ARTish Plunge

Massacussetts-based ceramic artist KERI STRAKA is fascinated with micro worlds: those inside the human body and those in nature, like the small dramas of a tide pool. Her love of quiet observation takes shape in the organic ceramic forms that hint of aquatic life, internal human structures and laboratory experiments.  A professor of ceramics at Framingham State University, Keri finds ways to sneak...

Swedish mixed media artist Jenny Grant approaches her work with the same adrenaline she channels while mountain biking—remembering to look ahead, absorb the bumps and just keep going. Jenny shares how she works with seasonal flow and the importance of really listening to yourself to be able to identify your own creative energy peaks and valleys. Born with an innate fascination with how things work...

What’s it like to create an 85-foot mural with a whole city eagerly watching? Kyle “Black Cat Tips” Brooks knows. The creator of whimsical creatures and curiously engaging street poetry, Black Cat Tips (Kyle to us) has a loyal following in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast. With homespun authenticity, Kyle shares the challenges of working really big, how he organically grew his fan base, sharin...

Performance artist and poet MIMI ALLIN uses walking as a way of investigating new places for her work. Mimi frequently walks 50-100 miles weekly , often as part of the “ritual of entering a project.” Starting each project with a question, Mimi invites the public into her work, knowing the parameters but not necessarily the outcome for each piece.  Currently in Seattle, Mimi shares the challenges o...

Abstract painter Robin Davisson carefully considers the variables when designing her artistic experiments with paint fluidity and viscosity. A resident of Washington D.C., Robin has had plenty of experience with laboratory experiments with over 20 years as a researcher and professor of molecular physiology at Cornell University and University of Iowa. In this episode, Robin reveals the common elem...

Hungarian Intuitive, abstract painter Beáta Bősze spent twenty years as an intensely focused economist for financial giants like AXA Insurance, when, on the verge of burnout, she received a mysterious flyer for “How to Be a Creative, Happy Woman.” Thus began a journey towards self-discovery and the expressive, abstract paintings that now fill both her personal and professional lives.   Find Beata:...

From her teenage years surrounded by haute couture in Milan, Cecilia Roger has always had an eye for luxurious details. Initially, she trained her eye to spot the details in ancient manuscripts as a paleographer. Even though she transitioned to handling the details of the family wine business, Cecilia’s hands were always busy with a different kind of detail—sewing and embroidery. Cecilia still mak...

Spirituality.   Love.   Impatience of the young.   Power of the female human being. Twenty-seven-year-old  Austrian poet and novelist RAINER MARIA RILKE managed to tackle all of those weighty topics in his letters to a young aspiring artist in the early 1900s. Collected and published after his death, Letters to a Young Poet addresses all that we fear and question about the life as a creative. But...

For all of us who have struggled with the questions of “Am I an artist?” “Am I any good?” “What does it mean to be an artist?” —and I dare say that is all of us—I hope you will come along with me to 1903 to a small Parisian apartment where 27-year-old Austrian poet and novelist RAINER MARIA RILKE has taken pen to paper to respond to an aspiring young writer’s inquiry, “Are my poems any good?”  In...

British printmaker and painter ALISON SAUNDERS makes no bones about it—she doesn’t like boring beige! While her bold use of color belies her initial career as an accountant, in Episode 21 of the ARTish Plunge podcast Alison generously offers her professional insight on how to track expenses for art shows, weekly business check-ins and an old-school index card system to manage inventory.  Alison al...

The Artish Plunge shares an uplifting chat with Liz Murphy, a New Jersey-based painter, interior designer, illustrator and graphic designer who grew up in Surrey, England. Inspired by her mother’s ability to inject joy and stability through art and creativity into an otherwise turbulent home life, Liz has used her design skills to create meaningful spaces, and ultimately, found her own voice and t...

The Artish Plunge dives into deep conversation with Vermont-based multimedia artist, curator and professor HUMBERTO RAMIREZ, exploring the unique role of the arts as a language and the challenges —and rewards—of teaching art in an academic setting.  Escaping the political and social turmoil in Chile of the 1970s, Humberto came to the US to study molecular biology with an eye towards medical school...

Continuing our conversation with metal sculptor and painter VALERIE CHAUSSONNET, we learn how Valerie’s work with the Smithsonian Institution inspired her to begin taking art classes at the Corcoran and to continue that work later in Austin, Texas. Along the way, Valerie created a French-immersion school and surrounded herself with colorful art and colorful people, all of which are reflected in th...

