Sefton Rani describes himself as a maker, who uses paint as his primary material. Based in Auckland, he is a visual DJ who mashes up industrial materials with Cook Island narratives, to create modern Pasifika art.  

Sefton is the current Parehuia Artist in Residence at McCahon House, which is in Titirangi West of Auckland NZ. McCahon House Artists’ Residency, named Parehuia by local kaumatua Eru Thompson in 2008, is amongst the most prestigious artists’ residencies in New Zealand. 

Three residencies a year, each of three months duration, are available to outstanding professional artists. Artists receiving the residency live and work in the purpose-built French Bay house with an attached studio.

I met Sefton in the studio this week to have a chat about the residency, being an artist in residence, the work he is creating over this 3 month period, how he has been inspired by past events and his surroundings, his thinking and development and of course his creative process.

This is the second time Sefton has been a guest on the podcast - you might like to go back to episode 73 which we recorded in March 2023 to hear more about Sefton's life and art practice.

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Claudia Aalderink is a self-taught artist based in Kihikihi, near Hamilton in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is also the founder and director of The Mandarin Tree art gallery in Gordonton.

Her works are created by meticulously fragmenting discarded beehives in a non-symbolic approach. Within a reduced visual vocabulary of circles, squares, rectangles, and lines, she explores the subtlety of colour, scale, and composition

Originally from Holland, Claudia says her 2005 move to New Zealand has been ‘life changing’ for her family and her art.  

We have a beautiful chat with all the windows and doors open in the studio on a gorgeous summer's day, serenaded by cicadas (and the builders next door!). We talk about how Claudia discovered her medium of choice - beehives, how she sources and stores the boxes, her systems for selecting which parts and which colours to use, 

It was fascinating hearing about Claudia's creative process. Claudia likes to work with a variety of scale and shapes, combining them in different ways. She shares her approach to design, composition, colour, space and shape, the ways she incorporates different elements found on the beehives and how she comes up with the titles and what they mean to her. We explore the charring part of her process, how she embraces imperfection and unexpected elements within the boxes, the introduction of stitching and the importance of artistic collaboration.

Claudia shares how she randomly discovered and fell in love with a building in Gordonton 10 years ago, previously a BP service station, which she went on to turn into her own art gallery The Mandarin Tree. We talk about some things she has learnt as a gallery owner and business woman, the challenges of juggling her business and her art practice and how the two parts of her life connect and compliment each other. 

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Sara Langdon is a contemporary New Zealand landscape artist living in Beachlands, East of Auckland. Sara currently draws inspiration from the beauty of familiar and distinct volcanic landmarks around Auckland city and the Waitemata Harbour.The New Zealand landscape is Sara's source of inspiration and reason for painting. 

Sara paints places she is connected to and loves, places she wants to explore and respond to so that people who feel this same connection are able to enjoy a tangible reminder of a place. 

In this episode Sara shares her journey to eventually finding her art practice, trialling other creative careers along the way that never quite felt like the right fit for her. We talk about her initial connection with Parnell Gallery in 2013, her fascination with Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland volcanic mountains and tree scapes and her love of capturing texture, atmosphere, pattern, tone, line and light in her work. We discuss the addition of houses in her work and the challenges these present, how she finds commissions and 

Sara shares her approach to framing, varnishing, composition, painting skies, building relationships with galleries and the value of creating beautiful limited edition prints of her paintings. She unpacks her acrylic painting process, starting with a photograph. We talk social media and marketing, her personalised stationery and how she builds and maintains connection with her audience and collectors.

Sara has an upcoming joint show with landscape artist Matt Payne at Parnell Gallery:

Salt and Light III, April 1st - April 15th 2025. 

Opening event on April 1st 5.30pm - 7pm.

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Born in Oxford in the UK in 1984, James Watkins moved to Auckland, New Zealand at a young age, kicking off a lifelong journey of travel and creative exploration. 

James thinks of his intuitive painting practice as limitless and sees defining his practice as a certain style or describing himself as a certain type of artist as restrictive and unnecessary.

In this episode James shares how he never really felt creative as a young person but discovered photography in his late teens. From photographing beautiful things around him, James went on to explore writing, poetry and arts journalism and then made his way to abstract drawing and painting in his mid twenties. 

We discuss materiality, why he likes to use more than one medium in a painting, why he likes to create what he calls 'history' in a painting, his techniques for starting a painting and the metaphors he see in his paintings. He talks about how and why he 'listens' to a painting and how abstraction for him is a form of therapy and self expression.

