Tom Ray's Art Podcast

In this episode of Tom Ray's Art Podcast, we delve into the meticulous world of Sophie Parr, an artist who has mastered the art of hand-drawn maps. Sophie's journey from urban planner to map illustrator is as fascinating as their detailed creations, capturing locations from a bird's-eye view with striking pen and ink techniques. Sophie reveals how a simple family vacation activity evol...

In this episode of Tom Ray's Art Podcast, I meet Evie Woltil Richner, an artist and emerging author with a dream to create children's books. With roots in painting and drawing, Evie's journey has led to picture book illustration. Evie's transition from academia led to pursuing a passion for creating children's books. We talk about character design and the challenges of breaking...

In this episode of the Art Podcast, we dive into the quirky and slightly macabre world of Madison-based artist Sara Christenson, of Bunny Attack Illustration. Their pen and ink illustrations of "weird rabbits" blend the adorable with the eerie. Sara's bunnies aren't your typical fluffy creatures; they're fierce, sometimes spooky, and always captivating. Join us as we uncover...

In this episode of Tom Ray's Art Podcast, I meet Maria Amalia, a Honduras-born, Madison-based artist with a penchant for community-focused art and a rich history that spans continents and mediums. From aspirations in architecture to graphic design, and finally, to the tactile world of paper making, Maria's artistic evolution is a captivating tale of resilience, adaptability, and profound p...

In this episode of the Art Podcast, I meet Angel Manuel Lopez. Discover how a truck driver's son turned a childhood filled with comic books into a career-spanning movie poster designs for films, branding for comedians, and creating comic book variants that capture the imagination. Angel's journey from traditional artist to a 3D modeling maven is a tale of relentless learning and passion. A...

In this episode of the Art Podcast, I meet Jesse Mangerson, a Madison-based fine art painter and educator with a passion for realism. Jesse shares his artistic evolution from aspiring illustrator, interning at the New Yorker, to a dedicated painter who finds solace in the act of painting itself. He opens up about his journey from illustration to fine art, the meditative qualities of his work, and...

In this episode of the art podcast, we delve into the multifaceted world of Sylvie Rosenthal, a woodworker, sculptor, designer, and educator based in Madison, Wisconsin. Sylvie discusses their journey from New Haven, Connecticut, through various cities, and how a residency led to setting roots in Madison for love and grad school. We explore the complexities of managing a studio, creating large-sca...

GG of Green Goodies found purpose and community through art after starting their teaching career. When the pandemic hit, GG turned to TikTok, using live streams to combat loneliness. GG's videos led to a portrait project documenting unfiltered stories of life. Green Goodies website https://www.greengoodies.art Green Goodies on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/greengoodiesgives Green Goodies...

Photographer Kamal X shares his journey from posting photos on Instagram to publishing books documenting real-life moments. After losing his best friend to cancer, Kamal began traveling the world and using his camera as an outlet. His work evolved into a quest to find answers through investigative journalism compiling his experiences into the book Black Astronaut. He aimed to provide a visual pers...

This is an experimental bonus episode! Since it's the holidays I wanted to wait until they were over to post the next artist interview. So I thought I would try a little experiment. I take a lot of marketing courses. And to tell you the truth they all teach the same thing. But one that I took talked about how to build an audience when you are starting out with nothing and building your own pro...

Visual artist Chelsea Ramirez discusses their delicate, layered drawings and installations using pigments and found objects. After discovering their passion at the New York Studio School, Chelsea has spent the last decade developing her signature style of "radical softness" to subtly resist social constructs. We explore Chelsea's large-scale piece "The White Room," her home...

Pat Henzy has been creating art since he was young, covering his walls with drawings and finding inspiration in the artistic films of the 80s and 90s. While art remained a hobby for years, Pat eventually started posting illustrations on Instagram. By tagging breweries in these beer-inspired posts, Pat landed their first commission. From there, social media connections and engagement snowballed int...

Surrealist pop artist Lindsay Kovnat Davis talks about their evolution from animation to painting and their first major gallery show. Featuring cats and invasive lantern flies, Lindsay brought their art to life with sculptural frames made of wood and foam. After a successful debut, Lindsay plans to do more shows, collaborate on animation, and even make a full-length animated film someday. Lindsay...

