Dunedin based artist Nic Dempster has been part of the city’s art scene for over twenty years. His bold colourful geometric style has developed out of contemporary landscape work and reflects his love for architecture and design. 

His works play with ideas of urbanisation, our infatuation with property and the great kiwi quarter acre dream.

It was such a pleasure meeting Nic. We talk about how he went from studying history at Uni and gaining a masters degree to full time artist. He shares how he approaches the composition of his work, how he fills a space and the mathematical formula he uses to construct the shapes and form of his paintings. We discuss his colour palettes and use of shades and tints, his signature black outlines and what drew him to this style, how he orders his process, how his work has evolved over the years and where he can see his work heading in the future. 

This is a lovely chat I know you'll enjoy. Nic also very generously shares his personal surrogacy journey, which I'm sure you'll appreciate as much as I did.

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

In this episode I'm chatting to Charles Tongue, the founder and CEO of Brother Theo - a platform dedicated to career coaching and legacy planning, tailored specifically for artists. 

Brother Theo provides a range of perspectives to help artists plan and grow their career as well as their legacy. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your career to the next level, Brother Theo helps you achieve your goals and reach your full potential as an artist. 

Charles talks about the Studio of Contemporary Art Gallery which his mother founded and he went on to buy and then run for 15 years, his experiences in the art industry in Aotearoa NZ and what he has learnt. He shares what information artists should collect and how to put it all together, archiving and cataloging artworks, creating processes and outsourcing, approaching galleries and pricing work. And so much more! You can learn more out Brother Theo and the services they provide at brotheo.com

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

Robyn Fleet is a painter from the Hawkes Bay. Her paintings capture the essence of human experiences and our deep connections to the environment. 

Robyn is obsessed with the materiality of paint itself and all its possibilities.

A common thread in Robyn's work is 'the human condition' suggesting avenues of emotion and thought, the human experience through sensations of materiality and tactility. 

We discuss the Ruahine Ranges landscape series which help to tell the story of an accident her father had in 1955 in the ranges which has had a big impact on Robyn.

Robyn talks about her jury member portrait series and where these characters come from, her deep connection to land, people and animals (especially her cats and her gorgeous lab/retriever cross Fred), how she likes to paint and why she is drawn to dark moody landscapes. She shares how caregiving gives her insight and often informs her practice 

Robyn has a solo show coming up at the Frame Workshop and Gallery 9th May - 25th May 2024, with an opening event on May 9th from 4pm - 6pm.
Support the Show.

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

Sally Bulling is a contemporary New Zealand painter living in Queenstown. 

Invoking a sense of energy, Sally Bulling's abstract works are created with physical movements, sweeping marks, dripping flicks and elaborate pours. Her love of colour, light and reflection is captured in her beautiful paintings.

After a successful career in the fashion and fine art industry she returned to her love of painting in 2020 and now works full time on her art practice.

I loved hanging out with Sally in my Muriwai studio. What a gorgeous woman! We share a love of sparkles and colour and I found our chat very inspiring as I'm sure you will too. Sally talks about her career in art consultancy and shares some great tips for approaching galleries, choosing a gallery for your work, the advantages of being represented by a gallery and what galleries look for in an artist.

She talks about how she got back in to painting in 2020, how she came to use mirrors as a canvas and stickers as a medium and how her first work sold in a gallery within 3 hours - marking the beginning of a very successful artistic career. We chat about her process from sourcing and cutting mirrors, selecting and layering paint to tinting and applying epoxy resin, adding gilding to the edges of her work and her technical approach to colour.

Sally has a solo show at Parnell Gallery coming up - A Pansy for your Thoughts - 

14 - 28 May. Preview: Tuesday 14 May, 5.30-7pm.

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

Tim Christie is a designer and artist currently based in Wellington New Zealand.

His innovative, fashion-forward artistic style has been described as a modern synthesis of op art, pop art, street art and geometric expressionism. 

Over the last two years he has extended his collection to include light boxes, large original acrylic paintings and illuminated weavings, enjoying playing with the space or ‘void’ between abstract and representational art. 

Tim shares his inspirational story from graphic designer to successful artist and some of the stories in between! He talks about how he first came up with the idea for digital artworks while holidaying in Scotland, how he gained momentum early on with sell out shows and a huge amount of interest from collectors, how he came to exhibit internationally and how he now manages a very busy art practice and artistic business.

Tim unpacks his varied digital and painting art practice and shares his fascinating creative process. He talks about another of his artistic ventures this time with his wife Katie, Yogallery - a hybrid world of art and yoga contained in a large light filled space in central Wellington.  
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/creative-matters-with-tim-christie

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

Alison Gilmour is a painter from Auckland, New Zealand. She grew up in Devonport, a coastal suburb in Auckland, which has instilled a deep love of the sea inspiring her to paint it in its many forms. She is also well known for her beautiful floral and still life paintings.

Alison captures the endless beauty of her environment with delicate brushwork – creating images which have a photo-realistic quality and hues which reflect the clarity, light and richness of the South Pacific. 