From the Sorbonne to hitchhiking across Canada, from Berkeley to living with the Inuit in Nunavik, metal sculptor and painter VALERIE CHAUSSONNET has drawn inspiration for her artwork from the varied adventures life has offered her. Valerie’s experiences with the Smithsonian Institution preparing a Soviet-American exhibition on Alaska and Siberia stoked her desire to create artwork as a way of bet...

MIKE LYON, a Kansas City-based artist creates meticulously detailed large-scale drawings using marks made by traditional tools manipulated by non-traditional means, usually computers he has built and coded to suit his artistic vision.  The ARTish Plunge podcast explores Mike's leadership of the family cattle hide business and subsequent return to art, ultimately becoming an innovator in wood...

Brooklyn-based film producer NADIA TAHOUN learned the value of artistic collaboration at an early age in Miami when she helped start the punk art venue The Granary.  In Episode 15 of the ARTish Plunge podcast, Nadia shares how her education and experiences in film production have allowed her to curate visual art experiences, including the new community-focused arts and fabrication studio Flower Sh...

Episode 14:   Oklahoma native Christopher Nick uses his classically-trained painting skills to create accurately detailed illustrations for major brands, children’s books and historical portraits for the Oklahoma State Capitol. In this episode, Christopher shares how a tiny retro delivery truck named Kirby gave him some financial breathing room and an unexpected introduction to his newest, and arg...

After a career in education that included roles as a kindergarten teacher, principal, grant writer and consultant, Canadian-born ISBELLE ALESSANDRA finally heeded her mother’s final advice to become a full-time artist.  The ART ish Plunge podcast explores how Isabelle, now a resident of southern California, channeled the same drive and work ethic that fueled her as a young figure skater into her a...

For over twenty years JOAN HANLEY has balanced artmaking with a meditative practice. The ART ish Plunge podcast explores how Joan’s spiritual and art explorations around the world have influenced her practice, as reflected in her book Art & Yoga .  Using oils, gouache, or ink, Joan creates large and small scale works with contemplative, emotional depth from her historic Harrisville, New Hampsh...

Native Minnesotan KATIE McCOLLOW is a self-professed “Jill of some trades.” A voice actor, regular-type actor, artist and writer with a contagious laugh and quick wit, Katie is that super-talented friend you wished lived next door. Her oversized family portraits and dreamy watercolor pieces take top billing, but you may recognize her voice from commercials for some of your favorite brands. Find Ka...

B SHAWN COX is an artist, trained architect and lawyer whose early experiences in the small West Texas town of Monahans are re-emerging in his artwork through brightly patterned cowboys and sassy bouffanted-ladies. A prolific artist who admittedly creates amongst controlled chaos, Shawn shares how he juggles multiple forms of artistic expression with a need for analytical challenges and the occasi...

Artist, speech pathologist, lecturer and poet DIANA SYDER creates expressive landscapes and still life paintings from her studio in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England.  Diana started her professional life as a speech pathologist and university lecturer but concurrently wrote poetry, uniquely focused on themes of science and nature. After four books of poetry and numerous collaborations with...

Artist BARBARA BRYN KLARE works with “rescued textiles,” using thread as line and cloth as paint to explore topics such as fragility and sustainability. The ART ish Plunge podcast explores how Barbara, a Ohio resident with long-held connections to the San Francisco Bay area, worked as a surface designer and had a decades-long career as a technical writer before textiles brought her back to art as...

Miniature artist BLAKE GORE exemplifies the old adage: “less is more.” Favoring .15 millimeter nib Pigma Micron pens, Blake creates tiny masterpieces on 2-inch squares — and smaller. Originally from Mississippi but now claiming Virginia as home, Blake discovered his “tiny” expertise a few years ago through consistent repetition and infinite curiosity.   Serving as a career consultant by day, Blake...

CHRIS CRANE is an abstract artist from Austin, Texas who combines metallurgy skills with a photographer’s eye for composition and color to create large-scale installation pieces, primarily for corporate collections. With a keen curiosity for innovation, Chris has found a satisfying “day job” working alongside scientists to solve client’s AI and cognitive computing issues that still allows time for...