Blake TV

Our fifteenth and final podcast is an interview with Michael Eavis, dairy farmer and founder of the Glastonbury Festival - appropriately enough, as the festival is taking place this very weekend! Michael was interviewed over the telephone by Wendy Gallagher. The illustration accompanying the interview is by Jenny Dunn.Many thanks to everyone who was involved in this project - especially to our interviewees for their time and patience. And thank YOU for tuning into Blake TV (almost one thousand downloads to date, from around the world). We hope you enjoyed it. Download the interview with Michael Eavis

Our penultimate interview is with David Morris, Head of Collections at the Whitworth Art Gallery.Name- David MorrisCurrent job and place of employment- Head of Collections, The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of ManchesterWhat did you study at sixth form or college?- English, History and Geography A-LevelsDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- BA (Hons) History (1972-75), Trinity Hall, Cambridge University- MA Art History (1996-97), The University of ManchesterWhat was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- My English teacher at school, who also taught art historyDownload the video interview with David Morris

Download the second part of the interview with Tracy Chevalier

We are very pleased to include a two-part interview with Tracy Chevalier as part of the Blake TV podcast series. Tracy is the best-selling author of novels including "Girl With A Pearl Earring" and "Burning Bright", which features William Blake as one of its characters. She was interviewed over the telephone by Jo Beggs. The illustration accompanying the interview is by Stuart Madden.Name- Tracy ChevalierCurrent job- AuthorDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- I graduated with a degree in English literature from Oberlin College in theUS. My career previous to writing was in publishing: I was an editorialassistant for a year on Macmillan's Dictionary of Art project, then wasliterary editor for St. James Press, a reference book company, for 5 years.There I edited encyclopedias on subjects such as children's writers, poets,and contemporary world writers.In 1993 I left publishing to do an MA in creative writing at the Universityof East Anglia. From 1994-97 I worked part-time as a freelance editor andwrote part-time. Once The Virgin Blue was published I began to writefull-time. Download the first part of the interview with Tracy Chevalier

Our interview this week is a series of voxpops from the launch of "Blake's Shadow" and "Mind Forg'd Manacles: Blake and Slavery".To follow, over the next few weeks are interviews with David Morris, Head of Collections at The Whitworth Art Gallery, Michael Eavis, founder of Glastonbury Festival and Tracey Chevalier, author of "Burning Bright".Download the voxpops video interview

"Blake's Shadow" has been devised by Dr Colin Trodd, a lecturer in Art History at the University of Manchester. This exhibition, to run concurrently with "Mind Forg’d Manacles", explores the influence of Blake on the development of the visual arts from the eighteenth century to the present day. Name- Dr Colin TroddCurrent job and place of employment- Lecturer, the University of ManchesterWhat did you study at sixth form or college?- Art History, History A'LevelsDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- BA Hons Art History, Sussex UniversityWhat was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- William Blake and Syd BarrettDownload the video interview with Dr Colin Trodd

Mike Chavez Dawson interviewed Billy Childish during a performance evening at The Whitworth Art Gallery.Billy Childish is a cult figure in America, Europe and Japan. Painter, poet and song writer - in a twenty year period he has published over 40 collections of his poetry, recorded over 100 full-length independent LP's and produced over 2000 paintings.Name- Billy ChildishCurrent job and place of employment- Painter, writer and musicianWhat did you study at sixth form or college?- Left secondary education at 16 and entered the Naval Dockyard at Chatham as an apprentice stonemason.Did you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- St Martin's School of Art to study painting, BA Hons Fine Art, however this was short-lived and I was expelled in 1982.What was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Vincent Van GoghMike Chavez-Dawson is an interdisciplinary artist, fascinated with the place where the worlds of Media and Art collide and intermesh. He is also Visual Arts Editor for "Flux Magazine", founding curator for Flux Space and adviser for State Of Flux.Name- Mike Chavez-DawsonCurrent job and place of employment- ArtistWhat did you study at sixth form or college?- Art, Photography, Art History and Film StudiesDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- Manchester Metropolitan University, BA Hons Interactive Arts and MA Art as EnvironmentWhat was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- My GrandadDownload the video interview with Billy Childish