In this episode Alison tells the great story of meeting Tim Wilson, one of New Zealand’s most successful landscape artists and often referred to as the 'Master of Light'. She talks about how she came to be mentored by Tim two years later, how he got her into painting with oils and how she was eventually invited to exhibit in his acclaimed gallery in Queenstown, the Tim Wilson Gallery. Through this connection Alison increased her global profile, commanded bigger prices for her work and gained confidence in herself as a fine artist.

We discuss her 40 year career in graphic design and how it has informed her art practice and parts of her process. We have an interesting conversation about realism and the unique elements she brings to her realistic paintings and she shares parts of her process such as how she adds layers and why she sometimes likes to paint upside down. We talk about a pop up gallery she created with a friend and her plan to allow herself a few months to purely experiment and play with a view to possibly bringing some new techniques and ideas to her practice.

https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/creative-matters-with-alison-gilmour

https://www.instagram.com/alisongilmour_artist/

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

This episode is kindly supported by Turua Gallery

Dominique Marriott is a Waikato-based artist living near Raglan on the west coast. She specialises in life drawing and is well known for her minimalistic nude paintings created with sumi ink and calligraphy brushes. 

Dominique works in a bold and uninhibited way to capture the essence of the human form. Her work reflects a deep appreciation for simplicity, energy, and the intrinsic beauty of the body. Guided by the principles of Zen, Dominique approaches her artistic practice as a form of active meditation and self medication. 

This is another gorgeous, honest conversation. We had a beautiful time together in my studio at Muriwai Beach.. Dominique talks about why and how she got into life drawing after studying fine arts at Uni and what she loves about this art form.We talk about her unique process of creating multiple drawings in each sitting, why she likes to leave negative space in her drawings, how she chooses which drawings to add to her collection and which ones to discard and why life drawing is so good for her well being and her ADHD brain. 

Dom shares her life drawing commission process, why she believes every artist should use life drawing as part of their practice, her amazing life drawing performances and how she has become so comfortable with this process after initially being fearful of painting in front of others. 

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

Raymond Sagapolutele is an Aotearoa NZ-born Sāmoan artist and academic living in Manurewa in Auckland. His photographic practice focuses on his lived experiences, his heritage and his cultural ties to the history of and the lands within the Pacific.

In his hands, the camera gains a voice and connects to the cherished Samoan tradition of storytelling. As Raymond says, his camera has been there when he has laughed with friends, it's been there when he has cried with family and it's been there when he has sought inspiration, clarification and resolution. 

Raymond is a natural orator and storyteller. This episode is a wonderful account of not only his life as an artist and his art practice but how he sees himself as a Samoan born in Aotearoa, the importance of aiga - family, ways he has honoured his parents and siblings through his art.

He speaks of the concept of the 'va' and how that is represented in his work and he unpacks a number of his photographic works and series in fascinating detail. 

I learnt a lot from this talanoa, this conversation with Raymond today and really appreciate his honesty, insights and perspectives. As I know you will too.

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

Auckland based artist James Emery has always had a keen interest in art and art history, particularly NZ art from the 1950s and 60s and the American abstract expressionists.

Majoring in art history at Auckland Uni James worked within the art industry for many years before developing his own practice only 2 years ago. This month he celebrates his first solo show at The Grey Place in Grey Lynn, Auckland, which opens March 26th 2024.

This chat was highly motivating and interesting for me and honestly made me feel so keen to get back into my own painting practice. We talk about NZ art and artists and discover a mutual admiration for a number of abstract artists. James talks about how his natural eye for good aesthetics influenced his early career buying and selling art, decorative arts and jewellery. 

We discuss how James started his painting practice after years of observing, researching and thinking; how paint and process drives him, how he strives to create a new approach or technique in painting that could leave some kind of legacy and how he is never short of ideas, just time.

James talks about how circuit boards as objects and metaphors first inspired him to create his series "Incommunicado". We discuss his latest series for his upcoming solo show Tension and Attitude and he shares his innovative painting process, tools and techniques.

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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

Jae Frew is a contemporary portrait photographer previously based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland and now living in Mahurangi.

Jae's commercial career spans over 30 years and the highly respected and sought-after photographer lists prime ministers, heads of state, TV personalities, corporate CEO’s, film and television actors, and prominent sports people among his subjects. 

With time and space to pursue his own photographic projects during the 2020 / 2021 COVID lockdowns, Jae began exploring a more personal side to his practice and Manu Kōingo – Birds of Yearning was formed. A concept that had been pressing on his mind for many years – to create a series of works that speaks to and engages with the interests of his youth while raising awareness of Aotearoa's fragile and diminishing bird life.

We talk about Jae's commercial photography and some of the amazing New Zealanders he has photographed such as Jacinda Adern, Sir Edmund Hillary and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

We go deep into Manu Kōingo - Birds of Yearning, how he developed this more personal side of his photographic practice and the shows he's had since, why he likes to construct the native wood frames for each of his works.

He talks about his upcoming solo show at Parnell Gallery which opens on April 4th in Auckland and runs til April 21st 2024.

Support the show

Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!

Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/

Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast

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