Jill McDougall shares her approach to creating from a place of intuition, play, and creative freedom. Discover how slowing down, embracing imperfection, and reconnecting with childlike curiosity can transform your creative practice.

Here’s what we discuss:

1. Returning to childlike play as a creative necessity
2. Building self-trust and following intuition in the studio
3. Letting go of perfectionism and embracing the full process
4. The role of mindfulness, observation, and slowing down
5. Jill’s Create Every Day in May creative freedom challenge

Jill McDougall is a mixed media artist based in Northwest Washington. Through collage, photography, and layered materials, she explores abstraction and the creative process, sharing her insights through her Substack and artist interviews.

Website: jillmcdougall.com/
Instagram: @jillmcdougallart
Substack: jillinspire.substack.com/

Visit our website: visionaryartcollective.com

Follow us on Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag

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In this episode, Victoria shares why she’s pausing her online group programs to focus on her 1:1 mentorship, offering a more personalized and strategic approach to supporting artists. She reflects on the value of individualized guidance in building momentum, refining a cohesive body of work, and aligning materials with meaningful opportunities. While she continues to teach through guest lectures and may return to group programs in the future, her current focus is on working closely with artists through one-on-one support, with a limited number of mentorship spots opening this summer.

To learn more about Victoria's 1:1 Mentorship Program, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/mentorship

To access Victoria's signature Artist Statement & Bio workshop:
visionaryartcollective.com/artist-statement-bio-workshop

To enroll in The Visionary Community, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/visionary-community-enroll

Victoria J. Fry is a New York City–based painter, educator, curator, and founder of Visionary Art Collective, New Visionary Magazine, and Warnes Contemporary. She has supported thousands of artists through exhibitions, publications, and mentorship.

Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag
Newsletter: visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter

In this episode, Victoria shares a quick studio update on her 30 day drawing challenge and offers practical guidance for refreshing your artist materials this spring. She explores how your website, social media, and artist statement impact the opportunities available to you and why alignment matters. Throughout the episode, she discusses building consistency in your creative practice, making it easier to show up without perfection, refreshing your website, Instagram, and artist statement, aligning your materials with your goals, and thinking from the perspective of curators and galleries. The key takeaway is that your materials should reflect the level of opportunity you are seeking, and your action step is to review your materials and ask yourself, would I feel ready if my ideal opportunity came my way today.

To learn more about Victoria's 1:1 Mentorship Program, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/mentorship

To access Victoria's signature Artist Statement & Bio workshop:
visionaryartcollective.com/artist-statement-bio-workshop

To enroll in The Visionary Community, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/visionary-community-enroll

Victoria J. Fry is a New York City–based painter, educator, curator, and founder of Visionary Art Collective, New Visionary Magazine, and Warnes Contemporary. She has supported thousands of artists through exhibitions, publications, and mentorship.

Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag
Newsletter: visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter

In this short solo episode, Victoria shares a simple yet powerful mindset shift to help artists move out of scarcity and into a more solution-oriented way of thinking. She reflects on showing up imperfectly and reminds us that growth comes from doing what we can with what we have. She explores how scarcity can show up around time, money, opportunities, and feeling “behind,” and offers a grounding question to reframe those thoughts: What opportunities might already be around me that I haven’t claimed yet, and what is one small step I can take today to move forward? This episode encourages artists to focus on what’s within their control and build momentum through consistent, intentional action.

To learn more about Victoria's 1:1 Mentorship Program, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/mentorship

To access Victoria's signature Artist Statement & Bio workshop:
visionaryartcollective.com/artist-statement-bio-workshop

To enroll in The Visionary Community, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/visionary-community-enroll

Victoria J. Fry is a New York City–based painter, educator, curator, and founder of Visionary Art Collective, New Visionary Magazine, and Warnes Contemporary. She has supported thousands of artists through exhibitions, publications, and mentorship.

Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag
Newsletter: visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter

In this episode, Victoria shares an honest and grounding perspective on comparison and the feeling of not being “enough” as an artist, reminding us that these thoughts are universal but don’t have to define how we move forward. She explores how comparison is often a reflection of how we see ourselves, how the feeling of not being enough doesn’t disappear with success, and how we can reframe these moments into clarity around what we truly want. This episode is a powerful reminder to honor your own timeline, take action even when you don’t feel ready, and return to your own work as a way to reconnect with your path.

