Amazing things will happen… yes they will! Today’s episode is an interview with Philadelphia based artist, illustrator, hand-lettering master, Mary Kate McDevitt. We talk about the best letters to draw, quotes from Ned Flanders, and we even have a little hand-lettering assignment for all of us at the end! You can listen right up there, under all of the amazingness, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Here is what we talked about, in the order that we talked about it. First of all, her hilarious, sweet and super fantastic 100 day project:

Love! And there are plenty more where these came from… she’s now on day 66 so there are a whole lot of people and pets in her instagram feed! Next, onto client work. Commissioned work is how Mary Kate spends most of her days. This is just a tiny little snippet {so much more on her site}:

I need that shirt. She does book covers, magazine covers, ads, you name it… all by hand. No computers, no fonts. So good. She also does a lot of personal work. These are two of the pieces that we were talking about… being a huge fan of reruns, she gets a lot of her favorite quotes from old TV shows, like News Radio and The Simpsons:

Ah, Ned. So wise. And finally the last thing we talked about was the letter l. Lovely little letter ‘L’, and so we decided to put out a creative challenge out for all of us… this is the hashtag you’ll need: #handletterlullaby

Thanks to Mary Kate for taking a break from unpacking her new studio, to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and to all of you for listening… the next episode will be up next Saturday!

Today’s episode is an interview with Vancouver based artist Ben Skinner. Window displays, gold leaf vs. nose breath, scaffolding made from foam core, OCD, and a romantic/artsy story about how Ben met his wife. Yep, we covered it all! You can listen right up there, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Here is what we talked about, in the order that we talked about it. First up, images from his day job as a visual display artist for Aritzia / TNA:

The final shot above is in the Aritzia studio… where the magic happens, and where Ben spends most of his waking hours. These next images are from the very first show that I ever curated, and of course I chose Ben as the artist {Honfleur Gallery, 2011, Washington DC}. This is the show that had Ben’s foam core scaffolding, among all sorts of other amazing pieces:

I wrote several posts that showed Ben’s work in progress leading up to, and then during that show that you can see here, here, here, and finally here. Can you tell it was my first show? So many posts!? Moving on… here are three of his gold leaf pieces… beware the nose breath:

Gorgeous. I love those pieces so much {Gold Leaf, lacquer, glass, mounted to MDF}. Next, the first post I ever wrote on The Jealous Curator was about Ben, and this was the piece {thread and paint on wood} that I wrote about… and now I own it!

Pretty and kinda sassy! Next up… pieces from his show, “COLOURING OUTSIDE AND READING BETWEEN” at Back Gallery Project in 2014 including the reverse paint-by-numbers that almost drove him crazy:

That table. Ah-mazing. Oh, and this next bit is so fantastic! Back where it all began… art from his younger days, in his home town of Petrolia, Ontario. He’s slightly horrified that I’m showing this, but I HAD TO! {and still hoping that his dad can track down the birding magazine cover!}

“Ben’s Pen Exchange” … you’ll have to listen to get the whole story:

Gorgeous wood-burning work by Ben’s very talented wife, Genevieve Dionne {who I have also written about before. Here.}:

And finally, Ben’s two inch cube collection… well, a tiny part of it {ps. if you have access to any two inch cubes, I’m pretty sure Ben would love one!}

Phewf! And that’s that… for now! Thanks to Ben for telling me all of his stories, to Saatchi Art for sponsoring, and to all of you for listening… the next episode will be up next Saturday!

Today’s episode is an interview with American ceramicist Amanda Smith. From blowing things up in the kiln to balancing art and motherhood, Amanda seems to handle all of it with a Zen-like ease. You can listen right up there, or you can subscribe on iTunes. Here is what we covered, in the order that we covered it. First up, I was so thrilled to have Amanda’s work in the show that I curated last winter at the Bedford Gallery in California. That group of women is getting an up-close look at three of Amanda’s pieces:

Ooh, and this piece, titled “Piñata”, was on the title wall. Note the red ‘sold’ dot! {The lovely images of the gallery were taken by Micaela Hoo}. Moving along to a few of the pieces that I specifically asked Amanda about… “Hummer Procession” and “Hot Punch”:

… and just a few more of my favorites because I can’t not share them…

Unicorn! Love. We also gave a little plug to her wonderful, supportive, and also super talented husband, Casey Jex Smith:

And according to the ‘speed round’, if she could have a coffee date with anyone it would be Ira Glass. Um, I want an invite to that! Here’s Ira with Tavi Gevinson of Rookie {in the Wall Street Journal}… hopefully they won’t mind if Amanda and I join them:

And that’s a wrap! Thank you to Amanda for taking time away from her baby, her four year old, and the studio to talk to me for half an hour… and thank you so much to all of you for listening! The next episode will be up next Saturday.

