Podcasts about National Art School

Send us a textIn this episode of Art Wank, we dive into the dynamic and prolific career of Australian artist Ann Thomson, whose expressive, abstract works have made her a vital force in Australian contemporary art for over five decades. Born in 1933 in Brisbane and trained at the National Art School in Sydney, Thomson's practice has always defied easy categorisation. Her paintings and sculptures are known for their vibrant energy, lyrical abstraction, and a deep, intuitive connection to material and process.We explore Thomson's early influences, including her time in Europe during the 1960s, and how her work evolved through an engagement with both landscape and gesture. Her ability to balance spontaneity with formal rigour creates works that feel both immediate and timeless. Whether working in paint, paper, or three-dimensional forms, Thomson consistently brings a bold sense of freedom and exploration to her practice.Over the years, Ann has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including the prestigious Wynne Prize for landscape painting. She has exhibited extensively across Australia and internationally, and her work is held in major public and private collections.In our conversation, we reflect on her fearless approach to art-making, her thoughts on abstraction, and her commitment to making work that resists constraints and expectations. Ann Thomson's career is a testament to the power of following intuition and embracing the unknown.We really appreciate your time, thanks Ann. 

Send us a textIn this episode, we delve into the practice of Sydney-based artist Kyle Murrell, whose abstract works explore the tension between structure and meaning. A 2013 Honours graduate of the National Art School, Murrell has garnered accolades including the John Olsen Prize for Figure Drawing and the Elioth Gruner Prize for Landscape Painting . His process is rooted in drawing, serving as both exploration and regeneration, leading to paintings that deconstruct and obscure subjects through layered mark-making .Murrell's commitment to abstraction earned him the 2019 Defiance Award, granting a residency with the Nock Art Foundation in New Zealand . Represented by Defiance Gallery, his recent exhibitions include New Paintings and the upcoming Always At Every Moment (31 May – 21 June 2025) . Join us as we discuss his evolving practice, the role of repetition, and how drawing sustains his creative journey.Thanks Kyle

Send us a textJanis Clarke's exhibition at Olsen Gallery, The Other Sun, opens March 5th - 29th March 2025. Janis Clarke, born in 1983 in Sydney, Australia, is a distinguished contemporary artist renowned for his evocative oil paintings that delve into the nuances of perception and memory. His academic journey in the arts commenced with an Advanced Diploma of Performance Art from JMC Academy in 2003. He further honed his craft at the National Art School in Darlinghurst, NSW, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts between 2013 and 2015, followed by a Master of Fine Arts from 2016 to 2017 under the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Donaldson.Clarke's work is characterised by tightly composed scenes that capture fleeting moments and introspective reflections. His paintings often present minimalist landscapes and interiors, prompting viewers to engage deeply with the act of observation. Working predominantly at night, Clarke translates his personal experiences and memories into visual narratives, emphasising the stillness and introspection inherent in nocturnal settings.His solo exhibitions have been met with critical acclaim. Notably, in 2023, he presented Living a Life That's Perfectly Still at the Olsen Annexe in Sydney. This exhibition featured works like Full Moon and House, Blue House, and Window and Pink Lampshade, which encapsulate his exploration of light, shadow, and the subtleties of everyday scenes. The exhibition invited viewers to contemplate the act of seeing, not through detailed realism but through the lived experience of looking.Clarke's artistic excellence has been recogniSed through his participation in numerous group exhibitions and art prizes. He was a finalist in the prestigious Archibald Prize in 2024, showcasing his portrait Beckah in the Studio, which depicted musician Beckah Amani. The portrait captured Amani's strength and resilience, reflecting Clarke's ability to convey complex emotions through minimalist compositions. Additionally, Clarke has been a finalist in other esteemed competitions, including the Mosman Art Prize and the Paddington Art Prize, underscoring his significant presence in the Australian art scene.His works are part of notable collections, such as the Zimmermann Permanent Collection, the Macquarie Group Permanent Collection, and the National Art School Permanent Collection in Sydney. 

Conversation with artist Carolyn Craig about their most recent solo exhibition – ALGEIC INTENT – on at Firsdraft gallery (Sydney) until 15 March 2025. ALGAEIC INTENT investigates the ways in which Algae thrive in the wreckage of capitalism. The work intermingles breathe, sound, image and desire through diffractive echo, to leak affect and challenge conventional narratives around social responsibility that isolate bodies as discrete entities that sustain the meritocracy myths of capitalism. Carolyn's practice operates through conceptual ideas of how power is embedded within material exchanges – between bodies, objects and at a quantum level. They see material practices as a relational act connected to political spaces and the broader arts ecology, and have founded artist run space SCHMICK Contemporary in Haymarket with this ethos in mind. Carolyn is a lecturer at the National Art School, and a member of research group Intermedial Composition Network at the University of New South Wales. More about Carolyn's work: http://www.carolyncraig.com Originally aired on Eastside Radio 89.7FM on 17 February 2025. Sympoiesis radio show is produced on the Gadigal land of the Eora nation, traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respect and gratitude to the elders past, present, and yet to come. Facebook: www.facebook.com/sympoiesisradioshow Instagram: www.instagram.com/sympoiesis_radio_show PRESENTER/INTERVIEWER: Ira Ferris (www.instagram.com/artemisprojects)

After the Mona Lisa, which other paintings create the hype that have people queuing for hours to see them?

In this episode, we delve into the captivating world of Taiwanese-Australian artist Ruth Ju-Shih Li, renowned for her innovative ceramics and clay sculptures. Li's journey began at the National Art School in Sydney, where she discovered her passion for ceramics. Her work often takes the form of abstract self-portraits, drawing inspiration from her diverse cultural heritage and personal experiences. Currently, Li's thought-provoking pieces are on display at the Bankstown Biennale in the exhibition "Same Same/Different," showcasing her continued exploration of identity and cultural narratives.The 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art: Zhang Xu Zhan Asian Bitches Down Under was featured as one of the Top 20 Intersectional Feminist Podcasts by FeedSpot, listen to other amazing podcast programs HERE Facebook | Asian Bitches Down UnderInstagram | Asian Bitches Down Under Buy Me A Coffee | Asian Bitches Down Under

From Bilbao to Abu Dhabi, having a Guggenheim Art Museum can provide a huge boost in tourism and prestige 

Send us a textWe're excited to celebrate our 200th episode of Art Wank with the incredible Idris Murphy During our visit to Idris' home studio, we had a captivating conversation about his journey as an artist and his thought-provoking philosophies on art and painting. Idris is a bold, well-read artist who constantly pushes the limits of his practice, and our discussion was truly inspiring. A big thank you to Idris for his time.Idris is represented by King Street on William  in Sydney‘Idris Murphy is a contemporary figurative landscape painter born in 1949, Sydney. He graduated from National Art School with a diploma in Painting in 1971, and then became the institution's Head of Drawing in 1997.Idris completed a Doctor of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong in NSW and a Graduate Diploma (Education), SCAE, in Sydney whilst he was Head of Painting at the College of Fine Art from 1988-2007. In 1982, Murphy was a lecturer at the University of Wollongong, NSW, and was instrumental in establishing the printmaking department of the newly founded School of Creative Arts.From 1976-1977, Idris completed his Postgraduate studies in painting & printmaking at Winchester College of Art, UK. To date, Murphy has had 40 solo exhibitions across Australia and internationally. Idris' survey show I & Thou: Survey Exhibition 1986-2008 was exhibited at King Street Gallery in Sydney, Hazlehurst Regional Art Gallery and Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, NSW. In 2022, a major retrospective of Idris' work Backblocks was exhibited at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery from August 16, 2022 which then travelled to Orange Regional Art Gallery and the National Trust S.H. Ervin Gallery, in 2023.Idris has been represented by King Street Gallery since 1993.Intrinsic to Murphy's art making process is an engagement with the environment which surrounds him, and by extension, his en plein air practice. Murphy explains that his ‘expeditions' through the Australian bush ‘offer him enough to last a lifetime'. (Catalogue Essay, 2017, Gregor Sloss) His work aims to ‘transform an already imagined landscape' (Sloss, 2017). Murphy's practice attempts to mirror Indigenous respect for the Australian landscape. Murphy suggests that an Indigenous Australian landscape painting is a reinvigoration of the landscape and is sustained by its Dreamings.Murphy's work can be found in a number of public, state and corporate collections such as the ANU University Drill Hall Collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, State Library NSW, Artbank, Allens Collection, and the Westpac Collection.Idris' studio is located in Kurnell, Sydney.' - King st Gallery website 

Send us a textTanya Linney currently has a show, 'Cocoon', on at CBD gallery, Erskine St., Sydney until 9th November 2024. 'Tanya Linney is a Sydney/Gadigal based multi-disciplinary artist. Passionate about the representation of the everyday and domesticity through the lens of historical art references . Linney looks to transform the materiality of paint and gesture through multiple processes developed on the studio floor. A tension between conscious and coincidental mark making anchors these works.Linney is a graduate of The National Art School, Sydney (2017-2020) . She has exhibited her works in Australia and internationally and has been a finalist in numerous art prizes including The Sir William Dobell National Drawing Prize, The Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize, Omnia Art Prize The Waverly Art Prize, Redlands Art Award, The Alice Art Prize and The Fisher's Ghost Art Award, and she was the winner of the Richard Luchesse Abstract Painting Prize. Publications of her work have been featured in Vogue Living, Belle Magazine, RUSSH, Pan and The Dream (New York) and The Sydney Morning Herald.'Thanks Tanya and good luck with the future.

Art historian Lorraine Kypiotis explains why Madrid's Prado Museum is considered a museum of painters, not paintings. 

This week on "Radio Architecture with Ilana Razbash", Ilana's special guest is Dr Ella Dreyfus. Ella is an award-winning photographer, visual artist, academic and Head of Public Programs at the National Art School, with a PhD in Fine Arts from UNSW. She is the writer, director and producer of the documentary film "Dreyfus Drei". The film is co-produced by the Goethe-Institut and co-directed by Janis Westphal, Sevenpeaks Films, Berlin. The world premiere of Dreyfus Drei was at the Delphi Theatre, Berlin and has screened at over 40 film festivals and cultural institutions, winning three Best Documentary Awards at international film festivals.

Thanks to this weeks guest on the podcast, Zoe McPhail Prineas, an MFA student that Fiona met at NAS. we interviewed her at her solo show at Laila gallery in Sydney. 'Zoë graduated from the National Art School in Darlinghurst in 2023, having completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Upon completing her undergraduate degree, Zoë was awarded the Bird Holocomb Foundation Master of Fine Art Scholarship. Her postgraduate studies in a Masters of Fine Arts will commence in 2024.“Art has always punctuated my life, though it wasn't until I went to NAS [The National Art School] that it became my dominant language. One month into NAS, I was calling myself an artist, and seeing the world with a new perception and sense of freedom. I've always had a lot to say, and art allows me to express things visually.I chose printmaking as my studio specialisation, and was introduced to the field of expanded printmaking by our head of department. The field of expanded printmaking strips back the medium to the basic idea of the “trace”. I began to understand that print was anything that left a mark. Printmaking also has such strong ties to culture, as it has historically been a means for cultural production (think newspapers and billboards). I love to use this insight as a foundation of my practice.”' - UTSVERTIGO 2024 by Raphaella KatzenThanks Zoe and all the best for your Masters, we cant wait to see what happens next for you…

This week we took a look at some breaking news from National Art School, Sydney's premier private art school. After interfering with a small student bake sale for Palestine, the management of the school held a meeting with dozens of students who wanted to know why the bake sale was shut down; whether future student activism would be dealt with in the same way; and would NAS leadership commit to stand one side of the Israel-Palestine issue? NAS Students For Palestine: @nasstudents4palestine Sevgi: @squibbbles Hung Up is now taking art school and art scene tips/gossip/whistleblower submissions. DM us at @hungup.au

For Genevieve Ginty, the complex simplicity of colour and light has always captured her, takes her breath away, and propels her to create.   Combining her love, study, and practice of art, photography, and design with twenty years of media production, management, and educating, for Genevieve, this is  the perfect marriage of form and function. Clear communication and individual expression to create beautiful photographs or designs and/or a well-designed space in a website.   Amongst decades of work and life experience, Genevieve studied at the National Art School in Sydney, The Australian Center for Photography and The Graphic Design School. She started working with Photoshop in the 1990s and self-taught her way through the Adobe suite ever since. Genevieve worked in film and television production for 20 years and spent almost half of that teaching the same at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).   In this episode, Genevieve candidly shares her journey in the photographic field, from getting her first Polaroid camera as a child to building a career in landscape photography.    She discusses how growing up in a creative family, her love for art and the landscape have significantly influenced her work. Despite the challenges, Genevieve emphasizes how rewarding and important photography is to her, expressing that it not only serves as a form of communication but also contributes to personal well-being.   I hope you enjoy the show!   You can find Genevieve's work  here: Website: https://www.genevieveginty.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genevieveginty/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/genevievegintyphotographer   Listen to this and other episodes wherever you find your podcasts or on https://grantswinbournephotography.com/lpw-podcast Or subscribe to my YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@grantswinbournephotography   Theme music: Liturgy Of The Street by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com   #podcast #landscapephotography

Donna Green, photo by Joe Kramm Donna Green wrestles with coils of stoneware, manipulating and prodding to create anthropomorphic gestural shapes that burst and stretch into space. Her physical experimentation challenges the properties of the clay, resulting in works that seem to be in a constant state of growth and transfiguration; heroically scaled urns undulate and drip with layer upon layer of glaze. Green draws inspiration from the ancient Jomon ceramics of Japan and Chinese Han Dynasty storage jars, as well as Gonshi, the naturally occurring scholars' rocks, and Baroque garden grottos. Donna Green was born in Sydney, Australia, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design in 1984 from Sydney College of the Arts in New South Wales. In 1985, Green moved to New York and joined Industrial Design Magazine as one of its editors. She began working in clay in 1988, studying at Greenwich House Pottery and the New School in New York, and in 1997 at the National Art School, Sydney. Green has participated in numerous workshops including “Fire Up,” 1995 with Janet Mansfield in Gulgong, New South Wales, working on-site with Danish artists Nina Hole and Jorgen Hansen, and “The Vessel as Metaphor” in 2018 with Tony Marsh at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO. In 2019, she was a Resident Artist at California State University Long Beach. Later that year, she undertook an Artist Fellowship at Greenwich House Pottery. Green has exhibited at Hostler Burrows, New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA; McClain Gallery, Houston, TX; Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY; Utopia Art Sydney, Australia; SIZED Studio, Los Angeles, CA; and the Leiber Collection, East Hampton, NY. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney, Australia. Green lives and works in New York. Donna Green installation, photo by Joe Kramm Donna Green installation, photo by Joe Kramm Donna Green installation, photo by Joe Kramm

Dr. David Briggs has been teaching classes on colour for more than 20 years, and currently teaches colour, drawing and painting at the National Art School and the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.  For links and resources related to this episode, please see the Chromosphere episode webpage.

