Shows
The Caleb Gordon PodcastJohn Barnes, David Gordon, and Caleb Gordon Talking About Jesus, The Bible, and FaithI sit down with my cousin and my brother and we talk about faith, family, and culture all from a biblical worldview.
John Barnes, David Gordon, and Caleb Gordon Talking About Jesus, The Bible, and Faith2022-12-241h 35
Austin Art TalkChris Rogers - Unconditional“That’s my ultimate goal. When I’m done here I want to have temples built in a lot of people's hearts. Not, oh Chris was so awesome. But because I gave them something. Because I meant something to them. Because I gave them a piece of my heart”
Wow! Can’t believe we’ve made it to 100 episodes. I could not imagine a better guest to celebrate this milestone. Chris Rogers is an artist who specializes in portraits that capture a person's true essence, live painting sessions at events, and large and colorful murals that adorn many w...2021-04-1558 min
Austin Art TalkManik Raj Nakra - An Ancient Art"Out of the million brush strokes on this painting, I like his brushstroke. So it was worth the 20 hours I spent on it to learn this one stroke. Then I would take that stroke into the next piece. Then that piece didn’t feel right but there was a second brush stroke also that I liked. And then eventually I got to the point where I liked all the brush strokes on the canvas. That’s when I’m like OK, now I can start making art."
Manik Raj Nakra is an Austin Based Artist who creates colorf...2021-04-081h 18
Austin Art TalkBrian Daly - Part 2 - Recovery"I used to think I had all the answers. I believed it. I don’t believe that at all anymore. I have all the questions. I’ve got all of them. And I don’t really need answers anymore. I’m in it for the questions. And that pretty much rules my day, every day. Just endless questions."
This is part two of my interview with artist Brian Daly. If you haven’t heard Part One I would recommend going back and starting with Episode 97 where we cover his epic life story before he got sober nineteen months ago...2021-03-311h 05
Austin Art TalkBrian Daly - Part 1 - RenderedSometimes it can take a lot to ask for help. Artist Brian Daly realized nineteen months ago that even though he had already survived hitting bottom a few times before, this time might be his last. Through years of ups and downs, Brian acquired the skills to create almost anything as a fabricator while also from a young age continuing to further his drafting and artistic talents.
In this first part of two episodes, he shares in vivid detail, reminiscent of his drawings, the epic and tumultuous journey he has been on, up until getting clean and...2021-03-241h 33
Austin Art TalkNick Schnitzer - Creating Our Future"Let’s continue to make beautiful things. Let’s respect ourselves and think about the future. Let’s make some money. Let’s be generous with our money. Let’s protect ourselves and the planet. Let’s be more responsible. Let’s be more grateful."
Nick Schnitzer is very passionate about art and helping artists thrive. That's in addition to his love of architecture, woodworking, teaching and mentoring young people, travel, his family, and most of all living an aware, considerate, humble, and generative life. He's a talented and capable craftsperson who can design and create almost anything he pu...2021-03-171h 16
Austin Art TalkJoyce Howell - Expressing The AbstractAs an adult, after working many jobs in the business world and raising her daughters' artist Joyce Howell decided to go back to school to study art and eventually achieved her master's degree. She started out painting in a very representational style but in graduate school found the encouragement and a strong desire to create abstract works that expressed more of her internal reality and how she processed everything in her world. For the last almost 25 years Joyce has been committed to her studio practice and has participated in many solo and group exhibitions. She creates colorful and often...2021-03-101h 01Austin Art TalkValerie Chaussonnet - The Joy Of Life & Art"For us, as artists, the pandemic certainly economically was hard for many people but I think we are probably better equipped because can we invent something that has not been done before. If somebody is used to having a routine and a certain structure and not used to inventing their life it’s harder when something like this hits. For us it’s like OK, it’s this, let's see what we can do with it. Let’s learn something new and create something different."
The podcast guest this week has had such an interesting and diverse life. Ar...2021-02-251h 14Austin Art TalkLauren Hunt - Glass WorkLauren Hunt is one of the rare artists who works with glass, and she has been at it for over 10 years. After college she worked for 7 of those years at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York with the Hot Glass Show, on land and traveling all over the world on cruise ships doing live and educational demonstrations. Eventually she made it to Austin where she has continued her practice making functional, whimsical, and sometimes purely artistic works of beauty out of molten glass.
Lauren is a hoot and we had such a fun conversation. I’ve...2021-02-101h 03Austin Art TalkKevin Ivester - The Art Of The Gallery"I think that we are all striving towards the same goals. People are making artwork, galleries are showing artwork, and we all want to be seen. We all want to be making a positive impact somewhere. How do we move forward? I think collaboration is key ”
What does it take to open an art gallery and frame shop in Austin during a pandemic? A lot. For Kevin Ivester, owner of Ivester Contemporary and Eastside Picture Framing, these businesses are the culmination of a long-term dream and years of working in all aspects of the art world including, ga...2021-02-0348 minAustin Art TalkElizabeth Hendley - Expressive Therapies & Essential WorkersElizabeth Hendley is an art therapist at Dell Children’s Medical Center and a part of what is called the Expressive Therapies team. We spoke back in March of 2018 and went in depth to explore her origin story, how she became a therapist, and some of her experiences working with children that illustrate how powerful art therapy can be. If you have not heard that episode I highly recommend checking it out. It is my second most listened to interview at just over 1300 downloads. In this update we talk about how the pandemic has affected her job at the ho...2020-05-2842 minAustin Art TalkElizabeth McQueen - The Importance of Music & Art, Aggressive Positivity, & Transformational Songs"What’s the thing that people turn to when you are in the middle of this confusing and terrifying time, and whats the thing that brings relief? It’s Art. It’s music, it’s seeing films, it’s watching TV shows, it’s looking at visual art. These are the things that can bring us out of all of these feelings that can be really overwhelming, and can bring us into the current moment. Which is really where a lot of peace lies. I think the arts are essential, especially during this time.”