To learn more about Victoria's 1:1 Mentorship Program, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/mentorship

To access Victoria's signature Artist Statement & Bio workshop:
visionaryartcollective.com/artist-statement-bio-workshop

To enroll in The Visionary Community, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/visionary-community-enroll

Victoria J. Fry is a New York City–based painter, educator, curator, and founder of Visionary Art Collective, New Visionary Magazine, and Warnes Contemporary. She has supported thousands of artists through exhibitions, publications, and mentorship.

Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag
Newsletter: visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter

Victoria discusses the importance of taking full responsibility for your art career and thinking creatively about how to create your own opportunities. She shares how artists can shift from waiting to be chosen to actively building visibility and momentum through outreach, alignment, and initiative. This episode also includes updates on Warnes Contemporary’s recent success at the Affordable Art Fair and her 1:1 mentorship program.

To learn more about Victoria's 1:1 Mentorship Program, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/mentorship

To access Victoria's signature Artist Statement & Bio workshop:
visionaryartcollective.com/artist-statement-bio-workshop

To enroll in The Visionary Community, visit:
visionaryartcollective.com/visionary-community-enroll

Victoria J. Fry is a New York City–based painter, educator, curator, and founder of Visionary Art Collective, New Visionary Magazine, and Warnes Contemporary. She has supported thousands of artists through exhibitions, publications, and mentorship.

Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag
Newsletter: visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter

Deborah Chi, a public arts curator and founder of Creative Bond, shares her inspiring journey of community building through art in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood. Discover how her initiatives foster belonging, support artists, and create impactful collaborations that transform neighborhoods.

Here’s what we discuss:

1. Creative Bond's mission and community impact
2. Collaborations with local organizations like Powerhouse Arts and Van Alen Institute
3. The role of art in fostering neighborhood belonging
4. Deborah Chi's personal journey as an artist and community leader.

Deborah Chi is a Brooklyn-based educator and artist. She has academic degrees in art (BFA), philosophy, theology & ethics (MTS, STM), and in policy (MPA). Her interest is in the intersection of the arts, ethics, aesthetics, social justice and community organizing.

Website: stlydias.org

IG: @deborahchi_art

Visit our website: visionaryartcollective.com

Follow us on Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag

Join our newsletter: visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter

In this episode, Victoria sits down with Mexican-born, Toronto-based artist Janne Reuss to explore her layered, introspective practice rooted in memory, home, and identity. Janne shares how her process combines photography, collage, and installation, using both physical and digital layering to build complex, dreamlike imagery. Working in long-term series, she reflects on how revisiting the same themes over time allows for deeper understanding and expansion.

They discuss the value of art fairs as spaces for connection and insight, and how conversations with viewers can shape an artist’s direction. Janne also speaks about the role of reflection in her practice, and how staying deeply connected to her ideas has helped her evolve her work across scale and medium.

Key Takeaways

1. Layering can function as both a material technique and a conceptual framework.
2. Working in series allows artists to deepen and evolve a single idea over time.
3. Expanding across mediums, including installation, can open new perspectives within a practice.
4. Reflection plays a crucial role in gaining clarity and direction as an artist.
5. Mindset and self-trust are essential in supporting creative growth and taking risks.

A thoughtful conversation on building a practice that evolves from within, one layer at a time.

Janne Reuss, born and raised in Mexico City and now based in Toronto, Canada, is a multidisciplinary artist with over two decades of professional experience. She has lived, worked, and exhibited internationally, with five solo exhibitions and numerous group shows across Mexico, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Canada.

Her work has been featured in multiple juried exhibitions, earning recognition including a Best in Show award. In 2020–2021, she completed residencies at Akin x Collision Gallery and the Akin Studio Program at MOCA Toronto, culminating in her solo exhibition Rewriting the Story, a series of overpainted photomontages.

Reuss has participated in the Artist Project Contemporary Art Fair in Toronto in 2024 and 2025, and was invited to return in 2026. She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Art & Design in Stuttgart and Art History in Mexico. Working across photography, collage, and painting, her practice explores memory, identity, and the imprint of lived experience.

Her work is held in public and private collections, including the Donovan Art Collection at St. Michael’s College (Canada) and the Municipal Gallery of Ostfildern (Germany), and she is currently represented by Petroff Gallery in Toronto.

Website: @jannereuss
IG: artjanne.com

Visit our website: visionaryartcollective.com

Follow us on Instagram: @visionaryartcollective + @newvisionarymag

Join our newsletter: visionaryartcollective.com/newsletter