Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists

On this week’s episode I’m joined by Bruce Tapola.

Bruce Tapola was born and raised in Ohio and received his BFA from the University of Utah, and his MFA from Montana State University. He has exhibited nationally and internationally and has received several awards, including the McKnight Foundation Visual Artist Fellowship (1995, 2001, 2017). His work has been written about in Artforum, The New York Times, New American Painting, Art Papers, and New Art Examiner, and is in numerous public and private collections. He taught painting and drawing at St. Cloud State University in MN from 2000 to 2022, and in addition to his studio practice, Bruce is a member of the artist collectives Paintallica, Free Art School, and Artpolice (RIP). Bruce lives and works in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I sit down with Bruce back in December in Saint Paul, in his backyard studio with a wood-burning stove. It was a cold day, but the studio was cozy and Bruce, I discovered, as you will shortly, is a talker so we covered a lot of ground. Bruce discusses rejecting cleverness, when something smells like art, humor in art, sameness in imagination, screaming colors, sneaking up on a painting, magic, ceramics,  the price of art, emptying-out content, outsider art, having a family of artists and painting the perfect cloud.

Before we begin, a reminder that ARTMATTERS is entirely listener-supported. If you want to support the show and help make more conversations like this possible, consider joining the ARTMATTERS Patreon. Supporters get video versions of every episode as well as more behind-the-scenes content. 

Support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter!

If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM!
 
If you have an any questions you want answered, write in to [email protected]
 
host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
insta: @isaac.mann

guest: Bruce Tapola
insta: @btapola

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists

On this week’s episode I’m joined by Hiba Schahbaz.

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Hiba Schahbaz trained in traditional Indo-Persian miniature painting at the National College of Arts in Lahore. Her practice spans oil, wood, paper, black tea, and water-based pigments. Schahbaz received an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute and has exhibited internationally since 2002. Recent exhibitions include the FLAG Art Foundation, Almine Rech Paris, the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, and Jeffrey Deitch, as well as a public art commission for Rockefeller Center produced with Art Production Fund. Her current retrospective, Hiba Schahbaz: The Garden, on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, brings together roughly fifteen years of work tracing her evolution from the disciplined traditions of miniature painting to expansive, immersive works.

I sat down with Hiba in her Bushwick loft studio and asked her about the “aha” moment - when a new idea begins to take shape. We also talk about cut-outs and shifting scale, the difference between one-off paintings and a sustained flow state, learning from mistakes, and why she never lets a painting leave the studio before the idea feels fully resolved. We talk materials and process, how Hiba starts a painting, and how she approaches large commissions, museum projects, and multi-panel works differently. Hiba discusses maintaining a daily studio practice and how it shifts with seasonal rhythms, the difficulty and necessity of waiting for ideas to develop, and the importance of physical health in the studio and taking responsibility for one’s body over time. Finally, we talk about avoiding creative burnout through continuous learning, and why Schahbaz believes in committing fully to the path of an artist without a Plan B.

Support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter!

If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM!
  
If you have an any questions you want answered, write in to [email protected]
 
 host: Isaac Mann
 www.isaacmann.com
 insta: @isaac.mann

 guest: Hiba Schahbaz
 www.hibaschahbaz.com
 insta: @hiba_schahbaz

Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists

On this week's episode I'm joined by New York artist David Hornung.

David Hornung is a painter and mixed media artist whose work has been exhibited in the US and UK. Over the course of a long career he has served on the faculties of The Rhode Island School of Design, Indiana University, Skidmore College, Pratt Institute, and Adelphi University. He is the author of Color: A Workshop for Artists and Designers (Laurence King Pub Ltd.), a color textbook. Translated into six languages it is used in art schools around the world. His work is shown at Cynthia Winings Gallery, Elena Zang Gallery, Pulp Gallery, and J.J. Murphy Gallery in NYC.

We recorded this episode early one morning at the JJ Murphy Gallery during his solo exhibition "Continuum."

On today's episode, David and I explore the nuanced terrain of painting practice and philosophy. We discuss the importance of a painting's surface, how he starts a painting and how one reads a painting. David shares his perspective on scale, arguing that painting is an intimate experience rather than spectacle. We trace his six-decade evolution from observational work through post-painterly abstraction, his collage techniques, and his four recent years of pure abstraction. The conversation touches on Henri Matisse, Ad Reinhardt, Fra Angelico, Albert Pinkham Ryder, and Paul Klee. David also talks his love of shapes, collage, a raw edge, painting slower than he is thinking, factual versus fictional painting, and finally, emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's own temperament and painting both honestly and sincerely from that space; which, he argues, is where great paintings come from.

Support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter!

If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM!
 
