professor of Fashion and Sustainability at Nottingham School of Art & Design, and in her previous life was a knitwear designer and innovator. We go back quite a long way to my early days as a designer maker and the retail markets world that we both used to work in. What connected us in those early days was a belief in the need for textiles practices to be sustainable and for making to be recognised as a vital l...
#36 - Making Meaning with Bridget Harvey
December 17, 2023 01:43 - 48 minutes - 39.5 MBBridget is a maker and researcher who uses ideas around repair to reanimate discarded objects and to tell new stories about our relationship to everyday things. In this conversation we talk about where our interests in object histories and museums converge and about how sharing our research interests in various ways fuels our ongoing curiosity about people and the things they value. This podcast is part of my Cultures of Care project which is a research and making project looking at how arti...
#35 - Making Meaning with Lisa Soloman
December 03, 2023 00:15 - 1 hour - 40.8 MBThis time I'm talking with artist Lisa Solomon. Lisa lives in Oakland, California, where I was very lucky to visit her a couple of times pre-pandemic, after being online friends for about 15 years. Lisa works in mixed media and across genres from intimate self portraits to huge installations, often directly addressing issues around identity and personal histories. She also teaches at university level and has written a number of books too. We had a wonderful long chat, which I hope you will e...
#34 - Live Q&A with Ruth Singer
November 19, 2023 00:30 - 51 minutes - 27.3 MBIn this episode you'll hear an edited version of a live Q&A recorded last month on Zoom. The audience were invited to ask questions about my practice in general, or specific current or past projects. You'll hear me talk about topics including care practices within organisations, caring for others and its impact on practice, and working with funders. This is the first time I've tried doing a live recording, and I didn't know the questions in advance, so it's absolutely live and real responses...
#33 - Making Meaning with Barbara Burman
November 05, 2023 00:33 - 44 minutes - 25 MBI’m joined today by historian and writer Barbara Burman who has just published a wonderful new book called The Point of The Needle, Why Sewing Matters which celebrates and explores the cultural and social importance of plain stitching, using historical sources and also the voices of people sewing today. I was asked to read a proof copy of the book earlier in the year and very much enjoyed it, and of course wanted to talk to Barbara more. In this conversation we talk a lot about the similar...
#32: Making Meaning - Zoe Murphy
October 21, 2023 23:05 - 45 minutes - 25.6 MBEpisode 32 of Making Meaning is with designer and all-round creative powerhouse Zoe Murphy. Zoe works with colourful screen prints to transform old furniture into amazing, meaningful pieces. We talk about her multi-faceted creative life, about connecting and sharing creative joy and about how storytelling and research are fundamental to how she works. Find out more here: https://ruthsinger.com/2023/10/20/making-meaning-podcast-episode-32-with-zoe-murphy/ Support the podcast with a donati...
#31: Making Meaning - Cultures of Care
October 14, 2023 23:01 - 1 hour - 34.7 MBThis is an extra bonus episode. Rather than the usual conversation, today’s episode is a recording of my recent Cultures of Care online talk, explaining my new major project, what’s led to it and what I’m working on now and in the next couple of years. The images referred to can be found in the blog post linked below. Find out more here: https://ruthsinger.com/2023/10/13/making-meaning-podcast-episode-31-cultures-of-care/ Support the podcast with a donation or subscription: http://ruths...
#30: Making Meaning with Jennie McCall
October 07, 2023 23:06 - 47 minutes - 26.7 MBI’m talking today to ceramic artist Jennie McCall. I’ve known Jennie for quite a few years and have had the pleasure of seeing her work grow and develop as she finds her place, and supporting her through mentoring and one of my courses. We discuss reinvention, finding your place, understanding ourselves and putting emotions into our creative work. Jennie talks about finding the freedom to be herself and to work with authenticity and curiosity. Please note: Jennie talks about childhood trau...
#29: Making Meaning with Kate Unwin, The Moon & The Furrow
September 23, 2023 23:01 - 39 minutes - 26.6 MBFor the first time, Making Meaning has been recorded outdoors! I met up with Kate Unwin of The Moon and the Furrow at her woodland in Wales. Kate is an artist, maker, grower and one of my closest friends. She moved to Wales to live a more sustainable and nature-connected life and she runs a small business that is very much aligned with her values and creative inspirations. We talk about nature, creativity and healing, about making conscious choices with a business, about living simply and ab...
#28: Making Meaning with Lucie Bea Dutton
September 09, 2023 23:01 - 1 hour - 42 MBIn this episode, Ruth talks to textile artist and researcher, Lucie Bea Dutton. For the last few years, Lucie has been exploring Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell Trilogy though a large-scale sewing project inspired by Mantel’s work. Lucie trained as a historian and she works extensively with archival materials. In this episode, Ruth talks to Lucie about this project, as well as finding your place as an artist when it isn't your first career, the importance of a studio, how shifts in life influence ...
