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Martin Parr was a prophet speaking in parables, giving biting commentary on life in England wrapped in an entertaining story for the masses. Those with ears, let them hear. Except make it comical. because according to Martin, “if you don’t laugh, you’d cry.” Through this lens (pardon the pun), we witness reality amplified. Martin was quite clear that photography was highly therapeutic for him, and he teaches us how to process our own experiences unapologetically and with a flair for the dramatic. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

Welcome to another episode of Brainstorm Buddies where Amy and her Marco Polo brainstorm buddy Cami Turpin bring their private conversations out into the public. We are declaring 2026 The Year Of Looking Backwards To Determine How To Move Forwards. Maybe not the catchiest of titles, but one that keeps proving essential for this year in particular. Cami Turpin is a fine art photographer living, teaching, and making art from her home state of Utah, USA. Learn from Cami by registering for her paradigm-shifting course The Process Is The Point with Illuminate Classes. Find Cami (and ooh and aah over her work) on Instagram or at her website. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. You can register for Amy’s newest class Self-Portraits For Growth (a class about so much more than self-portraits). She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

Ruth Asawa: sculptor, painter, potato-print-maker. Nothing was off-limits to Ruth, and she even created a commercially sold textile simply by repeating a stamp with her college’s name on it. Although best known for her wire sculptures, Ruth has much to teach us about living an artful life, pushing through personal tragedy and adversity, and the beauty of dreams deferred. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

From perfectionism to imposter syndrome, we face all sorts of mental hurdles when trying to give form to our creativity. Tune into today’s episode as Amy and Chris tackle your questions, talk about the hurdles they face, and how they move through them. Leave feeling inspired and empowered to make 2026 your Year of Creativity! Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz. Chris Hajny is a senior product designer for a major corporation and an educator at his alma mater, MCAD. You can find more about him here. (And checkout the board game podcast he hosts!)

A major player in Dada and Surrealism, Man Ray’s first love might have been painting, but we know him for his photography. He embraced the experimental and helped elevate photography to a fine art. He stumbled upon techniques like solarization and the rayograph, which remind us to drop our expectations and welcome the “mistakes” that happen during the process. Listen in today as Amy and Chris talk about the magic of showing up, the importance of playing nicely, and what else we can learn from Man Ray’s lengthy and illustrious career. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

Walk into a Kinko’s to use a copier…but make it art? That’s exactly how this month’s artist, Pati Hill, got her start—through xeroxing everyday household objects. What started as the role of family historian, turned into framed pieces on gallery walls. Why objects? Why a photocopier? And what makes something appeal beyond the reach of our own homes? Listen in today as Amy and Chris talk about using unconventional tools, finding creativity in the constraints, whether photocopies make for good art, and if objects might actually have a life of their own. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

Just as exciting as studying an artist whose work is inspiring, is studying an artist with strong artistic philosophies. The advantage of contemporary artists is the myriad YouTube videos, articles, and podcasts we can find them on. We get to know them not only as artists, but as people with a real lived experience. Cig Harvey (b.1973) is one of those gems who is generous with her time and her hard-earned lessons. We see them in her work and in her media presence. and what we realize she isn’t just making art, but she is giving us a gift. She is wanting us to shift our perspective and see life as one sweeping act of ephemeral art. Join us as we talk about Cig’s work, the importance of inspiration, using tools that set us free, viewing art as a way to balance our inner states, and seeking out the beauty in the mundane. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

The man who gave us “good artists copy; great artists steal", “art is a lie that makes us realize the truth,” and "learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist" is none other than Pablo Picasso. His artistic philosophy was on point and it led him to shock and offend people time and again in order to pave the way for what would become the new norm of modern art. He had urgency, he had something to say, and he refused to niche down. Come along with us as we talk about his legacy: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Listen in as we wrestle with how to appreciate the artist while not glossing over his amorality. And ultimately leave inspired to use your voice as you follow your own calling of creativity. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