Elizabeth McQueen is a singer-so...2020-05-1952 minAustin Art TalkSuzanne Koett - What is important to us now?"Anytime I am stuck in life, I will usually do a project on it. Trying to understand, and just to try and move through it. It really helps me move through something. All of my work is basically things I am trying to figure out and move through in my own life"
This interview is with Suzanne Koett, who’s ongoing photo project captured on film, PANDEMIC, is a series of portraits of quarantined families and individuals in the places they reside. I could relate to so many of the ways that Suzanne thinks about and lives he...2020-04-281h 09Austin Art TalkLiving an Artful and Authentic Life - John P Weiss“Don’t lose your authenticity. Keep honing your skills to become a better artist. Don’t just copy what someone else is doing, go beyond it. Find what really speaks to you in your soul as an artist and start doing that.”
After I started reading An Artful Life by John P Weiss, I just knew that I had to try to interview him. The stories are inspirational and have been helpful to me during this time of stress and the unknown. Our conversation was everything I hoped it would be. John's thoughtfulness and life experiences put him...2020-04-221h 35Austin Art TalkFusebox Festival 2020 - Virtual Edition - An Interview with Ron Berry & Anna Gallagher-RossFor over 15 years the Fusebox Festival has been delivering an amazing array of curated performances and artists from all over the world and bringing them right here to Austin. Since the festival will not be able to go on as planned as a live event, the organizers had to pivot the whole event online into what they are calling the virtual edition. Join me for a conversation with Executive & Artistic Director Ron Berry and Associate Artistic Director & Curator Anna Gallagher-Ross to talk about how that played out and what we can look forward to experiencing this year.
2020-04-1545 minAustin Art TalkBecca Borrelli - Sensitive As F**KBecca Borrelli is an illustrator, teacher, story teller, and part of The Lemon House where she has her art studio, which will also be hosting an upcoming Process Over Product Art Series. Becca also just launched her own podcast Secret Sauce, and I highly recommend you check it out. We talk about her journey as an artist, teacher, and small business owner, and talk a lot about how sensitivity can be reframed into a strength instead of a weakness.
The following text is courtesy of Becca's websites
Becca Borrelli is an...2020-04-141h 04Austin Art TalkAdrian Whipp - Lumiere Tintype"I think art for me has always been about giving someone an image that they can get absorbed into, and that takes them to a place that is sort of hyper-real. You know it’s not reality but you also can’t quite pin down what it is or where it came from. I see that in the tintype process as well. It’s quite arresting as a modern person to be photographed in a tintype because it puts you in this other world where you know it’s you and you know it’s modern photograph. But you’ve never see...2020-03-031h 18Austin Art TalkRoi James - The Next Level"I think it’s ok to be in a space of feeling lost at points in your life. That’s actually a great place to be."
Two years on from our first interview, Episode 18, which I highly recommend listening to before you proceed with this one, I recently had the privilege of a tour of the new home and art studio of Roi James. It was great to have the chance to further the dialogue and talk more about Roi’s successful career, where he finds himself now, and where he might be headed. And just like i...2020-02-201h 01Austin Art TalkNaomi Schlinke - Being Mobile“You don’t just believe in yourself, You behave in a way that you can believe in yourself, trust yourself. You have to show up. You have to show up everyday in the studio. You have to put in your time to make this unreal thing real.”
Naomi Schlinke is an visual artist who after many years as a professional dancer, decided to shift her energy primarily to painting. But dance and movement still inform the spirit of her work and the way it is created. As Naomi says in the interview, she provokes the conditions where...2020-02-071h 20Austin Art TalkMAKE YOUR SH*T - Rohitash Rao"You know what, all that matters is that you find a way, however you have to do it, to just keep making your shit. Whatever that is. Just don’t stop. Any creative person. It’s so easy not to. Just find a way. Just don’t stop. You have to give yourself that opportunity. It’s a lot easier now than ever. So by whatever means you have please take advantage of it and go make your stuff, because you’re not getting younger."
Rohitash Rao makes cool stuff. Funny stuff. And a lot of it. Lucky...2020-02-041h 32Austin Art TalkAnnalise Gratovich"I have a huge interest in empathy and compassion and humanizing people. That’s been a big part of my work and my life."
Annalise Gratovich is a Texas printmaker who uses a lot of different tools and a supportive community to create small to sometimes very large prints. She can often be found carving carefully and meditatively out of wood, scribing into metal, or hand dying paper, the goal being to breathe life into the various beings, objects, and plants that inhabit the totemic and endearing world she has created. A world inspired by her fa...2020-01-181h 05Austin Art TalkOen Hammonds - Design Thinking"There is nothing wrong with failing. Failing is a learning moment. If you failed and you took the time to reflect and learn why you failed, and what you can do to change that course, and who can help you with that, most importantly, then you haven’t failed. You’ve just learned something."
Oen Hammonds is a Design Principal at IBM here in Austin where his job focuses on employee experience design. As early as High School he found himself designing for others, and after an eight year stint in the U.S. Army, he pick...2020-01-011h 29Austin Art TalkArt From The Streets“My passion is around art because I know how wonderful it is to create. There are lots of fabulous programs for people to have food and shelter. Very Important. Very Important. But we as human beings need to have our souls fed. That’s what I see happening with Art From The Streets.”
Heloise Gold - Founder and Board Member At Large
"We have about 35-40 artists that are actually there at a booth, that you can communicate and talk with and get to know and hear stories. I think when you take things back h...2019-12-0558 minAustin Art TalkRehab El Sadek - Transient“As any conceptual artist you feel like you are a reflection of the people around you. It’s not like you do what people want. It’s more like you try to just feel, what is the concerns or what is the highlights of your society. And how to connect people. And how to connect with people. And that’s what I love making through art.”
Rehab El Sadek is a conceptual artist who’s work often has the aesthetic of objects discovered in the course of an archeological dig. And even though the work may have been ju...2019-11-2358 minAustin Art TalkKeith Kreeger - Objects Matter"It’s always scary to stop doing something. But if you don’t stop doing something, you can't do something new. Every time I’ve stopped doing something other opportunities came, or I had time to try something new."
