Talking with Painters

With his work currently hanging in Flinders Lane Gallery alongside other leading emerging artists, Michael Simms’ career has taken a leap since he completed his classical training at Sydney’s Julian Ashton Art School in 2014. In the last 12 months alone he has won three art prizes; the Cambridge Studio Gallery portrait prize, the Cliftons Sydney Art prize and the Cliftons People’...

Suzanne Archer has been an influential artist in Australia for over four decades, producing superb works across painting, drawing and sculpture. Born in Surrey, England, Archer has lived in Australia nearly all her adult life. For the past 30 years she has lived in the bushland suburb of Wedderburn, on the outskirts of Sydney, in a thriving artist’s community. She made her mark in the art wo...

One of Australia’s most outstanding painters, McLean Edwards had his first solo show at 16 years of age when he was still at high school. Since then he has had 30 solo exhibitions with his most recent, ‘Marsupials’, about to open in New York at Olsen Gruin Gallery. He is a five time Archibald Prize finalist and has been included in the Archibald as a sitter four times. His compel...

Watch Alesandro Ljubicic in his studio here Alesandro Ljubicic’s nature-inspired paintings appear to be emerging from the canvas. He uses an impasto technique, applying thick layers of paint, to create extraordinary works which entice the viewer in for a closer look. Ljubicic has had seven solo shows, has been involved in many more group shows and has been a finalist in various art competiti...

Loribelle Spirovski’s career is rising. Fast. Although she only began painting seriously about five years ago, in just over the last two she won the Cambridge Studio Gallery Art prize and has been a finalist in 18 other art competitions including the Black Swan Art Prize, Muswellbrook Art Prize, the Portia Geach Memorial Award and was semi finalist twice in the Doug Moran National Portrait p...

Jenny Sages was born in Shanghai, China, to Russian parents. Her family migrated to Australia in the 40s when she was a teenager. After studying at the Franklin School of Art in New York she returned to Australia where she worked as a freelance illustrator and writer, mainly in fashion and travel, for various magazines including Vogue. It wasn’t until the early 80s, when she went on a trip to the...

Acclaimed artist Belynda Henry has been painting professionally for over 20 years and has exhibited in over 25 solo shows across Australia.  Her works inspire an emotional response from many of her viewers achieved through her masterful use of colour, shape and brushstroke. Her shows sell out quickly, often within the first hour of the works becoming available, and she receives many commissions. H...

Harley Oliver was introduced to art at an early age. Born in New Zealand, he grew up in London with a history of painters in his family. He started oil painting at the age of eight so it was no surprise that he ended up at the Wimbledon art school.  But he studied there in the late sixties and early seventies when painting landscapes, which he was exploring at the time, was not in fashion and cert...

Alan Jones’ work crosses over painting, sculpture and collage. His most recent show was of exquisite painted wooden collages, many of which depicted the coastal landscape of Moonee Beach in NSW. With 22 solo shows and over 130 group shows under his belt, Jones has received many awards, including the Kilgour Prize, Mosman Art prize, Paddington Art Prize and Brett Whiteley Travelling Scholarsh...

Reg Mombassa, also known as Chris O’Doherty, has been exhibiting his paintings and drawings at Sydney’s Watters Gallery, nationally and internationally for over 40 years. In 2007 there was a major survey of his work at the SH Ervin Gallery in Sydney. He is also one of the leaders of a group of artists which created designs for the Mambo surf clothing label in the 80s and 90s.  A recent documentary...

When I started this podcast I thought 40 minutes should be the maximum length of each episode, but that meant leaving out some interesting parts of the conversation. So here are a few clips from those interviews which didn’t make it into the original episodes – a mixture of ideas on painting, life experiences and childhood memories. The artists are: Francis Giacco Katherine Hattam Loui...

