Windowsill Chats

Margo is joined by Daisy Fancourt—Professor of Psychobiology & Epidemiology at UCL and a globally recognized leader in understanding how creativity and social connection influence our health. From her early days designing arts programs inside hospitals to directing major WHO initiatives and publishing over 250 papers, Daisy has spent her career documenting the profound, measurable impact of creative engagement on stress, aging, recovery, cognition, and community wellbeing. In a world that often treats the arts as extra or a luxury, Daisy reframes them as essential—showing how even the simplest creative rituals can foster joy, resilience, health and a deeper sense of belonging in our everyday lives.
Margo and Daisy discuss:
How Daisy's early work in hospitals revealed the power of creativity as a health tool

What research shows about the arts reducing stress and supporting cognitive resilience

Why we're conditioned to see creativity as a luxury—and how to reframe it as necessity

The role of music, movement, and environment in emotional and physical healing

Innovative approaches like dance for Parkinson's and creative play for children with disabilities

How small, accessible creative habits can improve daily wellbeing

Why talent doesn't matter—process is what delivers the benefits

Mentioned in this episode:
https://sbbresearch.org/
Connect with Daisy:
https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/44526-daisy-fancourt
Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health


Connect with Margo:
Website: www.windowsillchats.com
Instagram: @windowsillchats
www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill
https://www.yourtantaustudio.com/thefoundry

In the first episode of 2026, Margo invites listeners to join her in a conversation about beginning the year with intention—rather than pressure. Inspired by a recent Substack article by writer Suleika Jaouad, Margo reflects on themes of release, gentleness, and honoring the creative process over rigid resolutions and why this approach is so important for creatives. She also shares real responses from the Windowsill Chats community about what they're letting go of this year, from comparison and self-doubt to perfectionism and "shoulds." Margo explores why finite, manageable containers—like daily sketching, journaling, or mindful walks—can create scaffolding for a sustainable and supportive creative life.

Mentioned in this episode:
The Isolation Journals (Suleika Jaouad's Substack): https://theisolationjournals.substack.com/
Against resolutions - Suleika Jaouad on ritual, repetition, and the fantasy of starting over: https://post.substack.com/cp/182964621

Connect with Margo:
Website: www.windowsillchats.com
Instagram: @windowsillchats
www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill
https://www.yourtantaustudio.com/thefoundry

Margo is joined by Sarah Walsh for part two of their heartfelt conversation where they discuss finding inspiration, committing time and energy to yourself, slowing down, and Sarah's Domestika class amongst more. Sarah is an illustrator, painter and designer with home goods, children's books, socially conscious based projects, nature and loves tapping into mystical subject matter as the mainstays of her work. She is also the co-proprietor of the illustrative product based brand Tigersheep Friends. She collects books, new and old, plants, adores folk art and also loves cooking, thrifting, listening to records, haunting coffee shops with her sketchbook and spending time with her favorite humans.
Connect with Sarah
www.sarahwalshmakesthings.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Tigersheepfriends
www.instagram.com/sarahwalshmakesthings
Connect with Margo:
Website: www.windowsillchats.com
Instagram: @windowsillchats
www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill
https://www.yourtantaustudio.com/thefoundry

Margo is joined by Sarah Walsh in this two part conversation where they go in-depth on finding motivation, leaning into intuition, how you can work on your true dream project today, by taking ahold of your time, and your yeses. Sarah is an illustrator, painter and designer with home goods, children's books, socially conscious based projects, nature and loves tapping in to mystical subject matter as the mainstays of her work. She is also the co-proprietor of the illustrative product based brand Tigersheep Friends. She collects books, new and old, plants, adores folk art and also loves cooking, thrifting, listening to records, haunting coffee shops with her sketchbook and spending time with her favorite humans.
Margo and Sarah discuss:
Her creative upbringing and the influence her mom and grandma had on her

How having a child at a young age impacted her creative journey

Why creative ruts are actually important to our process and story

Being led intuitively

Having compassion for ourselves and giving grace

How to slow down and learning to say NO

Social media and self sabotage

What defines a dream project to Sarah

Learning what we could accomplish if we treated ourselves like we do our clients

Mentioned in this episode:
I Didn't Do the Thing Today: Letting Go of Productivity Guilt by Madeleine Dore
I Just Like to Make Things: Learn the Secrets to Making Money while Staying Passionate about your Art and Craft by Lilla Rogers
 
Connect with Sarah
Www.sarahwalshmakesthings.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/Tigersheepfriends
www.instagram.com/sarahwalshmakesthings
 
Connect with Margo:
Website: www.windowsillchats.com
Instagram: @windowsillchats
www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill
https://www.yourtantaustudio.com/thefoundry

Margo Tantau is joined by artist, tax expert, and founder of Sunlight Tax, Hannah Cole, for a refreshingly human conversation about money, creativity, and her new book, Taxes for Humans: Simplify Your Taxes and Change the World When You're Self-Employed.
Hannah brings compassion, clarity, and humor to a topic many creatives carry shame, fear, or confusion around—and reframes taxes as something that can actually support creative, mission-driven work rather than stifle it.
Margo and Hannah discuss:
Why creative work is economically vital and plays a real role in shaping culture
How the tax system is designed for humans—not perfection—and includes room for forgiveness
Simple, realistic systems that make taxes easier for self-employed creatives
Tax incentives that actually exist to support artists and independent workers
How money shame shows up for creatives, and why it's completely normal
Why making mistakes with taxes doesn't mean you're "bad at money"
How compassion and clarity can coexist with practical financial systems
Connect with Hannah:
Book + Workbook: https://www.sunlighttax.com/book
Website: https://www.sunlighttax.com
Instagram / YouTube / LinkedIn: @sunlighttax
Connect with Margo:
Website: www.windowsillchats.com
Instagram: @windowsillchats
www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill
https://www.yourtantaustudio.com/thefoundry