He might be the greatest landscape photographer of our time, and I can almost guarantee that studying his work will inspire you to pick up your camera. In this episode, Amy clues us into Michael Kenna’s artistic practice, philosophy, and the road that led him to seek out these moments of meditative solitude. Engaging with Michael Kenna’s work brings up so many topics even beyond the image itself, some of which are: photography allows us to capture a truth our eyes normally can’t see, the observer effect reminds us that our mere gaze changes how the world behaves, and without wabi-sabi we’re void of all intrigue. Grab some black and white film and maybe even an nd filter and get ready to learn some things about art, creativity, life and the intersection of it all. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

Although the florals and recipes of The Voynich Manuscript served as sources of inspiration for Amy’s final project this month, it was ultimately the indecipherability of the text that spoke the most. The fact that it can’t be decoded by modern humanity means it remains pure and lives on in unknown ways. But what about texts we do understand? How does our continual reading and adaptations of these texts affect the original intent? It ultimately begs the question: are we just living in a giant game of telephone? Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

We all hit roadblocks in life from time-to-time, where the once-familiar becomes untenable and we recognize that life as we know it is no more. These are the moments in which we often crumble, and although the crumbling might be inevitable, we end up with a choice: we can resign ourselves or we can take the pieces and build something new. Bisa Butler’s “pivot or die” moment occurred when the medium she was trained in became nauseating. She accepted the invitation into the inventive unknown and did something risky and controversial by choosing quilting as her new medium for fine art. A Black woman asserting that domestic labor is a fine art is a bold move, but ultimately a redemptive one. Bisa takes the term “arts and crafts” and reminds us that we often view this phrase as derogatory, but that there is true skill and resonance in the artful crafting of materials. In this episode learn about Bisa’s resilience in the face of roadblocks and criticism, her insistence to follow her intuition, and her work in empowering the next generation. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

One of the most-often questions that comes my way is: how do you find the time to create? On this episode, Chris and Amy answer your questions and talk about their strategies for finding the time to create, how to gather inspiration, setting goals, and why living life through the viewfinder isn’t so bad after all. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz. Chris Hajny is a senior product designer for a major corporation and an educator at his alma mater, MCAD. You can find more about him here. (And checkout the board game podcast he hosts!

“‘My work isn’t technical, it’s just vibes’-what Linda McCartney should have said, but didn’t”-Amy Elizabeth With a maiden name of Eastman and a married name of McCartney, did Linda become famous because of the people around her? (Sorry internet trolls, Linda wasn’t actually of the Kodak Eastmans). Spoiler alert: Amy thinks Linda is a true artist in her own right. Listen in as Amy becomes a Linda apologist, walks through the validity of her art, and muses about her paradoxes. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz

It’s hard to put your money where your mouth is. This month, after some really terrible film images, Amy remembered she’s “not a film snob”. And this is the story of how iPhone and digital images landed on her permanent Instagram feed. But if you want to hear some more details of said story, listen about evaluating the proper tools the job, and learn how to stop overcomplicating and get out of your own darn way, then tune into this episode of Post-Processing. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.

The Great Depression was almost 100 years ago and it serves as a reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same. It was during this era that our artist for the month, Elizabeth Olds, spoke against the injustices of society, empowered women, illuminated the ugliness of capitalism, and taught the next generation the importance of art and creativity. How does one take all of this as a guide and alchemize it into their own piece? Listen in as Amy and Chris talk about the book Amy ended up making, tackle the question 'what's poetry?', and muse about how they dislike the word 'networking' but recognize that connection is everything. Amy Elizabeth is an artist and film photographer living in Minneapolis, MN. She runs the group The Art Lab for creatives who want to connect and push forward in their artistry. She is also the owner/operator of Film Lab 135, a bespoke lab dedicated to processing experimental film, and specializing in film soup. You can find her on Instagram, substack, and bluesky @itsamyliz.