Making Meaning is coming back!
June 16, 2023 23:01 - 7 minutes - 6.25 MBHello friends, Making Meaning podcast is back! Or it's almost back, if I can fundraise enough to keep it going. In this episode I'll explain where I've been and what is coming up if we can make it happen, together. You can support a new series by donating at ruthsinger.com/podcastfundraiser You can also join my email list for updates at ruthsinger.com/email Previous episodes information and images can be found at ruthsinger.com/podcast
#26: Making Meaning with Gillian Lee Smith
September 28, 2022 23:01 - 48 minutes - 26.1 MBIn this final conversation of the series, I am talking to Gillian Lee Smith, a Scottish painter based in Northumberland. Gillian and I first met as members of a designer-makers group in the English midlands but we reconnected over Zoom during the pandemic and have had some wonderful conversations about our practices, our mentoring work and our creative ideas. In this conversation we focus on mentoring and talk about how both supporting others and being supported ourselves helps our practice....
#25: Making Meaning with Mandeep Dhadialla
September 14, 2022 23:01 - 49 minutes - 29.1 MBMandeep is a printmaker and workshop leader who works under the brand The Laughing Cactus Print Studio. She’s also local to me and we’ve been working together a lot over the last year or so on community projects and sharing thoughts on our respective creative practices. In this conversation we talk about the themes Mandeep is currently exploring around stillness and displacement, about belonging and moving between two countries. We talk about community practice and the impact it has on our w...
#24: Making Meaning Live Gathering Highlights 3 with Maker Membership and Charlotte Bilby
August 31, 2022 23:01 - 1 hour - 49.5 MBMaking Meaning Live was a fantastic online event in July 2022 created by Ruth Singer. The event brought together creative people to talk about the meaning behind what they make with a live audience. Making Meaning Live was a fantastic online event which I created and hosted in July 2022. The event brought together creative people to talk about the meaning behind what they make with a live audience. This episode includes Ruth Singer in conversation with Maker Membership participants talking ...
#23: Making Meaning Live Gathering Highlights 2 with Amy Twigger Holroyd, Claire Wellesley-Smith, Lokesh Ghai and Charlie Birtles
August 17, 2022 23:01 - 1 hour - 42.7 MBMaking Meaning Live was a fantastic online event in July 2022 created by Ruth Singer. The event brought together creative people to talk about the meaning behind what they make with a live audience. The next three episodes of the podcast are highlights of the programme - the bits that work without images and video. This episode includes Amy Twigger Holroyd talking about Fashion Fictions with participants Wendy Ward, Ruhee Das Chowdhury and Kate Harper, a conversation between textile artists...
#22: Making Meaning Live Gathering Highlights 1 with Michaela McMillan, Wendy Ward and Kathryn Parsons
August 03, 2022 23:01 - 58 minutes - 32.3 MBMaking Meaning Live was a fantastic online event which Ruth Singer created and hosted in July 2022. The event brought together creative people to talk about the meaning behind what they make with a live audience. This episode includes Michaela McMillan, Wendy Ward and Kathryn Parsons and all involve interaction and activities which the participants really got into. You can take part in Wendy's activity and send your writing to her. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast
#21: Making Meaning with Michaela McMillan
July 20, 2022 23:01 - 43 minutes - 24.9 MBMichaela McMillan's wonderful work often defies categorisation. It is craft or is it assemblage? Is it sculpture or is it textiles? It is meant to be serious or is it meant to be fun? Michaela's work is full of elements of her personality and her passions. She describes it perfectly as playfully serious. In this podcast we reflect on how much of ourselves we reveal through our making practice, what rules and boundaries we use or choose to break to make our respective takes on non-functional ...
#20: Making Meaning with Ruth Singer on Research
July 06, 2022 23:01 - 31 minutes - 22.5 MBResearch and stories are fundamental to my work. Everything I make has some kind of message or meaning which I want to express through making artwork. I talk about research a lot, both in the podcast and in my Maker Membership but I know that it isn't always clear what I mean by research and narrative textiles. The podcast episode focuses on what I understand by research, what I do and what it means to me. Building more research (of whatever kind) into your making is one of the cornerstones ...
#19: Making Meaning with Alice Fox
June 22, 2022 23:30 - 46 minutes - 26.8 MBAlice's practice is deeply embedded in land and place. She makes with found and natural materials using textile processes and others drawn from basketry and bookmaking. Alice and I met some years ago through exhibiting in the same places and having a shared understanding of making a living as an artist and in particular, writing books about our work. Alice is well-known in textiles for her book Natural Processes in Textile Art and her new book Wild Textiles comes out this September. In this ...