C.Moore shares snapshots of her life.Along with an outstanding career as a queer social documentary photographer & exhibiting artist and curator, C.Moore Hardy was also a Director of PRIDE, (lesbian & gay community centre) in the 1980s. She was born in Darlinghurst and trained at National Art School, College of Fine Arts, and Sydney College of the Arts, and she has successfully left the corporate and community commercial photography world with her life intact. She performed this story at the State Library of NSW.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At one point he was the hottest painter in Amsterdam, raking in commissions and well respected, but he died a bankrupt, buried in a pauper's grave. 

Artist Susie Choi connected with her artistic love in a round about way. There was a kids party. There were decorations. And then before she knew it, she was enrolling at National Art School and ripping up the carpet in the nursery to turn it into a studio. Susie joins Willy Russo for the final episode of season one of Two Red Chairs. Two Red Chairs is created and hosted by artist mentor and content creator Willy Russo with filming and production by Sean Hatzinikolaou.

Thanks to Catherine O'Donnell for speaking to us in her lunchbreak from teaching at the National Art School. We spoke to Catherine about her drawing practice, coming to art later in life, judging an art prize, and her love of the fibro shack!  She has an exhibition coming up at Campbelltown Arts Centre in July and at Dominik Mersch in August. 'Essentially my artist practice is about the beauty of the uncelebrated and ordinary.My drawings an exploration of the architecture, culture and history in the everyday-ness of the urban environment. I see the suburbs as full of connection and disconnection, sameness and difference; in short, my drawings examine suburban living as a site of complexity. I am particularly interested in the way that the vernacular architecture and general street scapes of the places we regularly inhabit become recessed into our minds like wallpaper -they are at once visible and invisible.It is the architecture of the suburban landscape which is the subject in my drawings. The absence of the representation of people in the drawings encourages viewers to consider the architecture from their own view point, perhaps igniting their own memories of suburban living. My drawings whilst uninhabited still capture traces of human intervention with narrative elements embedded in the commonplace structures: an open window; a door ajar.My drawings are clearly representational but the realism in my work is not merely a reproduction of the visible. It is the elevation of the abstract form, the underpinning geometry and the distillation of the spatial composition that interests me. To this end I extract the building from its surroundings, deleting extraneous information, in order to emphasize the simplified form and obtain the final image. I use representation as a catalyst to ignite the imagination of the viewer and invite them to look beyond the mundane and banal. To revisit these spaces imaginatively and find the aesthetic poetry embedded within in the suburban landscape, while at the same time disrupting cultural prejudices which prevent people from seeing the underlying elegance of these simple buildings.' 

Cat Pics sind ein Dauerbrenner. In dieser Variante allerdings geht es nicht um ein banales Meme, sondern um die hohe Schule der Malerei.Das Bild: Television, 30,5 x 30,5 cm, Öl auf Leinwand, 2021, $ 2.200 (über olsengallery.com)Die Künstlerin:DANI McKENZIE ist eine in Australien geborene und in Naarm/Melbourne lebende Künstlerin. Ihre Bilder basieren auf persönlichen Fotografien und Beobachtungen und zeichnen sich durch ihren Blick auf das Alltägliche und das Übersehene in der urbanen Landschaft aus. Seit ihrem Abschluss an der National Art School in Sydney im Jahr 2016 hatte sie mehrere Einzelausstellungen in Australien, darunter: 'Evening's Empire', MARS Gallery, Melbourne (2022), 'Close to Home', Olsen Gallery, Sydney (2022); 'Nowhere Near', MARS Gallery (2021) und 'Recognising Strangers', Olsen Gallery (2020). Sie hat an mehreren Gruppenausstellungen teilgenommen, darunter "National Art-Part One", eine Wanderausstellung prominenter Absolventen der National Art School aus 50 Jahren (2018-2021), der "Paddington Art Prize", Sydney (2021), und der "Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize", Victoria (2021). Im Jahr 2019 wurde McKenzie mit dem "Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize" in Melbourne ausgezeichnet, und 2017 nahm sie an der Onslow Storrier Residency in der Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris teil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creative Spirit with Professional Artist - Julie WilliamsJulie Williams was born an artist, passionate and creative as a little girl. She was drawn to esoteric practice as a teen, a full-blown Hippy in the early 70's and then became a dedicated Biba follower of fashion in London.  After studying art and ceramics at school she wanted to go to Art School in Brighton UK but her plans were thwarted so she went to Paris for a year in 1977. There her true passion for in Art and the History of Art developed, she returned home and completed a BA in business studies, tourism and law to appease her parents and shortly after emigrated to Sydney Australia. Finding love and becoming a mother at 24 left no time for developing her artistic passion. She immersed herself in ‘Looking at Art' until the age of 41 when she finally achieved her dream and enrolled at the National Art School in Sydney in 2000.  Since then Julie has been in numerous exhibitions in Sydney, Regional Australia, and Singapore including a satellite exhibition during ARTJOG in Jogjakarta Indonesia in 2018. It was whilst living in Singapore for five years that Julie also developed her esoteric practice and deepened her Spiritual enquiry that really shifted her creative practice. Her paintings are conceptual, based on an idea and constructed with attention to her craft, but lately she has felt drawn to clearing her mind of all thought and trusting her Spirit to pull her through a painting. A painting is an illusion of space and it is this playing with space through shape, form and colour that keeps Julie painting. Join us as Julie shares her unique journey into claiming her creative expression fully later in her life, how her process feels as she nurtures concept to finished work, and how important her spiritual practice is for staying in flow and aligned with the truth of her works.You can find out more about Julie here:www.julie-williams.comwww.Artchisg.comArtChisg@gmail.comwww.instagram.com/juliewilliamsartist

Join host, Ashlan Christoph, as she interviews Interior designer, photographer, and Author of New Rural: Where to Find It and How to Create It, Ingrid Weir.About Ingrid Weir:Ingrid Weir has designed interiors in Sydney and rural Australia, Los Angeles and Mexico. Clients include the Macquarie Group, The Sydney Opera House, National Art School, Charter Hall, National Parks and Wildlife, Australians in Film and the Australian Film Television and Radio School.Trained at Sydney University she holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. Her background is in set and costume design and she has worked extensively in film, television and theatre in Australia. She has designed shows for the Sydney Theatre Company, Tamarama Rocksurfers, ABC TV, Channel 9, Foxtel and numerous television commercials. Her first book New Rural:Where to Find It and How to Create It will be published by Hardie Grant in Australia, 29th September. It will be published by Quadrille in the US on October 19.Buy New Rural: Where to Find It and How to Create It https://www.ingridweir.com.auFollow Muse House Retreat: @musehouseretreatFollow Ashlan Christoph: @ashlanchristophSHOP: https://www.musehouseretreat.comVisit Our Store!Muse House Retreat4332 Tujunga Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604(818)-824-3290 Book A Reading: https://www.musehouseretreat.com/healersBook A Workshop: https://www.musehouseretreat.com/eventsDo you want to host your own retreat but can't find a space? Book our beautiful retreat space in the Santa Monica Mountains! Book Casa Muse: https://www.instagram.com/casa_muse/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D Follow Casa Muse: @casa_museFollow Ashlan Christoph: @ashlanchristophFollow Muse House Retreat: @musehouseretreatSHOP: https://www.musehouseretreat.com

Thank you for listening to Sydney Untold!This episode was about National Art SchoolBefore the National Art School was born, it was a jail, known as the Darlinghurst Gaol. Over the years, the Darlinghurst Gaol has been home to some of Sydney's hardest criminals including Captain Moonlite and even Australian Poet Henry Lawson.This episode contains themes of assault and physical abuse which might be distressing to some listeners. If you require assistance please contact organisations like Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Triple 0 if you require emergency attention. ---Host/Producer/Writer/Editor: Harry HughesAssociate Producer: Adam HughesSpecial Thanks to Deborah Beck and Michael Van Leeuwen.Important LinksPodcast Website: https://sydneyuntold.hobohutmedia.comMain Website: https://hobohutmedia.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/hobohutmediaFacebook: https://facebook.com/hobohutmediaReferences:Citations are sexy, here are links to everything we talked about in this episode.Hope in Hell, by Deborah BeckInterview with Deborah Beck, National Art School https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/darlinghurst_gaolhttps://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/henry-lawson-poet-peoplehttps://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/scott-andrew-george-4546http://www.ironbarkresources.com/henrylawson/SongOfAPrison.html

We interviewed Ali Tahayori at his home and studio in Newtown, Sydney, a long way from his hometown of Shiraz, Iran. Ali moved to Australia from Iran in 2007 after imprisonment and torture for being gay became unsustainable to remain in his homeland .  We discovered Ali at the NAS MFA Exhibition where he showed his impressive broken mirror artworks and video installation.'Born and raised in the oppressively homophobic climate of 1980s Iran, Ali Tahayori assumed the identity of an outsider, further compounded by his migration to Australia in 2007. Combing fractured mirrors with text and imagery, his recent works draw on ancient Iranian philosophies about light and mirrors to create kaleidoscopic experiences; moments of both revelation and concealment hint at the conflicted nature of his identity. Translating the traditional Iranian craft of Āine-Kāri (mirror-works) into a contemporary visual vocabulary, his practice skillfully combines a discourse about diaspora and displacement with an exploration of queerness – in both cases, poignantly testifying to his experience of being othered. He holds a Doctorate in Medicine, a Graduate Diploma in Photography, and a Master of Fine Arts in Photomedia from Sydney's National Art School. His work has been extensively exhibited in Iran, Europe and Australia.'Ali is also a photographer, winning the 2022 Prix Yves Hernot Photography Award and in 2021 the peoples choice winner Bowness Photography award.  Ali continues working as a rehabilitation doctor in Sydney whilst being a very busy artist. Congratulations Ali, your work is so multi-layered in meaning and beauty that we think you have a very long career ahead of you. You can see Ali's work in his upcoming show, 'The Sky is the Same',  at Gosford Regional Art Gallery from April 1-June 4 2023. Opening Friday 14 April at 6pm.  He is represented by This Is No Fantasy in Melbourne. 

The National Art School, UNSW Galleries and Sydney WorldPride present Eulogy for the Dyke Bar, an installation by American artist Macon Reed with accompanying programs and events.LOTL speaks to American artist Macon Reed and Catherine Woolley the Curatorial & Public Engagement Officer at UNSW GalleriesEulogy for the Dyke Bar16 February – 5 March 2023NAS Café, 156 Forbes St, Darlinghurst, SydneyMonday to Saturday11 am – 5 pm, plus evening public events Free admissionRead more at https://www.lotl.com/culture/history/...Watch the interview on Youtube: https://youtu.be/e-E7d7RlUQoQueer Conversations features Playlists for: MUSIC, BOOKS, THEATRE, CONVERSATIONS and more... Follow us to stay in touch on all social media  @LOTLMedia  or our website to find daily content at www.lotl.comSupport the showCheck out more content on www.lotl.com

https://elladreyfus.com/weight-and-seaTo find out more about Ella Dreyfus check out her website https://elladreyfus.comor her instagram https://www.instagram.com/ella_dreyfus/To find out more about her artwork in Sculpture by the Sea https://elladreyfus.com/weight-and-seaand Ellas latest Film Dreyfus-drei look herehttps://elladreyfus.com/dreyfus-drei-filmMany thanks Ella for a great chat. 

