Episodes

  • S2E44: Bella McGoldrick, Photo Realistic Artist

    S2E44: Bella McGoldrick, Photo Realistic Artist
    Oct 29 2024
    The New Zealand-Australian photo realistic artist Bella McGoldrick says her intention is first to present the subjects to which she's had a connection and secondly to bring a connection between those subjects and the viewer, to take them back to a place, to a time, to a taste or even a smell. Bella was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1993, the youngest of three girls to parents, Mel McGoldrick and Mark O’Sullivan. When Bella was seven years old, the family moved to Melbourne in search of a new life. Bella developed an interest in art from an early age and her talent soon became apparent when she started taking commissions for portrait drawings as a teenager. But it was her interest in fashion design that guided her career and she graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Fashion Design degree. As a student Bella spent time in Paris surviving on a minimal budget until she sold her first artwork and then took off for a tour of Europe before returning to school in Melbourne. Her lust for travel became her focal point and with her heart set on New York she made her way to the Big Apple finding work as an intern in the fashion industry. Meanwhile Bella continued to take commissions for her art and with a new boyfriend—who later became her husband—they spent time in London before moving to Colorado. It was from there that Bella was deported from the US and with her now fiancée travelled around until finally returning to Australia. Now as an established and sought-after artist Bella is settled in Byron Bay with her husband Tyler and twin boys Rome and Ruby.

    Bella’s website: https://bella.gold/
    Instagram @bellamcgoldrick
    https://www.instagram.com/bellamcgoldrick

    Bella’s favorite female artists:
    Chloe Wise
    Caroline Pinney
    Peggy Guggenheim
    Stevie Dance
    Sophia Coppola

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
    AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • S2E43: Natasha Ruschka, Landscape & Still Life Oil Painter

    S2E43: Natasha Ruschka, Landscape & Still Life Oil Painter
    Oct 22 2024
    This week is the Australian landscape and still life oil painter Natasha Ruschka. Natasha says: “Taking seemingly simple scenes and transforming them into a beautiful and interesting vignette with only oil paints feels like my very own form of magic.” Natasha was born in Subiaco, Western Australia in 1974 and has two step sisters. Her mother Linda is also a prolific artist, as is her biological father John. Natasha was raised by her step-father David, who was an army officer, which meant the family frequently relocated in the South Pacific region. At the age of four, Natasha moved to Papua New Guinea for two years and again later as a teenager. She attended St Hilda’s School in Southport on the Gold Coast before moving back to Canberra to her family to finish school. After graduating high school Natasha decided to study business computing as a way to find employment. At the age of 18 she found herself working in the Hyatt hotel where she met her future husband. The couple moved to Brisbane for his work and later to Colorado. It was there that Natasha discovered an interest in art at the Park Hill Art school and she never looked back. The couple returned to Canberra in 2019, by which time Natasha had established herself as an artist. She say’s she doesn’t believe in talent but has a good eye. She loves the excitement of a blank canvas and the promise at the beginning. Natasha lives in Canberra with her husband Greg. They have three children, Nadya, Vienne and Zach.

    Natasha’s website: https://www.natasharuschka.com/
    Instagram: @natasharuschka
    https://www.instagram.com/natasharuschka_art

    Natasha’s favorite female artists
    Carol Marine
    Lori Putnam
    Haidee Jo Summers
    Clarice Beckett (d)

    Margaret Ollie (d)
    Hilda Rix Nicholas (d)

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
    AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • S2E42: Victoria Obolensky, Seascape Artist

    S2E42: Victoria Obolensky, Seascape Artist
    Oct 15 2024
    This week we hear from the British seascape artist Victoria Obolensky whose work has been sold worldwide to high profile collectors, including Prince Albert II of Monaco, Ralph Lauren and Joely Richardson. Victoria was born in 1972 in Hammersmith, London, the only child of Linda White, an artist and journalist. Her father Gavin Cowper left the family when Victoria was just six months old and she was raised by her mother and stepfather Alex White who owned Gresham Publishing. The family moved to Malta in the Mediterranean when Victoria was two years old returning to London when she was seven. She attended the Sacred Heart School in Malta followed by the Glendower Girls Primary School in South Kensington. When the family moved to Hampshire, Victoria attended the Rookwood School in Andover. An interest in photography attracted her to the Chelsea School of Art and later the Camberwell School of Art in London and she soon made her mark as a talented photographer exhibiting in the Andipa Gallery in London. Her first career was in journalism following in her mother's footsteps by working for glossy magazines such as Homes & Gardens, Elle, Vanity Fair and Tatler. In 2019, her focus moved to painting and during the Covid lockdown period she established herself as an artist. In the past two years Victoria has sold 480 paintings through her website, social media and galleries. Victoria lives in Dartmouth, Devon with her son Max and Persian cat Toby.

    https://victoriaobolensky.com/
    Instagram: @victoriaobolensky.art
    https://www.instagram.com/victoriaobolensky.art

