Art Dealer Diaries Podcast

I had Dr. Larry Len Peterson on today, and we're discussing his new book "Edward S. Curtis, Printing the Legends: Looking at Shadows in a West Lit Only by Fire" it's a terrific book. I read this whole book and I'm going to read it again. There's just so much information, not only about Edward Curtis, but about that whole time frame from 1860 to 1945. All the big playe...

Wow, I had a great time with this podcast, Mike Brainard. He is a writer, an actor, a podcast producer, and a woodworker, just to say a few of the things that he's accomplished in his life. He does a podcast called The Ernie Pyle Experiment!, which is a 13-episode podcast that actually came in second, I believe, for an Audie Award, which is like the top award that you can get in audio-based p...

Shonto Begay joined me today for a special podcast right before Christmas. I've had Shonto on before. In fact, he was my guest on the second podcast I had ever done. I've known Shonto for over 20 years and have been collecting his art as well as selling it. You know, he just is unique. He's unique in so many forms and fashions. It's almost hard to describe. Shonto shared some o...

Moira Geoffrion joins host Mark Sublette to talk about her show "Pods, Plants, and Parts."  The show has 144 new paintings of the botanical structures that can be found throughout the Sonoran desert. Opening with the artist is Friday, December 29 from 12 - 2 PM at Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona. View the Show Online: https://www.medicinemangallery.com/collections/d...

Numerous important bills signed in Congress between 1869 to 1925 set the stage for the Osage Reign of Terror in 1920's Oklahoma. David Grann’s book “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the 2023 Martin Scorsese movie by the same name serve as the backdrop for this deep dive and historical overview. This is unlike any of my previous podcasts so I hope you enjoy Art Dealer Diaries Episode 274.

I had artist Danuta Tomzynski on today. She's such an interesting human being. You know, just starting we went right to the heart of it by talking about her parents.  They were both Polish and were in Poland during World War II. Her father fought in the war after being taken to Siberia by the Russians and her mom was taken from Poland to Germany to be a servant. What they had to do to make it...

This had to be one of the more interesting podcasts I've done.  It's with Helen and Richard Shull, and they own Esmeralda Turquoise Company in Nevada. They had come into my gallery and we were talking about what they do. It turns out they're miners/gemologists and they own turquoise mines that are scattered through northern Nevada. After a brief conversation I asked them to come on...

Paula Baxter was on the show today and she's very interesting, as most of our guests are.  All of our guests have a similar thread of the arts running through their lives in some form or fashion. In her case, it was 1986 when she was in Santa Fe and bought a piece at Ortega's on the Plaza. It was like an epiphany for Paula. She needed to be more aware of this material.  Paula has worked...

I wanted to re-air John Morris's podcast. I had him on episode 11 back in 2018. John recently passed and was such an interesting human being and I'm so happy that he took the time during Indian Market in 2018 to come talk to me about his life.  You know, John was a guy who was intimately involved in the 1969 Woodstock show. He booked all the people he worked with, all the acts. You know,...

I had a wonderful podcast today with William Haskell. We had done a podcast together two years ago in the middle of the pandemic, but it was really nice to actually spend time with him in person.  Instead of focusing on how got to where he is today (since that story was told in epi. 129), I wanted to find out about his new show that he's doing for us. He's going to have 15+ paintings in...

I had Bill Alther on today and wow, he's such a unique individual and has a great story. He's an individual who always knew he was going to be an artist. He just didn't know what kind of artist.  He started painting in high school and after college, he began carving wooden sculptures of birds. He was successful and made a living doing it, but it just wasn't fulfilling. At some...

I always have a good time with Barry Friedman and he was my guest on the podcast today.  Barry's specialty is trade blankets. These range from the traditional Pendleton to a variety of different types of blankets that were made commercially from 1892 up to today. The Pendleton company is still making wonderful blankets as we speak.  I've done a podcast with him in the past (episode 15),...

I took the Art Dealer Diaries on a little road trip this week to northeastern Oklahoma, in the heart of Osage Country, to get an inside look at this blockbuster movie by Martin Scorsese called Killers of the Flower Moon. The book was by David Grann and the story is a tragic one for the Osage people.  The Osage call it the reign of terror. It took place from 1921 to 1926, and at least 25 Osage were...