If you have an any questions you want answered, write in to [email protected]
 
host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
insta: @isaac.mann

guest: David Hornung
www.davidhornung.com
insta: @davidhornungart

workshops: https://www.artfuelstudio.com/scotland-september-2026-hornung
madelineartschool.com/collections/workshops/products/exploring-improvisation-in-abstract-painting?_pos=7&_fid=5184b59de&_ss=c 

Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists

On this week’s episode I’m joined by New York artist Fran Shalom. Fran has exhibited widely throughout the United States, including a solo show at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard, and the Hunterdon Museum in New Jersey. She has been the recipient of a Pollock Krasner Artist Grant, a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, and an Art Omi Residency. Her work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Rose Art Museum, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. 

Fran and I recorded this episode after hours at her solo exhibition at the Kathryn Markel Gallery in Chelsea, surrounded by her recent paintings. 

In this conversation Fran discusses beginner's mind and call-and-response painting, how she builds trust in improvisation despite recurring doubts, and the many paintings buried beneath each finished surface. She tells me about getting rid of precious moments, loving the fiddly finishing bits, navigating flatness and why not everything in a painting needs to function, Finally we discuss Fran’s early-career transition from photography to self-taught painting, balancing her three practices (art, family, Zen), and why generosity matters more than networking.

Support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter!

If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM! 

If you have an any questions you want answered, write in to [email protected]

host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
insta: @isaac.mann
 
guest: Fran Shalom  
www.franshalom.com
insta: @fshalom64

Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists.

My guest today is Sarah D’Ambrosio. Sarah is a Brooklyn-based artist who earned her BFA from Brooklyn College and her MFA at University of New Hampshire. She also studied at the Mount Gretna School of Art in Pennsylvania. Most recently Sarah has exhibited at the New York Studio School Projects at DUMBO and NADA Miami and her first solo exhibition was at MARCH Gallery in 2025.

Swimmingly convenient as it turned out, Sarah is my neighbor. So after convincing her to join me for this episode, I packed up my microphones and took a brisk 10 minute walk to her live work space in Greenpoint. It’s nice to be back in New York!

This conversation was a blast. Sarah discusses her love of Yellow Medium, and how color historically comes later in her work - Sarah is a drawer first. She talks about scale, observational painting, painting as a physical act, sincerity, why formula’s are boring, drawing from Titian, the search for quality and the importance of criticism. We also discuss why painting needs life not just more painting, color value and the “harmony of mud,” analysis paralysis, failing on higher and higher levels, when a painting stops buzzing, also Lucian Freud and Donald Duck. And that’s just to get started. Enjoy my conversation with Sarah D’Ambrosio

Support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter!

If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM! 

If you have an any questions you want answered, write in to [email protected]

host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
insta: @isaac.mann
 
guest: Sarah D’Ambrosio 
www.sarahdambrosio.com
insta: @sarah_dambrosio_

Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.

Brooklyn-based artist Jeff Wallace joins host Isaac Mann to discuss his unique paper pulping technique, creative process, and journey into art-making after 25 years in another industry.

Wallace had a solo exhibition at Jane Lombard Gallery in May 2026 and has shown with other New York City venues including Cristin Tierney Gallery and Rick Wester Fine Art. He has participated in residencies at the American Academy in Rome, VCCA, Vermont Studio Center, and Yaddo, and curates Main Window, a Brooklyn art presentation space.

In this episode, Isaac and Jeff explore:

• Jeff's paper pulping technique and use of found objects as source material
• The balance between control and spontaneity in the creative process
• Unlearning techniques in search of a more childlike approach
• His daily drawing practice and strategies for overcoming creative blocks
• The concept of "literary archeology" in his work
• Starting new projects and navigating an average day in the studio
• Making the leap into professional art-making later in life

Recorded in Jeff's Red Hook studio.

Support the Show: ARTMATTERS is listener-supported. Leave a five-star review to help keep the conversation going, or become a Patreon supporter at https://www.patreon.com/c/artmatterspodcast

Merch: ARTMATTERS tote bags and coffee mugs available at isaacmann.com/merch

Connect:

• Host: Isaac Mann | www.isaacmann.com | @isaac.mann
• Guest: Jeff Wallace | www.jeffwallacenyc.com | @jeffwallace_nyc
• Questions? Email: [email protected]

Music by ARRN, Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist.

Rate, review, subscribe, and share on Instagram!

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists.

My guest returning today is Jameson Green. Jameson is a New York-based painter whose work is in collections at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami. He's exhibited with Derek Eller Gallery and Almine Rech in New York, Paris, London, and Brussels.

On last week's episode, Jameson and I discussed the three elements of great painting, drawing, sampling from art books and other paintings, rhythm, abstraction, narrative, and a lot of other fascinating topics, so you'll definitely want to check that one out first.

