From Fear to Abundance: A Creative Life That Feels Safe with Artist Tammy Dinh
For this episode of the Create! Podcast, Ekaterina Popova speaks with artist, sculptor, and storyteller Tammy Dinh, known to her online community as Uncomfy. Tammy has built a deeply personal and imaginative world through her polymer clay characters, slow living YouTube films, and gentle narrative storytelling. Her work reaches millions of viewers who come to her channel for comfort, creativity, and a moment of calm.
In this conversation, Tammy shares the creative, emotional, and practical realities behind the art practice she has built, as well as the burnout that forced her to step back and reimagine her relationship with her work.
Listen to the full episode on iTunes, Spotify or below:
Reconnecting With Handmade Art
Tammy first rediscovered polymer clay during college, at a moment when she felt disconnected from her creativity and unsure about her future. Growing up during the 2008 recession shaped her early ideas about stability, fear, and scarcity. Clay became a way to return to childhood curiosity and remind herself that creative expression could be both grounding and expansive.
Her early sculptures were simple characters with small gestures and big stories. These pieces helped her reconnect with play and gave her a way to explore anxiety, comfort, and inner worlds through gentle storytelling.
Burnout, Boundaries, and the Nervous System
As her online presence grew, Tammy found herself creating at a pace that was no longer sustainable. She describes her burnout as a version of herself that was anxious, exhausted, and not cared for. Stepping away from sculpting for nearly a year was difficult, but it allowed her to rebuild her physical and emotional foundation.
Tammy explains that true creative abundance requires feeling safe. A regulated nervous system, sustainable habits, and realistic boundaries are not luxuries for artists. They are essential to longevity. Part of her healing has been learning to create slowly, to make art without urgency, and to say no when something compromises her wellbeing.
Beginning Again
Returning to clay has been an act of gentleness and intention. Tammy now approaches sculpture as a passion project rather than a constant output. She is exploring new forms of storytelling, including writing on Substack, expanding her narrative voice, and giving herself space to evolve.
She also shares how community changed her creative life. After years of working alone, connecting with other artists through retreats and in-person gatherings opened new possibilities for support and collaboration.
A Conversation for Artists at Every Stage
This episode of the Create! Podcast is a grounding reminder that creativity is not linear. Beginning again is part of the artistic life. Stability and abundance can coexist with ambition. Handmade art can be a pathway back to yourself.
Artists navigating burnout, scarcity, pressure, or the desire to rebuild a healthier creative practice will find Tammy’s story both honest and reassuring.
Follow Tammy:
Website: https://www.uncomfy.store
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tammydinh
Instagram: @uncomfy.co
Follow Ekaterina Popova:
Instagram: @katerinaspopova
