Talking with Painters

In this extended episode, recorded in Tom Carment's studio in 2019, I chat with the acclaimed artist as he prepares for his show at King Street Gallery and celebrates the release of his book Womerah Lane: Lives and Landscapes. Tom shares insights into his creative process, from handcrafting frames in Tasmanian blackwood to capturing South Australia’s landscapes in his latest works, including a ser...

This is the second episode of my summer series where I’m bringing you longer conversations with past podcast guests, from recordings when taking video of the artists for the Talking with Painters YouTube channel. The video of this episode’s fabulous artist, Nicole Kelly, is the second most watched on the channel, which currently has over 150 videos*. Nicole Kelly is an acclaimed Sydney artis...

In podcast episode 101 I spoke with leading Australian artist Joshua Yeldham in the lead-up to his sell-out show ‘Providence’ at Arthouse Gallery in Sydney. I remember being fascinated by his approach to painting and his views on the creative process. We also recorded a separate video and this episode is the first of my 2022 Summer Series which is a collection of extended audio recordings from vid...

Whether it’s a moody vase of flowers, a reclining nude or the incredible ridges of the Blue Mountains, Robert Malherbe depicts his subject matter in sensuous, fluid brushstrokes which give the impression the painting was completed only moments ago. Working from life, it is vitality which Robert aims to capture in his work and by painting alla prima and completing the work in one session, the viewe...

A video version of this episode can be viewed here Justin Paton is the co-curator of the most exciting exhibition to arrive on Sydney’s doorstep since our world was upturned by the pandemic. ‘Matisse: Life and Spirit, Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris’, now showing at the Art Gallery of NSW, is an uplifting collection of paintings, drawings and sculptures which not only brings with it e...

Fiona Verity and Julie Nicholson have a lot in common; they were both born in the UK, both met their husbands while backpacking in Australia, are both emerging artists and are both very funny. But they also have distinctly different personalities and it’s this contrast that makes their arts podcast ‘Art Wank’ so interesting and entertaining. They interviewed me earlier this year...

Watch highlights of this episode on the YouTube channel The impacts of COVID have challenged the world in a multitude of ways, but for Sydney artist Julian Meagher they appear to have sharpened his focus.  Over the last 14 months, with no other deadline than his upcoming show at Yavuz Gallery, he has taken the opportunity to free himself from the usual demands of an imminent exhibition and created...

See the YouTube video version of this podcast episode here Fresh out of Sydney lockdown, the incredible works of Aida Tomescu are showing both in Sydney with Fox Jensen Gallery and in Hong Kong with Flowers Gallery in two outstanding exhibitions. To add to this, in early December 2021, Orange Regional Gallery will be exhibiting what promises to be a blockbuster Tomescu show, looking at the artist&...

Scroll down for transcript If you’ve been listening to this podcast over the years, you would probably know I’m a self-confessed Archibald tragic. I’m fascinated by the depiction of the human face and figure in paint and that is exactly what the prize celebrates each year at the Art Gallery of NSW . The Archibald Prize is Australia’s most famous portrait prize and is now in its 100th y...

Many Australians may have seen Kim Leutwyler’s work without ever having set foot in a gallery. In 2019 her impressive Archibald painting of television presenter Faustina Agolley was splashed across Sydney to promote the prize. The striking image was on a huge banner above the entrance of the gallery, on bus shelters around the city, in newspapers and even on the front cover of a magazine. Kim is n...

One of Georgia Spain’s paintings was taking up more than its fair share of her Tasmanian studio. So she thought one way of freeing up some room would be to send it to the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney as an entry into the Sir John Sulman Prize. A few weeks later she found out it had been shortlisted and a week after that, to her astonishment, it won. It was the first time she had entered the...

Jo Bertini’s recent exhibition at Sydney’s Arthouse Gallery, ‘Songs of Dry Hills’, alluringly portrayed the landscape she is drawn to repeatedly – the desert. Her love of that landscape and its First Nations People has led her to spend months at a time not only in the deserts of Australia but also those of India and the US. She has built an intimate connection to these lands and their...