There's nothing better than the third week in August at Indian Market in Santa Fe. I took this entire weekend to film interviews with artisans and people running the event to give you a sense of what it's like.  We went to the SWAIA presentation of Best of Show, which we were fortunate enough to be able to sponsor for the next four years. So you kind of get a behind-the-scenes of what it...

I had Jordan K. Walker on my podcast today. I've had Jordan on before and last time (Epi. 239) we talked about his life and all the things that made him who he is today. This time around, we're having his first one-man show, Deep Time, opening on October 7, 2023.  I thought it would be helpful for individuals out there who are artists to hear what that took to get there because you only...

I had Victoria Adams on today and wow, what a delightful person she is. She's such an upbeat, happy person. I've been very familiar with her work for probably two decades, and she always exhibits at prominent Indian Market events. Victoria is known for her beautifully designed jewelry and she makes custom handbags that are to die for. This year at SWAIA Indian Market, she won the best of...

I had Victoria Adams on today and wow, what a delightful person she is. She's such an upbeat, happy person. I've been very familiar with her work for probably two decades, and she always exhibits at prominent Indian Market events. Victoria is known for her beautifully designed jewelry and she makes custom handbags that are to die for. This year at SWAIA Indian Market, she won the best of...

So many of the podcasts that I do deal with Western art, but rarely do I have an artist that epitomizes what it means to be a "Western artist" the way that Teal Blake does.  Teal was raised in Montana and he's been in the West his whole life and currently lives in Texas.  Not only does he have the credentials of being a Western individual, but he was a professional cowboy for seven...

I do this podcast because the people I meet in my line of work are really interesting. That's a lot of it. John Bell is exactly the kind of podcast I love doing because he's not somebody you can just throw into a typical mold and say, oh he's an artist or he's an art dealer. You know? John is an Academy Award-nominated individual who's worked on movies like Back to the Fut...

I had a great time talking with Ray Dewey. It's a podcast that I've been wanting to do for quite a while and it's just taken a while for us to get together. He's a really busy guy so I finally said: "Fine, I'll come up to Santa Fe."  I knew Ray would have a great story, and he did not disappoint. Ray was an instrumental figure in the Native American art business,...

I think the reason I do these podcasts is for guests like the one I just had on, which is Roy Talahaftewa. I have to say, he is such a genuine, wonderful person, artist, and someone that I think everyone should get to know if they don't already. For one thing, just on the silversmith part, he's won best of show at the Indian Market events the Heard Museum, and the Museum of Northern Ariz...

In order of appearance: • Jamie Schulze: Executive Director, SWAIA  • Bo Joe: Navajo/Uté Silversmith (Booth # LIN W 757) • Barbara Teller Ornelas:  Navajo Weaver (Booth # LIN W 774) • Jared Chavez: San Felipe Silversmith (Booth # FR N 306) • Russell Sanchez: San Ildefonso Pueblo Potter (Booth # LIN E 711) • Kathleen Wall: Jemez Pueblo Pottery Artist  (Booth # PLZ 78) • Marla Allison: Laguna Pueblo...

I had Christine Mollring on today. For those who don't know who she is, you need to. Christine is one of the backbones of Western art. She started her own gallery early on in the 1970s and owned Trailside Gallery until about 94.  Think back on what kind of individuals were running Western art galleries back in that era. They were pretty much all men.  We talked about it a little, not a lot, b...

I had a very interesting talk with Jim Rea today. Jim helps run the Masters show at the Autry Museum along with his wife, Jodie. We get the whole story of - not only the Autry show and how it began - but of how Jim, who started out in accounting, ends up being a critical component in this very important art show at an important museum. Jim is a guy who really liked art but wasn't trained in a...

Had a wonderful podcast today with Curt Walters. He's always been one of my favorite painters. He is known as a Grand Canyon painter, but he paints all sorts of things of all shapes and sizes, painting a giant canyon one day, and water lilies the next.  It was fun to be able to listen to his journey as it was not an easy one. Curt grew up in Farmington, New Mexico and he was dyslexic. As a ki...