We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cate Mcquaid. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cate below.

Hi Cate, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I’ve been a freelance writer for my entire career, working mostly as an art critic for the Boston Globe. But the print industry is on the decline. I’m blessed to have a long-term relationship with the Globe. I used to make a living there, but there have been cutbacks. And two years ago, in July, 2022, my work there was significantly trimmed.

In the past, after a cutback, I’d just be in fear mode until my sense of my budget stabilized. This time, I took it differently. I was lucky to have a bit of a financial cushion, and I decided to take the time to let ideas come to me. To just be open and allow things to percolate. My contemplative practices led me to visioning and gave me patience and faith that something would arise. By November, I knew I wanted to still be writing.

It also came to me that I wanted to teach, which I have not done before. I asked my friend, book coach Madeleine Eno, if she’d like to partner on a workshop. Over the next six months, we came up with Embodied Writing, a movement and writing workshop that invites participants to drop into their bodies and release the inner critic. Madeleine and I began to brainstorm. We found a place to hold a workshop, and put the word out on social media. We did two workshops in 2023, and have recently received a grant from the town of Concord, Mass., for a third one.

There isn’t a lot of logic to my evolution away from print media. It was very intuitive. I love teaching, and my own writing blossomed. By January, 2023, I had a sense of what I wanted to write, and that I’d publish it on Substack. In April, I created Ocean in a Drop there. I write about art, the creative process, and how that process is a corollary for life. The work is much more personal than what I publish in the Globe. It’s often a combination of art criticism and personal essay. It feels unique because it’s so personal, but also the hybrid of personal essay and criticism is unusual, and my Globe readers seem to appreciate getting to know me better.

I was well positioned for a Substack subscriber base, because I already had a platform at the Globe. Still, I’m delighted and surprised by the reception Ocean in a Drop has received. It has steadily grown, and now provides a decent portion of my income.

Cate, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been an art critic based in Boston for more than 30 years, mostly covering local art and artists. That feels very niche! Which is good, because I have a target audience of readers. At the same time, I find my approach with my Substack, Ocean in a Drop, connects with people beyond New England, because I write about creative process, craft, and life as much as I write about local exhibitions. Every Tuesday I invite an artist to describe the process they go through as they create one piece, soup to nuts. That backstage peek has ben quite popular.

The fact is, most arts coverage is about big exhibitions and splashy debuts. But there’s a huge population of working artists out there, and Ocean in a Drop is for them and anyone who considers their work intuitive and creative.

A few weeks ago a reader wrote asking if I’d written anything about getting through a creative block. I had, and I sent her that link. That was a personal essay about my own experience. I saw the opportunity to write something broader, and I posted the question on social media. The post blew up (at least on a level I have never experienced). Folks had all kinds of advice. And I organized that into a Substack essay. That all happened within the space of a few days.

On Substack, I’ve been able to be much more responsive to readers, to engage in conversations. It’s a delight. Co-facilitating Embodied Writing workshops, I’m helping students drop into their own authentic voices, as I aim to do with my own writing.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Many artists and non-artists have told me stories about parents with reservations about sending their kid to art school, because they believe you can’t make a living as an artist. Non-creatives are not aware the burgeoning garden of opportunities available to people who think creatively. The truth is, if you’re a creative, your work calls you to balance a degree of technical mastery with trust in/surrender to the process of making – whether you’re making a painting, an essay, a workshop, or a business.

My experience is really about trusting the process, as I did when I let my ideas about teaching and writing develop over several months. I had to spend that time in not knowing. I’ve also found that creativity is often about letting things happen, rather than making things happen. It’s about listening and being curious.

This is true across the boards, not just in creative professions. Creativity comes into everything. I hate long meetings where everyone sits around a table hashing out some problem. Everyone has to have their say; it can go on forever. There are a lot of egos involved. My sister, who is not in a “creative” profession, but one that involves a lot of meetings, set me straight: What happens at those meetings reflects the push-and-pull of the creative process.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

OMG. It’s riding the energy:
–Being passionate and in the flow as I write a post
–Feeling excited about witnessing an artist and their work
–Following the whispers and intuitions that appear from within and without
–Experiencing and responding to the group energy as I co-facilitate a workshop
–Being alert to the ebbs and flows of energy
–Feeling the connection with readers, and being able to engage in conversation with them

Contact Info:

• Website: https://catemcquaid.substack.com/
• Instagram: @cate.mcquaid
• Facebook: @Cate McQuaid
• Linkedin: @Cate McQuaid
• Other: Threads: @cate.mcquaid

Image Credits

Workshop photos by Madeleine Eno