Keith Kreeger loves clay. For the past 25 years he has dedicated himself to forming and shaping various types and colors of that material, into beautiful bowls, vases, plates, and many other objects that are intended to be used and enjoyed. After college he set up his first potters studio in Cape Cod, where he grew and honed his ar...2019-11-161h 10Austin Art TalkKaren Offutt“My goal has always been to make a painting breathe with realism, but when you get up to it you can really see the brush quality. That is what I’ve always been drawn to when I look at work. That has been my obsession since I was very young.”
Karen Offutt is a figurative realist painter and one of the founders of Austin’s own Atelier Dojo, a professional arts academy offering classes, workshops with visiting artists, open studio sessions, and a new intensive study program starting next year. After growing up with a love of drawi...2019-11-101h 04Austin Art TalkSusannah Morgan - For The Love Of Art"The nature of the business is relationship building. With clients, with artists, with framers and installers. The people that make up this whole ecosystem we call the art world. Even people who come and pack the work and ship it, even they need to understand. Building up trust with all of these people I think is important. So in building relationships you have to be true to who you are as a person. I think it is something we re-learn even on a personal level, is just being true to who you are and knowing who you are. And...2019-10-301h 10Austin Art TalkDave McClinton“The things that I think people don’t understand or misunderstand about me is that sometimes when I’m hanging out with friends or hanging out with piers, I can't help but make a joke or a comment about race. Because it is literally always there. It’s just always there. It’s an odd thing to constantly have that in your face all of the time. It’s heavy. I think it’s why black men die sooner than everyone else. That psychological weight is always there. And sometimes I wish I could explain to my friends what that's like. I...2019-10-221h 16Austin Art TalkFort Lonesome - Kathie Sever"At this point what makes me the most excited about the business, is trying to figure out how to build something that can be a sustainable platform for a number of different artists. It’s so hard to make a living in Austin as an artist or musician. Being able to bring people in and have us all working together on this thing has felt incredibly satisfying. To be able to stand back and watch these items being made by these people who I care so much about. I’m so proud of them and am excited to see wher...2019-10-111h 09Austin Art TalkDeborah Roberts"I’m going to continue to push my work forward. The work has always come first. It has to be the work, because it’s no good if it’s not. That’s my philosophy. I don’t push that on anyone else. That’s just always been my thing. That the work has to do what it needs to do."
In this highly anticipated followup to my first interview with Deborah from March of 2018, we sit down to talk about all of the wonderful and sometimes challenging aspects of her amazing career over the last year and a h...2019-10-041h 10Austin Art TalkBeili Liu - Resilience"There are all these pressures and talks about how do you make your career. How do you make a living? How do you make it sustainable? How do you be an entrepreneur as an artist. And they are all great sounding, very trendy. But at the same time I want to come back and say, why did you want to be an artist? And what makes you want to wake up in the morning and run to the studio and make that thing. At the very beginning it was never for money, it was never for fame. It was...2019-09-241h 20Austin Art TalkWomen & Their Work - Chris Cowden"I think artists are extremely inspirational people. You need a lot of mental discipline to continue to affirm the role of creativity and your voice in the conversation. That’s why I think artists are so important because it's just a really important point of view and perception in this cacophony that we hear. Especially now it's really good to bend your ear towards maybe more nuanced, more complicated, more complex murmurings and conversations about issues that artists are giving us."
Chris Cowden is the executive director of Women & Their Work, which for over 40 years has pi...2019-09-101h 01Austin Art TalkJan Heaton - Love, Gratitude & Family“I’m always trying to be tranquil. I’ve experienced a lot of sadness and crisis and trauma in the last 10 years. I think there is a part of me that could have gone that direction and you would have been able to see it in my work. I have done some small pieces where they do look angry. But as far as the larger pieces, I would always feel like if I was working on something that gave that message that it didn’t really calm me. It didn’t really work for me as art therapy which is at the...2019-09-021h 19Austin Art TalkSydney Yeager"My most recent work there seems to be more of an embrace going on between parts as opposed to these diverse parts fitting together, maintaining their diversity. They seem now to be more a part of each other. That’s a mystery to me."
Sydney Yeager is an artist who describes her current painting style as gestural abstraction. She also teaches drawing and painting at Austin Community College. Teaching has been a part of her life from early on, but it wasn’t until after she had kids and decided to go back to school that she...2019-08-2456 minAustin Art TalkGD Wright - Impossible Until It's Done"I just think that we have a greater strength en masse. The more we can come together and support each other the greater our potential. Don’t build walls. Don’t tell people they cant do it. Show up for the people you think that you can, and you have the strength to."
GD Wright is a sculptor, fabricator, and design consultant working most often with metal, cast concrete, and blown glass. He also consults with other artists to help them realize their own visions and has collaborated on and managed many monumental scale artworks and cons...2019-07-281h 11Austin Art TalkBrinston“I’m not solely an artist, that’s not my identity. I’m not just an artist, I’m a vessel. You are not defined by your occupation. You are not defined by the person that you spend your life with. You’re a creation that’s meant for more than just being an accountant, or a photographer, or a painter, or a carpenter. You’re meant for much more than just that. You are meant to use that as a place to help people.”
Dallas based artist Matthew Brinston categorizes his very distinctive painting style as something like...2019-07-221h 02Austin Art TalkWerrick Armstrong - Faith & Inspiration"All of us as artists have inspiration that comes from a myriad of places. I felt just through a couple situations that had occurred, where I had not intended to do something, that the art had taken a life of its own separate from me. And I had seen the positive aspects associated with it, so it encouraged and motivated me to work hard to stay out of the way and to allow the inspiration to take place. And then once I acted on it the next piece was available to me. I think that’s one of the re...2019-07-131h 24Austin Art TalkTaja Lindley - There's Work To Be Done"I think more and more now people are interested in this conversation of the intersection of art and culture with social movements. Art & culture have always been a part of social movements, but being strategic with artists inside of campaigns and things that we are trying to move forward, there’s a really rich conversation that’s happening now. It’s just really exciting to be in a place where I can be both-and. Because it has felt separate. There is something about being in tune with your imagination and creativity that allows for some creative thinking that can suppor...2019-05-251h 17Austin Art TalkSev Coursen"It’s about looking, and continually trying to hone that and develop an eye."
