Lynette Fisher is a contemporary painter living in Te Puna near Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty. Lynette's art practice also encompasses printmaking, drawing and assemblage.Her work investigates themes of adoption, identity, obligation and ownership. While an underlying sense of nostalgia usually permeates her work, Lynette purposefully disrupts it to bring layered and disordered meaning to often commonplace and overlooked themes.Lynette is such a fun person to talk to and I think you'll enjoy listening to her story and outlook on life as an artist. Lynette shares her early artistic career in graphic design, picture framing, working in an art gallery and quirky artist collaborations which led to her showing her own work after painting and drawing for most of her life. We talk about her challenging journey with breast cancer and how this became a catalyst to leaving her job and studying art in her early forties, and we explore why she felt she needed to study alongside her art practice and what she gained from this time.We discuss context for an artist, how boundaries can influence work, the ideas behind her work that relate to her as an adopted person, what interests her about family and memories and artist collectives. We talk about nostalgic objects and how she has brought them together into the gallery context to produce installations or assemblages and what this communicates for her.Lynette loves to enter art awards and has been a finalist many times in various NZ awards such as the Molly Morpeth Canaday, Parkin Drawing prize and the Adam Portrait award. She talks about why she enters these awards and what she gains from the process.Support the showNgā mihi, thanks for listening! Follow CREATIVE CONNECTIONS on InstagramLearn more about Creative Connections and see images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog
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1:46:36
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1:46:36
MUSE ART GALLERY - with Kaye McGarva
Muse Gallery, founded by Kaye McGarva in 2017, is situated in Havelock North, in the Bay of Plenty, Aoteaora NZ.In this episode I talk to Kaye McGarva, a professional artist herself and the owner/director of Muse Gallery. This bis a conversation I'm sure many artists will be intrigued to hear. Kaye shares how and why she started Muse Gallery 9 years ago and the challenges of starting a gallery with no former experience in this area and how she grew the gallery from the ground up. We explore how Muse Gallery organises their yearly exhibition programme, the current stable of artists at Muse Gallery, how/why they were selected and how connecting with more experienced established artists helped the gallery to build their good reputation.Kaye gives some super helpful tips to artists when approaching galleries: the dos and don'ts; her preferred ways for artists to connect and share their work; how and why they choose the artists to join the gallery; what feedback or advice they may pass on to artists approaching them and what they look for in an artist beyond their work.We talk about how the gallery deals with artists not selling work, how she feels about artists experimenting and changing styles, gallery commissions and pricing work, her view on artists selling work themselves, artist contracts, how the gallery elevates the artists and communicates the ideas behind their artists work. Kaye explains what type of gallery she sees Muse Gallery as, what if offers as a gallery, ways they make the gallery feel accessible, how the gallery operates and where this gallery fits in the NZ gallery landscape.And so much more! This is a fascinating chat which I know you'll benefit from listening to. Support the showNgā mihi, thanks for listening! Follow CREATIVE CONNECTIONS on InstagramLearn more about Creative Connections and see images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog
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1:18:02
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1:18:02
Caitlin Johnston - Multi media artist
Caitlin Johnston is a multi media artist living near the Hibiscus Coast north of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.As a Kiwi, much of Caitlin's work shows the deep connection that we have with the ocean and the land in Aotearoa. The way it makes us feel, and how we are connected to it. The sounds of the waves, the emotions we feel, the endless beauty of coastline and the nature of New Zealand inspires her work.Caitlin uses upcycled surf boards and various other found materials as her canvas, then incorporates mixed media, acrylic paint, drawings and pure oxidized copper often sealed with a resin pour. 2 years ago at the age of 30, Caitlin made the decision to devote herself to being a full time artist. She began by entering art shows which proved to be very successful, giving her the confidence to continue and deadlines to work towards. In this episode Caitlin talks about her love of trying out new techniques and experimenting with found materials such as discarded surfboards, old frames, mirrors and wood. We discuss her use of copper leaf, the oxidising process, her approach to painting on the back of a mirror and her love of experimentation. Caitlin has a very positive, reflective attitude to her growing art career. We talk about the term 'self taught artist'; how she has found her distinctive, very original style; her love of portraiture and where that is heading; what she loves about the regional NZ art shows; why she thinks she needs to "show some restraint" and the narratives and ideas behind her work. Subscribe to the Creative Connections Podcast You Tube channel to see a video of this episode.Support the showNgā mihi, thanks for listening! Follow CREATIVE CONNECTIONS on InstagramLearn more about Creative Connections and see images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog
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Fiona Kerr Gedson - Feather Artist
Fiona Kerr Gedson is a fibre artist who has used feathers as her primary medium for more than 25 years. She works from her home near Ōpōtiki, in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa NZ. Fiona’s meticulously crafted, intricately designed feather pieces have a calming and meditative presence. Her work reflects and honours the things most important to her – her family, her spirituality, shared experiences, life stages and a sense of kotahitanga (unity). Her most recent collection, Pilgrimage, is the embodiment of this. Inspired by walking the Camino de Santiago – completing 1500km over 8 1/2 weeks, this series responds to the many stained glass windows found in chapels and cathedrals on Fiona's remarkable life changing hikoi, which she undertook in 2022.In this episode we have a beautiful conversation about walking the Camino and how this has consequently influenced her art practice. Fiona shares a personal experience of losing her precious father 3 weeks in to the pilgrimage and how she managed to process and manage her initial grief and keep walking. We discuss another influence in her practice, her work with Family Constellations (a method of family therapy or systemic therapy), and how this has also informed her practice. Fiona shares how she started working with feathers in her early twenties; how she sources the peacock, turkey, guinea fowl and hen feathers; her positive long term connections with galleries; her meticulous creative process; her framing approach and the meditative aspects of pattern. And so much more.You can see the uncut video of our conversation on our You Tube channel Creative Connections Podcast. I'd love you to subscribe!Support the showNgā mihi, thanks for listening! Follow CREATIVE CONNECTIONS on InstagramLearn more about Creative Connections and see images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog
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1:34:11
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1:34:11
Lucy Eglington - Painter
Lucy Eglington is a painter originally from the UK who immigrated to Aotearoa in 2003. She works from her home studio in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.Working primarily in oils, Lucy’s paintings explore human states of mind: dreams, successes, losses, grief and love and the narratives we tell ourselves. She often uses animals to represent ideas and feelings and to add individual narratives to each work.With a successful track record of sell-out shows and recognition in prestigious art awards, her works resonate with audiences around the world.In this episode we have a gorgeous chat about the ideology behind Lucy's work, the way she uses animals in her work and what they represent to her, what she is communicating through her work, how she wants the viewer to reflect on through her work, her love of portraiture, her creative process from sketching and note taking to filing her ideas and her painting approach. We have an uncut video of this chat which will be available soon on our You Tube channel, which is currently under development. This will contain images of the work we are talking about and could be a fantastic resource for art teachers, artists and interested creatives, and for people who just love to watch instead of listen. Support the showNgā mihi, thanks for listening! Follow CREATIVE CONNECTIONS on InstagramLearn more about Creative Connections and see images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog
New Zealand