Bench Talk

How do you build an international mural career when Australia feels like the other side of the world?

In this episode of Bench Talk, Tom Gerrard reconnects with George Rose in Darwin, where they've both been painting murals for the Darwin Street Art Festival. George shares her journey from painting walls across Australia to becoming an internationally sought-after muralist, working everywhere from Europe to North America and beyond.

This conversation covers so much ground: the real differences between painting murals in Australia versus Europe, the nine-story murals George has created in Darwin, the meticulous design and mockup process that often takes longer than the actual painting, her deep exploration of colour and gradient work, and the physical toll of large-scale muralism (and how she's adapted).

But what makes this episode particularly valuable is George's honest take on the muralism industry: why design time should be paid, why artists aren't sign writers, and how the business side of this work is often undervalued.

Tom and George explore:

⚡️ Building an international mural career from Australia (a place that's far from everywhere)

⚡️ The stark differences between mural markets in Australia, Europe, and America

⚡️ Why Europe pays less but offers beautiful walls (firewall architecture, building ratios)

⚡️ The Darwin murals: two nine-story pieces painted two years apart

⚡️ Designing paintings that work as individual pieces but also complement each other

⚡️ The massive boom lifts and technical equipment needed for large-scale work

⚡️ Why the design and mockup process matters as much as the painting

⚡️ The evolution of George's colour work: from black outlines to gradient-based colour play

⚡️ Building a personal library of brush patterns, textures, and collected imagery

⚡️ Why flexibility on the wall is essential (artists aren't technicians or sign writers)

⚡️ Recovering from shoulder injuries through functional strength training

⚡️ The challenges of maintaining a studio practice while being nomadic

⚡️ How Darwin's community is uniquely open to unconventional concepts

⚡️ Future plans: UK, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and a potential Masters in Fine Art at Basel

⚡️ Why returning to formal art education can catalyse the next shift in an artist's practice

This episode is essential for any artist considering an international career, thinking about the business side of their work, or wanting to understand how colour, design, and intention shape large-scale muralism.

🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube

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🔗 WANT TO GO DEEPER?

👉 Get our free Visibility Guide to learn how artists are getting seen by gallerists and collectors right now! https://www.artcareeracademy.com/visibility-guide

👉 Want to learn how Tom and our art students make a great income from their art? Get a copy of our free cheatsheet here;
https://www.artcareeracademy.com/creative-cashflow-guide

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HOST: Tom Gerrard

✦ IG | @artcareeracademy and @tom-gerrard
✦ Watch on Youtube | @artcareeracademy
✦ Website | artcareeracademy.com and tom-gerrard.com

GUEST: George Rose

✦ Instagram | @george_rose
✦ Website: georgerose.com.au

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In this engaging interview, artist Jacob Morley shares his journey from tattooing to painting, his creative process, and how moving to the Mornington Peninsula has influenced his art and lifestyle. Discover insights on building a sustainable art career, the importance of space organization, and the joy of experimenting with different mediums.

 

In this episode we explore:

 

 Transitioning from tattooing into painting and mixed-media art.

 

⚡️Mornington Peninsula move reshaped lifestyle and artistic direction.

⚡️Building modular studio spaces to support creative flexibility.

⚡️Balancing commercial work with personal artistic practice.

⚡️Folk art and street signage inspire visual language.

⚡️Experimenting across painting, woodworking, and assemblage techniques.

⚡️Navigating art sales, online presence, and creative authenticity.

⚡️Future projects focused on growth, collaboration, and experimentation.

 

 

 

🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts

📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube

 

Loved this episode? Hit subscribe and give us a 5 star review.

This means so much, thank you!

 

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HOST: Tom Gerrard

 

✦ IG | @artcareeracademy and @tom-gerrard

✦ Watch on Youtube |  @artcareeracademy 

✦ Website | artcareeracademy.com and tom-gerrard.com

 

GUEST: Hiroyasu Tsuri (TWOONE)

 

✦ Instagram | @t_w_o_o_n_e

✦ Website | https://hiroyasutsuri.com/

 

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WANT MORE?

