Around The Table

Ross Murray is influenced by a combination of comic books and vintage advertising. He’s created artwork for clients such as Lonely Planet, NASA, Disney, Apple, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Washington Post, Garage Project, and The Spinoff. Part of his work involves re-watching Disney princess movies. Yes, we’re jealous.

Nick Newman lives and breathes live music. You’d be hard pressed to find someone more passionate about bringing something to stage that no one’s seen before. We can’t predict what Nick will produce next, which is the beauty of it. Explore his project Satellite Sessions and stay tuned for upcoming gigs.

Artist Rolph Hediger is currently developing his project ‘For Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven’, a collection of interviews and portraits of various people from all walks of life which showed at Tauranga Art Gallery. We chat with Rolph about artist-run spaces, van Gogh, and working as an English language teacher. There’s a significant thread running through Rolph’s answers: he values people – meeting them, learning about them, and depicting them with ink and coffee.

Special Studio‘s goal is simple: use waste plastic to make new things and clean up the planet. Studio owner Matt Watkins brings his most fundamental values to the work he does, locally manufacturing homeware objects using at least 98 per cent recycled plastic waste. Matt chats to Remaker's Steph Brooke in this episode on sustainable creativity.

Get to know Jolene James, local media personality and a bit of a creative legend. We sat down with our favourite Tauranga radio host to learn about a typical day in her busy life, her musical youth, and what she loves about the Bay’s geographic landscape.

"If you do a sketch, and I do a copy, no matter how good I am at copying, [my version is] still lesser. But, if you do a sculpture, and I do a sketch of your sculpture, that’s an artform interpreting an artform. And that’s what acting is to writing." Harry Oram has a passion for storytelling, whether via screen, stage or song. He founded Apex Academy of Performing Arts to show local performers they don't have to leave the region to do what they love.

Jacki is creative director of Back Studio in Tauriko; it's her residency as an artist where she can explore unlimited creativity with all her painting products at her fingertips. She believes in collaboration to the fullest - artists supporting artists. Find out how you can get involved in this malleable, multi-purpose space for a variety of artisans and inspirations.

Working as a Toi Ohomai tutor, photographer and graphic designer doesn’t prevent Heidi Douglas from taking time for herself and her creative thoughts. Listen to Heidi to photographer Kendra Stone talk about underwater photography, branding, and immigrating to Aotearoa.

Arpége Taratoa’s exposure to the art world has been rich, her critical and creative thinking cultivated in her father’s studio. Working as the Māori Arts Intern for Creative BOP and Te Tuhi Mareikura Trust, and Creative Director for Wakatu Incorporation, Arpége brings a wealth of experience and passion to what she does.

Filmmaker Micah Winiata sits down with filmmaker Louis Bolton to discuss Micah's recent release TAIAO and the motivation behind the short film.⁠ Says Micah of TAIAO: "[The documentary] presents like a snapshot of a really unique time in my life; coming here, knowing my whakapapa, connecting back to New Zealand... it's quite a journey."⁠ Connection of two worlds is a theme throughout Micah's film, including the soundtrack. Listen out for the blend of taonga puoro with a modern synthesizer. You can watch TAIAO at Kaponga Pictures.