Sev Coursen is an artist working in multiple media including photography, sculpture, film and video. His work has been presented in exhibitions and screenings in the United States and Europe.
ONE PLUS ELEVEN OBJECT SHOW
Curated by Lauren Jaben
APRIL 2019
Opening Reception Saturday 27 April, from 4-7pm
AGAVE PRINT
1312 E Cesar Chavez
Austin, TX. 78702
Open 8:30 am - 5 pm
Monday through Friday.
By appointment.
Exhibition Artist St...2019-04-221h 01Austin Art TalkJulie Speed - Moments Of Clarity"If I close it off then it’s not right. If you look at it and there’s only one answer, then it’s not right. So when I was talking about my older work, maybe it’s not technically good, but it brings up a question that everybody would give a different answer to. And not just other people. Quite often I’ll go back and see something I haven’t seen in a while and it will set off a whole new chain of thoughts."
Eating Warhol's Lunch 2016 gouache & collage, 41 x 29 inches
...2019-04-131h 00Austin Art TalkBrooke Axtell - Beautiful Justice"I feel that my capacity to create, in so many different forms of media, to step into my work as an activist, to speak in a very vulnerable way in the types of spaces I’ve been invited into, really began with writing about and sharing my deepest shame. And once I had finally illuminated that, and I had brought everything into the light, the things I was the most ashamed of, the things that caused me the greatest pain in my life, I was then able to speak and to explore my creativity in ways that I never ha...2019-04-031h 18Austin Art TalkElizabeth Chapin - Deconstructing Nostalgia"I was aware of the culture I grew up in, but I was unaware of the cost for other people, and also unaware of the cost for me. I think when you are raised in a culture like that you have definitions for yourself that feel very comfortable and safe and you’re not even really aware of that. And so you start thinking, why am I telling myself these things? Why is that true? Why does that have to be true? It started seeming like an impoverished narrative. Or like a small narrative that I wanted to step ou...2019-03-211h 05Austin Art TalkStella Alesi - Journeying"When I was eleven I said I was going to be an artist, it’s just part of the process. You have to make bad work sometimes, it’s part of the deal. If you are not willing to make bad art then you are not willing to take chances. You have to make bad art to get to the good stuff. It’s just part of it."
Text courtesy of Stella's website
Stella Alesi has resided in Austin, Texas for the last 25 years. Her work has been exhibited in commercial and university galleries throug...2019-03-131h 17Austin Art TalkAriel René Jackson"For me the success of a piece is if I’m able to create a weird sense of peace and disturbance to keep people there longer to sort of sit with it. Sometimes it can be hard because a lot of my work on the surface level you’re not able to see that research, you’re not able to receive that information. So a lot of it is the form and the experience with the form. I’m not necessarily interested in making didactic work. I’m very interested in using research and personal archives and communal archives to pull ou...2019-03-041h 02Austin Art TalkKoichi Yamamato - Making A Mark"Failure or success is really subjective, and it’s conditional. The one moment I might consider a failure, I learned something so I guess since I learned something maybe it wasn’t a failure. By having those prints I will open up another possibility that I didn’t even consider thinking of. I think those are fertilizer. Probably it stinks in the beginning but it will eventually become part of a very important fuel for the creativity. Then try to solve the problem from the difficult condition in a way. I think the failure is extremely important."
Bi...2019-02-111h 16Austin Art TalkAlyssa Taylor Wendt"As an artist you have to remember that you are always working. And you’re not just working when you are in the studio actually making something. You are working when you’re sleeping, dreaming, reading, looking at other peoples art, having conversations, and tripping over a rock. It’s all a part of your practice. To be able to embrace every element of your life as being a part of your practice takes the pressure off of going to the studio and the blank page. Just think of your studio as another tool."
Bio courte...2019-01-281h 16Austin Art TalkAlejandra Almuelle - Revealing the Presence"Seriously it's like being in love, staying in the studio."
Alejandra Almuelle is a full time ceramic artist who creates sculptures and pottery that often merge traditional and contemporary styles and often feature the human figure. Her most recent and largest exhibition of work to date titled The Journey, interpreted the hero’s journey and was inspired by events in her own life. By making pottery, which she sells online and at art fairs, she is able to create her sculptural work and explore it under less pressure to make a living. The creation of each pi...2019-01-2153 minAustin Art TalkSeth Orion Schwaiger"In a way you can use words as a lure to get people to think in a way that’s more expansive. To think in visuals, and in space, and in symbol that’s beyond language. To find meaning between words. So writing about art is really fun. Because art can mean things that really can’t be touched on with language. But you can kind of lead a reader to it. You can take these glancing blows at what arts meaning is and maybe through that long series of glancing blows map out a silhouette. And maybe people who ar...2019-01-0856 minAustin Art TalkSharon Bridgforth - Circles Of Relationship"We need to not only find ourselves but we need to find a way to each other. It’s really hard to show up fully for others if you haven’t shown up for yourself. It’s really hard to have the hard conversations we need to have right now, so that we can move together collectively, so that we can tend our relationships, if we haven’t done that for ourselves. I think it’s really hard to make courageous choices as artists if we haven’t done that work. Because our fear and the things that we are hiding f...2018-12-171h 15Austin Art TalkDrew Riley - Gender Portraits"One of the things that helped me be a better ally to other communities is to believe people. Generally you don’t need evidence to trust if a whole community is saying something. If a whole community is saying we experience this or if a whole community is saying this hurts us. Trust that they know and trust that their experience is authentic."
