When I emailed Toronto based artist/designer Amanda Happé to ask if she’d do the podcast, she wrote me back and said “Oooh, sounds scary – so yes!”  You gotta love that. Amanda does work that speaks to the designer in me. Perfect lines, beautiful text, gorgeous palettes… sort of not surprising to learn that she’s a graphic designer by day. She has such a refreshing/smart way of looking at creativity so I was thrilled to finally talk to her. You can listen right up there under all of that GRATITUDE, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

The first thing we talked about was, of course, her text-based paintings that I love oh so much:

Ah! I already loved them but then to find out that she doesn’t plan them on the computer first {kinda what you’d expect a graphic designer to do}, it’s all done with old school tools like pencils, erasers, and compasses! Love. Oh, speaking of love, I forgot to mention that the piece directly above, “YOU ARE LOVED”, was a custom piece that Amanda made for one of my Land of Nod collections. Love. Again.

Alright, next… yes, Amanda was the artist that I chose to paint the cover of my first book, Creative Block! And what I didn’t realize for the longest time, until I held the book in my hands and really looked at it, she hand painted the “Creative Block” letters!? Look:

So good! What a steady hand she must have. That’s me at the opening of my show at the Bedford Gallery in late 2014. This is when I saw the original painting {that she later gave me as gift!?} for the first time. And yes, I cried a tiny bit. Oh, and I had to show visual proof of this… the Korean version of Creative Block:

Ha! I’m going to send one to Amanda, and I’m going to give one away today too… leave a comment below and I’ll draw one name before the next podcast goes up. Good luck!

Now, these are the “doodles” she mentioned. Her marker drawings that she does just to stay loose and to keep making when the big ideas are simmering in the background. Yeah, except that now Chronicle has asked her to make a book with these!? Hello amazing surprise project!

See, just goes to show that doing a little something every day really can get you somewhere! Ok, I also had to show you this too… so the building her studio is in was going to be sold and all 5 artists working there would be kicked out… so Amanda bought the building and now manages it. Um, ah-mazing! Here’s a little peek at “Three of Wands” {a tarot card reference}:

This is going to be my first stop for a visit next time I’m in Toronto! And finally, I had to include Amanda’s bio photo… her amazing pink/yellow door in her old apartment:

Let’s hope whoever lives there now kept it that way. Thank you so much to Amanda for doing this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and thank YOU for listening… there will be more art for your ear next weekend {and don’t forget to leave a comment if you want a chance at that Korean version of CB!}

Other links:

1. Bruce Mau Design
2. TAXI Advertising & Design
3. Martha Rich
4. “Home Movies” TV show

These are drawings. DRAWINGS. Yep, layers and layers of graphite drawings, and who knows what else, all trapped perfectly in carefully poured resin. I finally get to ask LA based artist Brooks Salzwedel the how, what and why behind his ethereal work. Listen right up there under that dreamy forest, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First of all, a few of my favorites. These are DRAWINGS:

Oh my goodness. Note the yellowed tape… we talk about that a little later in the episode. Ok, these are the belt buckles that started things for Brooks:

So cool, and selling out constantly. Not surprising… it’s gorgeous art for your pants!

I loved this next part… it was infectious to hear how excited he was about this residency in Alaska. Clearly “nature boy” was in his element. I found a bunch of great images from this trip in his Instagram feed:

Ah, so beautiful. The image directly above is of Denali and was taken at 1am! Oh Alaskan nights. And that middle image is the “sideset” sunset he was talking about. I asked if any of those “sidesets” have made it into his work, and indeed they have! Here are a couple of examples:

Sigh. Dreamy, mysterious, so beautifully done. Ok, now it’s time to look for hidden treasure. In quite a few of his pieces, Brooks will add little details… some with personal meaning, and some just for fun {because who doesn’t like a dinosaur}:

Ah! I love those so much! The color, the details, the fog… all of it!

