Extraordinary Creatives

In today´s episode, Ceri explores how to deal with unfavourable feedback, something that every artist she has ever worked with has experienced. No doubt you too have felt that same sting, at some point. That moment when unfavourable feedback cuts closer than you’d like. And while it’s incredibly common, that doesn’t make it feel any less raw when it happens to you. Yet, feedback is fuel. Even when...

What happens when a building unzips or a canal boat loops the loop mid-air? This week, Ceri is joined by the extraordinary Alex Chinneck, the British artist known for bending reality one brick at a time, dubbed arts master illusionist by The Guardian, Alex has carved out a global reputation for his large-scale public artworks that melt, slide, hover and ripple through the urban landscape. They dis...

Have you been circling something in your practice for years? Maybe you know there’s more to say, a seam you haven’t mined, a truth you keep sidestepping. The work is there, waiting. But you’re afraid. Today, Ceri talks about the fear of making the work you’re supposed to be making—and what it takes to finally face it, explaining, how to name it, drag it into the daylight, re-address it, and then t...

What happens when an artist, educator, curator, returns to the wilds that raised her and dares to reimagine what a museum could be? Francesca de Brock is the extraordinary chief curator at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska. Her work braids together social practice, environmental justice, a fierce commitment to care, and a deep understanding of what artists need to thrive. KEY TAKEAWAYS Growing up in...

Today, Ceri talks about rejection. Something that is a part of every artist’s life - Applications declined. Emails ignored. Opportunities missed. And let’s be honest—it stings. For many artists, especially those who are neurodivergent, it doesn’t just sting. It burns. There’s even a name for this: Rejection Sensitivity. It’s more than hurt feelings—it can feel like an existential threat, a collaps...

Today, Ceri is joined by a man who doesn’t just witness the future of art, he builds the infrastructure for it. Georg Bak is a pioneering digital art advisor and curator who’s spent over two decades bridging the traditional and the digital. He has advised major collectors and museums, helped shape curatorial boards, and placed historically significant works into collections that matter. Georg is t...

Last week Ceri shared something different in her episode - Grief, the Technicolour Rattlesnake - and many of her listeners wrote in to say that they recognised it instantly. That rattlesnake is still with many of us. So today, Ceri shares how you can keep making, and functioning creatively, whilst grief moves through you. Ceri provides an alternative to trying to outrun grief by overworking, deadl...

Today, Ceri sits down with Kathryn and Dan Mikesell, the powerhouse duo behind one of the world’s most respected artist residencies - Fountainhead Arts - a game-changing residency in Miami that’s not only shaping artists’ lives but reshaping the art world itself. They support artists in building sustainable, thriving practices and to build an art ecosystem that’s equitable, global, and deeply pers...

Not long ago, Ceri asked one of her favourite artists if there was a subject they’d like her to write about in her weekly Beat the Block newsletter. They said, “making through grief.” When she shared the question on Instagram, a surprising number of you asked for the same thing. Having learned a lot about grief: through losing her own family and friends, through study, and through supporting clien...

This week, Ceri is delighted to introduce you to the extraordinary Ben Luke, who has spent three decades at the heart of the art world, his voice shaping how we hear from artists—now it’s his turn to share what shaped him. A writer, broadcaster and host of A Brush With… and The Week in Art, his new book What is Art For?, published by HENI, gathers 25 conversations with established international ar...

Today, Ceri talks about the one skill that completely changed her life. Not a new app, not a productivity hack, but negotiation. As a recovering people-pleaser, Ceri used to dread negotiating with challenging people. She´d avoid it, overgive, or undercharge. When Ceri faced a challenging experience with a narcissist that nearly overwhelmed her, she learned from negotiation expert Kwame Christian....

For the British artist Holly Stevenson clay, memory and psychoanalysis intertwine in hauntingly playful sculptures. This conversation traces Holly’s extraordinary journey—from her Russian grandmother’s concentration camp survival and the inspiration a Chilean refugee provided, to set design in Rome and motherhood, all the way to her groundbreaking residency at the Freud Museum. Discover how Holly’...

To grow your art career, you don’t need one gatekeeper, you need a creative ecosystem. Nobody´s career can grow in isolation, everyone needs champions - Curators, Writers, Collectors, Funders, Peers, Producers, Family and Friends. People who give feedback, open doors, and say your name in the right room. Ceri shares how to spot your artworld champions in the wild, connect with them and start build...