"Do what works for you. Give yourself permission. I had so many people tell me what real art was or what is right or wrong. There would be times where I did something that wo...2018-12-101h 08Austin Art TalkTammie Rubin - Everything You Ever"I think that the thread has definitely been that it’s all sculptural. I’m truly a 3D person. The idea and the making of the work kind of happen at the same time. Or maybe I cant identify exactly what comes first but I feel like I am pushed forward in the studio though making itself. Researching is a part of that but I actually have to have my hands moving."
Tammie Rubin is a ceramic sculptor and professor at St. Edwards University. Since moving to Austin only three years ago she has fully established hers...2018-12-031h 11Austin Art TalkDarden Smith - The Habit Of Noticing"Getting in the habit of noticing is what is essential to actually being an artist. You have to first off get in the habit seeing things and noticing. It's not only visually seeing, it’s hearing, and listening, and tasting and using your senses. Wake up and think, what am I going to notice today, because the work is around you. The input that you need to do the work, there is no shortage of that, if you are paying attention."
Darden Smith is a Texas born singer/songwriter who just released his first book. The Ha...2018-11-1756 minAustin Art TalkRandal Ford - The Animal Kindgom“We have literally been depicting animals since we could make artwork, since we could paint on the walls of caves. It’s pretty much across every culture and civilization in history, animals have been part of artwork that’s been created. I just found that so fascinating and when I was thinking about how to put what I was doing down on paper. That felt like the cornerstone idea of why I am doing this and why these animal portraits can be important and part of this, a part of humanities portrayal of animals in artwork.”
Photogra...2018-10-271h 06Austin Art TalkMaura Grace Ambrose - Folk Fibers"Being a parent I can relate. I know what it’s like now to not be able to work on projects that I want to work on. And those are like real life obstacles, whether it’s a day job, or a sick family member, or a young child that needs taken care of. There are a lot of obstacles in our life that keep us from being creative. Whether they’re just excuses we make up for ourselves or they are real. We still need to be creative. That’s the breakthrough that I made. It seemed harder to do my...2018-10-221h 16Austin Art TalkShawn Camp - Dualities of Existence"A single object can be these extremely different things depending on the context. When the lights are bright in the gallery a whole bunch of what that painting is becomes completely obscured, it’s not even present at all or barely visible or not even there. And when the lights cycle off it's the same thing, there’s a whole bunch of that painting that’s not there at all, but all those things that were hidden before are now visible. I like that back and forth and that feeling of transformation. And the painting itself being a static object...2018-10-121h 04Austin Art TalkDameon Lester - Serene Disturbance"I had never been to a glacier. I had this vision of them being these giant massive things that were just there. I never really thought about how much of a living organism they are. Growing and retreating, melting, and expanding and changing. When we went on hikes on the glacier the pathway changes constantly because of the nature of the glacier and the route. With climate change these things that have been around for thousands of years are disappearing. This object I thought was a permanent structure has this really ephemeral, impermanent quality."
How would...2018-10-0650 minAustin Art TalkVy Ngo - Present In This Moment"We are all connected. We need to be a village for each other and raise and support each other through everything. Being in the art community what I have found is that I've finally found my tribe. I found my tribe in the people that understand the emotional roller coaster ride of being an artist and the constant self questioning and pushing. It’s that hunger in us to constantly be better."
After going to medical school and practicing as a pediatrician for many years, and at the same time growing a family, Vy Ngo felt th...2018-09-241h 03Austin Art TalkVincent Valdez - The Beginning is Near"These images like murals are images that can speak to people and that people can identify with. You don’t have to be from a certain background or certain city or community or ethnicity or political belief or religious belief. These are my visual memorials to the epic and endless struggle of the human experience."
From Vincent Valdez’s point of view we have a choice as to which way we want to go as a country. We can start again. It could be the beginning of a darker chapter in our history or a more...2018-09-181h 18Austin Art TalkMarjorie Moore - Drawn from Nature“I don’t remember what artist said this but I’ve always liked this. She said ‘There are no dumb ideas.’ And I always keep that in my head. Maybe you are not going like it when you get to that point of is this done or isn’t or who cares. You have to try it. You have to see where it goes. That’s why we’re artists. Were allowed to do that. Nobody is telling us you can’t do that. There might be people saying that but they are wrong. You can do this. You can do whatever yo...2018-09-091h 00Austin Art TalkValerie Fowler - Layers of Meaning"For me it only becomes an artwork if it has the potential to have a lot of layers of meaning.
I have my themes that I always want to emphasize and I’m always looking for ways buoy those themes and so I’m on the look out. The aesthetics are never the thing that get me. It’s if there is something out there that I see that will speak to what I am already thinking about.
Memory plays a big part when I come back to my studio in what I want to infuse...2018-08-251h 07Austin Art TalkJohn Paul Caponigro - Find Your Way"You really need to define success for yourself, separately from the reactions of other people. If you are waiting to publish the book or get collected by museum X or all of those things that depend on other people, you need to reframe success for yourself. You can't control them nor should you really want to. You could hope that they would come along for the ride. Define success for yourself and then focus on making sure that happens. You can control that. You can get involved in that and make those things happen."
Getting to...2018-08-181h 06Austin Art TalkCaitlin G McCollom - Following My Vision"You have to cultivate your own ability to be inspired. As I become more mature as an artist its how do I create the circumstances to cultivate the mood and the mental state I need to be in to really connect with my vision as an artist."
Four years ago when she hit a low point in her life, artist Caitlin McCollom could not have imagined that today she would be a full time artist with a successful career. When you don’t have anything, you don’t have anything to lose someone once said. Then why...2018-08-071h 14Austin Art TalkClaude Van Lingen“My advice would be to work as hard as you can on your work and get interested. Use anything you can, get hold of anything you can. Study that and work at it. You have to work at it a lot. Research, do your work, and get as much knowledge as you can from as many people as you can. That’s about it.”
At the age of eighty seven Claude Van Lingen has had a long career as an artist and is still doing as much as he is able to create work everyday. He has si...2018-07-3152 minAustin Art TalkPooneh Ghana - For the Love of Music"It’s easy to get stagnant with what you are doing. I just want to keep staying motivated and keep getting better. But also just not being so hard on myself. It’s easy to be your own worst critic and just think everything you are doing is horrible and getting in those ruts. But to be able to just pick yourself right back up and just be like, OK why am I like this. Why do I feel like this? What's the next step?"