#18: Making Meaning with Textiles in Lockdown
June 08, 2022 23:30 - 1 hour - 42.6 MBTextiles in Lockdown was a wonderful project I worked on in 2020. Gawthorpe Textiles Collection commissioned me to research textile making practice during the 2020 lockdowns and to create a digital resource for their museum collection. I chose to make a podcast and ebook for them, sharing your stories of stitching and sewing during the first few months of the pandemic. It was such a wonderful project for me and I know it meant a lot to so many to have their work and story captured in this po...
#17: Making Meaning with Maker Membership Community
May 26, 2022 00:00 - 1 hour - 39.6 MBI truly believe that connection and community are vital to creativity. It's hard to be making work on your own without conversations, feedback and inspiration from others. I created Maker Membership, my online community, during the pandemic to bring makers together to share, talk and be inspired. This podcast episode is based around one of our Membership Live group sessions with three long-standing members Alison Foster, Cheryl Hewitt and Lucie Bea Dutton discussing their work, development an...
#16: Making Meaning with Claire Wellesley-Smith
May 12, 2022 00:30 - 56 minutes - 31.6 MBWellbeing through stitch and communal creative practice runs through Claire's practice, writing and projects. She's just completed a PhD exploring this subject in depth and we both love talking about the importance of community making practice, about textile and local heritage and about the power of textiles to change lives in all kinds of subtle ways. This conversation ranges across all these areas of interest and we talk about how our work in communities is so important yet so often overlo...
#15: Making Meaning with Louise Jones-Williams
April 27, 2022 23:30 - 48 minutes - 31.1 MBI've been enormously lucky over the last 10 years or so to work with Louise at Llantarnam Grange on both group and solo exhibitions. In this conversation we talk about how she creates and curates exhibitions, finds artists to work with and shares stories through craft. We also talk about the importance of the artist-curator relationship, about my work with her and the gallery, and how important exhibitions are for both artist and visitor. This was recorded in person at the gallery in March 2...
#14: Making Meaning with Sharon Adams
April 14, 2022 01:00 - 36 minutes - 20 MBSharon's work really fascinates me. Her objects tell intriguing stories of the landscape she is rooted in and allow for contemplation and imagination of the viewer too. Sharon and I have had such interesting conversations about place, belonging, boundaries and landscape containers, it was a pleasure to talk to her more about her work in this podcast. Sharon also supports artists through 1:1 coaching. www.ruthsinger.com/podcast
#13: Making Meaning with Helen Hallows
March 31, 2022 05:00 - 42 minutes - 28.6 MBIt's great to be back with a new series of Making Meaning. In this episode I'm talking to artist Helen Hallows about living a creative life with a deep connection with nature, about the challenges and joys of being a professional artists and about what it means to be embodying her philosophy of nurturing creativity within our lives. Find out more: https://ruthsinger.com/podcast/
#12: Making Meaning Crowdfunder and mini episode
December 09, 2021 00:00 - 4 minutes - 4.03 MBThis is just a quickie, a tiny unscripted mini pod to remind you that the Crowdfunder closes this weekend Sunday 12th December and that your contribution will be very much appreciated! There's also a little bonus at the end with some reflection questions for you to ponder in relation to your own making with meaning. Links from the episode: Podcast: ruthsinger.com/podcast Crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/making-meaning-podcast-series-two Email list: https://ruthsinger.com/studi...
#11: Making Meaning Reflections
December 02, 2021 01:00 - 35 minutes - 24.7 MBThis end of series episode of Making Meaning is just me. I wanted to reflect on the series, to share my thoughts and feelings about the amazing conversations I've had. I also wanted to add a bit more context about my own work and share more about myself and some of the projects I have worked on in the past, present and future. The themes that come up again and again in this series are about connection and collaboration, about the creative impulse and the value of our ideas, about research, a...
#10: Making Meaning with Emma King
November 18, 2021 01:00 - 1 hour - 33 MBIn this final conversation of the series, Ruth is talking to museum consultant Emma King. Ruth & Emma were at University studying for a Masters Degree in Museum Studies. In this episode they talk about making meaning in museums, about what museums are for, about ideas and their value and about how to spark and nuture them. Find out more at ruthsinger.com/podcast We are raising money for the next series of Making Meaning. Please contribute if you can here
#9: Making Meaning with Paula Briggs
November 04, 2021 14:00 - 42 minutes - 25.1 MBThis week Ruth is talking to Paula Briggs, a ceramic artist focussing on narrative in craft. This conversation grew from a previous interview for Paula's Masters Degree in ceramics where she asked Ruth about research-based work, making a living from non-commercial making and communicating the stories behind the work. In this podcast they talk about all of this and more including the importance of making skills in industry and the absorbing and powerful nature of research in making. Podcast S...