    Victoria’s favorite female artists:
    Katherine Burns
    Judy Chicago
    Irina Cumberland

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
    AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • S2E41: Jocelyn Stokes, Wildlife Filmmaker, Biologist, Conservationist

    S2E41: Jocelyn Stokes, Wildlife Filmmaker, Biologist, Conservationist
    Oct 8 2024
    This week's guest is the American wildlife biologist, conservationist and filmmaker, Jocelyn Stokes. Jocelyn has filmed programming for PBS NATURE, Mongabay, National Geographic, the BBC, Waterbear, ILCP, Health in Harmony, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Future Alam Borneo and Borneo Futures, among others. She is most at home filming endangered species in some of the world's most remote wilderness locations. Her technical skills in long lens shooting, gimbal work and drone operation to capture unique natural history sequences have led to award-winning conservation films. Jocelyn was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the eldest of three; she has two brothers. Her father Robert Stokes is in media marketing and her mother Debra a medical assistant and artist. Growing up in the desert, Jocelyn spent her childhood outdoors exploring nature and wildlife. And she was fascinated by still photography from an early age immersing herself in storytelling with her camera. By the time she had graduated high school Jocelyn knew the career she wanted and achieved her BA in Photography from Lewis & Clark followed by graduate studies at Oregon State University for Wildlife Sciences. Jocelyn traveled to South East Asia after college and began to lay the foundation for her career of combining her passions of wildlife conservation and filmmaking from producing a documentary to conserve sun bears in Borneo to environmental journalism pieces for the conservation news web portal Mongabay. She is currently filming and producing a PBS NATURE series In Her Nature focused on female wildlife conservationists around the world, beginning with Nepal, Indonesia, Costa Rica, and Madagascar, which will air in March 2025. Jocelyn is married to wildlife photographer, Peter Mangolds, and the couple live in Jackson Hole, WY.

    Jocelyn’s website: https://www.jocelynstokes.com/
    Her Wild Life https://www.herwildlife.com/
    Instagram: @wiledandstoked
    https://www.instagram.com/wildandstoked/

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
    AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • S2E40: Sydney Swisher, Multi-media Artist

    S2E40: Sydney Swisher, Multi-media Artist
    Oct 1 2024
    This week’s guest is the American multi-media artist Sydney Swisher whose work on fabric creates a unique dimension to weaving photography and digital art with textiles. Her tapestries explore memory, materiality, and machine intelligence as she references family photos to generate locations based on descriptions of childhood memories. Sydney was born in Olney, Illinois in 1994 the oldest of three children; she has a sister Maci and brother Sutton. She comes from a family of educators; her mother Melissa was a kindergarten teacher and father Martin, a high school science teacher. But it was a BA Mass Communications studying TV and Radio with a Minor in Art that Sydney chose at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from where she graduated in 2016. Her internships included graphic design while photographing weddings would help her develop her skills as a photographer. Sydney returned to Illinois to focus on her art career and her first solo exhibition, Fabricate, was shown in Peoria, Illinois in March 2024. She is currently preparing for a new show in Chicago this month. Sydney and her husband Nash live in Newton, Illinois with their two whippets.

    Sydney’s website: https://www.sydneyswisher.com/
    Instagram: @sydswisher https://www.instagram.com/sydswisher/

    Sydney’s favorite women artists:
    Jenna Gribbon
    Megan Lewis
    Holly Andres
    Sasha Gordon
    Njideka Akunyili Crosby

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    57 mins
  • S2E39: Ilse de Villiers, Wildlife Acrylic Artist

    S2E39: Ilse de Villiers, Wildlife Acrylic Artist
    Sep 24 2024
    This week's guest is the South African wildlife acrylic artist Ilse de Villiers. Ilse works in detailed realism of her subjects, which portray the dramatic wildlife of Africa in its natural habitat drawing mainly from photographic reference. Ilse says although she was always considered relatively talented she was not encouraged to pursue art so making it her career was never in her wildest dreams. Ilse was born in Durban in 1965, one of two daughter to father Frik Kleynhans (d) an education inspector, and mother Julie Kleynhans, a secretary, talented batik artist, horticulturist and watercolorist. An outdoor child, Ilse was always an animal lover with a wandering mind. She describes herself as a neat and organized person who preferred pencils to paint as a child. Ilse graduated with a B.A degree and Diploma in Higher Education at Bloemfontein University before teaching at a High School. In 1987 she married her college boyfriend Abraham de Villiers and the couple eventually moved to his family’s farm in Middelburg, Bethal where they raised a family while Ilse became a farm girl, cooking, sewing, baking and gardening. The tragic loss of their eldest son Abraham Jnr. in 1996 in a farm accident would prove a pivotal point in Ilse’ life when some months later a friend encouraged her to start painting which turned out to be the therapy she needed. She says she found a creative expression and that became the beginning of her life story as an artist. Ilse and her husband live in Tzaneen in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Her husband’s photographs are often used by Ilse as reference. They have a son Herman and daughter Julése. Ilse annually shows her artwork at two shows and in galleries across the US.