Most of us have seen great live and behind the scen...2018-07-2156 minAustin Art TalkWilliam T. Carson & Rebecca Rothfus Harrell - SOURCE MATERIAL“In one of our early meetings I expressed to Rebecca that I was having some confusion around how do I continue to present things and ideas that I have worked on in the past. Working with this material of coal but also introduce something new and explore new territory. She really didn’t hesitate and was like, go wild, don’t slow yourself down. Just keep creating and keep making and explore, you know keep exploring. And so I think that is something I will take away from this show is that idea of just like you said not pigeon...2018-07-1656 minAustin Art TalkMadeline Irvine - Naturally Curious"I just love learning from the work. Just leaving it open and learning. It’s part of my being in the world. I try to be patient with myself and my artwork. There were years where it felt like it didn’t connect to the larger art world. But I just had to keep working. And I think you never know what’s coming unless you keep working, unless you keep that thread going. I think developing as a person is a part of what goes into the work. Who you are and what you think about and what's import...2018-07-0855 minAustin Art TalkDawn Okoro - Punk Noir"For me authenticity is being truthful, and just allowing yourself to be vulnerable."
"I express myself through fashion by just letting it flow and just walking into my closet and kind of treating it like a palette and just wearing what I feel and grabbing pieces that I feel work for me instinctively at that moment."
Dawn Okoro is a figurative painter who uses bright and bold saturated colors and as she has in her most recent exhibition, Punk Noir, captured the spirit and presence of creative people in her community who live with...2018-06-231h 06Austin Art TalkPaul Soileau"It’s not easy but for me it’s very enjoyable to put on these wigs and be these people. One mainly because I am an entertainer and I like to entertain people and I like what these characters do to people, and to me. But then in a deeper sense I’m very much exploring and reclaiming a lot things about myself that were taken from me as a kid. And that’s a slow, slow process."
Paul Soileau simply considers himself an artist even though he does practice and inhabit many different forms of art, theatre...2018-06-161h 06Austin Art TalkLaura Caffrey - Reject/Respect"I am generally not thinking about what it means because I don’t know that I am imbuing it with any particular sort of meaning. I’m more inclined to let the viewer take what they want from it. I’m not generally sending a message. Except, look at this amazing old stuff. That is the message. Look at this stuff that you walk by everyday and don’t care about."
Laura Caffrey has spent the last 20 years creating artwork out of junk. Well maybe not always what you might consider straight-up junk but often things that most peo...2018-06-0954 minAustin Art TalkCharles Heppner - Moved by Beauty“This is what I want, this is what makes me fulfilled, is to make work. I need to do that. In order to go further, in order to grow, as an artist you have to do! You can’t ask why all the time. You can ask why later.”
Visual artist Charles Heppner’s work spans many different mediums and has many themes but ultimately focuses on the sanctity of beauty, especially in nature, how its appreciation makes us human, communication, and the interconnectedness of everything. He is devoted to both being an artist and a great pa...2018-06-0357 minAustin Art TalkJason Phelps - The Creative Self"Who are the people in your life that inspire you, that support you, that you can connect with on a regular basis, to keep that creative spirit going, to inspire you to explore things that you maybe never have?"
"If you have something that lights your fire, that really inspires you, find a way to do it and surround yourself with people who are doing it also."
For the last thirty five years Jason Phelps has been studying and practicing a diversity of performing arts including acting, dance, music, and voice-over. Additionally he has...2018-05-2659 minAustin Art TalkAmerica Martin - It's Not Enough Just to Look"The way that I look at things, anything, even this big storm brewing outside, I feel like my eyes aren’t acknowledging it enough. I feel almost restless that I’m not able to look at it and be satisfied. I want to capture it again. I want to hold the moment again through my hand or a gesture of that big tree blowing in the wind. I want to recycle and feel it again but through my translation. Because I think this world is so gosh darn gorgeous and people are so interesting that it’s not enough just t...2018-05-1959 minAustin Art TalkElizabeth Chiles - Weave"What are the sensual takeaways from being in a place? When I think about how it feels to be lying in my backyard in the hammock watching the pecan trees it's not static images of green leaves. It's spectral light, it's rainbow light moving through. It has pink and it has orange and it has all of these colors."
Elizabeth Chiles creates photographic collages and complex composites with images she has taken of nature. Growing up her love of the outdoors and the openness of the big Texas sky lent itself to her eventual pursuit of the...2018-05-1256 minAustin Art TalkFaustinus - El Subconsciente"We all are photographers. Everybody will have their own excuses to take photos. But to me just being able to keep shooting I think it is already in my veins, in my mind, in my heart, in my soul."
Photographer Faustinus Deraet learns more about himself every time he clicks the button on his camera, captures an image, and makes a print. These images are windows into his subconscious (subconsciente) which end up revealing something deeper that needs to be expressed. He also uses photography as a journal of his life as he tries to be fully...2018-05-051h 00Austin Art TalkKaren Hawkins - The Pink Bow Project"I am just grateful that people are finding this as an outlet to be able to say that this happened to them. As a way of walking through and finding some semblance of healing in it or using it as their very first outcry. There are people who have reached out to me who have never told anyone else……There is a true feeling of empowerment in doing this. It’s been so cathartic for me. Whether you are a survivor or not the one thing that I hope will happen is that it will make people talk."
2018-04-3055 minAustin Art TalkJenn Hassin - A Life Of Service"If everyone that wants to make a difference, just started making and taking those steps to actually make a difference, then imagine the world we would live in. I think that doing good today is invaluable and we need it. Just do it. Just start. Just take the necessary steps to make it happen."
Jenn Hassin cares about the world we live in and is trying to figure out what we can do as a society to make it a better place. Her artwork is often focused on raising the awareness of important issues like veteran...2018-04-221h 12Austin Art TalkAKIRASH"People they are the cloth that protect me, that cover me. Without them, I’m nothing, I can't do anything. So they take me to this level. They should not leave me here. They should continue. Be behind me. Be forward. Be at the back. Be at the side. And I will also do my best and continue to be there and be contributing to this world we are living."
