Published by ZAK FOSTER
SEAMSIDE host Zak Foster explores the inner work of textiles with various textile artists. In each episode, we seek to understand how working with fabric helps make us more human.
Listen on Apple Podcasts23 min
Creative work requires two movements: going inward into solitude and reaching outward into community. Neither is better than the other—what matters is learning to sense which one you need in the moment. This meditation helps you feel the gifts each offers, recognize the signals that you need more of solitude or connection, and trust your own rhythm. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What signs tell you when to seek solitude? When to seek community? AFFIRMATION → Community and solitude / Both are sacred movements WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
19 min
What does it mean to document our work in witnessing mode rather than performative mode? This meditation helps you practice being a witness of your own process—noticing your choices, responses to difficulty, and surprises without immediate judgment. When you document from genuine witnessing, you create records that serve your learning and, when shared, have a greater chance of helping other makers because the messy reality of making resonates deeply. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What's the difference for you between judging your process and witnessing it? AFFIRMATION → I see my work with kind eyes / What I notice becomes wisdom WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
20 min
Some questions close quickly—you answer them and move on. But other questions open outward, revealing more complexity and interest the longer you explore them. This meditation helps you identify questions worthy of sustained inquiry and practice holding them open rather than rushing to resolution. Series work isn't repetition; it's sustained investigation that builds intimacy with what genuinely matters to you. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → How does "holding a question open" rather than "answering a question" feel to you? AFFIRMATION → I return to the same question / Each time from a new height WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
21 min
When we encounter textile work—especially quilts—we often perceive multiple stories at once: what the maker stitched into the surface, what materials they chose, what techniques they used, and maybe even what it meant to them personally. This meditation helps you understand how these four narrative layers can align to reinforce meaning or contrast to create complexity. We'll explore "the net and the air"—what you make explicit versus what you leave open to interpretation. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → Which narrative layer do you naturally focus on most? Which do you tend to overlook? AFFIRMATION → Surface and depth both speak / Meaning arises in my hands WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
21 min
When you write in a journal, you often discover what you think by seeing your thoughts on paper. Making works the same way—your hands think through materials, and you discover what you know by seeing what emerges. This meditation explores creative work as externalized thinking, a conversation between your conscious intentions and your intuitive knowing. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What question are you carrying right now that might be worth answering through making rather than thinking? AFFIRMATION → I make something and it teaches me / We speak back and forth WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
20 min
Your visual language isn't something you need to invent or discover hidden deep within yourself—it's already emerging in the choices you make each time you create. This meditation guides you through observing your recent work with friendly curiosity: what patterns keep showing up? We'll practice bringing conscious awareness to what's already there, so you can work with your patterns more intentionally rather than accidentally. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What patterns did you notice consistently appearing in your recent work? AFFIRMATION → What shows up again and again is mine / I trust what persists WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
20 min
Creative inspiration isn't scarce, requiring special trips or perfect conditions—it's abundant, hiding in plain sight. This meditation helps you expand your attention to notice inspiration in places you usually overlook. We'll practice a particular quality of noticing—curious but not hungry—and build cross-pollination between creative and everyday activities. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What would shift if you trusted that creative possibilities are abundant rather than scarce? AFFIRMATION → Everything I see can teach me / I open my eyes wider WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
18 min
What if you approached your creative work like a scientist approaches experiments—with genuine curiosity rather than pressure? This meditation helps you shift to a "What happens if...?" mindset. We'll explore experimental questions (doing the opposite of what you usually do, using the "wrong" tools deliberately, combining things that supposedly don't go together) and practice reframing failure as results rather than mistakes. REFLECTION QUESTION → What would need to be true for you to give yourself full permission to "waste" materials on experimentation? AFFIRMATION → I don't need to know how this ends / I only need to begin WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