James thinks of 'excitement' as one of the ingredients and resources he leans on most in his art practice and when he loses that excitement his creativity retreats. We dive deep into the pros and cons of Instagram for artists and explore his approach to building community, connecting with galleries and sharing his work.

This episode is like no other. James has many interesting perspectives on life, life as an artist and ways of thinking about and responding to art, creativity and process.

 To be honest, talking to James has really made me think about my own life as an artist and my artistic process. 

You can see the work of James Watkins in the NEW COLLECTORS GROUP SHOW at The Frame Workshop and Gallery in Auckland NZ from February 20th - March 8th.

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Working at the intersection of art and technology, Delainy Jamahl's art practice focuses on data as the central narrative. He creates immersive and interactive installations that explore and visualise, transforming complex information into engaging visual experiences.

It was lovely to meet Delainy and to speak with a creative technology artist - the first of his kind on the podcast! In this episode we explore the creative and technical routes he took and the great influence an artist mentor had on him that lead him to consider channelling his skills into an art practice.

We discuss in detail two of Delainy's stunning works: Sight Unseen - which is a unique photographic dataset of infrared and colour infrared images of Wellington, continuing his exploration of visualising the invisible and revealing the beauty of the unseen.

Rivers of Wind, a mesmerising immersive digital artwork, uses 8 years of historic weather data from the Wellington Airport weather station to produce its flowing visuals. 

We get into the technical side of immersive video and sound work, which although new to me I actually found super interesting. Delainy shares the feelings he is trying to express and create with the work, how people react to it, the ways he communicates the ideas behind his work and his creative process.

We talk about a collaboration Nowadeus with NZ artist Tim Christie, who has also been on the podcast, and other plans he has for collaborative projects and spaces. Delainy is the owner & director at Artificial Imagination and the co-founder of The Grid, which produce captivating digital art experiences, collaborating with artists to challenge the boundaries of imagination.
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/delainy-jamahl-visual-artist-creative-technologist

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Anna Gibbs is a contemporary painter living in Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch in the South Island of Aotearoa NZ. 

If you search her name on Google you'll see she is described as an "internet personality" which probably comes from the amazing work she does on the Instagram social media platform and her loyal audience of more than 100,000 followers.

Anna is interested in conservation and fortunate to live on a rural lifestyle-block populated by many native birds and plants. Her oil paintings are inspired by her daily observations of the interaction between native flora and fauna. She is deliberate with her composition and, whilst her work is detailed, she describes her subject with neither abstraction nor absolute realism. 

In this episode we have a fabulous chat about all sorts of things - such as why Anna likes to gild her backgrounds with 24ct gold leaf and her delicate gilding process, her strong connection to NZ native birds and why she loves to paint them and her passion for conservation.

Anna speaks of her apprenticeship with painter Judy Curnow, who studied with legend New Zealand painter Tim Wilson, and how that influenced her painting approach particularly with glazing techniques and helped her confidence as a self taught painter.

We explore her painting process, framing, the size of her paintings, her gorgeous studio, how she prepares for an exhibition and her upcoming show at Little River Gallery. She shares some tips for Instagram and how she feels about this platform

This is another quite long episode but it's full of really interesting tips and treasures and is so worth listening to - maybe over 2 walks or 2 commutes or 2 art making sessions, however you like to listen.

You can view Anna Gibbs unbelievably beautiful paintings at her solo show South Island Songs at Little River Gallery from January 30th - February 24th 2025 https://littlerivergallery.com/

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Welcome to episode 155, the final episode of 2024. Ngā mihi nui Thank you so much for listening and for your support this year. I hope the podcast has cheered you up, motivated you, inspired you, affirmed what you do or educated you in some small way.

As you probably know, the CM podcast is largely self funded. However, I now have a way for you to show your support if you'd like to, by making a small donation of 3, 5, 8, or 10 dollars every month. There is a link in my podcast Instagram profile and in the show notes to sign yourself up to donate each month and you can cancel anytime. Every small contribution is hugely appreciated and actually makes a difference., and will ensure the podcast is sustainable and hopefully will continue for years to come. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1713946/support

Now for episode 155. Alex Wilkinson is a ceramic artist and entrepreneur living in Te Awamutu in the Waikato. She founded Mystery Creek Ceramics out of a love for Nerikomi and functional, beautiful ceramic tableware.

Alex talks about her journey to art school in her twenties via 3 years of studying engineering for 3 years and business for 2 years and how discovering and nurturing her creative side has helped with her well being, mental health and managing depression. Alex credits pottery for helping her out of a severe period of depression and putting her back on the path of valuing herself and her contribution to the world. Alex says "I simply would not be here if it were not for me trying a night class in pottery and my incredible support network." 