‘Everyone has a COVID story’ Joanna Logue told me when we spoke recently about her show with Scott Livesey Galleries in Melbourne. Part of Joanna’s story is that, for the first time in her career, she wouldn’t be attending the opening of her show. The paintings had travelled to Australia from her home in Mount Desert Island in the USA without her. Joanna is a previous podca...

We’ve all been there. You see an artwork and think ‘surely, that is a photo’. But as you get closer and read the description, you accept it is made of paint, expertly applied, creating the illusion of reality. I am in awe of the artists who work in this way because it calls for painstaking labour and the technique is certainly not suited to every painter. Australian artist Ro...

In early 2020, as COVID was sweeping the world, Filippa Buttitta (pictured right) was facing her own personal crisis. She had been working on her entry for the Archibald prize when she had trouble with her eyesight and was finding it difficult painting the fine details of her work. Thinking she needed an eye test, she visited her optometrist which led to a swift hospital admission and the shocking...

See my video of Guido Maestri painting in the field on the TWP YouTube channel A riverbank in the Australian bush would be the perfect plein air location for many artists. A rushing stream, long tree trunks and a deep vista where the artist’s eye can gather information into the distance. But what is more fascinating for leading Australian artist Guido Maestri, is what the substance he is app...

‘National treasure’, ‘legend,’ ‘inspiration’. These were just some of the reactions from my Instagram followers when I posted that I would be interviewing Guy Warren. Guy is about to turn 100 years old.  He has no less than 5 shows opening this year.  But he is also plain spoken, practical, down to earth and modest. In typical style he seemed pleased w...

The name Namatjira is a famous one. Vincent Namatjira’s great-grandfather, Albert Namatjira, was one of Australia’s great painters, uniquely depicting Australia’s desert landscapes in vibrant watercolour. Although he didn’t know about his connection with the famous artist in his childhood – he was in foster care and removed from his culture – Vincent has made his own way to...

Tony Costa won the Archibald prize in 2019 with his stunning painting of contemporary artist Lindy Lee. I caught up with him a few weeks later in his studio in Sydney and our podcast conversation from that day is episode 70 of the podcast. I also recorded video in Tony’s studio which I edited down to about 5 minutes, with lots of painting wisdom ending up on the cutting room floor. So in thi...

In 2019 I travelled 4 hours west of Sydney, past the Blue Mountains, driving through winding bush roads until I arrived at Hill End, the historic goldmining village which is now also known for its inspiring artist’s community. It was there that I interviewed Susan Baird who a few years earlier had fallen in love with the town and now has a home and studio there, deep in the bush. We recorded...

My recent conversation with leading artist Euan Macleod is the first in a summer series of extended audio recordings from videos I’ve taken of my podcast guests. As is the way with videos, a lot of great material gets lost in the editing process so I’m bringing you the longer version of our conversations recorded during filming. I caught up with Euan in September 2020 at his knockout show ‘Figure...

Antonia Mrljak’s art exudes a dynamic force. It mirrors her personality – one of energy, vibrancy and a sure sense of direction. She is one of Australia’s most exciting emerging abstract artists. But it wasn’t until after a career in fashion and creating a family that, almost by accident, she discovered that painting was the perfect way for her to express her experiences. H...

Joshua Yeldham’s imagery is steeped in nature. His large works range from portraying the landscape with its stunning mystical trees, to figures with a tribal aesthetic, to his iconic owls which he has famously painted and sculpted multiple times over the years, even as a self portrait.  As you get closer to these works you realise they are intricately composed with astonishing detail. A...

An edited version of this episode is also a video which you can see here: When I started this podcast in July 2016 with no knowledge of audio recording – let alone how to start a podcast – I never imagined that four years later I would have interviewed close to a hundred painters, as well as curators and authors, and have a YouTube channel with over 100 videos filmed on my iPhone. Buil...

You can also watch this episode as a video here . To hear the episode as an audio podcast click on ‘play’ above. Leading artist Wendy Sharpe talks with me in her Sydney studio about her fabulous show ‘Magic’ at King Street Gallery on William. We also talk about the controversy around her Sulman finalist painting ‘The Witches’ in 2016, her involvement in the innovative SBS s...