Now, as usual, the speed round led to a very interesting little tidbit. Guess who owns three of Brooks’ pieces… yep, the handsome and talented Jon Hamm:

“Yeah, I own three of them. Jealous?” Yes. Yes, I am Mr.Draper. And lastly, one of my favorite things about talking to these artists … getting a peek into their studios:

Gorgeous. I can almost smell the graphite and resin from here. Thank you so much to Brooks for downloading Skype just for us, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and as always a HUGE thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. ArtCenter College of Design, LA
2. Good Eye Gallery, LA
3. Hammer Museum
4. Doom Generation 

I am very excited about this. Vancouver based artist Sarah Gee Miller is one of my most favorite people in the world. She is so talented (and self-taught by the way), incredibly generous, one of the only people I truly feel comfortable talking to about my own work… and she bakes a mean blueberry muffin. Sarah and I cover everything in this interview – from a life-altering accident she was in at 15, to finding her way to an art career decades later. A lot of you have been asking me to make these episodes longer, so Sarah and I just kept talking and talking! I loved every minute of this conversation (but be warned, there are a few bleeped out swear words in there… shocking, I know.) You can listen right up there, under that perfect circular drawing, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

Alright, let’s get things started with the first of Sarah’s work that I ever saw… big, beautiful, perfectly-cut circles of paper:

So gorgeous! Photos don’t do them justice. They’re really big, and really bright, so seeing them in person takes your breath away. Here are the two “city block” pieces she was talking about (there’s a bit of a glare because she had already mounted them/put plexiglass on them before taking the photos):

Oh. I love them so much. And because I just can’t get enough of her circles, here are a few recent pieces in progress/moments before they were shipped off to shows:

I love those studio shots… pre-mounting, just hanging out on her sunlit floor. Ok, now, moving on to the drawing machine! Yes, Sarah built her own revolving drawing machine, and luckily for me, she invited me over to try it out:

So fun! I wish I could take credit for the drawings above, but alas, those ones were created with Sarah’s expert hand. I made a few that were ok… I was just happy to get out of there without being sick (that machine makes you dizzy!). I left there with the pieces I made AND that beautiful piece she gave me as a gift (that now sits above my fireplace beside “Rosie”, my pink doe by Rachel Denny)

Next, the pieces she’s been working on lately. These ones aren’t paper, but styrene (a type of plastic), that she cuts and then paints:

So much work. So much careful work. We talked about how meticulous her pieces are, and the fact that she works on the floor… both of which sort of blow my mind considering the devastating accident she was in as a teenager. But, she tells me that being on her knees and working on the floor is much more comfortable than standing or sitting. Whatever works, Sarah, whatever works! I think her story is so inspiring. She’s overcome so much, and even though she suffers from chronic pain she is such a joyful person. See…

Jumping over art and drinking champagne on the floor. That’s how you do it! And finally, in the speed round I asked her to clarify a myth about cats. I think she lied to me though. Note the proof I found on her Instagram feed:

Ah-ha, I knew it! Cats do lie on your supplies/work! Busted. Oh well, they’re cute so we’ll leave that alone. Thanks so much to Sarah for taking an hour and a half (?!) out of her day to do this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and great big thanks to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other Links

1. Jessica Bell
2. Ben Skinner
3. Zoe Pawlak
4. Wayne White
5. Mayberry Fine Art, Toronto

It really did begin with biscuits… in 2009 with those biscuits right up there to be exact. I’m talking to New Zealand born, UK based painter Joël Penkman. Her food paintings are absolutely stunning, but imagine my delight when I found out that they’re actually painted with food too… well, kinda. How’s that for a tease?! You can listen right up there under the tower of cookies, or subscribe on iTunes. First up, her gorgeous {and very popular} ice creams:

See? Yeah, that’s why they’re so popular! Up next, the rainbow of lollipops she painted for my Land of Nod collection last year:

So sweet… literally! Sorry. I had to. Ok, moving on. Here are just a few of my favorite pieces from her Taste of America book. There are over 100 to choose from so you can see my dilemma:

Ah, smoked catfish paté… yum. Ok, from cheese, jelly and caramels to her very tidy studio {she wasn’t kidding}:

… and her pigments! Her process and use of homemade egg tempera kinda blew my mind. I had no idea what it was or how to do it. I have always loved her work, but now seeing how she actually makes that work… well, I am totally, completely, head over heels in love. I also love that she photographs her own subjects as well {hence the photo of her mid-scoop}.