Name- Christopher BucklowCurrent job and place of employment- ArtistWhat did you study at sixth form or college?- History, Art and English A-LevelsDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- Leicester Polytechnic, BA Hons Art HistoryWhat was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Alfred SisleyDownload the video interview with Chris Bucklow

Our video interview with Jah Wobble (born John Wardle, in Stepney in 1958) English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two years. Following his departure from PiL, he went on to a successful solo career. He also owns his own record company based in Stockport.Name- Jah WobbleCurrent job and place of employment- Musician/Record Company OwnerWhat did you study at sixth form or college? - N/A Did you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- BA Hons Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London as a mature studentWhat was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Music just took me.Download the video interview with Jah Wobble

Download the second part of the video interview with Heather Birchall

Name- Heather BirchallCurrent job and place of employment- Curator (Historic Fine Art), Whitworth Art Gallery, the University of ManchesterWhat did you study at sixth form or college?- History, English, French Did you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- Hull University, BA History- Nottingham University, MA History of Art What was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Oh my goodness. Probably visiting Manchester Art Gallery as a child and looking at all the Pre-Raphaelites, and wishing that I would grow up to be like one of the women in Rossetti’s paintings. Alas, that didn’t happen, but it did alert me to working with pictures and putting them in new contexts. Any other comments?- "Blake’s Shadow" has been a pleasure to work on – I have discovered new things about artists, musicians and filmmakers who have literally followed his "shadow". I hope it will be a huge success. Download the first part of the video interview with Heather Birchall

This interview with Julian Cope was recorded at the "Blake's Shadow" private view. Julian requested that he not be filmed, hence this interview is audio-only, accompanied by an on-the-spot illustration by Mark Penman.Name- Julian CopeCurrent job and place of employment- I write at home and reseach throughout the UK and Europe. Although my last book was about Japanese culture, I didn't need to visit as I'd done four tours there previously.What did you study at sixth form or college? - French, Russian, English and History.Did you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- At college, I studied art and drama until the Punk phenomenon stopped my studies dead in their tracks.What was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- My two career influences were TS Eliot and Jim Morrison.Any other comments?- Persist and you will achieve your goals.Download the interview with Julian Cope

This week's interview features the director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, Dr Maria Balshaw.Name- Dr Maria BalshawCurrent job and place of employment- Director, The Whitworth Art GalleryWhat did you study at sixth form or college? - English Literature, History, GeographyDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- English Literature and Cultural Studies BA at the University of Liverpool- MA and PhD at the University of SussexWhat was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Artists, especially from the early 20th Century in the US and EuropeAny other comments?- I have had more than one career; three in fact! It took me until my mid 30s to work out what I really wanted to do, as opposed to things that I was good at but didn't love. I think you need to look on finding a career as a lifetime project.Download the video interview with Dr Maria Balshaw

This is the second podcast from Blake TV.Name- Alan BirchCurrent job and place of employment- PrintmakerWhat did you study at sixth form or college? - A levels and GCSEs at schoolDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- BA (Hons) Fine Art at Wolverhampton Polytechnic- MA Printmaking (with distinction) at Bradford University- PGCEWhat was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Art teachers at school and foundation course - encouraging and possessing of a sense of humour.Download the video interview with Alan Birch

Welcome to the first podcast from Blake TV!Name- Nicola WalkerCurrent job and place of employment- Head of Collection Care and Access, The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of ManchesterWhat did you study at sixth form or college? - A levels – English, History, ArtDid you go to University or any other higher education institution? If so, where and what did you study?- Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University), BA (Hons) Humanities and Social Studies (English, Art History)- Gateshead Technical College (now University of Northumbria), DATEC Higher Diploma in Conservation of Fine Art (Prints and Drawings)What was or who was the biggest influence on your choice of career?- Being told by a tutor at Manchester that I didn’t have the right qualifications to go and train as a conservator – I thought, "Just you watch me!"Any other comments?- I grew up being surrounded by paintings at home and am very happy, and privileged, to work in such a wonderful environment.Nicola comes from an artistic family, some of whom knew Blake personally! You can visit this website featuring work by her grandfather Bernard Fleetwood-Walker - http://www.fleetwood-walker.co.ukDownload the video interview with Nicola Walker