Olaniyi Rasheed Akindiya is most well known by the name AKIRASH. He is a unique interdisciplinary artist who has few boundaries when it comes to what ca...2018-04-141h 22Austin Art TalkRon Berry - Fusebox Festival"Within our festival there’s space for really different kinds of expression of art, and some of those are perhaps harder immediately to relate to. But we’re holding space for those artists to challenge things, to experiment, to tinker. To help us as people, as artists, think about things in new ways, and give us things to chew on. I love things that have mystery to them, that I don’t understand."
The annual Fusebox Festival aims to allow for a meaningful exploration and exchange between varied art forms and art communities by making space for wh...2018-04-081h 01Austin Art TalkElizabeth Hendley - The Power of Art Therapy“Giving people compassion and respect, it just goes such a long way to healing. You never know what somebody is going through or what could happen in their lives.”
A lot of people don’t know what art therapy is but for those who do they probably understand and appreciate its power and potential. Elizabeth Hendley, the art therapist at Dell Children’s Medical Center, might not think she is a saint but she is doing really important work. It’s the kind of work that has a good chance of making a visit or stay in the hos...2018-03-311h 16Austin Art TalkNatalia Sylvester - Everyone Knows You Go Home“We all have creativity in us and we’re all very imaginative people but we also have all these voices that tell us we’re not. I just don’t give myself credit for it. I don’t think any of us do.”
Novelist Natalia Sylvester says of her most recent book, she is writing for the people who have shared common experiences around immigration and know about being caught in between. These powerful and sometimes painful stories need to be out in the open so that the subjects and those like them know that what they went th...2018-03-241h 00Austin Art TalkGriffon Ramsey - Chainsaw Art"That's the thing that got me excited about being creative is that you start with nothing and then something happens. We have so much power as creatives."
If you get to the point in your artistic career where you are invited to help carve and build a church and sculptures out of ice in Slovakia for three weeks, you might think you have made it. But for Griffon Ramsey it is only a part of the beginning of the next exciting chapter. After spending many years working and creating in the world of theater/film and the...2018-03-171h 06Austin Art TalkDeborah Roberts - Dedicated to the Work"I’ve always dedicated my life to the work, and what ever the work needed that’s what I did."
It has been an incredible year for Austin based artist Deborah Roberts. But after decades of hard work and scholarship it’s not really a surprise. She was already an established artist long before deciding to go back to school to get her MFA in 2014, to study and find the language and direction for her new work. Her imagery started out in a very romantic Americana style but after a time that didn’t completely match the reality...2018-03-101h 04Austin Art TalkRoi James - Leaps of Faith"You're an artist, you can create your future"
After twenty years of being a full time artist you learn a few things. Like how to make simple but transcendent art, and how powerful and capable you really are. At least that could be said for Roi James, someone who has made it through a lot of adversity and challenges of belief to find success. But it’s not over yet. After many leaps of faith he’s gotten to where he is now, but at this very moment he is in midair hoping to again find firm...2018-03-031h 12Austin Art TalkKirk Weddle - The Next Big GigAdvertising and editorial photographer Kirk Weddle has worked with a lot of different local and corporate clients on jobs that have taken him all over the world. Throughout his career he has honed his skills photographing people and loves to do environmental portraits which often include the opportunity to visit some interesting and exciting locations. He has also specialized in a very difficult and adventurous type of photography. Underwater. Near the beginning of his career he got a big break with a shoot for the iconic cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind album and a few months later photographed the ba...2018-02-2450 minAustin Art TalkBale Creek Allen - No LimitationsBale Creek Allen has chosen to pursue a beautiful and rich life and live by his own rules. He is a prolific artist with a great work ethic who creates art in a very diverse amount of ways and with many different materials. Bronze, neon, sculpture, painting, wood, photography, music, spoken word and theater to name a few. Bale grew up in California, went to school in Boston and now calls Texas his home. He is a working artist with a great Austin gallery that exhibits fantastic national and international contemporary art. What a joyous and inspiring interview full...2018-02-171h 21Austin Art TalkMichael Anthony GarcíaMichael Anthony García is a multidisciplinary artist, independent curator, and activist. His work takes many forms and attempts to addresses personal, local, and global issues, often highlighting those in this world who are marginalized, unseen, and under appreciated. Whether he is curating a show of someone else’s work, doing a live performance interacting with a video and audience, or presenting a very personal one man exhibit made up of sculptures created from old clothing and furniture, Michael is sharing with us his passion and what drives him to be an artist as he attempts to make a pos...2018-02-0356 minAustin Art TalkNancy Mims - It Begins With A WalkBy seeking out the mundane and overlooked visual aspects of our world and sharing them through her perspective Nancy Mims shows us the beauty and expansiveness we might be missing. There can be order from chaos and it can be photographed. Not stopping there, by printing these images on fabrics, sometimes weaved back to together or embellished with vibrant stitching, she enhances these views to create a very personal take on what is right in from of us all. Our lovely conversation delves into her life and work and how hard it can be to accept and embrace the...2018-01-2154 minAustin Art TalkFlip Solomon - (Bonus Stories) Lek Chailert and the Hare DreamThis is bonus content from the interview with Flip Solomon Episode 12. The first inspiring story is about Lek Chailert who with the help of many others saves and rehabilitates hundreds of animals in Thailand. The second story is of a dream that inspired a drawing and created a connection. If you haven't listened to Flip's main interview please go back and check that out first. Thanks!