So, she paints a lot of food because she’s very good at it, therefore lots of people ask her to keep painting food. I asked what a few of her favorite pieces were, and it turns out, they’re not food:

Books and the most beautiful stack of shoe polish I’ve ever seen. Well, if she gets to show her favorites, I want a turn too:

Beautiful, and oh so delicious. I also thought it was fitting to end with biscuits since that’s where we started. Ok, now, before you go, you HAVE to watch this video of Joël in action. First of all it’s hilarious, and secondly it’s very educational. Wait till you see her actually squirt the egg yolk into her finely ground pigment. Oh yes, and there’s a talking chicken and a 3-piece band in there too:

I want a band in my backyard while I pick rhubarb! And on that note, I’ll say thanks so much to Joël for doing this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting yet another episode, and HUGE thanks to you for listening … there will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Design*Sponge
2. Handsome Frank Illustration Agency
3. Joël’s prints available here

Time-consuming, candy-hued, magical. That’s what comes to mind when I think of the work of this artist. Today I’m talking to LA based German artist Nike (pronounced Nee-ka) Schroeder… I have to add that because for years I thought her name was Nike… like, you know, Nike. It’s not. It’s Nike (Nee-ka). Ok, now that that’s out of the way, we can talk about her absolutely stunning work. Miles and miles of thread, porcelain, sometimes a bit of paint, and more thread. You can listen right up there, or subscribe on iTunes. 

First things first… one of my faves… this installation, titled 34°North 118°West :

Ah-mazing… and the photos don’t even close to do her work justice. I’ve seen them in person and they’re so so so beautiful. The way they move in the slightest of breezes… magical. Next, these pieces are from an older series, titled Fundamental Reports. This is what she was making when I first wrote about her work in 2012:

You can tell she reallllly wanted to start playing with that dangly thread! Speaking of which, this is the custom piece she made for interior designer/stylist Emily Henderson… here’s the installation of this colorful, ten foot beauty:

Ah! And there it is featured in Domino Magazine… not too shabby! I want to take full credit for this piece, because I introduced Emily to Nike’s work. Yep, this love affair started at The Fig House – a gorgeous event space in LA that Emily designed. She asked me to curate the art, and Nike was one of the ten artists I chose. Match. Maker. Just sayin’.

Next up, Nike’s latest show where she went back to some of her figurative work… this time with paint… porcelain, and of course, THREAD. This was shown with her primary gallery in LA, Walter Maciel Gallery:

So. Good. And now, brace yourself… Nike’s amazing, light-filled, downtown LA studio:

So. Much. Thread! And those windows {and of course, those great shoes}. Oh. Such beautiful work, and another episode that I loved. It never fails… in every single episode there is a moment when I get chills, and when Nike said “nothing is a mistake”  – that those layers and layers gives your work depth and wisdom because they have learned – yep I had a little shudder of excitement. Sigh. And with that, I will thanks to Nike for doing this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and as always thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next week.

Other links: Jack Fischer Gallery

Found bits and pieces of wonderfulness. Today I’m talking to New York based artist/illustrator Andrea D’Aquino. She is just as lovely as her work, and almost as carefree. She talked about being disciplined in the studio {ie., getting in there and doing the work}, but she also talked a lot about happy accidents and chance. I loved this conversation and I hope you do too. Listen on the little player right up there, or subscribe on iTunes. 

First up, the original piece that she created for my book, Collage. Clearly she was drawn to the mustache in the starting image I gave all 30 of the artists… or the death of it:

So fun, as is all of her work! Fun and quirky and odd and wonderful… perfectly imperfect you might say. Here are a few of my favorites … oh, and when she said she’s been drawn to color since she was little, well, I was not surprised. Take a look:

Oooh, I love all of those random bits and pieces. I really do want to go for a walk around New York with her and see what we find on the street to add to a collage!

You might remember this from a few months ago. I wrote about this beautiful book, a gorgeous version of Alice in Wonderland that was illustrated by Andrea, and published by Quarto. It’s absolutely wonderful, and I love that she was able to put her stamp, or style you might say, on a classic {tough task, but Andrea nailed it}:

Sigh. The end. Well, almost… Andrea sent me a few photos of her studio! UHU stick, kinda color-coordinated piles of found stuff, and a sneak peek at the cover of her new collage book, “Once Upon A Piece of Paper”, {due out this fall}:

Ok, now it’s the end. Thanks to Andrea for doing this, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode {and generously giving away two VIP tickets to the Affordable Art Fair in NYC next week… enter here because I’m drawing the winner at noon on Saturday March 26th}, and of course thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next week.