Alex shares the more conceptual part of her art practice and explains how this sits comfortably alongside her Nerikomi tableware production, allowing her to push her thinking and self expression, and how an art competition led to her losing confidence in her conceptual art practice. We explore Nerikomi, a Japanese pottery term describing the artistic technique where multiple colours of clay are marbled or combined to create various designs,.and what Alex loves about this process.

Passing her passion for ceramics on to others is Alex's favourite part of her practice. Alex talks about the different ways she does this through teaching, supplying, mentoring and building her audience and networks through social media. We have great chats about using Tik Tok and Pinterest, the highs and lows of small business, the commercial and conceptual sides of Alex's art practice, mentors, being the face of the business, branding, suppliers and so much more. This episode is a fascinating insight into business life alongside the life of an artist and a lovely peep into the world of Mystery Creek Ceramics.

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Established in 1974 by a group of young jewellery makers to promote their work, Fingers has become synonymous with innovation and originality and the development of an indigenous style of contemporary New Zealand jewellery. 

Fingers has been at the forefront of treating and displaying the craft object as art, and has constantly challenged the notion of what is precious. As the oldest contemporary jewellery gallery in New Zealand, Fingers has become an institution recognised locally and internationally, providing a platform for many artist's careers. 

In this episode I speak with jeweller Roy Mason who is one of the founding partners of Fingers. We explore Roy's experiences at Ilam Art School in Christchurch in the early seventies, his early artistic practice, insights into his creative thinking and how nature inspires his work.

Roy reflects on how and why this group of like minded craft makers came together, the early days of Fingers and the move to Kitchener Street opposite the Auckland Art Gallery Toi ō Tāmaki in 1987. 

He talks about the Fingers early group exhibitions - a pivotal part of the establishment of Fingers - each one focusing on a chosen concept such as a material. We discuss how the partners worked together and supported each others' practices, the use of diverse and less often seen materials such as Paua and Mother of Pearl (mela mela), how the group shows allow for the team to experiment and push boundaries and how other artists have come on board with 72 artists now exhibiting in the gallery.

This is a fascinating look into an iconic New Zealand contemporary jewellery collective who this year celebrate 50 glorious years of intelligent art making.

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Bailee Lobb is a queer, disabled artist born in Whanganui, Aotearoa, 1989 and now based in Wellington. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with textiles, colour, and movement to create sculpture, installation, and performance artworks that explore art as disability access and care.

In this enlightening episode Bailee talks about how she felt as a teenager, as a person who was dealing with undiagnosed autism and how her artwork now responds to and nurtures her disability. She shares how she started her studies in architecture at uni in Aotearoa, why she changed degrees and went on to study fine arts in Sydney and how architectural ideas continue to inform her art practice. 

Bailee speaks about how her work has always connected with mental health in some way and how her art practice has helped her discover and acknowledge her own health and disability issues such as chronic pain, sleep problems, depression and autism. For Bailee, art is a way of communicating personal things that are hard to put into words.

We explore a number of Bailee's installation and performance works in depth, how audiences react to and interact with her works, how she uses colour to , how she manages creating work that is for people to experience more than for people to purchase, how grants have helped her to push her practice and the ways in which she considers creative access in all of her work.
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/bailee-lobb-sculpture-installation-and-performance-artist

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Julie Battisti is a painter who grew up in Melbourne Australia and moved to Aotearoa New Zealand with her husband in 2017, settling first in Rawene in the North Island then going on to make Dunedin her home.

Julie's paintings currently have two significant themes; clouds and flowers. Both are studies of light and texture. 

In this episode Julie shares how she sources and chooses the flowers she paints, how she creates her floral compositions and her floral painting process from underpainting and taking photographs to painting the final details and how she approaches colour.

We discuss her cloud paintings and how they have initially came from feeling homesick, helping her to feel more connected to her friends and family on the other side of the Tasman.

We explore how she manages work for her gallery with regular commissions, how she connected with the 2 NZ galleries who represent her (Gallery de Novo in Dunedin and Parnell Gallery in Auckland), why she is no longer represented in Melbourne and how she manages 2 distinct themes in her practice.

Julie is the host of The Creative Kind podcast, where she explores creative questions with the help of fellow artists & art professionals who share insights and inspiration with listeners who, like Julie, are passionate about creativity in all its forms.​​ 

As fellow podcast hosts we talk about our podcasts, why we started them and our plans for the future of our shows. It was so nice to connect with Julie. We have a fantastic conversation - it was such a treat to hear Julie talking about her beautiful art practice for a change! 
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/julie-battisti-painter

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See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog