What do you hear when you sit in silence? For artist Rose B. Simpson, that question is the beginning of all art. She comes from a line of ceramic artists stretching back generations and, as part of her multidisciplinary work, she also builds custom lowrider cars. (If that sounds like a contradiction, that's kind of the point.) In conversation with "Design Matters" podcast host Debbie Millman, Simpson invites you to find your own aesthetic — not by searching, but by listening.

How to invite creativity into your life

Blurring the line between art and living, true creativity begins with listening rather than searching for inspiration. Growing up in a Pueblo home where pottery formed both daily sustenance and livelihood, everyday choices became creative acts. Even turning off electricity became an experiment in self-reliance and presence, revealing how much is possible when people engage intentionally with their surroundings. By treating objects like custom cars and ceramic vessels as living collaborators, creativity transforms into an act of conscious connection.

Creativity Emerges When Art And Life Become One

Art and life are inseparable for those who treat every act, from building a home to growing food, as a creative process. Raised surrounded by makers and thinkers, the speaker learned to see creativity as a form of survival and self-reliance. Even turning off electricity became an experiment in adaptation and awareness. True agency, she suggests, comes from tuning into intuition and the world around us, not from seeking external approval.