Willy (Wilamina) Russo

Season Five of Interview With An Artist is Gallery Directors and Managers from around Australia. We’re heading west again. Far north west, Western Australia. To Port Headland on Kariyarra Country and the land of the Karriyarra, Ngarla and Nymal people. The Junction Co’s Courthouse Gallery + Studio is a small but mighty group running a gallery and creative hub in one of Australia’s most isolated to...

Season Five of Interview With An Artist is Gallery Directors from around Australia. William Mansfield , the Gallery Manager of Arthouse Gallery on the land originally known as Kogerah by the Gadigal people or Rushcutters Bay, joins us this week.  Will first joined the gallery in a part time capacity after graduating with first class honours from COFA. Over the last 13 years working in the gal...

Season Five of Interview With An Artist is Gallery Directors from around Australia. Sandy Tippett from The Studio Gallery and Bistro in Yallingup on the land of the Wardandi people in Western Australia, has been at the gallery for eight years.  Sandy is the classic, graphic designer working in advertising who then moved into painting for her own practice and now is running a gallery. In today...

Season 5 of Interview With An Artist is Gallery Directors from around Australia. Ralph Hobbs is one of the founders behind Nanda Hobbs Gallery in Sydney.  The first part of Ralph's career was spent teaching high school students about art and developing his own practice. Eventually his desire to talk to adults about art pushed him into the gallery realm. Fast forward to today, and Ralph has be...

Season 5 of Interview With An Artist is Gallery Directors from around Australia.  Amber Creswell Bell is the Director of Emerging Art at Michael Reid . Amber’s career into art began with writing, and then curating her own shows with artists she hand picked, to eventually being approached by Michael to join their team. In the five years since joining the group, her role has evolved from an onl...

@jasmine_mansbridge www.jasminemansbridge.com For the final episode of 2022 Jasmine Mansbridge joins us. Jasmine first joined the show back in 2020. Her murals, paintings and sculptures caught Willy's eye. Jasmine paints geometrical works that seem like portals or windows to another world. There is some incredible line work in her paintings - straight lines - and Jasmine doesn't use painters tape!...

@e_milydaystudio @katequinnart @bloom_art_experiences Have you ever considered running creative workshops? Today's guest are the artists behind Bloom Art Experiences .  Brisbane based Emily Day and Kate Quinn started Bloom in early 2021. Far from the paint by numbers, or paint and sip type experience, every workshop is in a beautiful location, where each participant paints something unique. T...

@r_o_n_e www.rone.art Rone is arguably Australia's preeminent street artist. The softly spoken, humble creative grew up in Geelong Victoria.  It was in his early 20s riding his skateboard around Melbourne that he really connected with street art. It was a discovery which steered his life in a completely different direction. Murals and installation work has taken him around the world, with his...

@arch_pierre_mukeba The light and life in Pierre Mukeba is undeniable. The self taught artist won the Churchie art prize in 2017, the RamsayArt Prize People's Choice in 2019, and has exhibited in the Adelaide Biennial and the NGV Triennial and has had two solo shows with Roslyn Oxley. Pierre's story is one of navigating culture and finding what you want to say as an artist; of self belief and pers...

@julzberesford_artist www.julzberesford.com After a 20 year career as a food stylist, Julz Beresford has had a roaring start to her life as an artist. In the first four years of painting full time, she was hand picked up by Amber Creswell Bell to join the showing roster with Michael Reid.  And although it might seem like it's all happened overnight, it hasn't. Julz studied fine art at COFA straigh...

@julienicholsonartist www.julienicholsonartist.com Julie Nicholson needs little introduction. The Batman to Fiona Verity's Robin, the Art W**k duo have forged a pathway in the Australian art world with their much loved podcast. But we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about Julie's art. Julie has been creating ever since she can remember. Loving the process of bringing something t...

@carolinezilinsky www.zilinsky.com Interview With An Artist is the show where Willy Russo speaks with a range of art world players. Caroline Zilinsky is a Sydney based artist working in the portraiture and figurative genre. She is represented by Nanda Hobbs and this year was a finalist in the Archibald Prize with her portrait of Australian celebrities and 2021 Block winners, Mitch and Mark. This p...