Chun Yin Rainbow Chan is an interdisciplinary artist, vocalist and producer working across music, image, sculpture and performance, and is one of six finalists in the 2021 - 2022 NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship (Artspace, CreateNSW, NAS). Rainbow joins Ayeesha to share the history and rituals she has been learning in her research into her matrilineal links to the Weitou people. In doing so, she continues the transmission of Weitou culture, strengthening her connection with her mother and her heritage, while also exploring concepts of place and time. Audio excerpt from “魚文,鳥文” (Fish Song, Bird Song) performed by 文鳳琼婆婆, Man Fung Kun, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0aMw7t4kW8&t=9s Additional resources:https://www.chunyinrainbowchan.com/https://www.artspace.org.au/program/52-actions/project-1/rainbow-chan/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mason Kimber is a Perth-born, Sydney-based artist who makes paintings that extend into sculptural relief and installation to look at how the histories within surfaces can speak to the memory of place. Mason graduated with a Bachelor of Art (Honours) from Curtin University, Perth in 2009 and an MFA in Painting from the National Art School, Sydney, in 2013. He's currently a PhD candidate at UNSW Art + Design, Sydney. After graduating with his MFA, Mason was awarded a three-month studio residency at the British School at Rome, Italy, the following year. It was here that he studied ancient fresco painting, which led him to look closely at the various connections between painting and the built fabric of cities. Selected exhibitions include: MCA Collection: Perspectives on place at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2021); Lustre at Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne; Strata at Kronenberg Mais Wright, Sydney; Prologue: Tongue on tongue / nos salives dans ton oreille at Galerie Allen, Paris (2019); Slanted Mansions at COMA, Sydney (2018); and NEW16 at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2016). Mason has been a finalist for the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize at the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, and the New South Wales Visual Arts Fellowship (Emerging) at Artspace, Sydney, among others. His work is held in the collections of Artbank and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Mason is also a sessional Painting Lecturer at the National Art School, Sydney, and a Lecturer at UNSW Art + Design. This episode is sponsored by NYC Crit Club. NYC Crit Club is now enrolling through September 18th for their Fall 2022 Semester. NYC Crit Club offers Zoom courses that connect artists around North America and across the world, as well as in-person courses which are hosted in their 550 sq. ft studio space in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Course options range from group critique, visiting critic programs, seminars and writing as well as material-based courses. NYC Crit Club is proud to offer 17 different courses, which will be led by new & returning faculty members including the Director of Anton Kern Gallery, Brigitte Mulholland, and artists, Anna Valdez, Avery Z. Nelson, Jarrett Key, Mira Schor, Chris Bogia, Rose Nestler, among many others! NYC Crit Club is a Brooklyn based artist-run program and was founded by Catherine Haggarty & Hilary Doyle in 2017 and is currently directed by Catherine Haggarty. NYC Crit Club is proud to offer BIPOC Scholarships and financial aid for artists in need. If you would like to learn more, please visit www.nyccritclub.com or follow on Instagram at @nyccritclub.

As a woman in business there is a huge importance on getting brand photography done once you are to that stage and able to afford it. But why is it so important? In this week's podcast episode, I interview the very talented Claire from Oak Street Images. Claire shares in the interview her tips and advice on why brand photography is so important, but also how you can plan a photoshoot with ease! Getting in front of the camera doesn't have to be scary with the right team behind you! About Claire: Claire studied painting and photography at National Art School, East Sydney and went on to work at various photography studios and study graphic design. She started her own business in 2000 designing bespoke wedding invitations and glamorous handmade hair accessories featured in Marie Claire magazine. She was then approached to make a range of pieces to be featured in a popular surf company's fashion catalogue. Photography finally took hold and ever since then she has worked with a myriad of brands as well as creating memories for families all over Australia. Moving to the Central Coast NSW in 2018 she realised that the market was screaming out for a branding photographer and Oak Street Images was born. When covid hit she offered over 20 complimentary photography packages to local start-ups so that they could get up on their feet and use the images to market their brand during lockdown. Fast forward to today and she has worked with some of the Coast's most enterprising entrepreneurs and businesses. At the end of March, she was flown over to Palm Springs USA to shoot a conference and create branding photography for those attending. She is also launching her course get set to shoot in 2022. Realising that there was a gap in the market for small businesses she launched Oak Street Creative Co. offering an in-house design team to work one on one with small businesses offering branding, logo design, photography and website design enabling start-ups and established businesses to market themselves professionally within a dedicated time frame and with the least amount of fuss. Her infectious personality along with her desire to help people, especially women, feel special and comfortable in front of the camera makes for an irresistible experience. Connect with Claire: @oakstreetimages on Instagramoakstreetcreativeco.com

It's difficult to describe the work of James Drinkwater, he really is indefinable. His confidence and talent shine in his work, bold and edgy, full of energy and texture. James was always destined to be an artist as we discovered in our chat, an aunt providing the nurturing and example to become an artist alongside a close and loving family. He won the Brett Whiteley scholarship in 2014, propelling him further into a dynamic career. He is represented by two major galleries, Nanda Hobbs, Sydney, and Nicholas Thompson, Melbourne. 'James Drinkwater studied at the National Art School, Sydney (2001) and has held solo exhibitions since 2004 in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, and internationally in London and Singapore. A survey exhibition The sea calls me by name was held at Newcastle Art Gallery in 2019.James Drinkwater's work has been included in group exhibitions throughout Australia and internationally in Berlin, Leipzig, and London. He has been awarded the Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarship (2014), the John Olsen National Art School Life Drawing Prize (2002) and has been a finalist in the Wynne Prize, Sulman Prize, John Glover Art Prize, Paddington Art Prize, Doug Moran Portrait Prize, Dobell Drawing Prize, and the Salon de Refuses.James Drinkwater has undertaken international residencies in Germany, Kenya, Paris, and Tahiti. His work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artbank, and several significant regional and tertiary collections.'He has recently embarked on a new project creating a ballet inspired by William Dobell's, ‘Storm approaching Wangi', to be performed at Lake Macquarie's MAP Mima in November. We cant wait to see it!  .He also has an exhibition coming up at Nicholas Thompon in Melbourne coming up - 27 JUL TO 13 AUG.Thanks to James for having us and Ben Adams for the Photos! 

Australian ceramic artist and educator Merran Esson passed away last week. This episode features a rebroadcast of our 2013 interview where we talk about learning to trust one's inner voice, capturing the passage of time within an object, and her role as the head of ceramics at the National Art School in Sydney, Australia. For more information on Merran, including the upcoming memorials that will be honoring her life, please visit www.merranesson.com.

@catherine_odo www.catherineodonnell.com.au My guest this week is drawing artist Catherine O'Donnell. It was one of Catherine's curtains that caught my eye. She drew the most simple of settings with a feeling someone had just passed behind. Catherine's work is an honouring of the quiet homes and lives. The homes and lives that maybe don't get a second glance. That is until she captures them. A late bloomer and a quiet achiever, Catherine came to drawing after life as a lab technician and raising a family of four. “Go do something you  like!” was the suggestion from her husband. And so she did. Embarking on a course at TAFE, followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts, rounded out by a Masters from the National Art School. Catherines has attended residencies in Rome, Venice, Paris, hill end and Bundanon. Her work is held in the collections of the AGNSW, Parliament House, and Art Bank to name just a few. In today's episode of Interview With An Artist, among other things, we talk about the process of studying and being a mature age student, how her love for a certain style of building began, how she has come to have a collection of old window frames and blinds in her house, and how she can't believe the turn her life has taken as an artist. I spoke with Catherine earlier this year and you will hear me launch into the conversation asking her about her high achievement record. Interview With An Artist is hosted and produced by Willy Russo. Along with Championing the arts through this podcast and her radio work at 2ser107.3FM, Willy is also an artist mentor. She works with artists ranging from their first year of practice through to award wining 20 plus year career artists, helping them to figure out the right next step for their artistic practice. If you're looking for some advice navigating your artistic practice, book a session today via her website, wilaminarusso.com.

@lwengemboart www.lwengembo.com I want you to imagine this. You're in your early 20s, you've grown up in a big close family. You're a budding artist and have been accepted to speak at a symposium in Paris. You've never flown overseas before and your mum's not that keen on you going, but she knows its important to you, so she lets you go. Your trip has a layover and in that layover, you find out your visa paperwork hasn't been approved and you actually can't fly on to Paris. This is exactly the situation Papua New Guinean artist Lesley Wengembo found himself. Stranded in Sydney, not really knowing anyone other than a few facebook friends. Unsure of what to do next. Lesley ended up staying in Sydney, studying at the National Art School and becoming one of the rising stars of the hyper-realist movement. In today's episode of Interview With An Artist, we talk about: his childhood in Papua New Guinea what those few days were like when Lesley realised he was stranded in Sydney how he initially taught himself with youtube and then attended art school and how he intends to refill his cup and reconnect with his family and homeland. Lesley is an absolute delight and joy to speak with and I am sure you will enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Interview With An Artist is hosted and produced by Willy Russo. Along with Championing the arts through this podcast and her radio work at 2ser107.3FM, Willy is also an artist mentor. She works with artists ranging from their first year of practice through to award wining 20 plus year career artists, helping them to figure out the right next step for their artistic practice. If you're looking for some advice navigating your artistic practice, book a session today via her website, wilaminarusso.com

We spoke to Nick Collerson for a long time and we left it all in because he is so damn interesting! We could have spoken to Nick for hours, he is such a deep thinker and perceptive artist, it was very insightful. We think you are going to love this episode. He also teaches at the National Art School so get yourself on one of his short courses.  Nick also runs an artist studio in Sydney, which was very cool, and includes the amazing artist Justin Williams. We were so chuffed to meet Nick and Justin and want to move into the studio asap!!!We spoke to Nick about literally everything from his childhood moving around overseas, to poetry to life and death; it gets deep! It's so refreshing to have deep conversations about life and art. His art is next level, deeply considered, and otherworldly. It was so great to see it in real life in his studio.  Nick is represented by Liverpool Street Gallery - 'Nick Collerson was born in Newfoundland, Canada in 1977.  He has no recollection of his place of birth.   He grew up moving from country to country eventually arriving in Australia. These formative years spent moving, again and again, had a profound influence on his sense of identity, sense of place, and artwork.   This instilled in him a transcultural view that is recognized as the “3rd culture kid” perspective; which essentially means not identifying with nationality, feeling instead like a citizen of nowhere and everywhere. Now based in Sydney, Collerson draws on his observations of the environment and his personal experience for subject matter and themes. His painting practice is not aligned with one style, instead, he is open to diverse ways of making paintings, and he places equal emphasis on the material, social, historical, poetic, and perceptual aspects of art-making.“Some commit themselves to abstraction or minimalism, others figuration, landscape or a specific cultural identity, though I consider all of these, my focus is the poetics of painting, in other words, human perception. Consequently, my life/art is informed by a wide range of cultural perspectives”   Collerson 2020Nick has graduated from the National Art School in 2011 with a Masters of Fine Art and has taught there since 2013.' -Liverpool Street Gallery 

Carmel is an artist and owner of Scratch Art Space gallery based in Marrickville, Sydney. She studied at the National Art School. She also studied a Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours) in Canberra, Masters of Fine Art at UNSW. She's held exhibitions in Australia and internationally. In this week's episode we talk about letting go, how drawing skills impact day-to-day life, and navigating energy.Connect with Carmelwww.instagram.com/carmelbyrneartwww.scratchartspace.com

This week we had the most fascinating and in-depth chat with artist and teacher, Luke Thurgate. Luke has just completed a Masters's degree at the National Art School in Sydney, whilst also being a teacher so he gets to use the staffroom! That's not all that was exciting about Luke's episode on Art Wank,  we get into the nitty-gritty of his MA, exploring myth, ideologies, semiotics, his exceptional large-scale figure drawings, religion, teaching, connection, and much more... We really covered it all. Thanks for talking to us Luke, we really appreciate it. The MA grad show opens at NAS next week, Friday 21st Jan, so go see it, it will be amazing to see Lukes's drawings in real life. They are spectacular.  If you want to look at some of the artists Luke mentions here are the links - Nicola SamoriChelsea LehmannHeidi YardleyOdd NerdrumMichael Landy

“If you can get through the conventional way of relating, then often you find that there are these meeting points of understanding,” says Vivienne Binns in our latest episode of The Long Run series featuring conversations with artists who have 60-year practices. A pioneer in feminist and community driven art, Binns has been at the forefront of critically engaged, feminist art from the 1960s onward. While painting is her central practice, she has also worked across printmaking, performance, sculpture and drawing. It is no understatement to say that her art and activism has changed the Australian contemporary art landscape. Binns largely grew up in Sydney and in the 1950s attended the National Art School. She became known in the 1960s for her solo show at Watters Gallery where she exhibited paintings on female sexuality and genitals. As history writes it, these images caused a controversy. From here Binns co-founded the Sydney Chapter of the Women's Art Movement in 1974, which was integral in supporting women artists, and has spent decades involved in many community art projects, as well as continuing her own painting practice. Alongside exhibiting at national and international institutions, as an educator Binns has been integral in mentoring generations of artists, and in 2021 was the recipient of the Australia Council Award for Visual Arts.Binns talks about her childhood, and in particular her mother and the importance of women's domestic work, as well as her time at art school. We also talk about Vivienne's long-standing inquiry into what art really is, and how this links to her own thoughts about womanhood and sexuality.This series is kindly sponsored by Leonard Joel Auctioneers and Valuers, based in Melbourne and Sydney.Produced and presented by Tiarney Miekus, engineering by Patrick Telfer, and music by Mino Peric.

“If you can get through the conventional way of relating, then often you find that there are these meeting points of understanding,” says Vivienne Binns in our latest episode of The Long Run series featuring conversations with artists who have 60-year practices. A pioneer in feminist and community driven art, Binns has been at the forefront of critically engaged, feminist art from the 1960s onward. While painting is her central practice, she has also worked across printmaking, performance, sculpture and drawing. It is no understatement to say that her art and activism has changed the Australian contemporary art landscape. Binns largely grew up in Sydney and in the 1950s attended the National Art School. She became known in the 1960s for her solo show at Watters Gallery where she exhibited paintings on female sexuality and genitals. As history writes it, these images caused a controversy. From here Binns co-founded the Sydney Chapter of the Women's Art Movement in 1974, which was integral in supporting women artists, and has spent decades involved in many community art projects, as well as continuing her own painting practice. Alongside exhibiting at national and international institutions, as an educator Binns has been integral in mentoring generations of artists, and in 2021 was the recipient of the Australia Council Award for Visual Arts. Binns talks about her childhood, and in particular her mother and the importance of women's domestic work, as well as her time at art school. We also talk about Vivienne's long-standing inquiry into what art really is, and how this links to her own thoughts about womanhood and sexuality. This series is kindly sponsored by Leonard Joel Auctioneers and Valuers, based in Melbourne and Sydney. Produced and presented by Tiarney Miekus, engineering by Patrick Telfer, and music by Mino Peric.