 

👉 Get our free Visibility Guide to learn how artists are getting seen by gallerists and collectors right now! https://www.artcareeracademy.com/visibility-guide

 

👉 Want to learn how Tom and our art students make a great income from their art? Get a copy of our free cheatsheet here;

https://www.artcareeracademy.com/creative-cashflow-guide

Mural artist Hiroyasu Tsuri (TWOONE) was the very first guest on the BenchTalk art career podcast ~ ten years ago, on a rooftop in Melbourne with a dictaphone and no plan.

Today he's one of the most compelling working artists in the world — painting large-scale murals across Japan, Malaysia, Morocco and Hong Kong, living in rural Italy and building an art career entirely on his own terms.

In this artist interview, I sit back down with Hiroyasu a decade later to talk about what it really takes to build a sustainable art career ~ the creative philosophy, the long game and why embracing what you can't control might be the most important thing a professional artist can do.

A decade later, Hiroyasu is living in a farmhouse in rural Italy, painting monumental walls across Malaysia, Morocco, Hong Kong and Japan and preparing for a major gallery exhibition in Victoria responding to the Ukiyo-e collection at Latrobe Regional Gallery. The work has expanded. The life has grown. And yet, he'll tell you himself, he still doesn't feel like he's mastered his own technique.

That's not a confession. That's the whole philosophy.

In this special anniversary episode, Hiroyasu and I sit back down together and talk about what a decade in the art world actually looks like from the inside. The creative philosophy that drives the work, what happens when you stop trying to fix your mistakes and start incorporating them, why Hiroyasu deliberately paints walls anyone can walk past rather than spaces only art people enter and what staying curious has done for his career that chasing mastery never could.

In this episode we explore:

⚡️The calligraphy lesson Hiroyasu learned as a kid in Japan and how it became the foundation of his entire practice
⚡️Why he deliberately works with tools he can't fully control ~ and what that produces
⚡️How moving from Berlin to a small Italian village changed the way he works and finds inspiration
⚡️What murals do for communities that galleries simply can't
⚡️The moment a byproduct became the product ~ how his lightbox series was born entirely by accident
⚡️Walking between paintings: why action stimulates more ideas than sitting and thinking ever will
⚡️Where Hiroyasu is headed next

If you've ever wondered what 10 years as a professional artist actually looks like - then this is it.

🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube

Loved this episode? Hit subscribe and give us a 5 star review.
This means so much, thank you!

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HOST: Tom Gerrard

✦ IG | @artcareeracademy and @tom-gerrard
✦ Watch on Youtube | @artcareeracademy
✦ Website | artcareeracademy.com and tom-gerrard.com

GUEST: Hiroyasu Tsuri (TWOONE)

✦ Instagram | @t_w_o_o_n_e
✦ Website | https://hiroyasutsuri.com/

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WANT MORE?

👉 Get our free Visibility Guide to learn how artists are getting seen by gallerists and collectors right now! https://www.artcareeracademy.com/visibility-guide

👉 Want to learn how Tom and our art students make a great income from their art? Get a copy of our free cheatsheet here;
https://www.artcareeracademy.com/creative-cashflow-guide

👉🏼 Watch the limited time full MASTERCLASS REPLAY on the 3 Shifts Professional Artists Make to Build Real Careers: https://www.artcareeracademy.com/lp-replay-3shifts

What's the real difference between an 'artist' and a 'professional artist'?

It's not talent. It's not luck. It's a fundamental mindset shift that changes everything.

In this episode of Bench Talk, Tom Gerrard sits down with Claire Bradshaw from Art Career Academy to unpack one of the most critical (and often overlooked) transitions an artist can make: the shift from seeing yourself as "an artist" to recognising that you're actually running a business as well.

This isn't about selling out. It's not about faking it till you make it. It's about stepping into your higher self and showing up as the professional artist you're meant to be ~ even before you feel 100% ready.