Juliet Holmes à Court is a Sydney painter who has been exhibiting regularly since 1991.  Her work is all about capturing the sense or feeling of her subject. Her paintings are filled with light and movement and take the viewer to a place where the tangible becomes intangible. She has had 13 solo shows, four since 2006 with Australian Galleries, Sydney. She has been included in many more group show...

Euan Macleod is one of Australia’s and New Zealand’s most significant artists. He is best known for his powerful and symbolic paintings which set figures in a landscape. He has won many art awards including the Archibald, Wynne, Sulman, Blake, Tattersall’s and Gallipoli art prizes.  He has had over 100 solo shows and been involved in over 200 group shows across Australia and inte...

See my TWP YouTube video of Susan in her studio here (filmed in 2022) Susan O’Doherty is a contemporary painter who also works in mixed media assemblages which she creates with found objects.  Her work often deals with social issues but also examines the nature of time, recollections and past experiences. She has exhibited in over 25 solo shows across Australia and New Zealand and has been i...

Lucy Culliton is a contemporary realist painter who creates works across landscape, still life and portraiture. To give you an idea of Lucy Culliton’s popularity, in 2014 Sydney’s Mosman Art Gallery held a major survey of her work which contained over 100 works. That exhibition attracted more than 20,000 visitors. This year she was named as a finalist in all three Archibald, Wynne and...

John Bokor is an award winning landscape and still life artist. He grew up in Sydney and lives in Bulli, NSW. He has had over a dozen solo exhibitions and his work is held in many public and private collections. Equally prolific in drawing and painting, Bokor’s art depicts everyday life and his environment with an emotion and vibrancy which makes the viewer take notice. He has won several ar...

Nick Stathopoulos has been a finalist many times in Australia’s Archibald and Doug Moran Portrait prizes and his 2016 portrait ‘Deng’ of refugee lawyer Deng Adut was awarded the Archibald Prize’s People’s Choice award. Last year his painting of writer Robert Hoge was shortlisted in the renowned BP Portrait Award in London which attracted over 400,000 visitors.  The po...

Joanna Braithwaite grew up in Pleasant Point, a small country town in New Zealand, and has been living in Australia for over 16 years. In the last few weeks she has been named as a finalist in both the Sulman and Mosman art prizes and has been a finalist in many more including the Archibald and Portia Geach prizes. Her solo exhibition ‘Social Animal’ is currently showing at Martin Brow...

Abdul Abdullah is a four time Archibald finalist and this year he has paintings hanging in both the Archibald and Sulman prizes in the Art Gallery of NSW. He has won several art prizes including the Blake Prize for Human Justice in 2011 and has been finalist in many others. Abdul’s art delivers a strong message. Issues of identity and the current political environment concerning  the Muslim...

George Raftopoulos held his first solo show when he was still in his third year of university at only 20 years of age. He has been exhibiting ever since in Australia and internationally in New York, Hong Kong and Paris. He has a relentless energy and rebellious attitude which comes through in his art. I had been aware of Raftopoulos’ work for some time but it wasn’t until I started fol...

Louise Hearman is an acclaimed Melbourne artist and winner of the 2016 Archibald Prize for portraiture. She also won the prestigious Doug Moran National portrait prize in 2014 and has been the winner of  several other art prizes.  She is well known for her enigmatic and, at times, eerie portrayal of people and landscapes. She has had 12 solos shows and has been involved in many more group exhibiti...

Katherine Hattam is a multi award winning painter and printmaker whose works are held in most of Australia’s major public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and Art Gallery of NSW. She has exhibited in over 20 solo shows and many more group shows and has won numerous art prizes including the Banyule and Robert Jacks drawing prizes. In this c...

Most Australians have heard of the Archibald prize, the nation’s most famous portrait prize, partly because of the controversies which seem to follow it. When Francis Giacco won in 1994, that year was no exception. In this conversation, he recalls the day he won and how the win influenced his career.  Francis is a contemporary realist painter and lives in Sydney.  He has won and judged numer...