Website: terriblehappytalksInstagram: @terriblehappytalksMarlon Roche is a Graduate of the National Art School in Sydney Australia, sponsored skateboarder, and all ‘round epic human. Always smiling, Marlon's positive energy is infectious and this translates into his skateboarding and artistic expression. In this week's episode, Marlon is with me live from the Kingpin Skate Shop warehouse to share his journey, experiences, challenges and hopes for the future.  Shout out to past guest, and this week's special guest co-host, Mr Joey Lyons.Enjoy!ShanMarlon supports and advocates for:Lifeline Beyond BlueReachout.comInstagram: @marlonrocheCOMPANIES THAT SUPPORT THIS PODCASTUse the THT code!!!INDOSOLE  Code: THT(15% discount shipping is WORLDWIDE and fast).Sandals made from recycled Tyres. Timeless footwear for the conscious consumer.KingPin Skate ShopCode: THT(Get 15% Discount)Best Skateshop in Australia!Best shoe range ever: Vans, Nike, Adidas, Lakai, Fallen, Etnies (and more).Rad clothes (To many to mention)Best skateboard brands: Baker, Girl, Chocolate, FA, Hockey, Antihero, Passport (and way more).Australian owned and operated. Best dudes ever! Get on dat code.KRUSH ORGANICS - CBD oils and topicalsCode: THT(Get a HUGE 40% Discount...shipping is WORLDWIDE and fast).Purveyors of the finest CBD oils and topicals. I think long and hard about who I want to be affiliated with, and I'm stoked to embark on a new affiliation with Krush Organics and advocate for the use of CBD products for supplementary use. Do the research yourself, the health benefits are unquestionable. It's done so much for me, especially during times of stress and anxiety, it's improved the quality of my sleep and sped up my recovery time especially post workouts. And it's all natural.Write a review on Apple Podcasts and give a 5 star rating.Thanks for listening!Big love and respect,ShanSupport the show (https://terriblehappytalks.teemill.com)

Alan Jones, artist, sculptor, and maker, is a Sydney-based artist, represented by Olsen Gallery. We spoke to Alan from his studio in Alexandria surrounded by his amazing and diverse artworks. We had a great chat with Alan about his approach to his art works, the diversity in his projects,  his amazing experience on the Fowlers gap residency and much more. Thanks Alan for your time, we had a great time.'Alan Jones' work explores ideas that surround notions of identity. Jones works across a broad spectrum of mediums and takes a personal approach to the subject matter. Through this process, Jones aims to communicate the intricacies of human connections and how his roots subsequently influence his work.Jones gained his Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts in 1997 from the National Art School in Sydney before furthered his education abroad on the Inaugural Pat Corrigan Travelling Scholarship for Painting. In 1998 he returned to Australia, where he completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2000 at the National Art School. In 2004 Jones' portfolio of 10 paintings and drawings, inspired by his time in France and Germany, won the prestigious Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. The BWTAS saw mom Jones return to Europe where he undertook a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris before working in Berlin and New York.'

It was art school or bust for drawer and painter Daniel Bodey. The Sydney based artist graduate from National Art School in 2020 and was the recipient of the Troy Quinliven award in his final year. Daniel has developed a distinctive style and has a love for John Brack like I do. Head on over to Instagram and follow his work @_bodey_daniel_art_

Nina Angelo was born in Athens, Greece, shortly after WW2 and migrated to Sydney, Australia in June 1949 with her parents, both survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. In the early 60s, Nina nourished her passion as an artist at the National Art School, experimenting with many art forms before settling on her life-long journey with textiles. Her community work and artistic and cultural heritage led her on countless adventures across Australia, the Pacific Islands and ultimately, back to Europe. While overcoming significant challenges from ‘frying pan to fire'; Nina has founded, coordinated, publicised, taught and work-shopped creative and community arts and festival events, for over thirty years. She is a colourful character with a gift for connection with people of all ages and cultures. In 2009, Nina was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her ‘Service to the Arts and the (NSW) Central Coast community'. Her wider Australian contribution to community and culture has been recognised through a range of honours, awards and positions including Artist in Residence in Fiji through Australia Council for the Arts, two Australia Day Community Awards, the Governor of NSW Children's Week Award for her work in remote locations, and an Edna Ryan Feminist Award for her life's work empowering women and sharing their stories through the arts. Nina's first book, a memoir called “Don't Cry, Dance”, celebrates and honours life, love, family and tolerance of people from all cultures, colours and creeds. She discovered her father Alberto's interviews from 30 years ago, which had been held in the Holocaust Museum in the USA, and combined these with her mother Janka's story, who first met her father in Auschwitz. As a storyteller and artist, it was time to add her story to theirs, and leave a lasting memory for her children, grandchildren and for future generations. Nina is a connector of the creative dots in communities. She is a motivational speaker, arts consultant, mentor, intuitive artist, registered Marriage Celebrant, writer and activist. Nina is passionate about gathering women together to share their truth and heal the impacts of intergenerational trauma through storytelling. She seeks to uncover the creative spirit in all of us and capture the stories of our culture in our times. Visit www.onespace.love

Giorgia McRae graduated from the National Art School in Sydney in 2020. She creates beautiful sculptures with steel and blocks of sandstone and has her very first solo at Saint Cloche in Paddington later this year. We chatted all things art school such as the highs and lows, and what actually happens when the study is over and the students are thrust out into the real world. Follow this rising star on Instagram at @giorgiamcraeart.

@art.wank is back this week with a new episode with two interviews in one, firstly with recently graduated HSC student Finn McGrath, son of artist James McGrath (episode 44). We interviewed Finn next to his artwork at Art Express, Armoury Gallery, Sydney Olympic Park. We talked to Finn about the ideas behind his HSC artwork and his future in the art world. We have combined this episode with another fab young person artist Elise Cooke who has recently graduated from the National Art School. We wanted to talk to her about what art school was like and what she's up to now! We hope these interviews give young inspiring artists some knowledge of doing HSC art and going to art school...Thanks so much, Finn and Elise for talking to us, we hope to interview more of the 'youth' to find out about their experiences at school, art school and university, and beyond. 

Designer Elizabeth Gadsby joins Regina to talk about the art and craft of staging a show. She has designed multiple Sydney Theatre Company shows as well as other stages around town. She's also designed for Opera, Film and television. Elizabeth is a set and costume designer, whose background in installation and performance art influences her approach to her design work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) from National Art School and a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts (Design) from NIDA.

'National treasure', 'legend,' 'inspiration'. These were just some of the reactions from my Instagram followers when I posted that I would be interviewing Guy Warren. Guy is about to turn 100 years old.  He has no less than 5 shows opening this year.  But he is also plain spoken, practical, down to earth and modest. In typical style he seemed pleased when I told him of the Instagram reaction, but he quickly changed the subject.  Guy has had an extraordinary career.  He has won numerous awards including the Archibald prize, exhibited in over 50 solo shows and a phenomenal 6 survey shows (with more to come this year), and received two honorary doctorates, the Order of Australia and the Australia Medal. His work is included in many public, private and corporate collections across the world. Although his paintings include portraiture and abstraction, much of his work is concerned with the landscape. His paintings reflect his interest in the idea that we humans belong to and are part of the landscape. This is a view which he formed when posted in Bougainville in World War II and it has echoed through his work down the decades. The fact that Guy will soon be turning 100 meant that I was one of many requesting an interview. Even so, he was generous with his time and shared his recollections of the Great Depression and WWII, of the tumultuous changes in the artworld in the 50s and 60s, and of his travels to Alice Springs, New Guinea and London.  We talk about the successes but also a couple of regrets. To hear the podcast episode click on 'play' beneath the above feature photo.  I'll also be posting a short video of Guy in his studio on the Talking with Painters YouTube channel and to this website soon. Upcoming shows 'The 100th year', King Street Gallery on William, Sydney, 16 March to 10 April 2021'From the Mountain to the Sky: Guy Warren drawings', National Centre for Drawing, National Art School, Sydney, 17 April - 22 May Gallery Lane Cove, Sydney, survey show, date TBAUniversity of Wollongong Gallery, Wollongong, date TBASolo show, Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne, 30 November to 18 December Links to things and people we talk about in this episode Guy Warren at King Street Gallery on WilliamGuy Warren at Nicholas Thompson GalleryTony TucksonKlaus FriedebergerErwin FabianFred Williams Bert FlugelmanIan FairweatherJoanna Logue David Attenborough 'To Jamberoo with love #1', 2020, acrylic on linen, 40 x 50cm Image courtesy of King Street Gallery on William and the artist 'Time out #1', 2020, watercolour on paper, 57 x 77cmImage courtesy of King Street Gallery on William and the artist 'Bush walk', 2015, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60cmImage courtesy of King Street Gallery on William and the artist 'Gaia at Badgery's', 1990, synthetic polymer paint on linen, 274 x 274cmImage: National Gallery of Australia Collection 'Flugelman with Wingman', 1985, oil on canvas, 225 x 178cmWinner of the Archibald Prize 1985Image: Art Gallery of NSW website 'Prisoner', 1962Image: Canberra Museum and Gallery collection 'Hobart series no.8', 1979, watercolour on hand made paper, formed and manipulated Collection Art Gallery of NSWImage: Art Gallery of NSW website

Meaghan Potter is an artist and teacher, plying her trade throughout the Blue Mountains and beyond. Growing up in Blaxland, Meaghan completed an Honours in Fine Arts from the National Art School and has gone on to exhibit internationally in Hong Kong, and throughout greater Sydney. Meaghan's artwork is unique in its ability to convey the power of nature from the local area. Exposure to the outdoors and the myriad of wildlife has helped shape Meaghan's work and this was on display at a recent exhibition at the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens over the summer. “Having my work on display at Mount Tomah…it's been so special to have the connection between my subject matter and the actual location I find the subject matter in,” Meaghan said. “All of the birds and a couple of flowers are inspired by the actual flora and fauna that is at Mount Tomah gardens. I want to reveal the beauty within nature…without knowing it, growing up in the Blue Mountains has influenced me so much.” Instagram: @passionperspectivepodcast Music: "Friendship" - written and performed by Annie Burbank Music

Meaghan Potter is an artist and teacher, plying her trade throughout the Blue Mountains and beyond. Growing up in Blaxland, Meaghan completed an Honours in Fine Arts from the National Art School and has gone on to exhibit internationally in Hong Kong, and throughout greater Sydney.

This weeks guest is the amazing artist John Bokor, who kindly spoke to us over zoom from his studio in Bulli. He is represented by King Street Gallery in Sydney,  Nicolas Thompson gallery in Melbourne and Edwina Corlette in Brisbane. John graduated from the National Art School in 1993, with a diploma in Painting, and once again in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Art.In 2012, Bokor won the NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize and had four large drawings purchased by the Art Gallery New South Wales. In 2013, he won both the Wilson Art Award and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award, and in 2016 he won the drawing section of the Muswellbrook Art Prize and the Kings School Art Prize.We spoke to John about his techniques, time at art school, teaching, his use of colour, entering art prizes and much more. Thanks, John, it was a real pleasure to talk to you, we learned so much. 

We interviewed Stephen Coburn at his amazing studio in the artistic community, Headland Artists, at Georges Heights, Mosman. We had a long chat with Stephen about his father, the artist, John Coburn, his days at the National Art School where he met Reg Mombassa and formed the band, Mental As Anything. We heard some great stories about the bans and his time at art school. Stephen is making sculptures for an upcoming sculpture trail at the beautiful Akuna Bay starting November 15th,  in conjunction with Sydney Road Gallery and D'Albora Marinas. Be sure to check it out, designed for everyone to interact with and touch! Great for a family day out. Stephen is also a leading conservator and we talked to him about his craft and some interesting information about painting conservation. We also asked him about a past project he was involved with called, Utes in the Paddock, where artists and the community in Ootha, Central NSW was called upon to turn old utes into artworks. It sounded like such a fun thing to be a part of. Thanks for talking to us, Stephen, we could have talked for hours!