#8: Making Meaning with Ekta Kaul
October 21, 2021 00:00 - 37 minutes - 20.9 MBIn this episode Ruth talks to textile artist Ekta Kaul about her soulful stitch work, about belonging and place making about about the richness of textile making to improve our lives. Ekta is a London-based artist who grew up in India. In this conversation she shares how her map-making stitch practice has helped grounding her in a new country. They share their stories of finding their place in the textile world over the last dozen or more years and talk about how powerful it is to stitch ...
#7: Making Meaning with Melody Vaughan
October 06, 2021 23:00 - 47 minutes - 28.2 MBMelody Vaughan, coach and mentor to makers started her working life in the museum sector, just like Ruth did. In this conversation, they discuss how museum training has impacted their work with and as makers. They talk about the importance of understanding how things are made, how makers have so much knowledge that museums could be tapping into better and how objects have long lives that we often don't think about. Both Ruth and Melody support other makers through mentoring and courses and t...
#6: Making Meaning with Cas Holmes
September 22, 2021 23:00 - 42 minutes - 24.7 MBThis conversation between textile artists Ruth Singer & Cas Holmes is full of fascinating insights into the thoughtful making processes they share. Cas and Ruth talk about migration and cultural heritage, about responding to old but meaningful cloth and other objects and about the loss of talking to other people, sparking ideas and sharing textile making in communal spaces through the pandemic. Cas talks movingly about the impact of little conversations, asides and responses and how all that...
#5: Making Meaning with Kathryn Parsons
September 08, 2021 23:00 - 53 minutes - 26 MBKathryn is an artist maker specialising in miniature works celebrating nature. Kathryn's approach is research-based and multi-faceted - from a Herbarium of Stories made from leaves and sunlight, to wildflower shoes sculpted in sugar, she creates intricate artworks that weave together tales of nature, place and people. She is currently Artist in Residence at Langdyke Countryside Trust in Cambridgeshire, England. In this conversation we talk about following your inspiration, exploring and shar...
Making Meaning with Richard McVetis
August 25, 2021 23:00 - 42 minutes - 29.6 MBIn this episode Ruth talks to artist Richard McVetis about his meticulous embroidery work and the complexities and joys of being an artist. Richard makes work for exhibitions and commissions and shares his unique style of stitch and the meditative process behind it through workshops. In the 10 years or so since I first came across Richard’s work, he’s exhibited widely including the Crafts Council’s Collect Open in 2017, and he’s got a solo exhibition coming up in 2022. In this conversation ...
#4: Making Meaning with Richard McVetis
August 25, 2021 23:00 - 42 minutes - 29.6 MBIn this episode Ruth talks to artist Richard McVetis about his meticulous embroidery work and the complexities and joys of being an artist. Richard makes work for exhibitions and commissions and shares his unique style of stitch and the meditative process behind it through workshops. In the 10 years or so since I first came across Richard’s work, he’s exhibited widely including the Crafts Council’s Collect Open in 2017, and he’s got a solo exhibition coming up in 2022. In this conversation w...
#3: Making Meaning with Caren Garfen
August 11, 2021 23:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBArtists Ruth Singer and Caren Garfen in conversation about the meanings behind their work. Both Ruth and Caren work in textiles and have a strong association with working with objects and they talk about using textiles to tell personal and challenging stories. Caren has created work about eating disorders previously and she talks at length in this episode about her work sharing historic and contemporary stories of anti-Semitism. They also share their experiences of slow creative processes, t...
#2: Collaboration and Connection
July 28, 2021 23:00 - 38 minutes - 24.3 MBRuth talks to fine artist Gillian McFarland. Ruth & Gillian have collaborated for a number of years on art-science and other conceptual projects. In this episode, Gillian talks about the meanings and thought processes behind her work and why she chooses to collaborate with other artists. For more information visit: ruthsinger.com
#1: Welcome to Making Meaning
June 26, 2021 17:05 - 5 minutes - 5.7 MBArtist Ruth Singer introduces her new podcast Making Meaning. She explains how she loves talking to other artists and creative people about what they do and why and how important it is to her to connect and converse during these isolated times. Ruth also shares some information about who she is going to talk to through this series and about how this podcast is conversations not formal interviews. She then introduces the first guest for the next episode. Ruth also talks about the mentoring pr...