On this podcast episode, painter Pranav Sood stops by again to talk. Pranav was born in Punjab, India, and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. He works primarily with acrylic, gouache, and watercolors both on canvas and paper. Last time we spoke we talked about the inspiration and technique of their work. But this time around we talk about trying new things and how Pranav was inspired to create a whole new...

On this podcast episode, I meet Jordan Baraniecki. Jordan is an artist from Saskatoon, Canada. His ink collage paintings are a mesmerizing blend of intricate detail and three-dimensional aspects, inviting viewers to experience a unique relationship with scale through the use of color, texture, and form. We talk about how Jordan discovered the style and method for the work they create and how they...

On this podcast episode, I meet Kate Rusek. Kate is a sculptor from New York currently working in Montana. Kate Rusek assembles highly tactile sculptures transmuting these themes into abundant maximalism. We talk about Kate's current project they are doing in Montana, other works they've created over the years, and how they create their unique pieces. Some of which are works made out of al...

On this podcast episode, I meet Angela Cappetta. Angela is a photographer living in Manhattan. Angela's creative work has appeared on art blogs, in media as diverse as film, television, and thriving rights-managed collections like ImageSource. Angela's shooting philosophy offers a unique blend of poignant, candid, and sometimes humorous views of the human condition. Angela Cappetta Website...

On this podcast episode, I meet Amra Causevic. Amra is an artist living in New York. Amra creates their work in a very unique way, the work includes mixed found objects made into materials for the pieces and also uses different things they find that have a connection or a story to them. I talked with Amra about how this all started and the process for creating these works that have been displayed...

On this podcast episode, I meet Debbi Kenote. Debbi is a New York-based artist who creates paintings on their own unique canvases. We talk about how Debbi got started, how they discovered the style they make, and the different opportunities they have had since showing work publicly. Links Debbi Kenote website https://debbikenoteart.com Debbi Kenote on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/debbikenot...

On this podcast episode, I meet Estefania Velez Rodriguez. Estefania is an American artist born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico living in New York. Her work often uses abstracted landscapes as well as non-objective visual spaces that are somewhat open field and bright. Estefania experiments with raw pigments, spray materials, oil mediums, and acrylic polymers. Her painting language ruptures visual spaces...

On this podcast episode, I meet Sfera Louis. Sfera is a painter living in Brooklyn New York. Sfera describes their paintings as Spherealism and works on several paintings simultaneously. With a background in working with music promotion, Sfera has a solid grassroots method of promoting creative work, which has led to making their own studio home to open mics for creatives and gallery salons! Sfera...

On this podcast episode, I meet Damone Harris of Mone Media. Damone is a video creator living in Milwaukee WI. I found out about Damone on YouTube a few years back because they have a weekly video series recreating Saturday Morning cartoon broadcasts from the 1980s and earlier. And I mean the commercials, station breaks, cartoon lineup, and everything! But Damone also has a unique way of telling s...

On this podcast episode, I meet Melanie Sartori. Melanie is an artist living here in Madison WI. Melanie is a multidisciplinary, experimental self-taught artist creating abstract and surreal scenes with acrylic, oil and plaster. Melanie started selling artwork publicly in 2018 and one thing that worked was posting it on Facebook Marketplace! Melanie Sartori on Etsy Melanie Sartori on Instagram Joi...

On this podcast episode, I meet Peter Schenck. Peter is an artist living in Brooklyn, New York. Their artwork is abstract, with what Peter calls a cartoonish language of his own world of symbols. We talk about how Peter got started and how their paintings have found their way into galleries and more! Peter Schenck's website https://www.peterschenck.com Peter Schenck on Instagram http://instagr...

On this podcast episode, I meet Drew Sternitzky. Drew is an artist living in Wisconsin who draws a comic called Mr. Hugh’s History. It's a weekly comic strip about events big and small that have shaped our collective history. And it's also available now in a new book! Mr. Hugh's History on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mrhughshistory My New book Then This Happened... Going outsid...