Celebrated for her innovative, colorful blown glass and flameworked Amulet Baskets, Laura Donefer is also known for artwork that pushes boundaries by exploring memory, assault, bereavement, joy and madness. The artist has been using glass as the primary medium in her work for over 38 years, all while teaching, producing unforgettable glass fashions shows and promoting the glass arts worldwide. Born in Ithaca, New York, but raised in rural Quebec, Donefer studied sculpture for a year in 1973 at the National Art School of Cubanacan in Havana. Back in Canada, in 1975 she graduated with honors in Literature and Languages from Dawson College and in 1979 with honors from McGill University, both located in Montreal, Quebec. After traveling the world and working with many interesting people, Donefer trained as a glass artist at Sheridan College, Ontario, graduating in 1985.  A tireless promoter, Donefer lectured extensively on Canadian contemporary glass in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Australia, including the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C.; the Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona; the University of Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii; and during AUSGLASS in Sydney, Australia. She curated a number of exhibitions in the United States to showcase Canadian work. In 1985, as president of the Glass Art Association of Canada (GAAC), Donefer was instrumental in uniting glass artists across Canada by publishing a quarterly magazine, The Glass Gazette, which developed into the major voice of Canadian glass artists. In 2006, GAAC awarded Donefer its first Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her tireless efforts in the advancement of art glass in Canada.  By conducting countless workshops worldwide, Donefer has influenced students from Red Deer College, Alberta, to Penland School of Crafts, Bakersfield, North Carolina, to the Sonoran School, Tucson, Arizona; and beyond in Japan and Australia. She served on the staff in the glass department at Sheridan College and was permanent faculty at Espace Verre, Montreal, for over 18 years, helping to mold the school with her dynamic classes. She continues to teach regularly at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, and at the Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, Washington, where she has served on the International Council for 17 years.  Since the mid-1980s, Donefer’s work has been exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions, including shows at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in Japan; the Art Gallery of Western Australia; the Hammelev Arts and Culture Centre in Denmark; the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston; the Museo del Vidrio in Mexico; and the Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai, China. Her sculpture is included in many public and private collections, including the Corning Museum of Glass; the Tacoma Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington; the Museum of Art and Design, Manhattan; Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida; Ringling Museum, Sarasota, Florida; Barry Art Museum, Norfolk, Virginia; Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan; and the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio. She is currently represented by Habatat Gallery and Sandra Ainsley Gallery.  A past board member of the Glass Art Society (GAS), in 2008 the organization presented Donefer with its prestigious Honorary Membership Award. Donefer has produced 15 of her unforgettable glass fashion shows, many for the organization. In 2018, her ground-breaking event included 33 glass costumes in 12 gondolas gliding through the canals in Murano, Italy. Her next glass fashion show is slated for GAS 2022. Donefer has also been awarded The Lifetime Achievement Award from Craft Ontario; the International Flameworking Award for “extraordinary contributions to the glass art world”; and the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass award for her role in the glass community. On hiatus due to the Covid 19 pandemic, Donefer spends her days near Harrowsmith, Ontario, with her amazing husband “The Mighty Dave” and her dachshund Mr. Lance. She has become a mushroom detective, searching for and photographing these living sculptures and their unique forms and colors while exploring a new body of Covid Anxiety paintings. Donefer’s collaboration with glassblower extraordinaire Jeff Mack is currently on view in a ground-breaking exhibition curated by Tina Oldknow and Bill Warmus, Venice and American Studio Glass, at Le Stanze del Vetro Museum in Venice.   

Suhanya Raffel and her husband Michael Snelling; Suhanya is the executive director of the M+ Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District of Hong Kong, and a Trustee of the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts. She has previously held many senior positions at major art institutions in Sydney and Brisbane. Growing up in the Raffel House that was designed by Geoffrey, Suhanya reflects on her friendship with the architect who became a lifelong family friend after the commission of the house. Michael Snelling has an extensive professional background in arts management, artistic direction and education. Most recently, he was Director and CEO of the National Art School in Sydney. He was founding director of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair and Artistic Director of the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane. He is also a photographer, writer and curator, and has held lecturing positions at universities in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. He has been publisher and editor of titles in the areas of art history and criticism and numerous exhibition catalogues. Michael Snelling recalls an amusing story from his first meeting with Geoffrey and of the ease in which he is able to photograph spaces designed by the architect. In this episode, you will hear excerpts from my interviews with Suhanya and Michael individually first and then together. The Oral Histories Project is an ongoing endeavour that will continue after the centenary year celebrations, and the Trust encourages submissions of potential historians and anecdotes to archives@gbtrust.net.

We were thrilled to find out Joanna Gambotto lives in Avalon so we could easily visit her studio and see in person her amazing work! Her huge drawings are a sight to be seen, done in charcoal on paper depicting interiors from Hill End cottages on her recent residency there. We spoke to her about all aspects of her art career including her stint at National Art School. Joanna also makes beautiful etchings and makes ceramics too! She is a versatile and talented artist and we cant wait to see what happens next in her art career.http://joannagambotto.com.au/ Hill End Artist residency - https://www.hillendart.com.au/National Art School - https://nas.edu.au/Elisabeth Cummings - https://kingstreetgallery.com.au/artists/elisabeth-cummings/

A young Papua New Guinean man, Lesley Wengembo, has entered one of Australia's most prestigious art competitions, the Archibald Prize, with a painting not a famous rugby league player but one of his friends and mentors, and fellow Melanesian man, Malachi Nagobi.

Fiona has a big crush on Todd's work and was a complete fangirl in this episode and we even talked about Frozen 2, so this episode has got it all!!Todd is a Sydney based artist, curator and performance collaborator. With a practice that integrates sculpture, moving image, performance and painting, Todd Fuller is, at his core, a draughtsman. Underpinning all aspects of his practice is a love of drawing and a belief in its power as a democratic medium to connect, engage and delight audiences. A graduate of Sydney's National Art School, Fuller has exhibited widely across Australia over the last ten years. He was a finalist in the 2019 Sulman Prize, won the prestigious Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award in 2018, and his work is present in various public and private Australian collections, including the Parliament House Art Collection, Artbank, Sydney Harbour Trust, and numerous regional art galleries. Alongside his national success, Fuller has gained international attention, with his works in exhibitions in the United States, Italy, France, South Korea, Bangladesh, England, Singapore and Malta.We talked about his influence of William Kentridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kentridge on his animation work. Check out more of Todd's work at https://www.toddfuller.com.au/Thanks so much, Todd for fueling Fiona's crush...

Emerging out of COVID-19? The National Art School is busy showcasing students' work during lockdown, as well as preparing for the institution's upcoming centenary. Also, Collingwood Yard's art precinct in Melbourne takes shape, and KOVET.ART launches in London, representing emerging artists, and utilising blockchain security to ensure authenticity. Index of interviews:1.55: Jacqui Taffel describes the work undertaken by National Art School students inspired during lockdown, their successful online teaching, and the upcoming centenary.  11.25: Marcus Westbury OAM talks about the establishment of Collingwood Yards arts precinct in Melbourne and the enthusiasm of the current tenants, along with exciting plans to ensure a vibrant and relevant future.  21.37: Saras Rachupalli has launched KOVET.ART drawing on her years of experience in both tech and the arts, along with her family pedigree in the art world. This venture also exploits her knowledge of blockchain security to safeguard artwork authenticity. Transcripts of interviews are available for download HERE. The transcriptions are made possible by the support from Pixel Perfect Prolab - The photolab for professionals.  

Ashlee Bucholtz grew up in Oaky Park, Lithgow and developed a love for art and painting at an early age. Having attended the Newcastle Art School and National Art School, she took valuable learnings as a person and an artist that helped shape her perspective. “They (art schools) teach you how to challenge yourself and to challenge your skills, to have a standard that you want to achieve,” Ashlee said. “But, also to understand that it’s okay to make a bad artwork. The more you fail the more successful you will be.” Currently residing in the Blue Mountains, Ashlee continues to develop her artwork and spends time as a part-time art educator. The focus of her work is on ambiguous spaces using unconventional colour, stimulating the sensory experience for the viewer. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PASSION & PERSPECTIVE PODCAST [INSERT LINK] At the age of 24, Ashlee was told she had Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Whilst confronting, the diagnosis has enabled a refined and clear focus on her life, her health and her art. “Strangely enough, it (MS) has had a good impact too – I focus a lot on my health now. I eat really well, I take more notice of my mental health,” Ashlee said. Living with MS has not hindered Ashlee’s drive to produce great art and strive for success. Success, according to Ashlee, is relative and is shaped by (What) you want to achieve as an individual. “Do you want to see yourself in regional or state-level galleries? Do you want to be winning prizes?” Ashlee pondered. “There are still some areas that I would love to see my art hanging, and some prizes I’d like to be in. I get to go to a studio most days and I’m also teaching art, which feels really satisfying.” When reflecting on her career so far, there is a sense of pride and satisfaction that shines through for Ashlee. “In retrospect, I am where I am because of all my hard work. I am where I am because I never decided to give it up.”

Ashlee Bucholtz grew up in Oaky Park, Lithgow and developed a love for art and painting at an early age. Having attended the Newcastle Art School and National Art School, she took valuable learnings as a person and an artist that helped shape her perspective. “They (art schools) teach you how to challenge yourself and to challenge your skills, to have a standard that you want to achieve,” Ashlee said. “But, also to understand that it's okay to make a bad artwork. The more you fail the more successful you will be.” Currently residing in the Blue Mountains, Ashlee continues to develop her artwork and spends time as a part-time art educator. The focus of her work is on ambiguous spaces using unconventional colour, stimulating the sensory experience for the viewer. Music Credit: Beyond Dreams by Scott Holmes

On this episode of Archinect Sessions we’re sharing a conversation I had with Alysa Nahmias, the director and producer of the documentary film “The New Bauhaus.” We recorded this conversation last month, poolside, a few hours before the film premiered to a packed house in the Annenberg Theater at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Alysa, a trained architect-turned-filmmaker, made her directorial debut in 2011 with Unfinished Spaces, a critically acclaimed documentary about the unfinished National Art School in Cuba.  While she has a number of producing credits under her belt, The New Bauhaus is the second documentary film project that she directed. The film focuses on the life and legacy of László Moholy-Nagy, the Hungarian artist and teacher most famously known through his work at the Bauhaus. It’s a beautifully told story, presented in a unique, non-linear fashion, narrated by Hans Ulrich Obrist who represent Maholy in a surprisingly effective way.  The film will be screened again at this year’s Modernism Week in Palm springs, tomorrow, February 14th, followed by screenings at Melbourne Design Week the Architecture & Design Film Festival in DC in March, and in Los Angeles, at SC-Arc, in April. Full details can be found at thenewbauhaus.com. 

Shirley Peters is a multi-skilled artist who is internationally known for painting cyclists during Le Tour de France. She also paints landscapes, urban scenes and figurative works. She has won awards consistently throughout her career, which began at the National Art School in the seventies. Her career spans graphic design, children’s book illustration, and computer graphics. Her fine art painting is now a full time passion, and her teaching skills are sought after by many art societies and organisations.   Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sannpet Website: http://www.shirleypeters.com Facebook Business Page: http://www.facebook.com/shirleypetersart Facebook personal: http://www.facebook.com/shirleypeters100 Twitter: @shirleypeters Art Studio: 185 Park River Close Mulgoa NSW 2745, Australia    

Shirley Peters is a multi-skilled artist who is internationally known for painting cyclists during Le Tour de France. She also paints landscapes, urban scenes and figurative works. She has won awards consistently throughout her career, which began at the National Art School in the seventies. Her career spans graphic design, children’s book illustration, and computer graphics. Her fine art painting is now a full time passion, and her teaching skills are sought after by many art societies and organisations. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sannpetWebsite: http://www.shirleypeters.comFacebook Business Page: http://www.facebook.com/shirleypetersartFacebook personal: http://www.facebook.com/shirleypeters100Twitter: @shirleypetersArt Studio: 185 Park River Close Mulgoa NSW 2745, Australia  

Nicole Kelly is one of Australia’s most interesting emerging artists. Her landscapes and portraits are filled with reminiscence and emotion. She’s had 10 solo shows, has won the coveted Brett Whiteley travelling art scholarship, Hurford Hardwood portrait prize, as well as other prizes, and has been finalist in many others. I spoke with her in her studio in Sydney where she was creating work for her November show with Arthouse Gallery in Sydney. We also filmed some video on that day which will be uploaded to the website soon. Nicole grew up in the Sutherland Shire in southern Sydney and now lives in Thirroul, south of Sydney.  She didn’t paint or draw much as a child and in fact was more interested in photography in high school and particularly the work of Bill Henson. After school, encouraged by photographer and academic Ella Dreyfus, she decided to apply for the National Art School. Press play beneath the feature photo above to hear us talk about her time at National Art School, in Paris and a lot more about her paintings and process. Upcoming exhibitions Solo show, Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, 7-23 November 2019Group show, Portia Geach Memorial Award, SH Ervin Gallery Sydney, current until 15 September 2019Group show, 'Southern Swell' Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Sydney, 23 November 2019 to 2 February 2020Group show, 'Love', Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillimbah, 6 September to 17 November 2019 Show Notes Nicole KellyNicole Kelly on InstagramNicole Kelly at Arthouse GalleryNicole Kelly at This Is No Fantasy Bill HensonElla DreyfusWillem De KooningChaim SoutineAlberto GiacomettiFrank AuerbachRembrandtEl GrecoTom Carment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6yRDLvAeGA 'An Amorous field' 2018, oil on polyester, 183 x 236cm 'Jumaadi + Clouds + Rain' , 2017, 150 x 130cm, oil on polyesterWinner of Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize 2018 'Studio nude (self portrait)', 2019, oil on polyesterFinalist 2019 Portia Geach Memorial Award 'Lauren's song', 2018, oil on polyester, 107 x 112cmFInalist, Black Swan Portrait Prize 2018 'The last of the day runs pink' 2019, oil on polyester, 122 x 122cmSalon des Refuses, SH Ervin Gallery, 2019 'Bedroom Window (Lauren and Poppy), oil on polyester, 122 x 123cmFinalist, Vincent Prize 2019

In this episode of the Human Potential Podcast our host Oliver Freer talks with Nick Cleaver about rising to the top of a major advertising agency, his tenacity, grit and competitive focus and the values that have underpinned his successful journey in the world of advertising. More information about Nick CleaverNick Cleaver is the CEO of 303 Mullen Lowe Australia. Nick is recognised as an accomplished advertising agency and industry leader having been an outspoken advocate of integrated communications and advertising effectiveness.Nick’s accomplishments include, as Chairman and CEO, the transformation of DDB into a leading creative and diversified agency, while over the last 12 years having grown independent agency 303 into a revered integrated creative force.Nick’s agency joined forces with global agency, MullenLowe in 2012 and now operates as 303 Mullenlowe with offices in Sydney and Perth. The network operates across 88 different offices globally.Nick commenced his career as a history teacher, in the UK before commencing a career in marketing and then switching into an advertising agency almost three decades ago. Nick has worked across a raft of landmark campaigns, won numerous awards for creativity and effectiveness as well as seeing the agencies that he has led being voted Agency of the Year.Nick has served for three years on the board of the Advertising Federation of Australia, for eight years on the board of the charity Humpty Dumpty Foundation and for the last four on the fundraising committee of the National Art School.