Other links:

1. Quarto {Publisher of Andrea’s books}
2. Stefan Sagmeister

Today I’m talking to Swedish artist/illustrator Camilla Engman. Eep! She is one of those people who I’ve got way up on an artsy pedestal… and so do a lot of you apparently! I’ve had several people send messages asking if I can get her to come on the podcast. Yes, yes I can! Listen on the little player right up there, or subscribe on iTunes. 

Let’s start with a few of my favorite paintings by Camilla:

Ah, so good. Mysterious, narrative, and oh so beautifully painted. We talked a little bit about her strange characters… the bears and dogs etc… turns out they represent people {people that may or may not take on those animal-like characteristics}:

Ahh, I love them so much. So sweet and innocent… but I have a feeling they’re probably not quite as sweet and innocent as one might think. Next, these are the amazing envelope collages, from her “Distant Friends” series that she and Ana Ventura started together. I cannot get over them. So simple. So smart. So “damn I wish I thought of that” :

LOVE! We also talked about her studio. Sigh. I want to go to there:

She’s in her own little house which is part of a larger arts community area, in Gothenburg Sweden, called Konstepidemin, which means “the epidemic of art”. There is a little blue restaurant, galleries, AND guest studios that you can apply for as part of their artist-in-residence program. Here’s a little peek:

Yeah. Let’s ALL go there! Thank you so, so much to Camilla for talking to me, even though she was worried about her English… which I thought was perfect/much better than my Swedish; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode; and THANK YOU for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Her online shop, Studio Morran
2. Book that Camilla did with Uppercase
3. Apply for a guest residency at “Konstepidemin”

Sigh. Yet another artist whose work I’ve loved for years and years. I’m talking to American artist Stephanie K. Clark. Right off the bat she answered one of my questions almost poetically… how does she describe her work? She “paints with thread”. Love. We talk about art vs. craft, our love of houses, and our shared fascination with peeking into people’s windows at night … don’t judge us. You can listen to our conversation right up there under that lovely blue house, or you can subscribe on iTunes. 

Let’s start with a few of her fantastic houses. The plan had been to pick two or three… but clearly that was impossible:

Gah! I love them all so much {and ps. she does commissions… in fact, she quit her day job because so many people want their homes “painted in thread”}. It’s really hard to tell from the photos, but a lot of these are shadow boxes, so you really can look into the windows as the pattern you see is actually a couple of inches back. Did that make sense at all?

Now, onto her dreamy clouds… thread with just a bit of pastel in the background:

Sunsets, not sunrises apparently … the speed round revealed that she is not a morning person! Up next, her tiny but gorgeous little rugs:

Oh. I love them… all 3 inches of them! These are a few of the pieces she’ll be showing this coming May at Good Eye Gallery in LA (Eagle Rock). And of course, after all of the talking about her red hair, I had to show you what a hot mama Stephanie is:

Look at her, doing it all! Baby in arms, fabulous hair, holding up a magazine featuring her beautiful work. Not too shabby!

And with that I will say thanks to Steph for taking a break from her incredibly busy life to chat with me, thank you to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode and as always, thank YOU for listening {and if you feel like leaving a rating on iTunes that would make me so happy}. Ok, happy Saturday… see you next week when there will be more art for your ear.

Other Links: UMOCA  //  Flight of the Conchords

So I wrote about German-born, UK based artist Susanna Bauer about two weeks ago. She sent me a quick note to say thanks, and she also mentioned that she liked listening to the podcast… obviously I wrote her back immediately and said, “Great! Wanna come on?”  Luckily for all of us, she said yes. I loved every minute of this almost hour long call {yes I kept recording after we said goodbye… again}. Not only is her work lovely, so is she… and don’t even get me started on her Bavarian/British accent! You can listen just below those leaf cubes, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Ok, so you can picture the woman who goes with this lovely voice, here is Susanna in her Cornwall studio:

Look at all of those leaves just waiting for a turn on Susanna’s table! I wanted to hear all of her secrets and tricks, but apparently the only trick is being Susanna… slow, careful, with a delicate hand. That’s why when she said, “I’m a bit impatient”, I laughed hysterically and then immediately had a title for the episode. How can you do work like this AND be impatient?! Hilarious.

