Creative Connections with Mandy Jakich

Available Episodes

5 of 188

Katie Leigh Stewart - Multi media artist
Katie Leigh Stewart is a mixed media artist living in Wellington, Aotearoa NZ. Katie's paintings explore floral landscapes, portraiture, everyday life and nature. Her bright and bold palette as well as signature brush strokes gives viewers a moment to pause and find joy. In this episode Katie talks about her early nursing career and how she finally came to focus on her artist career as a new Mum. We explore her paintings which are mostly inspired by her life, everyday experiences and her love of gardening and nature. Katie talks us through the ways she captures the feeling of the moment she is responding to and the essence of her subject, her painting process and the ways she manages the different media she uses in her work including combining acrylic and oil paints. We talk about why she often likes to underpaint using a fluoro paint and her use of colour, her layering technique, the ways she introduces details, how she paints flesh, light and shadow and the tools and mediums she uses.Katie shares her approach to sharing her work on social media, diversifying within her practice, experimentation, mark making, commissions and how she manages her days as a homeschooling mumma of 3 young girls.Support the showCreative Connections Website See our website for more about us, videos of episodes, all episode audios and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode. CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram Creative Connections Facebook
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1:39:45
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Natalie Gelder - Multi disciplinary artist
Natalie is an emerging multi-disciplinary artist born in Yorkshire, England, with a current focus on figurative oil paintings. Nat moved to New Zealand in 2016 in her early twenties.and is currently based in Auckland.In this episode Natalie shares how creating likeness in a portrait has become a challenge too tempting not to take on as she's got older, becoming thirsty for something that felt more difficult and less forgiving. As a Mum of 2 boys, her sons have become treasured subjects that she never feels bored of capturing in her work.Natalie explains what she gains from entering her paintings into NZ art awards and the success she has had, becoming a finalist and runner up in a number of awards such as the Parkin and Adam Portraiture prizes. We talk all about synesthesia (a word I stumbled on every time I said it in our chat!), what it is, how it presents for Natalie and the ways it influences her painting approach. Nat shares her techniques for capturing likeness in a face, painting flesh, the paints she likes to use and how she likes to apply them. And so much more. You're going to love this chat.Support the showCreative Connections Website See our website for more about us, videos of episodes, all episode audios and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode. CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram Creative Connections Facebook
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1:32:09
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Andrew Barns-Graham - Contemporary artist
Andrew Barns-Graham is an established Auckland-based artist known for his hard-edged contemporary portraits with a pop realist style. He renders smooth, gradient-infused figures set against minimal, atmospheric landscapes.In this episode we talk about the pivotal moment that led to Andrew devoting himself to his art practice after a career in advertising. Andrew tells us about a traumatic near death experience and how that has influenced his art practice, his outlook and the way he lives his life.We discuss the different phases of portraiture Andrew has explored throughout his practice, and the ideas behind these series of works - from themes communicating nostalgia, identity, social issues, scientific ideas and the past/present/future to climate change and outer space. He talks about the women in his paintings, his titles, the symbols in his work, the eyes and gazes of his subjects and the significance of his landscapes.Andrew explains how Arthaus Contemporary, a community based contemporary artist run space, came about and how it works, which BTW is a wonderful space for artists to rent for their own exhibitions and a very good rate. Andrew's solo exhibition at Arthaus Contemporary opens on November 19th and closes Nov 30th 2025, with an opening event on Thursday 20th Nov. I'll to see you there!This is a gorgeous chat - thank you to Andrew for letting me take up his precious time while he was preparing for his show and thank you lovely listener for joining us.See Andrew's work on our blogSupport the showCreative Connections Website See our website for more about us, videos of episodes, all episode audios and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode. CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram Creative Connections Facebook
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1:41:24
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1:41:24
Kyra Alkamil - Emerging young artist
Kyra Alkamil is a 19 year old emerging artist from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, in her first year studying fine art at Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland.Kyra paints in oils and is interested in storytelling, the human figure, nostalgia, domestic scenes and surrealism.In this episode we talk about the ways Kyra discovered and developed her love of art and her skills in visual art as a homeschooled teenager, how life drawing has contributed to her figurative practice, her shift from acrylics to oils and the development of her painting practice over the last few years.Kyra gives us an insightful look into why she decided to study fine art, her first day at Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland, handling feedback and the connections she has with her lecturers and peers at Uni. We explore the challenges, frustrations and highlights of studying fine art as a 18/19 year old, the courses she has done so far and what she has loved or not loved about them and how her study has affected and influenced her art practice.See images of Kyra's work on our blogSupport the showCreative Connections Website See our website for more about us, videos of episodes, all episode audios and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode. CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram Creative Connections Facebook
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1:18:11
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Katrina Cosgrove - Contemporary Artist
Katrina Cosgrove is a painter born in England who immigrated to NZ in 2005. She is now based in Bronte, a small settlement at the top of the South Island of Aotearoa NZ in the Tasman District, near Mapua. Katrina's nature inspired artworks delve into the themes of self discovery, transformation, freedom, and the profound connection between nature and the human spirit.With a background marked by resilience and a powerful personal journey, Katrina’s art reflects her transition from the corporate world, where she battled chronic pain caused by Fibromyalgia and stress, to a life of transformation and creative fulfilment.I loved meeting Katrina, she has a gorgeous spirit. In this episode we talk about:how she sees the world after an upbringing surrounded by the arts and creativityher love of people and her career in recruitment and the ways it has influenced her art practiceher long term dream to be a full time artist, which finally came to fruition after an actual dream which became an overnight catalyst to this career movefinding her voice and her personal style as an artistthe development of and plans for her new open working studio and gallery space in BronteKatrina shares her personal story experiencing a nervous breakdown in 2021, waking one day in extraordinary pain followed by an emergency trip to the hospital, which led to 3 1/2 years in chronic pain. Katrina believes art and nature saved her and led to her beating this condition. Her deeply personal work now reflects her journey and also encourages others to connect to their own journeys, uplifting people's lives through her floral and waterfall series.Support the showCreative Connections Website See our website for more about us, videos of episodes, all episode audios and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode. CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram Creative Connections Facebook
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1:14:36
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1:14:36