Episode no. 5 : Kansas City based artist Peregrine Honig. I “know” Peregrine, but only through email, so I was very excited, and a little nervous, to finally speak to her in person. We talked about her experience as a reality TV cast member {for real!}, helpful procrastination tips, and her latest body of work {no pun intended} that could have gotten her arrested in China. Everything in this episode is shown here so that you can follow along while we’re talking. Most of it won’t make sense unless you listen, so just click ‘play’ right up there {see, just under those beautiful boys}, and you can also subscribe on iTunes. Alright, first things first… reality TV meets art:

Yes. Reality TV and art… that might literally be my own personal heaven. Did you watch Bravo’s Work of Art? I sure did… and Peregrine was on it! {that’s her above, in silver, just below the “of”}. I loved this show, and Peregrine was my favorite all the way through so it was VERY exciting to finally ask her all of my fangirl questions! The images above are from her final, fantastic, absolutely gorgeous show. Sigh. Love. Ok, so after I obsessed over that for awhile, we moved on to talk about her latest series, #hoteldrawings:

Gorgeous, and I love that she didn’t create them in her usual studio space! She then took this sassy series to a new level via an incredible printmaking residency in China, just this past spring:

Yes, that’s the master calligrapher she mentioned… an inspiring collaboration, and “so sexy” as the girls would say! {This work will be shown in September 2015 at Red Star, Kansas City MO.} As we were finishing up with the “speed round”, I asked if she had any strange final stories to share… she did:

What!? The glass crown by Kate Clements that I wrote about {right here}, the day before Peregrine and I did this interview… and look where it lives?! Crazy.

Oh, and I said that I would include her first answer from my book, Creative Block. All of her answers were like poetry, but this Q/A was my favorite:

JC: Do you remember the first time you felt like “an artist”?

PH: I remember drawing in the sun on my mother’s apartment porch when I was four. My hand was cooperating with my mind. A Belgian man and his girlfriend were staying downstairs. He was smoking near me. He looked at what I was drawing and told me I was too good to draw on both sides of a sheet of paper. The memory of this moment is fresh- the airborne dust, the smell of tobacco, the texture of the wood under my paper. I had never been praised in the form of advice.

Ah, lovely. And with that, I will say a huge thank you to Peregrine for taking the time to do this with me, and of course a great big THANKS to all of you for listening/looking! The next episode will be filled with art and ready for your ears next Saturday.

Episode no.4 … I’m starting to get the hang of this whole podcast thing! Today I’m talking to New York based artist Trey Speegle … and yes, that’s him with First Lady Michelle Obama. That’s just how Trey rolls. Everything we talk about in this episode is shown here so that you can follow along while we’re chatting. Most of it won’t make sense unless you listen, so just click ‘play’ right up there {see, just under Trey & Michelle}, and you can also subscribe on iTunes. Ok. Here we go…

Trey’s paint-by-number work.… and paintball-by-number™, of course! These pieces are the title pieces from a few of his solo exhibitions {and that’s his trusty little dog, Lamont}. Oh, and look down there… it’s Andy Warhol’s gravestone that Trey accidentally designed:

And if you want to see the grave right this very minute, Trey told me that there is an Andy Warhol grave-cam. He wasn’t kidding. And, look what else he pointed me to! The photo above was taken with Trey’s camera at a party in New York, Hallowe’en 1988… Trey is second from the left on the bottom, and Keith Haring {yes, THAT Keith Haring} is second from the right. Crazy.

And then of course, there was the whole discussion about my invite onto the boat in Miami, but we’re both a little concerned about sharks. This is the photo we were talking about:

And finally, the most gorgeous #tbt photo I’ve ever seen… Trey, in drag for Hallowe’en, on a rooftop in New York:

Ah-mazing. Such a beautiful photo {look at those legs!}. Thanks so much to Trey for always being so fun! He’s a busy man, so I was very honored that he took the time to do this with me. Thanks to Saatchi Art for sponsoring the first four episodes of ART FOR YOUR EAR, and thank YOU for listening! There will be a new episode up next Saturday.

Wow. We’re already at episode no.3 of ART FOR YOUR EAR! Today I’m talking to LA based photographer, the very sweet and lovely, Stephanie Vovas… I’m pushing her out of her comfort zone with this whole podcast thing, but it’s payback… you’ll see/hear why! Everything we talk about in this episode is shown here so that you can follow along while we’re chatting. Most of it won’t make sense unless you listen, so just click ‘play’ right up there {see, just under the gorgeous pregnant lady in a fur coat}, and you can also subscribe on iTunes. Ready? Go!

………

………

………

The brilliant, visionary, art loving Managing Director of Land of Nod, Michelle Kohanzo pushed Stephanie right out of her comfort zone for this amazing project:

……….

… and, we both have a thing for Johnny Depp in Blow. This could be a Stephanie Vovas shot, no?!

And that’s it! Thanks so much to Xanadu Stephanie for putting her nerves aside to do this with me! Doesn’t she have the cutest voice and the best laugh? Episode no.4 will be up next Saturday… see you then.

ps. Here is some proof that I got “Vovas’d”. I pushed myself waaaay out of my comfort zone to do this shoot with Stephanie – I can’t even believe this is me to be totally honest. I’m also out of my comfort zone posting these, but it seems only fair given how nervous she was to do the podcast! Now we’re tied.