Now, before she worked with leaves there were some very beautiful, and very cozy, sticks and stones:

Oh. I love them so much. She’s taken a little break from sticks and stones, leaves being her main focus for the moment. Speaking of leaves, she sent me a photo of the first leaf she ever worked her magic on:

Wow. Beautiful. There is real genius at work there. Next up, this is the piece I mentioned… many leaves being connected in the middle. In fact, much of her work is about connection. We didn’t go into that, so I wanted to add a note she sent me, after we talked, on exactly that:

“The ‘how is it done’ element of my work, I guess, is a first and immediate connection point for someone who sees my work, but what I find far more interesting is what can happen next, when the work draws a viewer in, slows someone down to look closely at the detail of how it’s made, but also how intricate, delicate and fragile the leaf and nature as a whole really is. And also how fragile we are as human beings, subjected to the tensions and pulls in our connections and relationships, where I think the making technique of crochet becomes a nice metaphor as it is all about tension. 

For me it’s a new way of having a dialogue with the natural world and opening up a new way of looking at our relationship with it, paying attention to the very small. I have often seen people walking past my work with a quick glance, but then doing a double take, turning back and taking the time to look. And sometimes they walk away with a smile or start a conversation about what it makes them feel and a connection has been made. And if it makes someone walk a little bit slower and look a little bit closer at what surrounds them, even better….and my work is also a daily reminder for myself to do just that.”

Ah, so so beautiful. I felt like I made a connection today too… a connection with a kindred spirit. Thank you so much to Susanna for taking the time to do this with me, thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode, and you guessed it… giant high fives to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

Other links:

1. Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk about the “elusive creative genius”
2. Her upcoming show in New York at Muriel Guepin Gallery {two-man show with Leigh Anne Lester}
3. Another show currently hanging in the UK, titled ‘Leaf Works’, at the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World 

Ah, beautiful little sandwiches of paper, paint and found images! Today I’m talking to Austin based artist Xochi Solis. We’ve worked on a few projects together but we’ve only communicated through email, so I was very excited to hear her voice and get to know her a little better. It worked! You’ll notice throughout the post I’ve put the titles of each piece… thanks to a little tidbit I learned during the speed round. Oh, the speed round… such a wonderful source of information. Alright, you can listen right up there under “she sings hymns out of tune”, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Let’s kick things off with a few of my favorite pieces of Xochi’s:

Her work makes me want to make things. I want to find paper, flip through old books, squeeze out a few tubes of gouache and get stackin’! I was so thrilled to have Xochi as one of the artists in my book, Collage. In that book I gave all 30 artists the same starting image to do with whatever they pleased. It was a photo of my dad and uncle as kids so it was really fun for my whole family to see the amazing artwork that came back. Here’s a peek:

Love! Can you see where Dad and Uncle Bill are? And as mentioned, Xochi sweetly packed up her original piece {above} and sent it to me! It’s hanging in my living room as we speak… and so is the other piece shown right beside that photo of my dad and uncle. I had no self control so I made a collage for the book too.

Now, we also talked about her work going from paper to walls… in the form of giant installations:

Beautiful! Up next, her love of hands! Yep, she loves hands and elbows in her work. See if you can find them in these next three pieces:

Where’s Waldo… but more hand-ish. Now what kind of an artist interviewer would I be if I didn’t ask the question, “What’s your favorite color?”. Well, she had a complex answer! Sort of a peony pink/orange and an avocado/citron green. Here they are in action:

And I looooved her story about finding that green paper, hence the title of this episode! So, somehow in the excitement of talking about paper and tacos, I forgot to mention the piece she did for my Spring 2016 collection at Land of Nod. It’s so gorgeous, and surprise surprise, also includes her favorite colors:

Isn’t that lovely? My favorite thing about working on that Nod collection is having accomplished contemporary artists make gorgeous work that could hang in a nursery… or in the middle of your living room. Love.

Alright, that’s that! Thanks to Xochi for talking to me… I wish we could have shared a few tacos and margaritas {next time}; thanks to Saatchi Art for supporting the episode – and don’t forget, I’ll be drawing one name this Monday, February 29th for a $50 gift card to be used toward art at saatchiart.com… just sign up for my ‘art for your inbox’ email if you’d like to be entered;  AND huge thanks to you for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.