16 min
Our bodies have so much to tell us—where we hold tension, what hurts after hours of making, what feels tight or soft. This meditation guides you through a gentle full-body scan, not to fix problems, but to notice what's present. We'll develop body literacy so you can recognize what your creative practice asks of you physically and respond with practical care. REFLECTION QUESTIONS → What might help that area feel more supported during creative work? AFFIRMATION → I clear the path for what wants to emerge WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
16 min
Making with textiles connects you to something vast—humans across every culture and century have worked with fiber and fabric. You don't join this tradition by having a long line of quilting grandmothers. You join by pulling up a seat at the table and picking up a needle and thread. This meditation helps you recognize the knowledge already living in your hands, understand that textile wisdom is open-access, and feel your place in the universal human practice of making. REFLECTION QUESTION → How does understanding textile work as open tradition change your relationship to making? AFFIRMATION → I receive what was given freely / I share freely what I've learned WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
16 min
This guided mediation is a part of WONDER YEAR, a year-long exploration in building and sustaining our creative practice. We’ll be moving through it together in real-time on the NOOK with live creative challenges, weekly reflections, journaling prompts, and more. Here on SEAMSIDE, I’ll be sharing a new guided meditation each week for the next three months—thirteen in all. My hope is that each one keeps you good company on your creative journey. … Many makers carry a quiet voice that says "I'm not good enough." This meditation helps you remember your inherent creative worthiness—not something earned through skill or output, but something that exists simply because you choose to show up. We'll reconnect with moments when creating felt natural, anchor belonging in your body, and recognize that your particular way of seeing matters. REFLECTION QUESTION → Which moments of natural creative joy surfaced, and what do they reveal? AFFIRMATION → I belong here / My hands know what to do WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
18 min
This guided mediation is a part of WONDER YEAR, a year-long exploration in building and sustaining our creative practice. We’ll be moving through it together in real-time on the NOOK with live creative challenges, weekly reflections, journaling prompts, and more. Here on SEAMSIDE, I’ll be sharing a new guided meditation each week for the next three months—thirteen in all. My hope is that each one keeps you good company on your creative journey. … GETTING STARTED → Starting something new can bring up all kinds of questions. Do I really have time for this? Am I good enough? Is this selfish? This meditation creates space to acknowledge those doubts while establishing something foundational: you have full permission to be here. We'll walk a path through the seasons of creative practice, visualize the natural rhythm of beginning and deepening, and help you claim a guiding intention—a compass, not a destination—for the year ahead. REFLECTION QUESTION → What quality or intention do you want to cultivate through this year of practice? AFFIRMATION → I belong here / This time is mine WANT TO LEARN MORE? → Join us live for the full WONDER YEAR program in 2026 for a communal journey with monthly reflections, live gatherings, workshops, and ongoing support to help you build a sustainable, deeply personal creative practice. We’d love to have you <3
15 min
This episode offers a raw and honest examination of how family history research can reveal both inspiring stories and difficult truths about our past. My journey from discovering less-than-perfect Revolutionary War heroes to uncovering my ancestors' role as enslavers demonstrates why understanding our complete history—not just the comfortable parts—is essential for creating a more just and equitable future. → My tips for getting started with your family history → Learn more about the SOUTHERN WHITE AMNESIA → Curator page for the SWA collection → Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM
1 hr 31 min
Step inside a packed gallery at the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum where I share the stories behind my SOUTHERN WHITE AMNESIA collection. This isn't a high-polish artist talk—it's a raw, honest exploration of how I discovered my family's deep involvement in slavery and transformed that uncomfortable truth into quilts, dolls, and primary source historical documents. This presentation demonstrates how textile work is uniquely positions to move into uncomfortable spaces and become a vehicle for historical reckoning and repair. You'll also hear about my decision to donate 100% of proceeds to HBCU scholarships and discover practical frameworks for approaching inherited trauma through the metaphor of "tending" rather than "mending" historical wounds. → Curator page for the SWA collection → Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM
3 min
Just a note to let you know I haven’t forgot about you <3 the SEAMSIDE sabbatical needed to be a little longer than I expect, but it’s coming back soon! Listen to hear what all I’ve been up to the last twelve months. → Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM
1 hr 5 min