John Bokor is an Australian artist. He graduated from the National Art School in 1993. John’s work ranges from domestic interiors and Still Lifes to suburban landscapes. For over 12 years he has been represented by King Street Gallery on William in Sydney. He is also represented by Nicholas Thompson Gallery in Melbourne and Edwina Corlette Gallery in Brisbane. He has had 20 solo exhibitions at both commercial Galleries and at regional galleries across Australia. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions including “Still Life” at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney in 2013, “Baked Goods” at the University City Arts League in Philadelphia, PA in 2016 and “Planting Dreams” at the State Library of NSW in Sydney, 2016.   In 2012 he won the Plein Air art prize and had 4 large drawings purchased by the Art Gallery of NSW. In 2013 John won both the Wilson Art Award and the Eutick Memorial Still Life Award. In 2016 he won the drawing section of the Muswellbrook Art Prize and was awarded the Kings School Art Prize.That year he was also the inaugural artist in residence at the State Library of NSW. Bokor’s work is held in many public and private collections including the Art Gallery of Ballarat, the Art Gallery of NSW, the Australia Club, the State Library of NSW, Maitland Regional Gallery, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, Muswellbrook Regional Gallery, Macquarie Bank, UBS Warburg, the Kings School Art Collection, NSW Parliament Art Collection and several university collections around Australia.   I had such a wonderful time talking to John about his work and love of art. John is located in Australia and talks about growing up above an art gallery which was a completely fascinating story. In this episode, we also talk about his process in building his paintings, how drawing relates to painting his experience being a teacher just to name a few topics! Overall this is such a great interview if you want to laugh a lot and talk about color, paint application and being a painter. Enjoy!   https://www.nicholasthompsongallery.com.au/artists/john-bokor/   http://kingstreetgallery.com.au/artists/john-bokor/   https://www.instagram.com/johnbokor/   https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/362.2012.2/

Ella Dreyfus is a photographer with an impressive career spanning over 30 years. Her work is often confronting and deals with issues as conceptual as masculinity to as real as the holocaust, and the shadow it has cast over her family history. Ella is now a Senior Lecturer and Head of Public Programs at the National Art School in Sydney. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Alana Wilson is a ceramicist based in Sydney, Australia. She has been practicing ceramics for 7 years, since graduating from the National Art School with a BFA (Hons) in 2012. She exhibits regularly both nationally and internationally, most recently in Japan. While most works are essentially contemplative, the ode to traditional forms seeks to honor the nobility of the vessel and it's foremost function alongside an inherent respect of ceramics as a medium. Subtle surface destructions and experimental glazing and firing techniques are a major focus in the studio. Firing to 1260ºC allows the metamorphosis of surface degradation to be captured, appearing to exist in a state of motion and decay, even once cooled. These quiet meditations into the beauty of the decayed utilitarian attempt to captivate and impel the viewer beyond the physicality and functionality of the works.

Through her art, Kiata Mason takes us into her world and her way of seeing. Her still lifes are filled with the objects from her home, collected over generations, and portraits contain reminders of the past. She plays with colour and perspective to convey her subjects not quite the way they exist in reality but with an ever present optimism and empathy mixed with a bit of kookiness. She has a Masters degree in drawing from the National Art School and this forms the foundations of her painting. Last year she won the Muswellbrook Art prize for works on paper and she’s also been a finalist and semi-finalist in many major painting prizes including the Sulman, Doug Moran, Black Swan and Paddington art prizes. She has exhibited in five solo shows and has another two coming up this year but still sees herself in the early stages of her career as a painter. Her work crosses still life, portraiture and landscape. I recorded this episode in Kiata's studio in the back room of her home in Lake Cathie just south of Port Macquarie in NSW's mid north coast. She lives at times a rather isolated life but this is not only due to the geography of where she lives.  As the full-time carer of her grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s, a cup of tea with a friend is a rare event and even a trip to the shops is a major operation. Kiata grew up in various parts of NSW including Sydney, Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Armidale. She was surrounded by strong women particularly her mother and grandmother who had a background in theatre and were always interested in the arts. To hear the episode press play under the feature photo above. I filmed a short video of Kiata in her studio and you can see it below. Upcoming shows PLC Artist-in-residence - Adelaide Perry Gallery  Residency culminating in show of works  - April 2019 Group show, Arthouse Gallery 20 June - 6 July Solo show, Muswellbrook Arts Centre, July 2019 Solo show, AKBellinger Gallery, date TBA Show Notes Kiata Mason on Instagram Kiata Mason with Amber Creswell Bell Kiata Mason at AK Bellinger Gallery Kiata Mason at Arthouse Gallery Drill Hall Gallery National Gallery of Australia  David Hockney Pierre Bonnard National Art School https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwZ3OJquz8E

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a lecture from Sandy Lockwood. A clay worker for many decades, Sandy discusses how morphogenic making and bodily learning can be a foundation for understanding the practice of wood firing. Sandy recently completed a PhD in Creative Arts from University of Wollongong and is currently a lecturer at the National Art School, Sydney. For more information visit www.sandylockwood.com.au. The lecture was given at the Cultural Confluence Wood Fire Symposium, held in Helena, MT in October 2018.   Hey Red Clay Rambler fans, I want to take a minute to talk to you about our sustaining membership program. As we head into 2019, I want to appeal to you directly to help us meet our new goal of having 120 patrons by April 1st. I’m asking you to make a $5 pledge today at patreon.com/redclayrambler. That’s only $1.25 per episode to help me document the field of ceramics. This new goal will help me record interviews with Canadian artists on my upcoming trip in April. If you prefer you can make a one-time donation through the Pay Pal portal at www.talesofaredclayrambler.com. If you have been thinking about getting involved don’t wait any longer. Every dollar helps, and no donation is too small. Thanks again for supporting the podcast!

Ann Thomson is one of Australia's most significant artists. She’s been painting for over 60 years, has exhibited in over 40 solo shows and there’s no sign of her slowing down. Her works are filled with colour and movement which command the viewer’s attention. They’re all about feeling and touch, delving into abstraction in her unique way. She’s won the Wynne prize, the Geelong Contemporary art prize, the Kedumba Drawing prize, the Tattersall's art prize and others. She’s also an acclaimed sculptor and, as with her paintings, likes to work in large scale.  Her incredible installation selected for the Seville Expo in 1992 was 11 metres high and took 3 months to complete when it was shipped over to Spain. I had a great conversation with Ann in her huge studio in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. We talked about why we need musicians and artists, what makes a strong painting, how to tap into creativity and lots more. Her work is included in the forthcoming show '6 artists | 7 days' at Defiance Gallery which opens on 23 September 2018. Thomson grew up in Brisbane and this episode starts at a time when she was 9 years old, during WWII, when her school had been closed down amid fears of enemy attacks. Press 'play' beneath the feature photo above to hear the podcast interview. Scroll down to see video of Thomson in her studio.   Feature photo of Ann Thomson above (cropped)  by Greg Weight   Current and upcoming events National Art - Part one, group show, National Art School, current to 27 October 2018 Mary Place Group Exhibition, Defiance Gallery, current to 20 October 2018 Six artists | Seven days, the AWC Newhaven exhibition, group show, Defiance Gallery, 23 September to 19 October Exhibition with Joe Furlonger at Nock Art Gallery 2019, date TBA Show notes Ann Thomson at Defiance Gallery Ann Thomson at Nodrum Gallery Ann Thomson at Stephane Jacob Gallery John Molvig Betty Churcher Caroline Barker Robert Helpmann Kenneth Noland Anthony Caro Claude Monet Exhibition at Musee de l'Orangerie - American Abstract Painting and the last Monet National Art School (formerly East Sydney Technical College) John Passmore Watters Gallery John Olsen Tim Storrier Piet Mondrian Ian Fairweather Grace Clifford Australian Wildlife Conservancy Cite Internationale des Arts Noel McKenna Joe Furlonger Fiona Mcdonald   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubcRerANudU&t=2s

Bernard Ollis's art takes you on a journey. It might be down a windy road down a back lane in Sydney, across a bridge in Paris or you might find yourself in a park or a swimming pool or a fishing boat and you might meet people or animals along the way. But you’ll also be turning corners and seeing what’s beyond the buildings and fences around you without ever leaving that 2D plane. His wonderful use of perspective and colour takes us to a moment in twisted space which is surprising and brimming with optimism. He’s had over 50 solo shows exhibiting from London to Paris to Berlin to Shanghai to Auckland and right across Australia. Many major art institutions have acquired his work and his paintings are held in many private collections. He’s also found time to make his mark in art education holding leading positions in universities and is well known for his time as the director of the National Art School in Sydney, a position he held for over a decade. He continued painting throughout that time but for approximately the last 10 years he's been a full time artist working 7 days a week. Ollis was born in Bath, England and grew up in a working class family.  This episode starts at a point in our conversation when he was in his early twenties after he had completed his qualifications at  Cardiff College of Art and Design and was considering his next step. Would it be a Diploma of Education, a course in Art Therapy or should he pursue the almost impossible dream of getting into the Royal College of Art? To hear the podcast episode press 'play' under the feature photo above. You can see a short video of Ollis in his studio on the Talking with Painters YouTube Channel here. Current events  'Being There', Harvey Galleries, Sydney, 29 June - 8 July 2018 Show notes Bernard Ollis Bernard Ollis at Harvey Galleries (Sydney) Bernard Ollis at Mitchell Fine Art (Brisbane) Bernard Ollis at Linton & Kay Galleries (Perth) Bernard Ollis at Falls Gallery (Etchings) (Blue Mountains) Bernard Ollis at Penny Contemporary (Tasmania) Bernard Ollis at 12 Gallery, (Auckland) Royal College of Art, London Sir Peter Blake David Hockney Cyclone Tracy National Art School Pablo Picasso Georges Braque Paul Klee John McDonald Vincent Van Gogh Edvard Munch Johannes Itten Henri Matisse Brett Whiteley Peter Booth Aida Tomescu Wendy Sharpe Wendy Sharpe on Talking with Painters Video of Bernard Ollis talking with Maria Stoljar on the Talking with Painters YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibClT-JjL8E&t=30s

Although she first went to art school at 15, it wasn’t until she was 38 that Megan Seres started on her path to become a practising artist - when she enrolled in Sydney's National Art School. Then in 2016, encouraged by a friend, she reluctantly entered the prestigious Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and was shocked when it was announced she'd won. The winning portrait of her daughter Scarlett dressed as a colonial girl thrust her into the limelight and she has been creating works which have been catching the attention of art lovers ever since. In the last few weeks alone she has been shortlisted in both the Percival Tucker Portrait prize and the Wyndham Art Prize. In this podcast episode, she talks about the struggles she faced in becoming an artist, recalls the overwhelming experience of winning the Doug Moran portrait prize and talks about the aftermath of that win, including the decisions she had to make regarding the direction her work was taking. The interview was recorded in her studio in beautiful Gerringong, on NSW’s south coast. A video of Seres talking with Maria Stoljar in her studio from the Talking with Painters YouTube channel can be seen below. Current and upcoming events 'Out Front', group show, contemporary artists, diverse practices, by Melbourne gallery initiative Here We See - Gallery There, pop-up group exhibition, 424 Smith St, Collingwood, VIC, 8 March to 8 April 2018 Percival Portrait Painting Prize, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery,  Townsville, QLD, 27 April - 15 July 2018 Wyndham Art prize, Wyndham art gallery, Werribee, VIC, 29 March 2018 Group shows at A K Bellinger Gallery, Inverell, date TBA Four commissioned portraits of the founding women of Adderton: house and heart of mercy, opening to the public November 2018 Show notes: Megan Seres Julian Ashton Art School National Art School John Bloomfield Ella Dreyfus Euan Macleod Euan Macleod on Talking with Painters Bill Henson Louise Hearman Louise Hearman on Talking with Painters Marion Borgelt Doug Moran National Portrait Prize Why entering the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize is a life changer and one worth considering by Megan Seres Liquin by Winsor and Newton Megan Seres talking with Maria Stoljar in her studio on the Talking with Painters YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khunw7NjiLE    

