This is my hot take on the seven-year-old (it's new to me!) Eva Hesse doc and the scandalous revelations contained within. Also, I receive further evidence for why we still stan our queen, Sylvia Mangold, as she asks: Is the Home Depot the new Canal Street? The #cerebral, #inspiring and #wondrous documentary, Eva Hesse (2016) directed by Marcie Begleiter, is available to rent/stream on Amazon. All music by Soundstripe ---------------------------- Pep Talks on IG:...

Some ch-ch-changes are coming to Pep Talks! I am going to be taking a break from interviews for a while to focus on studio work, but will still be releasing monthly solo episodes while I'm away. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you! Thank you to all of the wonderful artists who have allowed me to interview them thus far: you've enriched me! Thank you to my terrificly terrific cohost trio: Jennifer Coates, Mandolyn Wilson Rosen and Elisabeth Condon. You are, all three, shining...

So excited to welcome Artist, Frederick Hayes, to the podcast this week. Fred makes graphite drawings and paintings of faces, and he also creates found-material assemblage sculptures that portray the psychological interior of his subjects. Half made up and half based on the street photos that he takes, his portraits conjure up a community of people. These heads function as general archetypes but also as familiar faces that Fred might see in his community, remember from his past, or have seen...

O M G. Hold onto your hats (and brooches)! The author of "How to Work a Room" is on the podcast! Susan RoAne, best-selling author and keynote speaker, joined Mandolyn Wilson Rosen and me to talk mingling and networking in the art world. Down-to-earth, hilarious, and a true mensch, Susan continues to bring it as the "Mingling Maven." This is one episode you won't want to miss! We had so much fun! Find Susan online: Web: SusanRoAne.com IG: @susanroane FB: Susan RoAne Twitter:...

So excited to share this fantastic interview with artist, Philemona Williamson! Find out more about Philemona's vibrant paintings that show twisting, gender-bending adolescents "up to stuff," and her fascinating ambiguous poetic sense of narrative (and also why I have appointed her an Honorary New Orleanian!). Philemona also grew up in a famous Art Deco building in NYC, and her childhood stories are not to be missed. Works mentioned: "Branching Eyes" 2023, "The Gathering" 2021, "Verbena...

What do a comment made on the Great British Bake-Off, a 1970's television interview with southern author, Eudora Welty, and a Michigan Mer-man have in common? Glad you asked! They all explore ideas of monstrousness, the topic of this episode -- specifically channeling our inner monstrous creative selves to create work that is rich, bold, memorable and unique. [Evil laugh of Nosferatu] Come along with me on my search for aspirational creative monstrosity. Television programs...

This week, painter and installation artist, Jesse Bransford, joins me to discuss his magic and occult-inspired work.  We discussed the meanings behind the sigils and circles he embeds in his work, his fascination with the magician Surrealist, Kurt Seligmann, and his thoughts on the role of the artist as a practitioner of vision, generosity and belief. Find Jesse Bransford online at: web: https://www.jessebransford.com/ ig: @jessebransford get his book: UK:...

We're back with Part 2 of our review of "The Artists Way" by Julia Cameron! In this half of our deep dive into the book, Mandolyn Wilson Rosen and I finish recounting our experiences following the program of this famous creativity self-help juggernaut. Today in Part 2, we discuss: 1. Sychronicity & Carl Jung 2. Our personal artist dates 3. What writing the Morning Pages felt like 4. Things in The Artist's Way that we disliked 5. “Clusters” & those who charge to run AW...

Book Talks is back! And so is artist, Mandolyn Wilson Rosen, to help me tackle the OG creativity self help book: "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. We gave ourselves over body and soul to The Way for 12 weeks and lived to tell the tale...in two parts. Please join us as we share our experiences with the book (and some sprinkled-in context gleaned from Cameron's autobiography "Floor Sample"). Today in Part 1, we discuss: 1. Each of our favorite sections/quotes 2. The most challenging...

This episode is all about a fascinating British TV art reality show that I once gleefully watched completely pirated, through the kindness of Cherzo, a modern day Robin Reddit-Hood. You can check out the show: "Portrait Artist of the Year" on Amazon, if you are so intrigued! Artists mentioned: Alice Neel, Frederick Hayes, and Tai Shan Schierenberg (Judge for the show). Thank you, Listeners! Thank you, Pep Talks Patrons! All music by Soundstripe ---------------------------- Peps has a...

Artist, Mandolyn Wilson Rosen, is back with me for another Book Talks episode! In this episode, we are reading Giorgio Vasari's "Lives of the Artists," published 1550/1568 which profiles famous High Renaissance, mostly Florentine artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Boticcelli, and a few lesser-knowns. We were so excited about the book that we ran deliciously long and decided to cut it up and make it a two-parter. In Part 1, we cover Vasari's takes on Giotto, Masaccio, Piero Della...

We're baaacckk! Mandolyn Wilson Rosen and I have returned for Part 2 to finish our report on Giorgio Vasari's "Lives of the Artists," a combo-bio of Florentine High Renaissance artists from the 1580's. Pull up a carved high-backed chair, grab yourself a goblet of watered-down wine and join us for the continuation of our journey back to this fabled time in Italian art. In Part 2, we cover Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Jacopo da Pontormo, Michelangelo, and Titian (with some...