In this special episode of SEAMSIDE, you'll hear reflections from a variety of community members who found connection, creative renewal, and unexpected insights while stitching side by side at our HUDDLE retreat. Working with textiles alongside others unlocks family stories and personal histories – there's something almost magical about the way fabric becomes a bridge across time and relationships. WANT TO JOIN US FOR THE NEXT HUDDLE? Learn more about our upcoming retreat here. And you can always email me at zak@zakfoster.com for more information. → Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM
59 min
Textile artist Heidi Parkes reflects on her transformative 13-month residency at Milwaukee's historic Pfister Hotel, discussing how the experience deepened her artistic practice, expanded her community connections, and prepared her for her upcoming mid-career retrospective exhibition. What happens when an artist's private practice meets the public eye for an entire year? Fresh from completing her prestigious residency at Milwaukee's historic Pfister Hotel, Heidi Parkes returns to SEAMSIDE to unpack what it was like to work in full public view for thirteen months. From unexpected revelations about her own work to the delicate dance of public engagement, Heidi shares how this residency in a busy hotel studio reshaped both her work and her perspective. In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Heidi and I explore: ① how public interaction informs the work we make ② how to ask meaningful questions when you step into a gallery ③ why she’s so glad to be back home You can hear Part 1 of our conversation here . → Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM
1 hr 8 min
I felt an immediate resonance when Demetri’s work first popped up on my screen. Here were these meticulous, vibrant prints of vintage photographs of ancestors, bedazzled in sequins and beads and quartz crystals. So we struck up a chat and over the last few months have really nurtured a budding friendship. It was over the course of my conversations with Demetri that I knew it was the right time to bring SEAMSIDE back. In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Demetri and I explore: ① how our identities can shift and expand over time ② why we need power objects like boxing gloves now more than ever ③ why he covers the eyes of his ancestors in his most recent work WHY LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE? In this conversation, Braxton reveals how personal identity shapes artistic practice, discussing his evolution from painting to creating intricate beaded boxing gloves and textile works that honor ancestors. His work navigates complex histories while seeking paths toward healing and understanding, offering valuable insights into how artists can address difficult histories while maintaining hope for the future. REFLECTION PROMPT How do you navigate complex or difficult aspects of your family's history while maintaining connection to your past, your upbringing, and your ancestors? OTHER LINKS → Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more at the EPISODE WEBSITE → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM
41 min
The last time Judy Martin and I caught up was about a year ago. At the point in time, she was just starting Your Fragile Life, a quilt project that she just wrapped up in recent weeks. If you haven’t heard our first chat, you can find it in the feed under April 2023. That conversation is one of the most-listened to episodes of all time, and in that chat, called HOW TO HOLD YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS, Judy and I talk about: ① the tole time plays in our work ② how we can meet ourselves in our materials ③ how our creative arc shifts over time These days, she’s getting ready for her first international solo show at the Festival of Quilts in the UK and so there’s a lot to catch up on. In this conversation, Judy shares her reflections on quilting, caretaking, and the meaningful interactions she has had with different audiences, including a recent visit to her granddaughter's class. She discusses recent projects, like 'Your Fragile Life,' the importance of showing her work, even though showing itself comes with its own demands. One thing you’ll hear in this conversation that I think it quintessentially Judy is how she emphasizes the essential nature of care and touch in her quilts, highlighting how these elements connect with viewers on a deeply personal level. The discussion also touches on the power of minimalism, daily routines for creativity, and the broader implications of quilts in fostering compassion and understanding in the world we live in. → Get your copy of THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR NEXT QUILT → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → Claim your free copy of 10 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED QUILTING → See images and more at the EPISODE WEBSITE → Nominate a GUEST for SEAMSIDE → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM
7 min
Recently Dana Staves , writer and textile artist, wrote a post on the NOOK that was so sweet and real and inspiring that I asked if she wouldn't mind recording it for y'all to hear. And luckily for us, she did. Thank you, Dana. I hope you enjoy this reflection on art & craft by Dana Staves. If you’d like to see how the NOOK can support you in your creative process, claim your free trial at the link below. → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK
Keep the useful structure, then change the audience, point of view, and voice until the idea is unmistakably yours.
Open a creative brief