Rob Hirst - The Sun Becomes The Sea album release feature 2014First published ABC Radio Australia18 November, 2014 12:07PM AEDTRob Hirst - a new solo album and the Midnight Oil 'anti-plan'By Carol DuncanRob Hirst has a new solo album out - released under his own name instead of one of the innumerable musical units that he's part of. The Midnight Oil drummer and songwriter celebrates his new songs with an unexpected collaboration with his artist daughter, Gabriella Hirst.10Rob Hirst oozes 'proud dad' as he talks about the achievements of the offspring of some of his bandmates."We've all got very talented sons and daughters now, all very grown up, and my daughter Gabriella is now in Berlin after finishing her courses at COFA in Sydney and the National Art School. She did very well, got a travelling scholarship and went to Berlin."Gabriella Hirst's art is, indeed, striking and beautiful. And perhaps unsurprisingly, her work seems to share her father's social and environmental concerns."She was looking out over a wasteland where she was in north-west Berlin, went for a walk in the afternoon and asked one of the locals why it was so deserted. He told her that until recently there had been a poplar forest full of birds but that despite the protests of locals the little forest that had acted as a buffer between quite an industrial area and the local residences had been levelled to put in a department store or factory.""But he also told Ella that he'd gone for a walk on the day they cut the trees down and found 24 birds' nests. He sent them to Ella and she painted them as part of her Berlin projects in watercolours on silk flags, which the man then attached to bamboo poles and put back where the forest once was as a symbolic gesture to remind people of what was lost. Being ephemeral artworks, she expected them to be souvenired, which they quickly were, but they fly now from the balconies of neighbouring apartments overlooking this area."Rob's album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', features 24 of his daughter's bird artworks in the hardcover booklet version of the album, which he had made to protect Gabriella's artwork but there are a few of them online."I was just finishing a bunch of songs that I'd been doing over a couple of years down at Jim's (Moginie) studio and I thought for the first time that I'd put it out under my own name rather than under the Ghostwriters or whatever. It's just one of those lovely synchronicities where she was finishing her artwork at the same time and agreed that I could use these beautiful watercolour birds for the sleeve of the book and for the new website which finally links the Oils, the Backsliders, The Break, Angry Tradesmen, Hirst and Greene, Willies Bar and Grill, etc."Unusually, Rob made the decision to make all of the songs on the album available online for free."I just thought it would be a nice gesture and I had such fun making these songs."I point out that a similar 'nice gesture' recently backfired somewhat for U2."I would never be so presumptuous as to upload these 11 songs on people's iTunes!" Rob laughs, "It's available for those that seek it out and like it and there's the option for people to go to a few of those old-fashioned record stores that still exist, and which we really want to support, and get the hardcover booklet with all of Gabriella's birds and other information on it."The exhibition of Midnight Oil's incredible place in the Australian music industry was a huge success at the Sydney exhibition hosted by the Manly Art Gallery and Museum and will be hosted by Newcastle Museum early 2015. How does Rob Hirst feel about his life's work being treated as a museum piece?"We had so many people come through and they were pleasantly surprised. I think they thought, 'Oh Rob's dug out a few old posters and stuck them on the wall with blu-tack' or something. In fact, we spent about two years working on it; this is me, curator Ross Heathcote, Virginia Buckingham, Wendy Osmond who did the art direction on it.""We've got a special film which runs an hour and fifteen minutes made by Rob Hambling about the making of '10 to 1' with Nick Launay producing back in London all those years ago, and we've sourced all this film from 1984 of the band backstage in South Australia at Memorial Drive, and at Main Beach on the Gold Coast. There's a lot of home movie footage, the Exxon banner from New York City, a full stage set-up of the band with the exact drums, guitars, amps, backdrop, lights and even the PA to be authentic from 1987 to 1989 which we toured on the back of the Diesel and Dust album.""There lots of little early recordings that have never been heard, a song we've never released before, and the piece de resistance is a replication in a box which has sticky carpet, three screens when you walk in and a curtain you pull behind you. It has footage of the band playing at the Tanelorn Festival in 1981 and there's two sets of headphones you can choose from - one is loud, the other is really loud - and you can stick to the carpet. There's elbows that come out from the side of the box so that you can be elbowed in the ribs. What I was trying to do was replicate what it was like coming to see Midnight Oil back then at the Mawson Hotel, the 16 Footers or the Ambassador or whatever."I enquire as to whether the box also has the special scent that some of our more notorious venues had. Rob Hirst assures me it does."I've poured so much Tooheys New into that carpet, you've got no idea, and I've ground some lemon chicken and sweet and sour rat or whatever into it. Remember in NSW in those days the liquor laws stated that the pubs had to pretend to provide a meal if they were serving liquor late. No-one would ever touch those meals but they'd be knocked off the bar and into the carpet. So after three months in Manly it's getting quite fruity in there!""It's funny, one of the last surviving venues down here (Sydney), The Annandale, has just ripped up there carpet. The carpet was legendary. It was despicable. They could have scraped it for a new form of penicillin! But they shouldn't have thrown it out. I'd have taken a square metre of it and put it in what became known as 'Rob's Folly', but is now known as 'The Royal Antler Room' which is the Narrabeen pub that Midnight Oil first started playing all those years ago.""The curator, Ross Heathcote, named it 'Rob's Folly' because he was bemused by the idea. He didn't think I'd ever build it, but over six months with a couple of hard-working, underpaid friends we actually made it. It looks like a giant road case but it's big enough for two or three people to cram in and get blasted by Midnight Oil at the Tanelorn Festival."Rob describes the opening of the Midnight Oil exhibition at the Manly gallery with great affection and it's obvious that he still finds great joy in every tiny connection that his career has afforded him - from those with names to the 'unknown' members of road crews. Indeed for just a moment he sounds a bit misty when reminiscing about the night of the opening and the loyalty of the huge crowds who were not only Midnight Oil fans but turned out in droves to see the exhibition. I gently accuse him of getting mellow and soft in his dotage as he describes this 'gathering of the tribes'. This quickly turns his thoughts to Newcastle."Newcastle will be the same. After all, Newcastle meant so much to the band. We went time and time again until we finally did a huge gig on Redhead Beach. We expected to find maybe a couple of thousand people, but there must have been 25,000 or 30,000 people on the beach. That kind of paid us back for all the hard work. We'd spoken to The Angels and (Cold) Chisel who'd just preceded us a little bit, and they said, 'If you get places like Newcastle you'll get the most loyal audiences on earth', and that's what happened. And of course a few years later was the earthquake benefit and we were lucky enough to be on that bill as well, and that gig goes down as one of the great shows we've ever played."Midnight Oil, of course, achieved success with not just a lot of hard work, but what Rob Hirst describes as an 'anti-plan'."We'd heard all these terrible stories of bands that we'd loved that ended much too early, before their time, through no fault of their own. They were brilliant musicians, songwriters, performers, but through management or lousy agency deals or record company stuff-ups they hadn't fulfilled their potential. So we looked at them and because Pete and I had done law - Pete finished law, I didn't - but we knew our way around a contract a little bit. So when we signed with an independent label, even though we were being chased by the majors at the time - that made us too anxious, so we signed with an independent label which we called 'Powderworks' after the first song on the first album and gradually eased ourselves in.""I think that stood us in good stead because we were able to build this very loyal live crowd - initially in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong and then interstate. But because we took it softly, softly, I don't think we made the horrendous mistakes that some of the other great Australian bands had done."I point out the obvious that Midnight Oil weren't trying to seduce an audience with songs of sex and drugs and rock & roll like every other band, but were insisting we have a look at contemporary Australian issues.Again, Rob is amused, "Yeah, we were decidedly unsexy and we didn't take anywhere near enough drugs although I was on ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for about 15 years.""Probably two of the most maligned rock managers of the time were Gary Morris who looked after us, and Chris Murphy who looked after INXS, although Gary also looked after INXS initially but then just us once he realised we were more than a handful.""Those managers were much feared and not very liked in the industry, but they were fiercely loyal to their bands and Gary not only was a real strong-arm, Rottweiler kind of manager which you need to protect a young band that has big ideas but no money in the bank, but he also threw all these crazy ideas at us all the time. One in every 100 of his crazy ideas was brilliant and we'd actually do it.""The best bands seemed to have been the most unlikely bunch of people - and I include their management in that - all thrown together and all providing different talents to an end that make the sum much stronger than the individual.""With Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel, for example, the songwriters weren't the singer. In the case of Chisel it was Don Walker writing for Jimmy (Barnes), and with the Oils it was Jim (Moginie) and myself writing for Pete (Garrett). There were others in the band that were great performers - Pete was this extraordinarily charismatic singer, Jim was a whiz in the studio, Martin (Rotsey) was great with arrangements ... and everyone kind of had their place.""Back in those days you actually sold albums, they weren't all pirated or downloaded for free so we could quickly pay back that poor bank manager in Chatswood and get going and make our own career even thought we didn't play Countdown and we didn't play the industry game."They most certainly didn't. And I suggest that to a then-young and female Australian music-goer, Midnight Oil could appear a bit intimidating. A bit cranky."We were a bloody-minded bunch of bastards back then and, yeah, we were cranky all the time. If you look at photos from that time we look really cranky. A lot of bands want to look cranky but we were actually cranky because we were tired and probably hungry and pissed off about something."Yes, I detect Rob Hirst pulling my leg a bit, but only a bit. He admits that if you were anywhere near the front of the stage during a Midnight Oil gig, or The Angels, or Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel, whatever, you were a member of a fairly tough breed. I assure him I was happy at the back of the room but I suspect the safest place may have been behind the drum kit.False rumours have just done the rounds that Robert Plant had knocked back $500-$800 million to reform Led Zeppelin. Big numbers. What would it take for Midnight Oil to perform together again?"Robert Plant. I really admire the man, he keeps reinventing himself. It's long not been about the money for people like that. But it's one thing cruising around the pubs and just playing a medley of your greatest hits and a lot of bands fall for that trap. But I think Midnight Oil is among that bunch of bands that would be much too musically curious to have ever done that.""If we were ever to get back together, it would almost certainly be with new material and we'd have to feel we were contributing something rather than just some nostalgic act in sparkly jackets doing the clubs. Whether that will happen I have no idea."Rob Hirst's new album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', is a beautiful personal work recorded in memory of his later mother, Robin, who ended her life a few years ago after decades of living with depression. In a recent interview Rob pointed out that it's important we talk about depression, that we acknowledge the importance of mental health in order to help people."It's not just my mum, there are other members of the family who have suffered from it and it is as strong as any other inherited disease. And possibly more lethal because we don't talk about it and don't address it."Rob and his daughters sang 'Someone Scared' at his late mother's funeral and he suggests that this song was the catalyst for the full album.It's a terrible thing to admit, but as a high school work experience kid I spent a week at Powderworks when Midnight Oil's 'Bird Noises' EP was being pressed on to gooey black vinyl. I simply wanted to know how music worked.I wish I hadn't been such a good kid and actually nicked one.And frankly, I'd have pinched one of Gabriella Hirst's beautiful silk birds from the poplar forest, too.