Happy Holidays! It's the Peppiest of the Peps! Please enjoy this collection of plummy sugar plum quotes by the some of the guests of Pep Talks Past. Some cherished encouraging words have been said over the years, and I have gathered them for us here. Also, listen to the end to hear a 3 minute Shakespearean radio play I made with ChatGPT based on the podcast tagline: "to all those shuffling along the artists' road." Find out what a computer thinks will inspire us. Thank you to all of...

So happy to have painter (and sculptor!), Elisabeth Condon, back on the podcast on the eve of her solo show opening in Miami! A huge fan of her work, I was excited to learn more about her process and influences. Catch her new work in person at: "Tempus Fugit" Emerson Dorsch Gallery : Dec 3, 2023 - Feb 3, 2024 Untitled Fair / Emerson Dorsch / Booth A23: Dec 6-10, 2023 Elisabeth's works that we mentioned in this episode were: "Lupine" 2023, "Post-Epistemic Flower" 2023, "Forest" 2023,...

Today, it's a brand new installment of the "Interview the Interviewer" series and I'm excited to reveal that this episode's Interviewee is ... me! Thank you so much to artist, Catherine Haggarty, for generously suggesting this collaboration and for asking such wonderful questions about my work. More info about Amy (your beloved host's) work online: amytalluto.com and @talluts Works mentioned (AT unless noted): "The Princesse de Broglie" (Ingres), "Bending Figure & Ingres Eye"...

Today I make the case that artists have a lot in common with stand-up comedians. Comics give excellent pep talks and advice to each other about staying the creative course and weathering career setbacks and I think we can benefit from eavesdropping on some of their road-honed wisdom. Thank you to this episode's sponsor, The New York Studio School, for their support. Please check out their Fall MFA and Certificate Programs at nyss.org Comedians quoted in the episode: Justine Marino,...

The band's back together! And this time, Elisabeth Condon, Jennifer Coates and I discuss "Edvard Munch: Trembling Earth," a recent Munch survey exhibition at the Clark Institute. We each chose a single painting/print to discuss within the context of Munch's Monistic melancholy, love of clumps, and repetitious reveries. Thank you to The New York Studio School for sponsoring this episode. Deadlines for MFA/Certificate are approaching Jan 15. Elisabeth spoke about: "White Night"  oil on...

From Richard Diebenkorn's "Notes to Myself On Beginning a Painting," it's a special mystery-whodunnit pepisode where your host, Amy, tries to decipher the meaning of #8 on Diebenkorn's note. Learn more about Diebenkorn and his work, including photos of him and his studio, at The Richard Diebenkorn Foundation: https://diebenkorn.org/ The novel, "Pollyanna," by Eleanor H. Porter is available at most bookstores and libraries and has also been made into at least 2 feature films. The article...

If you are a Peps fan and would love more pep talks in your life, please consider supporting the podcast financially on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/PepTalksforArtists! For $5 a month, patrons receive exclusive mini Pep-isodes monthly or bimonthly, delivered directly to their email inbox with a clickable link. No tech savviness required! Also, patrons receive early access to not-yet-released full episodes, fresh out the oven. Join the Peps fam on Patreon and become a part of the Pep...

Extremely thrilled to have the inimitable and infinitely wise #real_one, artist Judy Glantzman, on the podcast this week. We cover her artistic beginnings in the East Village scene of the 80's (buckle up for some great stories), the vibrant multidisciplinary work coming out of her Upstate NY studio today, and everything in between. Also, don't miss her incredible philosophies about making art sprinkled throughout, and her essential tips for beating Artist's block. Judy is a painter, collage...

This week I welcomed back Jennifer Coates and Elisabeth Condon to the podcast to discuss the recent exhibition "Bonnard: The Experience of Seeing" at Acquavella Gallery, NYC April 12 - May 26, 2023. We each chose a single painting from the show to discuss and so I'm calling us The Bonnardians. It's a Bonnard-a-trois! Come along for a hilarious, smart and nerdy look at this fascinating post-impressionist artist. Paintings: (1) Jennifer Coates Bonnard's "The French Door (Morning at Le...

The new definition of painterly success just might be having Elisabeth Condon describe your painting. It's truly that satisfying. Elisabeth is back on the pod to describe a painting, and it's a fascinating one: "Untitled" 1968-69 from the Edge Painting series by Sam Francis. Come along as Elisabeth takes us not only through the painting itself, but also through Sam Francis' life and influences: namely that of his beloved Japan. The concept of "ma" or the potential of emptiness, Asian ink...

Join me this week as I welcome esteemed Choreographer, Julia Gleich! Julia, with Jason Andrew, is the co-founder of Norte Maar in Brooklyn and co-produces a collaborative ballet series every year called CounterPointe. This year marked the exciting 10th anniversary of the project. The series features 7 dances created through intense collaboration between 7 women choreographers and 7 women visual artists. Visual artists participate the entire way through the process and even create props for...

This week, I welcomed back, painter, Catherine Haggarty to the Peps pod. We spoke about her background as a high school basketball player and how the focus and commitment required to be an athlete have so many parallels to the life of an artist. Catherine makes luminous paintings and drawings using spray paint, acrylic, watercolor and oil stick of imagined domestic interiors, all put through her uniquely surrealist and prismatic lens. Also, find out what her term "Instagram Brain"...