    Ilse’ website https://ilsewildlife.com/
    Ilse on Instagram: @ilse_wildlife
    https://www.instagram.com/ilse_wildlife/

    Women who inspire Ilse:
    Danielle Fisher
    Carla Grace
    Thalia Stanton
    Annie Drew
    Dina Brodsky
    Louise Hancock
    Samantha Greenhill
    Sandra Bartels

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
    AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • S2E38: Ashlea Downes, Camera Operator, Steadicam Operator

    S2E38: Ashlea Downes, Camera Operator, Steadicam Operator
    Sep 17 2024
    This week the South African camera operator and steadicam operator, Ashlea Downes. Among Ashlea’s credits are the popular Netflix series Bridgerton on which she is working with a previous guest on this podcast, Alicia Robbins. Ashlea has also worked on House of the Dragon, Wicked, Skyfall, Spider-Man: Far From Home and His Dark Materials. Ashlea was born in Pretoria, South African in 1985. Her father, Ant, was an accountant and business owner, and her mother, Alex, an artist and art teacher. Her brother, Scott, is a hand painted sign artist. Ashlea grew up enjoying sports and the outdoors; she was a competitive rider, taking after her mother who was a keen horsewoman. She also swam, played water polo and netball but academia was not her rap. Instead she followed her father’s interest in photography and her mother’s talent for art. Her love of wildlife gave her aspirations to be a wildlife documentary filmmaker so it was no surprise that these influences steered her to the AFDA Film School where she graduated with a degree in Cinematography. After college, her relentless determination and ambition to break into the industry opened up opportunities that would prove the foundation of her career, and soon she would find herself being called up for the Bond movie Skyfall filming in Turkey and then to the UK to film at the London Olympics. A turning point in her career was moving to the UK shortly after where she met her partner and found steady work from trainee to 2nd AC/ loader and then making her mark as a camera operator. Ashlea lives between Reading, England and Cape Town, South Africa with her husband Karl Taggart. She is currently working as a camera operator on Season 4 of Bridgerton.

    Ashlea on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4701569/
    Instagram: @ashlea_downes
    https://www.instagram.com/ashlea_downes

    Ashlea’s favorite women in visual arts:
    Charlotte Bruus Christensen
    Mandy Walker
    Reed Morano
    Rachel Morrison
    Catherine Goldschmidt
    Alicia Robbins
    Alice Brook
    Elana Garret

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
    AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    59 mins
  • S2E37: Goldie Poblador, Glass and Scent Artist

    S2E37: Goldie Poblador, Glass and Scent Artist
    Sep 10 2024
    This week the Filipina artist Goldie Poblador who works in scent and glass interactive instillation art. Goldie specializes in glass flameworking combined with performance, video, installation, and scent embodying themes of feminism, the environment, and decolonization as it relates to the body. Goldie was born in Manila, The Philippines in 1987. Her parents; Napoleon Poblador, a lawyer and painter and Gizela Poblador, a home-maker who had earlier studied dentistry. Goldie is the eldest of four children; she has three younger brothers. She was, she says, an imaginative child who enjoyed creating worlds and performing. Her parents exposed her to art and music; she visited art shows, galleries and museums, learned the piano, and performed in a drama club. By the age of 18 Goldie was performing in a Punk band; something she likes to recreate today for fun. But it was her fascination with glass and painting that would steer her through college. She graduated from the University of The Philippines in 2009 with a BFA in Studio Art and later with an MFA Glass from the Rhode Island School of Design. Between colleges Goldie was introduced to the Scuola Abate Zanetti in Murano, Italy. She also worked as an artist and attended the Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, co-founded by the renown glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. Goldie has been exhibited internationally at such institutions as the Yangon Secretariat Building Knockdown Center, Cemeti Art House, Singapore Art Museum, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Fine Art Museum of Hanoi and The Cultural Center of the Philippines. She is currently working on a show for the Art Fair in The Philippines in 2025. Goldie will be a featured artist in the Sensorium, Stories of Glass and Fragrance; an exhibition that will explore the millennia-long relationships between glass, perfumery, and the storage of scent, at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) from September 7, 2024 - February 1, 2025. Goldie is married to Joseph Sousa and the couple live in New York City.

    https://goldiepoblador.com/Information
    Instagram: @_goldieland
    https://www.instagram.com/_goldieland

    Goldie’s favorite female artists:
    Janine Antoni
    Agnes Arellano
    Joan Jonas
    Camille Claudel
    Kiki Smith

    Host: Chris Stafford
    Produced by Hollowell Studios
    Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram
    AART on Facebook
    Email: hollowellstudios@gmail.com

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.
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    1 hr and 4 mins