Josh Aronson doesn’t just take photos—he builds scenes that blur memory and fantasy, tenderness and tension. Josh creates emotionally charged photographic tableaux that reimagine the Southern landscape and masculinity. He shares his journey from curating Facebook albums of high school parties to staging cinematic shoots in Florida’s swamps and springs. Josh explains how skipping art school became...

Today, Ceri is joined by the brilliant and boundary-breaking Pari Ehsan, artist, curator and founder of the platform Pari Dust. She weaves transcultural aesthetics, fashion, architecture and contemporary art into rich, immersive images and experiences. A former architect and polymathic image maker, she has collaborated with institutions like MoMA, Tate Modern and brands like Chanel and Loewe. KEY...

In this episode, Ceri asks - Do you really need a commercial gallery to thrive as an artist? - The answer is no, not necessarily. Instead of relying solely on a commercial gallery, you need a team - a constellation of supporters, a circle of artistic champions. People who open doors, amplify your voice, provide feedback and help build momentum around your practice. Listen in to learn the basics of...

Today, Ceri answers the age-old question – Do You Really Need a Commercial Gallery to Thrive as an Artist? Ceri has run her own commercial galleries in Liverpool and London, worked for the blue-chip Simon Lee Gallery, attended art fairs across the world, and sold work to major museums and private collectors—seen this industry from the inside out, so she has a lot to say on the subject, some of whi...

Peter Kennard is one of the most uncompromising, clear eyed political artists of our time, a pioneer of photomontage. His work rips through the surface of state power, war, capitalism and environmental destruction, and lays bare what those systems try to obscure - the human cost. Peter has created fiercely political images that have travelled far beyond the gallery wall, into newspapers, onto plac...

Today, Ceri answers a question she is asked every single day - "How do I find a gallery where I fit in, a curator who fits my kind of work, how do I fit in?” This episode is a rallying cry for creatives who are done playing small. It totally blows up the myth that success as an artist means conforming to someone else's vision. KEY TAKEAWAYS Your mission is not to find a gallery owner-shaped hole a...

What happens when the art world’s golden boy vanishes—and leaves behind a trail of deception, millions in missing artwork, and a best friend caught in the blast radius? Today Ceri speaks with Orlando Whitfield: writer, former art dealer, and the author of All That Glitters—a blisteringly honest memoir of ambition, illusion and the cost of loyalty in a world where value is often just a well-told st...

Many artists feel their work is too dark, too ugly or challenging to sell. As someone who has sold paintings of infamous murderers, photographs of a drag queen dressed up as Van Gogh, missing ear and all, a portrait of a man mid ugly cry, a drawing made from fake tan and a sculpture of a dying lamp post with a flickering light, Ceri politely calls bulls**t on that belief. KEY TAKEAWAYS Artists are...

Today, Ceri is joined by Dr Livia Alexander a Brooklyn based curator, writer and professor of Visual Studies at Montclair State University whose curatorial work bridges continents, disciplines and philosophies. Her work lives at the intersection of contemporary art, film and expanded media with a focus on artists and practices from Southwest Asia and North Africa. She is co-founder of Arte East an...

For this episode, Ceri provides a comprehensive answer to an important question that many of  her artists have – which is best? A solo, duo or group exhibition? She shares how to assess each opportunity to enable you to identify which option is right for you at each point of your artistic journey. Ceri explains how to apply the six filters that matter when making your decision - new work, feedback...

Today, Ceri sits down with the brilliant Shezad Dawood, whose expansive practice spans painting, textile, sculpture, film and digital media. He weaves stories, realities and symbolism to create richly layered worlds, and exhibits at leading institutions worldwide, from MoMA and the ICA to the Venice Biennale, Guangzhou Triennial and Manifesta. His works are held in major collections including the...

Have you ever walked into a gallery opening, heart pounding, and thought, “What am I doing here? Everyone else looks like they belong”. You're not alone. That voice in your head telling you you're not enough, it's not the truth. It's a glitch in the system. Today, Ceri explains how to reframe how you show up and who you think you are when you do. Your overachieving brain whispering, “You don't bel...