The Creative Kind

This week I’m joined by two returning guests, Nick Smith and Laura Brandon, who answered questions that have come in from listeners over the past year. Nick is the founder and director of N. Smith Gallery in Sydney, representing artists across Australia and exhibiting internationally through museums, art fairs and major projects. Laura is a Sydney based art consultant and artist mentor with over 2...

In this episode of The Creative Kind I’m joined by curator, writer and arts mentor Amber Creswell Bell. During the year I have been collecting a whole lot of questions from listeners, so in this Q&A epsiode, we cover a wide range of things: from galleries and art prizes to pricing your work and building a career independently. Some of the questions came in around knowing when inspiration becom...

In today’s episode I'm talking with Joshua Brew, an Australian artist working on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja country in Perth. Joshua explores contemporary masculinity in his graphite drawings. His practice looks at identity & vulnerability, often turning the focus inward and using his own body as his subject, examining what it means to see and be seen. Joshua and I talk about his experience of...

This week I'm joined by two returning guests, Sarah Birtles and Rachael Parsons, who answered questions that have come in from listeners over the past year. Sarah is an art dealer and director of Sarah Birtles Gallery, who recently opened a new space in Springwood in the Blue Mountains. Rachael is the director of the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), marking 10 years in the role this ye...

Anita Phillips is a West Australian landscape painter raised on a Wheatbelt farm, who spent close to four decades as a home economics teacher before painting became her full-time focus. In this conversation she talks about selling her Perth home, resigning from teaching, and moving to the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong and what she expects to change, and not change, in her and her work once she'...

In this episode I talked with Amy Stapleton about changing direction in her art practice. Amy has moved from painting gum trees and landscapes towards more abstract and experimental work. We discuss the difficulty of moving away from work that has been successful and how she has facilitated her practice to change.  Amy talks about burnout, the value of stepping away, and how a residency at Th...

Laura Brinin is back on the podcast, and today we're talking about mentoring. Laura is a curator and arts administrator, and one half of Side Gallery in Brisbane, and she also works at a university art gallery and does professional development with artists. We talk about whether Laura had a mentor herself, and the piece of advice she got early on that she now thinks was the best bad advice she's e...

This week I chat with Nick Smith, founder and director of N. Smith Gallery in Sydney to talk about what gallery representation looks like; What does a gallery really do? How do they decide who to work with? And what makes a gallery relationship successful over the long term? Since opening in 2021, Nick has built a gallery that represents 26 artists across Australia while exhibiting internationally...

In this episode I sit down with Rachael Parsons, Director of the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), to talk about copying and copyright in visual art. We trace copying's long history as a teaching tool and talk about the point where it tips over into forgery or passing someone else's work off as your own. Rachael breaks down what copyright law actually protects (a specific artwork) vers...

In this episode, I'm joined once again by Amanda Billing, who has completed several 100 Day Projects over the years. This time, she reflects on what happened when she spent 100 consecutive days working with clay, why she invited a community of artists to join her, and what she learned from watching dozens of people move through the same experience. We talk about why the 100 Day Project can be used...

Sam Michelle and Deb McKenzie met more then a decade ago when they were both given studios in a shared space through their framer. What started as five or six days a week working alongside each other quietly became one of the most important relationships in both their practices. In this conversation we talk about what it means to have someone who genuinely gets it, not just the excitement of a new...

Most artists know the Affordable Art Fair exists. What it's actually like to be there as an artist, on the floor, in the booth, talking to strangers about your work for four days straight, is a different story. Georgia Huestis is the Fair Director of the Affordable Art Fair in Australia, with Fairs in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and she was so generous with information this week in our chat. In...

What if standing in front of a work of art actually changed it? That's the question at the heart of this conversation with Harriet Schwarzrock, an Australian glass artist who captures plasma inside blown glass vessels that respond to your presence. Move closer, and the light shifts. Touch the surface, and it intensifies. The viewer literally becomes part of the circuit. Harriet is a doctoral candi...