On today's show, we get right back into it. I asked Jameson about his figure-ground relationships and the horizon line, and he told me about theater, German Expressionism, and flattening space. Jameson talks about color choices, different kinds of lines, studio flow, painting big and drawing with your body, his studio routine, and how he's built a practice around avoiding the worst of himself. He also discusses "healthy vs. brutal Jameson," how an organized practice is good for relationships, and how to keep the darkness of your studio from creeping out into the rest of your life.

SUPPORT THE SHOW

ARTMATTERS is listener-supported. If you want more conversations like this, take 30 seconds right now to leave a five-star review—it's the single most effective way to keep the show going.

You can also support this podcast by becoming a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/c/artmatterspodcast

If you're enjoying the podcast, please rate, review, subscribe, and share on Instagram!

Questions? Email: [email protected]

LINKS

Host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com | @isaac.mann

Guest: Jameson Green
www.derekeller.com | @r.jameson

Music: ARRN (Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist)

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists.

My guest today is Jameson Green. Jameson is an artist living and working in Hudson, NY. He holds an MFA from Hunter College. Green has exhibited extensively with Derek Eller Gallery and Almine Rech, including solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, London, Brussels, and Santa Monica. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Dallas Museum of Art, Museo Picasso Málaga, and ICA Miami. You can also find Green's work in the public collections of the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the High Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.

A couple weeks ago, Jameson braved a wild rainstorm to visit my Greenpoint studio—a rare reversal for this show. What followed was one of the most fluid and wide-ranging conversations I've had on ARTMATTERS, so I've split it into two episodes. On today's show Jameson and I discuss the three elements of great painting, draftsmen vs. pure painters, drawing, sampling from art books and other paintings, rhythm, abstraction, narrative, and why great paintings are littered with hypocrisy. We also discuss Frances Bacon, John Singer Sargent, Guston, Picasso, Matisse, and Jenna Gribbon. Enjoy this conversation with Jameson Green.
Special shoutout to my fluffy silent producer who finally made a sound mid-episode. Extra points if you hear her over the rain:)

ARTMATTERS is listener-supported. If you want more conversations like this, take 30 seconds right now to leave a five-star review. It's the single most effective way to keep the show going.

Support this podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/artmatterspodcast

Host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
Instagram: @isaac.mann

Guest: Jameson Green
www.derekeller.com
Instagram: @r.jameson

Music by ARRN, Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist.

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists.

My guest today, Clova Rae-Smith, is a British jewellery designer based in New York City. Clova graduated from Central Saint Martins and was recognized as one of DAZED’s “UAL Graduates to Watch.” She specializes in grillz that blend fine art, fashion, and identity, and has quickly become one of the most sought-after jewelers in the industry. Clova’s work has been featured in VOGUE and ROLLING STONE, and her clients include Beyoncé (who gifted Clova’s grillz to her Renaissance Tour performers), Jorja Smith, and Bladee, along with collaborations with Pinterest and Fenty x Puma.

On today’s episode, I speak with Clova about social media addiction, burnout and breakdowns, and setting boundaries. We discuss the viral giveaway that helped launch her business during COVID, her experience with mentorships and her time at Central Saint Martins, and her move to New York City. Clova also shares some great advice and talks about exploring her new interests in drawing and pottery.

You can now support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter!

If you’re enjoying the podcast, please rate, review, subscribe, and share on Instagram!

If you have any questions you’d like answered, write in to [email protected].

host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
insta: @isaac.mann

guest: Clova Rae-Smith
www.clovaraesmith.com
insta: @clovajewellery

Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.

Welcome back to ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists.

My guest today is Robert Schefman. He is a Detroit-based artist with a BFA from Michigan State University and an MFA from the University of Iowa. 

His work is in collections at the Detroit Institute of Arts and The Broad, along with other major institutions, and has been exhibited at the Smithsonian and other venues across the country. He's a recipient of Pollack-Krasner and Kresge Foundation grants and is Professor Emeritus at the College for Creative Studies and is currently represented by David Klein Gallery.

In today’s conversation we talk about what happens when you're three-quarters done with a painting and want to quit. Why finishing isn't the same as just resolving it. How sketching out ideas first saves you weeks of work. Why your style comes from doing the work, not from deciding what style you want. Robert talks about why he switched from sculpture to painting. And we get into the trap of teaching or other work feeling like real progress while your actual art sits on the back burner.

You can now support this podcast by clicking HERE and becoming a Patreon Supporter!

If you're enjoying the podcast so far, please rate, review, subscribe and SHARE ON INSTAGRAM!
  
 If you have an any questions you want answered, write in to [email protected]

host: Isaac Mann
www.isaacmann.com
insta: @isaac.mann

guest: Robert Schefman
www.robertschefman.com
insta: @robertschefman

Thank you as always to ARRN, the Detroit-based artist and instrumentalist, for the music.