In this episode of Wrecked by Art, I share how chef Tristen Epps’ win on Top Chef Canada became a powerful metaphor for the creative process. We talk about what it means to create from authenticity, how to keep going when you don’t know what you’re making yet, and why knowing yourself is the foundation of creative expression. Whether you’re blocked, burnt out, or just craving more depth in your art, this episode is for you.

What I Talk About in This Episode:

Why I love competition shows where people create with passion (Top Chef, Bake Off, Pottery Throw Down, etc.)

* A Top Chef moment that cracked me open

* What Tristan’s win taught me about trusting the creative process

* Why the best work often starts without a clear idea

* The myth of inspiration vs. the truth of presence

* Art as lineage, memory, and cultural storytelling

* How authenticity requires deep self-knowledge and healing

* The difference between broad and deep impact in creative work

* Why your truth—not your polish—is what makes your art matter

* A gentle invitation to “go to the grocery store” and meet your art where it lives

Links & Resources:

Join the Becoming Art waitlist: cindyingram.com/becoming

Book a 1:1 curiosity call: cindyingram.com/coaching

Follow me on TikTok and Threads

Mentioned in This Episode:

Top Chef Canada Season 22 (featuring winner Tristen Epps)

Great Pottery Throw Down, Bake Off, Blown Away

My book: Art Is About Being Whole: A Memoir

⚠️ Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of trauma, religious abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking, suicide, and domestic violence. Please take care while listening.

In this powerful conversation, Cindy sits down with Charli—clarity coach, meditation teacher, and recovering perfectionist—to talk about the book that quite literally fell into their life at just the right moment: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love (affiliate link).

Charli shares how:

* A childhood of homelessness, trauma, and religious pain shaped their early years.

* A Barnes & Noble accident (and one very insistent book) shifted their spiritual path.

* Reading Eat, Pray, Love (affiliate link) gave them permission to define spirituality and agency for themselves.

* Meeting Liz Gilbert years later led to a life-altering moment of truth-telling with their family.

* Creativity and art remain vital tools for processing emotions, healing, and staying grounded.

This episode touches on resilience, survival, and the way art meets us at exactly the right time—even when we resist it.

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If you have a story of being Wrecked by Art and want to share it on the podcast, email me: cindy@artandself.com.

Charli’s Kofi store

Follow Charli on TikTok + Instagram: @charli_timehacker

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (affiliate link)

Get my weekly emails on art + creativity: cindyingram.com/hello

Find me on Threads: @cindyingram_artandself

TikTok: @cindyingram_artandself

In this deeply personal episode, Cindy shares the story of a solo trip to Houston during the early days of her burnout. There, two pieces of art—Niki de Saint Phalle’s joyful Nana sculptures and a 13th-century painting of the Virgin Mary—revealed the emotional contrast between who she was and who she longed to be. This is a story about the weight of exhaustion, the mirror of grief, and the slow, sacred path back to joy.

Mentioned in the episode:

Niki de Saint Phalle – The Nanas

Niki de Saint Phalle: Rebel with a Cause

Mother of God (Byzantine, c. 13th century) at the Menil Collection

Rothko Chapel

Memoir excerpt from Art Is About Being Whole

Past episode: The Shark and the Book: Burnout, Subconscious Magic, and the Creative Process

Past episode: Revealing the Door Into Our Hearts: Delighting in the Duality of Creative Existence with Yola Mehmeti

Upcoming Events:

🎨 Ugly Zine Night – August 28

Follow Cindy:

TikTok @cindyingram_artandself

Threads @cindyingram_artandself

Instagram @cindyingram_artandself