Rob Hirst - The Sun Becomes The Sea album release feature 2014First published ABC Radio Australia18 November, 2014 12:07PM AEDTRob Hirst - a new solo album and the Midnight Oil 'anti-plan'By Carol DuncanRob Hirst has a new solo album out - released under his own name instead of one of the innumerable musical units that he's part of. The Midnight Oil drummer and songwriter celebrates his new songs with an unexpected collaboration with his artist daughter, Gabriella Hirst.10Rob Hirst oozes 'proud dad' as he talks about the achievements of the offspring of some of his bandmates."We've all got very talented sons and daughters now, all very grown up, and my daughter Gabriella is now in Berlin after finishing her courses at COFA in Sydney and the National Art School. She did very well, got a travelling scholarship and went to Berlin."Gabriella Hirst's art is, indeed, striking and beautiful. And perhaps unsurprisingly, her work seems to share her father's social and environmental concerns."She was looking out over a wasteland where she was in north-west Berlin, went for a walk in the afternoon and asked one of the locals why it was so deserted. He told her that until recently there had been a poplar forest full of birds but that despite the protests of locals the little forest that had acted as a buffer between quite an industrial area and the local residences had been levelled to put in a department store or factory.""But he also told Ella that he'd gone for a walk on the day they cut the trees down and found 24 birds' nests. He sent them to Ella and she painted them as part of her Berlin projects in watercolours on silk flags, which the man then attached to bamboo poles and put back where the forest once was as a symbolic gesture to remind people of what was lost. Being ephemeral artworks, she expected them to be souvenired, which they quickly were, but they fly now from the balconies of neighbouring apartments overlooking this area."Rob's album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', features 24 of his daughter's bird artworks in the hardcover booklet version of the album, which he had made to protect Gabriella's artwork but there are a few of them online."I was just finishing a bunch of songs that I'd been doing over a couple of years down at Jim's (Moginie) studio and I thought for the first time that I'd put it out under my own name rather than under the Ghostwriters or whatever. It's just one of those lovely synchronicities where she was finishing her artwork at the same time and agreed that I could use these beautiful watercolour birds for the sleeve of the book and for the new website which finally links the Oils, the Backsliders, The Break, Angry Tradesmen, Hirst and Greene, Willies Bar and Grill, etc."Unusually, Rob made the decision to make all of the songs on the album available online for free."I just thought it would be a nice gesture and I had such fun making these songs."I point out that a similar 'nice gesture' recently backfired somewhat for U2."I would never be so presumptuous as to upload these 11 songs on people's iTunes!" Rob laughs, "It's available for those that seek it out and like it and there's the option for people to go to a few of those old-fashioned record stores that still exist, and which we really want to support, and get the hardcover booklet with all of Gabriella's birds and other information on it."The exhibition of Midnight Oil's incredible place in the Australian music industry was a huge success at the Sydney exhibition hosted by the Manly Art Gallery and Museum and will be hosted by Newcastle Museum early 2015. How does Rob Hirst feel about his life's work being treated as a museum piece?"We had so many people come through and they were pleasantly surprised. I think they thought, 'Oh Rob's dug out a few old posters and stuck them on the wall with blu-tack' or something. In fact, we spent about two years working on it; this is me, curator Ross Heathcote, Virginia Buckingham, Wendy Osmond who did the art direction on it.""We've got a special film which runs an hour and fifteen minutes made by Rob Hambling about the making of '10 to 1' with Nick Launay producing back in London all those years ago, and we've sourced all this film from 1984 of the band backstage in South Australia at Memorial Drive, and at Main Beach on the Gold Coast. There's a lot of home movie footage, the Exxon banner from New York City, a full stage set-up of the band with the exact drums, guitars, amps, backdrop, lights and even the PA to be authentic from 1987 to 1989 which we toured on the back of the Diesel and Dust album.""There lots of little early recordings that have never been heard, a song we've never released before, and the piece de resistance is a replication in a box which has sticky carpet, three screens when you walk in and a curtain you pull behind you. It has footage of the band playing at the Tanelorn Festival in 1981 and there's two sets of headphones you can choose from - one is loud, the other is really loud - and you can stick to the carpet. There's elbows that come out from the side of the box so that you can be elbowed in the ribs. What I was trying to do was replicate what it was like coming to see Midnight Oil back then at the Mawson Hotel, the 16 Footers or the Ambassador or whatever."I enquire as to whether the box also has the special scent that some of our more notorious venues had. Rob Hirst assures me it does."I've poured so much Tooheys New into that carpet, you've got no idea, and I've ground some lemon chicken and sweet and sour rat or whatever into it. Remember in NSW in those days the liquor laws stated that the pubs had to pretend to provide a meal if they were serving liquor late. No-one would ever touch those meals but they'd be knocked off the bar and into the carpet. So after three months in Manly it's getting quite fruity in there!""It's funny, one of the last surviving venues down here (Sydney), The Annandale, has just ripped up there carpet. The carpet was legendary. It was despicable. They could have scraped it for a new form of penicillin! But they shouldn't have thrown it out. I'd have taken a square metre of it and put it in what became known as 'Rob's Folly', but is now known as 'The Royal Antler Room' which is the Narrabeen pub that Midnight Oil first started playing all those years ago.""The curator, Ross Heathcote, named it 'Rob's Folly' because he was bemused by the idea. He didn't think I'd ever build it, but over six months with a couple of hard-working, underpaid friends we actually made it. It looks like a giant road case but it's big enough for two or three people to cram in and get blasted by Midnight Oil at the Tanelorn Festival."Rob describes the opening of the Midnight Oil exhibition at the Manly gallery with great affection and it's obvious that he still finds great joy in every tiny connection that his career has afforded him - from those with names to the 'unknown' members of road crews. Indeed for just a moment he sounds a bit misty when reminiscing about the night of the opening and the loyalty of the huge crowds who were not only Midnight Oil fans but turned out in droves to see the exhibition. I gently accuse him of getting mellow and soft in his dotage as he describes this 'gathering of the tribes'. This quickly turns his thoughts to Newcastle."Newcastle will be the same. After all, Newcastle meant so much to the band. We went time and time again until we finally did a huge gig on Redhead Beach. We expected to find maybe a couple of thousand people, but there must have been 25,000 or 30,000 people on the beach. That kind of paid us back for all the hard work. We'd spoken to The Angels and (Cold) Chisel who'd just preceded us a little bit, and they said, 'If you get places like Newcastle you'll get the most loyal audiences on earth', and that's what happened. And of course a few years later was the earthquake benefit and we were lucky enough to be on that bill as well, and that gig goes down as one of the great shows we've ever played."Midnight Oil, of course, achieved success with not just a lot of hard work, but what Rob Hirst describes as an 'anti-plan'."We'd heard all these terrible stories of bands that we'd loved that ended much too early, before their time, through no fault of their own. They were brilliant musicians, songwriters, performers, but through management or lousy agency deals or record company stuff-ups they hadn't fulfilled their potential. So we looked at them and because Pete and I had done law - Pete finished law, I didn't - but we knew our way around a contract a little bit. So when we signed with an independent label, even though we were being chased by the majors at the time - that made us too anxious, so we signed with an independent label which we called 'Powderworks' after the first song on the first album and gradually eased ourselves in.""I think that stood us in good stead because we were able to build this very loyal live crowd - initially in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong and then interstate. But because we took it softly, softly, I don't think we made the horrendous mistakes that some of the other great Australian bands had done."I point out the obvious that Midnight Oil weren't trying to seduce an audience with songs of sex and drugs and rock & roll like every other band, but were insisting we have a look at contemporary Australian issues.Again, Rob is amused, "Yeah, we were decidedly unsexy and we didn't take anywhere near enough drugs although I was on ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for about 15 years.""Probably two of the most maligned rock managers of the time were Gary Morris who looked after us, and Chris Murphy who looked after INXS, although Gary also looked after INXS initially but then just us once he realised we were more than a handful.""Those managers were much feared and not very liked in the industry, but they were fiercely loyal to their bands and Gary not only was a real strong-arm, Rottweiler kind of manager which you need to protect a young band that has big ideas but no money in the bank, but he also threw all these crazy ideas at us all the time. One in every 100 of his crazy ideas was brilliant and we'd actually do it.""The best bands seemed to have been the most unlikely bunch of people - and I include their management in that - all thrown together and all providing different talents to an end that make the sum much stronger than the individual.""With Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel, for example, the songwriters weren't the singer. In the case of Chisel it was Don Walker writing for Jimmy (Barnes), and with the Oils it was Jim (Moginie) and myself writing for Pete (Garrett). There were others in the band that were great performers - Pete was this extraordinarily charismatic singer, Jim was a whiz in the studio, Martin (Rotsey) was great with arrangements ... and everyone kind of had their place.""Back in those days you actually sold albums, they weren't all pirated or downloaded for free so we could quickly pay back that poor bank manager in Chatswood and get going and make our own career even thought we didn't play Countdown and we didn't play the industry game."They most certainly didn't. And I suggest that to a then-young and female Australian music-goer, Midnight Oil could appear a bit intimidating. A bit cranky."We were a bloody-minded bunch of bastards back then and, yeah, we were cranky all the time. If you look at photos from that time we look really cranky. A lot of bands want to look cranky but we were actually cranky because we were tired and probably hungry and pissed off about something."Yes, I detect Rob Hirst pulling my leg a bit, but only a bit. He admits that if you were anywhere near the front of the stage during a Midnight Oil gig, or The Angels, or Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel, whatever, you were a member of a fairly tough breed. I assure him I was happy at the back of the room but I suspect the safest place may have been behind the drum kit.False rumours have just done the rounds that Robert Plant had knocked back $500-$800 million to reform Led Zeppelin. Big numbers. What would it take for Midnight Oil to perform together again?"Robert Plant. I really admire the man, he keeps reinventing himself. It's long not been about the money for people like that. But it's one thing cruising around the pubs and just playing a medley of your greatest hits and a lot of bands fall for that trap. But I think Midnight Oil is among that bunch of bands that would be much too musically curious to have ever done that.""If we were ever to get back together, it would almost certainly be with new material and we'd have to feel we were contributing something rather than just some nostalgic act in sparkly jackets doing the clubs. Whether that will happen I have no idea."Rob Hirst's new album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', is a beautiful personal work recorded in memory of his later mother, Robin, who ended her life a few years ago after decades of living with depression. In a recent interview Rob pointed out that it's important we talk about depression, that we acknowledge the importance of mental health in order to help people."It's not just my mum, there are other members of the family who have suffered from it and it is as strong as any other inherited disease. And possibly more lethal because we don't talk about it and don't address it."Rob and his daughters sang 'Someone Scared' at his late mother's funeral and he suggests that this song was the catalyst for the full album.It's a terrible thing to admit, but as a high school work experience kid I spent a week at Powderworks when Midnight Oil's 'Bird Noises' EP was being pressed on to gooey black vinyl. I simply wanted to know how music worked.I wish I hadn't been such a good kid and actually nicked one.And frankly, I'd have pinched one of Gabriella Hirst's beautiful silk birds from the poplar forest, too.

Julie Low talks about the wide variety of names she's collected throughout her life, along with what they mean to her and why she loves them all. Julie is an artist, writer, photographer, and podcast host. She is a graduate of the National Art School with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and is currently in the first year of her Masters of Teaching (Secondary) at the University of New South Wales. Her recent work includes co-hosting Trans-Mission Radio, an amateur anecdotal advice show by trans women, for everyone, and covering the Lesbian, Bisexual & Queer Women's Health Conference 2017. Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and follow Queerstories on Facebook. The new Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be pre-ordered on Booktopia. To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter And for gay stuff, insomnia rant and photos of my dog Frank follow me - Maeve Marsden - on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Winning the Archibald Prize as Guy Maestri did in 2009 would be a defining moment in most artist’s careers, but he is quick to cite physical immersion in the landscape as revolutionary to his painting practice. It’s easy to gloss over the history of plein-air as a European tradition, born of gentle grasses and mild sunlight. Practiced in Australia, away from the slip of green coastline, plein-air demands rigor of vast dimensions. For Maestri, the material and temporal challenges of extended painting sessions in the hard country around Hill End, Wilcannia and Broken Hill has been instrumental in a new understanding of local art histories and ecologies, as well as the atmospheric and elemental qualities of landscape. Beholden to intimacies of place, the artist stakes out a subtle void or stillness in these dry landscapes without surrendering his animated, almost kinetic approach to paint. Masquerading as a shady retreat, the studio retains its disciplinarian attitude but demands a different kind of focus. Here the void is more theatrical, Maestri’s compositions orchestrated with operatic tempo. Desiccated road-kill (the anti-trophy of inland highways) perform as contemporary Gothic vanitas, shot through with equal measure of beauty and pathos, the eye and the heart facing off. A graduate of the National Art School, Maestri won the 2014 Kings School Art Prize and the 2013 Premier’s Plein Air Painting Prize. He is a regular finalist in the Wynne Prize for Landscape at the Art Gallery of NSW and his work is held in several public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery and Parliament House collections. Topics Discussed In This Episode: His experience studying at The National Art School in Sydney Education in the arts Exploring mediums within your artistic practice How his work has evolved over the years His paintings of road kill Discussing self portraiture How he began experimenting with sculptures His process creating his sculptures Morbid curiosities Wes Anderson www.artistdecoded.com

On this episode, we chatted to Filmmaker Warwick Thornton and Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley. Danny Goldberg and Judith Blackall joined us to discuss EuroVisions at the National Art School. Plus, we chat about the Australian icon Annette Kellerman with the curator of Million Dollar Mermaid: Annette Kellerman at Powerhouse Museum. Tracks by Angie.

On this show Abdul visits the SCA Grad Show. Then we play an interview with Michael Lynch, Director of the National Art School. David's sister Angela Capra and her friend Sarah interviewed astronaut Terry Virts for Art of the Critic. Finally, we joined by Giselle Stanborough for the 2016 wrap up of Internet Faymous. Tracks by Thomas ES Kelly.

As part of her undergraduate studies at the National Art School, Sydney, O’Sullivan spent a semester on exchange at the Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, where she learnt and refined a number of industrial ceramic processes such as designing and printing decals, plaster model/mould making and slip casting.  These skills have stayed with her and form the foundations of her current art practice. O’Sullivan focused her 2012 Masters of Fine Art research project on Australian imagery on porcelain. During this study she undertook a three-month internship at a remote Indigenous Art Centre in Ikuntji, NT. Since completing her MFA O’Sullivan has exhibited at the 4th ASNA clay triennial in Pakistan, had her work toured through the Emporio Armani stores in Australia, selected as a finalist for Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards and held a solo exhibition at Sabbia Gallery, Sydney and Craft Gallery, Melbourne. O’Sullivan has just returned from a mentorship with Sung Jae Choi in Gimhae, South Korea.

Thomas Quayle graduated an Honours Degree from the National Art School in 2013. Since completing his studies Thomas has been a successful applicant to Bondi's Sculpture by the Sea exhibition two years running as well as receiving the Clitheroe mentorship prize in 2014 through Sculpture by the sea. Thomas also attended a mentoring program in South Korea working with Korean artist Young-Sil Han.

Libby Purves meets ceramicist Roger Law; sopranos Sophie and Mary Bevan; actor and director Sondra Lee and cruise ship guide Douglas Ward. Sopranos and sisters, Sophie and Mary Bevan, come from a family steeped in musical tradition. Sophie is currently playing Ilia in Mozart's Idomeneo at the Royal Opera House and Mary is performing Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro with the English National Opera at the Coliseum. Roger Law is the satirist and ceramicist who co-created Spitting Image, the television puppet show which aired for over 18 series. Following the end of Spitting Image Roger travelled to Australia, becoming artist-in-residence at National Art School in Sydney. The ceramics he makes today incorporate his own ideas with ancient Chinese tradition. His solo exhibition features pots influenced by his love of Australian marine life. Roger is also presenting a talk at the British Museum alongside its exhibition Ming: 50 years that changed China. His solo exhibition, Roger Law, is at Sladmore Contemporary Gallery. Sondra Lee is an actor, dancer, director and teacher. She is directing Go See by Norris Church Mailer at The King's Head Theatre, London. In 1954 she was heralded on Broadway for her creation of Tiger Lily in Peter Pan and during her long career she collaborated with Jerome Robbins; Federico Fellini and Marlon Brando. She also appeared in Broadway productions of Hello Dolly and Hotel Paradiso. Her book I've Slept With Everybody: A Memoir, written in 2009, is published by BearManor Fiction. Go See by Norris Church Mailer is at The King's Head Theatre, London. Douglas Ward, a former band leader, is the author of The Berlitz Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships. He's completed over 6,000 days at sea, participated in more than 1,000 cruises, 158 transatlantic crossings and countless ship-naming ceremonies. The Berlitz Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships is published by Insight Guides.