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In this episode of The War with Art, we try something new: a random show. After wrapping another recording, the conversation kept going — bouncing between ideas about deadlines, perfection, collaboration, and the strange emotional slog that shows up near the finish line of creative work. So we hit record and followed the thread. Eric, George, and Sheldon unpack why “done is better than perfect” keeps resurfacing across art history, why exhaustion isn’t a useful metric for finishing, and how deadlines, editors, producers, and collaborators can act as creative unlocks rather than constraints. We talk about the difference between feedback that’s cheap and feedback that has skin in the game, why collaboration can push work past your own internal ceiling, and how letting someone else into the process can move a project closer to its truest version — not just its fastest ending. This is a loose, honest conversation about finishing things, trusting the right people, and carrying the work across the finish line even when you’re tired of looking at it. If you’ve got a topic you’d like us to pull next — or a question you’re wrestling with in your own creative practice — let us know. Timestamps 00:10 — A “random show” and why we’re trying it 01:27 — Done vs perfect (and why it never goes away) 02:19 — Deadlines, pressure, and forcing the release 03:44 — Why “perfect” is the wrong word 04:42 — Litmus tests: how do you know when something’s done? 06:21 — Being tired vs being finished 07:45 — The emotional slog near the finish line 10:48 — Live service vs print: the pressure of permanence 13:00 — Producers, editors, and creative unlocks 16:05 — Collaboration as an unlock, not a compromise 20:09 — Creative soulmates and shared momentum 25:00 — Trust, feedback, and getting closer to “good enough” 28:31 — Inviting audience topics + closing thoughts

In this episode of The War with Art, we pull another card from Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies deck and get a prompt that hits uncomfortably close: “Bridges — build — burn.” From modular synth patches you create and then tear down, to monks spending days on intricate work only to wipe it clean, we talk about why building and burning is baked into the creative process. Sometimes you have to strip a piece back to its core idea. Sometimes you have to scare yourself a little. And sometimes you have to let go of what you’ve already built... even when sunk cost is screaming at you to keep it. The guys also explore the deeper version: making something can be a bridge between who you are now and who you become after you’ve finished — and once you cross, you don’t really get to go back. If you’ve got your own interpretation of the card, drop a comment as we’d love to hear it. “Maybe you need to burn the bridge in order to make it not easy — and then rebuild something new.” --- Timestamps: 01:10 — What *Oblique Strategies* is (and why we’re using it)02:40 — The card: “Bridges — build — burn”03:50 — Burning as a creative tool: risk, conflict, and scaring yourself06:10 — Modular synths: build the patch, then tear it down07:15 — The monks: the work matters more than the artifact12:05 — The deeper take: building a bridge to a new version of yourself16:45 — Audience, tone, and the bridges you build (or burn) with words19:10 — “Diet vanilla” and using the cards to push the work further --- Referenced in this episode: Oblique Strategies — Brian Eno & Peter SchmidtSand Mandala: Sacred Art of Tibet (Thames & Hudson) — on the creation and ritual destruction of sand mandalasSunk cost fallacy” (concept)

In this episode of The War with Art, we talk about the inner critic — that voice that shows up right when the work starts to matter. Eric, George, and Sheldon dig into what it actually says and why it can sometimes be useful, but also how easily it can tip into full imposter syndrome. We also get into the difference between "done" and "perfect," why art is something you surrender rather than perfect, and that strange thing that happens when you've listened to your own work so many times that you can't tell if it's genuinely bad or if you're just sick of hearing it. If you’ve got your own way of dealing with the inner critic, drop a comment — we’d love to hear it. “If it were easy to make, there’d be no point in making it.” Timestamps: 02:30 — What the inner critic actually says04:30 — “Done vs perfect”09:00 — When criticism turns into imposter syndrome11:30 — The AI temptation20:00 — Outnumbering the inner critic through collaboration Referenced in this episode: Dilla Time by Dan CharnasRatatouille — the critic archetypeTheodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” (speech)

Pulling a random card from The Deck of Oblique Strategies, the guys discuss...

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Choirs and spirituality... ok guys? Where will this one go?

George, Eric and Sheldon talk about all the effort and how that can turn to exhaustion.

Sheldon, George, and Eric sit down to talk about the vast landmine overthinking your art.

George and Eric discuss life and death as a creative.

George and Eric sit down for this one and discuss making a new kinds of things...all with a dash of creative insight and humor.

The guys discuss Kickstarter releases, tips for creating one, and the hype surrounding SM and Eric's new book, Aardehn: Awakening (which hit its funding goal in less than 24 hours!)

SM Carter, George Spanos, and Eric Vedder talk about the pain of having to rework and rewrite and redraw and replay... like needles in your eye. But just maybe there is something to learn from it?

S.M. Carter, George Spanos, and Eric Vedder get off their butts and actually record an episode... but, just maybe, procrastination is a good thing?

S.M. Carter, George Spanos, and Eric Vedder sit down with artist and entrepreneur Samantha Carter and artist and crafter Annette Miketic - Vedder to talk about starting a new creative project.