@gemmarasdall @chateau_orquevaux www.chateauorquevaux.com International residencies are something I get asked a lot about. And previous guest and friend of the pod Sydney artist Gemma Rasdall has just returned from one in France. So you know what, I thought I would ask her all the questions you ask me. From how do you apply, to what art supplies do you take, to do you get your own room, to what we...

Sydney Contemporary is back and in full swing for 2022! This bonus episode is a live recording and very much thanks to the generous offer of Michael Reid OAM to walk me, Willy Russo, around the fair. He then connected me with Tim Klingender, who connected me with Kalli Rolfe. You have to listen to find out why and how that all happened! Special guests we bump into along the way: Barry Keldoulis -...

@georgiadrawsahouse www.georgiadrawsahouse.com A late night spray paint expedition and an unplanned PR sensation saw Georgia Draws A House blast into existence. It all began with a drawing of her childhood home for her mum. And then one for her mum's friend. And then one for her mum's friends' friend. And then her mum's friends' friends' friend. And you get the picture. Georgia Norton Lodge is an...

@nk_nk_ www.nicolerenaekelly.com How many of us run towards something we don't know how to do? I would say for the most part, we run in the opposite direction! But for NSW South Coast based artist Nicole Kelly, it's a major driver in her painting. Her desire to paint subject matter she is quite sure how to tackle, is what keeps her interested. It also means she has that elusive career that is buil...

@artandculturejournal Alan Cruickshank the third was born to ideally take over the family publishing business in Adelaide from his father, Alan Cruickshank the second. Alan the third had other plans - he found the art world. Throughout Alan's career in the art world, he has spent time as an artist, a curator, he also held a leadership role for 15 years as the Director of The Contemporary Art Centr...

@messengerartadvisory www.messengerart.org Jane Messenger is the founder and director of Messenger Art Advisory. Jane works with clients ranging from large corporations, high net worth individuals and more recently emerging collectors, helping to bring rigour to their art buying experience. You see Jane spent over a decade working at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Some of her projects involve...

@fionaverity www.fionaverityartist.com You may know my guest this week for a variety of reasons. You may know her distinctive drawings of interiors and objects captured with vigour and life; she may have taught you in one of her much loved art classes on Sydney's Northern Beaches; or maybe you've tuned in to the wildly entertaining and engaging ArtW**k podcasts . My guest this week is the Sydney b...

@matthewquick www.matthewquick.com.au Buckle in. This week's episode is a wide ranging conversation about travel adventures, creativity, and among other things, how the Playboy bunny got its name. I'm serious! My guest this week is Melbourne based painter Matthew Quick. What you are going to realise about Matthew is that he loves a good story. Throughout his life of traveling in his earlier years,...

@catherine_odo www.catherineodonnell.com.au My guest this week is drawing artist Catherine O’Donnell. It was one of Catherine’s curtains that caught my eye. She drew the most simple of settings with a feeling someone had just passed behind. Catherine's work is an honouring of the quiet homes and lives. The homes and lives that maybe don’t get a second glance. That is until she captures them. A lat...

@lwengemboart www.lwengembo.com I want you to imagine this. You're in your early 20s, you've grown up in a big close family. You're a budding artist and have been accepted to speak at a symposium in Paris. You've never flown overseas before and your mum's not that keen on you going, but she knows its important to you, so she lets you go. Your trip has a layover and in that layover, you find out yo...

@graingergallery www.graingergallery.com This week's show starts with a love story. A love story built on food, art, wine, and now a gallery. Joining us on the show is Canberra based artist and gallery owner, Kacy Grainger. Kacy and her husband Richard met at art school in the 90s. She was studying art, he was studying art history and curation, and together after graduation they flew off to e...

@andreahuelinartist www.andreahuelin.com Cairns based artist Andrea Huelin owes a failed job application for becoming a full time painter.  Andrea works on the ethos of pushing yourself and putting yourself out there. An attitude that saw her exhibiting in the Cairns Regional Gallery, which is where James Dorahy who was working with the Michael Reid group at the time saw her work. James...

@ger.wyn www.gerwyndavies.com From his early days of stealing a housemates sewing machine and watching Good Morning Australia, to now collaborating with global luxury brand Hermes, Gerwyn Davies has come a long way. His photographic works are layered in skill and creativity. Not only does Gerwyn take the picture. He is the model, the costume designer, the fabricator and also the set maker. A Spotl...