Oh boy.

Oh boy, here we are… episode no.2 of ART FOR YOUR EAR. I said it would be every second Saturday, but I’m having way too much fun, so there will be a new one every Saturday! Up this week… ah, my collage idol, UK based artist Anthony Zinonos. Everything we talk about in the podcast is shown here so that you can follow along while we’re chatting. You can listen right up there {see, just under the lined “water”}, and you can also subscribe on iTunes.

I loved talking to Anthony {or maybe I should call him ‘Paul’}, and I hope you love listening!  ps. I’m slowly figuring out the “sounding like I’m recording in a cave” thing. I recorded the intro & outro for this episode under a blanket {I’m not kidding, it was like a little podcast fort}, but I’d already recorded the interview. Just a few more interviews that sound cave-like, and then we should be in full-on blanket fort mode! That’s how the professionals do it, right?

……….

Collage {my second book} Anthony wrote an amazing foreword, and of course, his work was featured as well:

Anthony and I talked about how one image can be used in totally different ways by different artists – that was actually the premise of this book {why we didn’t talk about that, I’m not sure!}. Anyway, the image on the left was the starting photo that I gave to all thirty of the artists in “Collage”… the image on the right is what Anthony created. ps. that cowboy and accordion player are my uncle and my dad!

……….

‘justGOtalkTOher’  & ‘theGREAToutdoors’  {the beach & picnic I referenced}

……….

I cannot even deal with this… look what Anthony’s dad just sent me! A “collaborative piece/scam” between Anthony and his sister {and Anthony’s first collage, age 10}… apparently they’re still waiting for the money:

……….

And that’s that! A huge thank you to Anthony for always saying ‘yes’ whenever I ask him to do stuff, and for teaching me to simplify and “let go.” If it buckles, it buckles right? Right! I also want to give high fives to Greg for being a fabulous producer, and to my brother Cam for creating the original music for me. And finally, thank YOU so much for listening xo  ps. Episode no.3 will be up next Saturday!

Here we are! All of the images that go hand in hand with my very first attempt at being a “podcaster”! The first episode is an interview with one of my favorite artists, Philadelphia based Martha Rich. We talked about all sorts of things, including all of the pieces shown here. Out of context they probably won’t make much sense, but hopefully you’re listening to the podcast right this very second {hint hint – it’s right up there, or you can subscribe right here}, so you’ll understand why all of these things are posted. Oh, and if you really want to make your weekend interesting, I propose taking a shot of something every time I say “That is AMAZING!” … time to get a thesaurus, Danielle. Geesh.

Anyway, I hope you love listening to ART FOR YOUR EAR as much as I love making it!  ps. I know it’s a bit echoey… perhaps I shouldn’t have recorded it from an empty cave!? Maybe I need blankets for my walls? Cover my office in egg cartons? I dunno. Bare with me, I’ll figure it out!

More images from today’s episode /// Speech Bubbles, now & then:

……….

Pin-up girl & Cindy Sherman‘s purchase:

……….

All men like long hair:

……….

… and, the boobs “that are still in Mexico.”

And that’s a wrap! Thanks so much to Martha for taking the time to do this with me… also a huge thank you to Greg for being an amazing producer/podcast expert, and to my brother Cameron for writing, and playing, original music for me! And finally, thanks to you for listening!!! xo  The next episode will be up in two weeks, Saturday June 6th  this Saturday, May 30th … this is too fun… I’m going to do one every Saturday!

Oh my word, I launched a podcast… what!? YES! Why? Well, mainly because I like poking around in other people’s lives.

Ok, so I’ve been quietly writing about artists that I love for over six years. Sometimes I email them to ask questions about their work, but I just get straight to the point… little do they know that I actually have a million questions for them, not all of which are art related! When I studied art history in school I loved learning about the work, but what totally sucked me in were the behind-the-scenes stories… a peek into the real lives of these art history icons. And so I thought, why wait for my favorite contemporary artists to end up in text books? I’m just going to pry into their lives right now! I want to know why they do what they do, how they do it, and, if they happen to have any hilarious stories for me along the way, well, I’ll happily take ’em. The episodes won’t be longer than 30 minutes because I know you’re busy. I’m going to keep things short, light, and fun… slightly different than those art history lectures some of you might remember.

I hope you love ART FOR YOUR EAR, because I think I’ve found my new obsession! You can pop over to iTunes and subscribe right this very second if you like, then you’ll be totally ready when the first episode is released this coming Saturday. Eep!

* I didn’t really get hooked into the world of podcasts until Serial came into my life… you too? In case you need a bit of technical help in this area {I certainly did}, here is an FAQ link from Apple that gives you the ins and outs of subscribing to podcasts. Oh, and if it sounds a bit echoey for the first episodes, forgive me as I slowly figure this out!