Breaking Cycles: Lek Chailert
Hare of the HareLinks:Elephant Nature ParkBreaking Cycles - Lek Chailert printHare of the Hare printOur Founder...2018-01-1615 minAustin Art TalkFlip Solomon - Darkest Before DawnFlip Solomon grew up with art being at the center of her world but after leaving home found herself exploring everything else life has to offer for many years. But with the arrival of her daughter and the necessity of self care and meditation, to manage her newly intensified narcolepsy, she found her passion for creating art again and started translating the themes and symbols found in her very vivid dreams into epic, touching, and timeless pen and ink drawings. In the last five years she has built up a successful art business selling originals, prints, and a whole...2018-01-141h 06Austin Art TalkPRINTAUSTIN - Cathy Savage & Elvia PerrinPRINTAUSTIN is one of the top art events in town that happens every January and February. Cathy Savage and Eliva Perrin started this celebration of printmaking five years ago, and with a lot of hard work and some help along the way they have created a month long community building and art promoting steamroller. Join me for a fun conversation about their own careers, how they met and started PrintAustin, and many of the great exhibits, artist talks, demonstrations and workshops that will be happening this year.
Some of the subjects we discuss:
Cathy’s ba...2017-12-301h 02Austin Art TalkClaire Howard - Curating & The Open RoadThis interview is with Claire Howard, the Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Blanton Museum of Art here in Austin. The museum is currently hosting a traveling photography exhibit called The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip. Claire speaks about the content and images that make up the exhibit and shares what goes on behind the scenes to plan for and integrate an exhibition into a new space. She also had the chance to add elements to the original line up that enhance the conversation and relate to our location and it’s history fo...2017-12-2356 minAustin Art TalkHayley Gillespie - Art.Science.Gallery.Turns out that art and science are more related than you might expect. This weeks highly informative episode is with Dr. Hayley Gillespie, the founder and director of Art.Science.Gallery. She has bachelor’s degrees in biology, fine art, and environmental studies from Austin College and a doctoral degree in ecology, evolution, and behavior from UT. In addition to being a small business owner she also studies endangered species, creates art that is inspired by her activities as a scientist, and practices sustainable urban agriculture and native plant restoration. She is also a full time lecturer in Biology at...2017-12-1657 minAustin Art TalkYuliya Lanina - The Nature of BeingYuliya Lanina is one of the most diverse artists I know having already gained a lot of experience and wisdom in her life and career. Her work is evocative and multi dimensional and is most often intended to be interacted with face to face in an immersive way. She creates paintings, animations, animatronics, and often collaborates with others to create performances in person, and also through the movement of the beings and creatures she brings to life on paper and mechanically in 3D. The interview covers most of her life, starting in Russia as a teenager, to the present...2017-12-091h 01Austin Art TalkPaloma Mayorga - Healing & Empowerment in ArtSince graduating from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, in 2010, Paloma Mayorga has inhabited and worked in three different art worlds. She has had a great career, at a young age, as a professional artist, has worked with and curated many exhibits for other artists and organizations, and has years of experience in art administration. Her own art focuses on women's issues, meaning, relating to others, seeing, gender limitations, personal narratives, and how we can heal and empower each other with our own self expression.
Some of the subjects we discuss:
Early art influences
Falling...2017-12-021h 00Austin Art TalkSteven Walker - Rocking PhotographyMoving to America from England almost four years ago was a risky move for him and his family, but Steven Walker made it work because he knew it would. Persistence, hard work, and a love for music and photography were key ingredients. His vision was for a gallery focused on offering high quality classic rock & roll photography as well as fossils, rocks, and minerals. He knew Austin was the place to do it and now Modern Rocks is one of the best galleries in town. We had a great conversation filled with many lessons and insights into the world...2017-11-181h 08Austin Art TalkEmily Galusha - UndercurrentsPainter, illustrator, and graphic designer Emily Galusha did not start out with the intention of becoming an artist, even though she had a very creative and supportive upbringing. After studying dance for many years she transitioned to 2D art and being a graphic artist and now uses that knowledge of dance to inform her artwork. She is also very influenced by the aesthetic of the southwest US and the rural lush green forests and county life of Arkansas. She has found a balance between her commercial work as a designer and her artwork through many years of deep personal...2017-11-111h 05Austin Art TalkPatrick Puckett - Nostalgic FiguresWhen I arrived at Patrick's he offered me a drink and we had a great talk while sipping Old Fashioneds and trying to keep his hound dog Boudro calm and quiet. From his childhood and college years in Mississippi, to his 6 year hiatus from painting after moving to Austin, to painting almost daily for the last 6 years, we covered a lot of ground. With his fourth show at the Wally Workman gallery open for the month of November 2017, his work is as popular as ever.
"If one really looks, you can see the time pass...2017-11-0454 minAustin Art TalkShea Little - EAST and the ArtistIf you have been in Austin long and are into art you have probably heard of the East Austin Studio Tour or Big Medium. One person at the center of both from the beginning has been Shea Little. With EAST 2017 coming up it made sense to sit down with Shea and find out how it all started, how he got involved in art, and what the future might look like.
Some of the subjects we discuss:
How does Big Medium support artists
E.A.S.T, W.E.S.T. differences
Texas Biennial explanation and history
...2017-10-281h 01Austin Art TalkTroy Campa - Architecture to Art GalleryTroy Campa, co-founer with his partner of CAMIBAart, started out as an architect in Houston but then decided to change careers, and after a year break decided to open a gallery in Austin. We talk about that transition, what he has learned over the last three years running his two galleries, and his wonderful international art tours.
Some of the subjects we discuss:
Childhood beginnings in art
Art and Architecture
William T. Carson’s Artwork
Leaving architecture career to open a gallery
From pop-up shows to a business plan
Lessons from running a gallery for three ye...2017-10-2158 minAustin Art TalkStephen Clark - Austin History and the Photographic GalleryFor our first episode we speak with Mr. Clark about his rich history living in Austin and also about the ins and outs of running a gallery and selling art. After you listen to the show check out some of the links below to many of the people he mentions in the interview.
Some of the subjects we discuss:
Austin beginnings and stories
Photography as Art
Childhood influences & Houston upbringing
Selling and collecting photography
Specific artists work
Advice for artists
Living with art
Running a gallery
Editioning photos
Digital photography
Pricing your work
The future of...2017-10-151h 13