In this episode Tom and Claire explore:

⚡️The exact moment Tom shifted from "graphic designer who does art on the side" to full-time professional artist
⚡️Why it took three years (and what accelerated the process)
⚡️The power of surrounding yourself with artists who are already where you want to be
⚡️How this mindset shift happens at every level of an art career (not just once)
⚡️Why stagnation is a sign you're ready for the next up-level
⚡️The painful but necessary process of "killing off" old versions of yourself to grow
⚡️Navigating the fear of being shunned by peers when you start monetising your art
⚡️Limiting beliefs that hold artists back (and how to work through them)
⚡️The role of vision in helping you close the gap between who you are now and who you need to become
⚡️Why "fake it till you make it" is terrible advice (and what to do instead)
⚡️The freedom and responsibility of designing your own art career path
⚡️How to know when it's time to move to the "next arena" in your career

This episode is essential listening for any artist who's serious about turning their creative practice into a sustainable, thriving career — without compromising who they are.

Loved this episode? Hit subscribe and give us a 5 star review. This means so much, thank you!

🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube

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🔗 WANT TO GO DEEPER?

👉🏼 Ready to join a community of artists building real careers?
Learn more about Momentum, our mentorship community for artists who are earning $3,500+ from their art: https://www.artcareeracademy.com/momentum-collective

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HOST: Tom Gerrard

✦ IG | @artcareeracademy and @tom-gerrard
✦ Watch on Youtube | @artcareeracademy
✦ Website | artcareeracademy.com and tom-gerrard.com

GUEST: Claire Bradshaw

✦ Instagram | @artcareeracademy and @_clairebradshaw_
✦ Website | https://www.artcareeracademy.com/

👉 FREE live masterclass training for working visual artists ~ discover why talented artists stay stuck and the 3 shifts that change everything.
https://www.artcareeracademy.com/freetraining-unstuck

What does it really take to transition from graffitti writer to full-time studio artist?

In this episode of Bench Talk, Tom Gerrard reconnects with Los Angeles-based artist Kristopher Raos for an in-depth conversation about making the leap from graffiti to a sustainable studio practice, the alchemy of materials, and why keeping your work accessible matters.

Kristopher hasn't painted graffiti in five years — not because he fell out of love with it, but because he channeled that same energy into his studio work. What started as a "more practical solution" to painting on the streets has become a thriving full-time career, complete with gallery representation, museum exhibitions, and a deeply experimental material practice.

In this conversation, Tom and Kristopher explore:

⚡️ Why the transition from street to studio felt natural (not like a compromise)
⚡️ How Kristopher deliberately left text behind to create distance from "street artist turned gallery artist" labels
⚡️ The materials he works with: cel vinyl, gouache, acrylic, and experimental processes
⚡️ Separating binders from pigments to achieve ultra-flat, saturated surfaces
⚡️ Why he doesn't use spray paint on canvas (and the lessons learned early on)
⚡️ The graffiti writer's "alchemy" mindset applied to traditional materials
⚡️ Looking at the LA landscape for source material instead of spots to paint
⚡️ Why Kristopher keeps his work affordable and accessible to multiple audiences
⚡️ The importance of pricing work so emerging collectors can participate
⚡️ Working with Charlie James Gallery and experimenting outside market pressures
⚡️ Having work in museum permanent collections (Buffalo AKG, California institutions)
⚡️ The reality of being a full-time artist in your 40s (and why it's the prime years)

This episode is a masterclass in intentional career-building, material experimentation, and staying true to your roots while evolving as an artist.

🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube

Loved this episode? Hit subscribe and give us a 5 star review. This means so much, thank you!

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HOST: Tom Gerrard

✦ IG | @artcareeracademy and @tom-gerrard
✦ Watch on Youtube | @artcareeracademy
✦ Website | artcareeracademy.com and tom-gerrard.com

GUEST: Kristopher Raos

✦ Instagram | @kristopher_raos
✦ Website | https://kristopherraos.com

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WANT MORE?

👉 Get our free Visibility Guide to learn how artists are getting seen by gallerists and collectors right now! https://www.artcareeracademy.com/visibility-guide

👉 Want to learn how Tom and our art students make a great income from their art? Get a copy of our free cheatsheet here;
https://www.artcareeracademy.com/creative-cashflow-guide