Today on The Creative Kind, I’m talking to artist Lucy Hersey, who lives and works in South Gippsland, Victoria, creating paintings made from earth pigments she gathers and processes by hand. Lucy’s work is deeply connected to landscape, not just visually, but materially. She collects clays, rocks, and natural pigments from the land around her and turns them into paint, creating works that are lit...

In this episode of The Creative Kind , I’m joined by Jasmine Kroeze and Petrina Jose for a conversation about pivoting, what it really looks like to change direction creatively, professionally, and personally. We talk about how Jasmine moved from fashion and textile design into mural work, why Petrina stepped back from painting to rebuild her branding business, and how both of them navigate t...

In this episode, I'm joined by three of the women behind Sunny Studios : painter Rachael Mayne , artist Hannah Radford, and interior stylist Julia Fowler , to talk about what it really looks and feels like to build and sustain a shared creative space. We talk about how they found their large originally unglamorous space and why that was actually a smart move. What I hadn't expected going into this...

This week I'm talking to Col Mac, a Brisbane-based interdisciplinary artist whose practice is grounded in painting but regularly extends into text, sculpture, and installation. His work explores time, place, memory, and history. Col has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize and the Brisbane Portrait Prize, with work featured in The New York Times and the Washington Post. In this conversation we'r...

In this episode, I'm joined by West Australian painter Wendy Marinich . We discuss what it actually looks like to build a body of work when you're in the middle of figuring it all out. Wendy came to painting a few years ago, after careers in floristry, catering, and working as a pasta maker at a well-known Perth restaurant. In that relatively short time, she's developing a practice that has a cohe...

Today I'm talking with sisters Kass and Lauren Hernandez, the fibre artists behind Crossing Threads . This was an interesting conversation about what creative strategy actually looks like in practice; the real, week to week decisions that go into building a sustainable creative practice. Kass and Lauren are first generation Australians of Filipino heritage, living and working on Wangal and Gadigal...

Sophie Vander is back, and this time we're going straight to your questions. Since Sophie's first appearance on the podcast back in August 2024, I have had a lot of follow up questions come in- it seems you had so much more you wanted to hear from her. So did I! Sophie is the founder and director of Curatorial+Co, a Sydney-based contemporary art gallery and consultancy on William Street in Woolloo...

In this episode I’m talking with painter Alyssa Monks about how feedback, both internal and external, shapes an artist’s work and confidence. We explore what kinds of critique have helped her over her career and how she learned to distinguish useful feedback from noise. Alyssa shares how critical comments that bother you can sometimes be the most revealing. We also dive into the psychological side...

In this episode, I’m joined by artist and writer Diana Weymar, whose practice involves textiles, language, and collective participation. Diana is best known for the Tiny Pricks Project, an ongoing body of embroidered text works responding to political language, poetry, and cultural moments. We talk about what it means to make and share work when the world feels overwhelming, and how artists d...

In this episode, I’m joined by landscape painter Debbie Mackenzie, who lives and works on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Debbie shares how her paintings grow out of the places she spends time in, and how her ideas evolve naturally as she works toward a solo exhibition. We talk about what it means to build a body of work rather than individual paintings, and how each piece can influence the next....

In this episode, I’m joined by Sydney based curator, writer, and artist mentor Amber Creswell Bell to talk about what it really means to be an artist right now, particularly in a slower market. Amber brings a broad perspective from working closely with emerging artists, running a national art prize, curating exhibitions, and spending years inside the commercial gallery system. We discuss what arti...

n this episode of The Creative Kind , I sit down with artists Fleur Woods and Hannah Jensen Fox to talk about the impact and significance of art workshops. Fleur, a fiber artist and paint carver Hannah, share their experiences teaching workshops and how these sessions have benefited their practices and personal growth. We explore the dynamics of workshops, the invaluable connections and community...