Robyn Fleet is a painter from the Hawkes Bay. Her paintings capture the essence of human experiences and our deep connections to the environment.  Robyn is obsessed with the materiality of paint itself and all its possibilities. A common thread in Robyn's work is 'the human condition' suggesting avenues of emotion and thought, the human experience through sensations of materiality and tactility.  We discuss the Ruahine Ranges landscape series which help to tell the story of an accident her...

Sally Bulling is a contemporary New Zealand painter living in Queenstown.  Invoking a sense of energy, Sally Bulling's abstract works are created with physical movements, sweeping marks, dripping flicks and elaborate pours. Her love of colour, light and reflection is captured in her beautiful paintings. After a successful career in the fashion and fine art industry she returned to her love of painting in 2020 and now works full time on her art practice. I loved hanging out with Sally in...

Tim Christie is a designer and artist currently based in Wellington New Zealand. His innovative, fashion-forward artistic style has been described as a modern synthesis of op art, pop art, street art and geometric expressionism.  Over the last two years he has extended his collection to include light boxes, large original acrylic paintings and illuminated weavings, enjoying playing with the space or ‘void’ between abstract and representational art.  Tim shares his inspirational story from...

Alison Gilmour is a painter from Auckland, New Zealand. She grew up in Devonport, a coastal suburb in Auckland, which has instilled a deep love of the sea inspiring her to paint it in its many forms. She is also well known for her beautiful floral and still life paintings. Alison captures the endless beauty of her environment with delicate brushwork – creating images which have a photo-realistic quality and hues which reflect the clarity, light and richness of the South Pacific.  In this...

This episode is kindly supported by Turua Gallery Dominique Marriott is a Waikato-based artist living near Raglan on the west coast. She specialises in life drawing and is well known for her minimalistic nude paintings created with sumi ink and calligraphy brushes.  Dominique works in a bold and uninhibited way to capture the essence of the human form. Her work reflects a deep appreciation for simplicity, energy, and the intrinsic beauty of the body. Guided by the principles of Zen,...

Raymond Sagapolutele is an Aotearoa NZ-born Sāmoan artist and academic living in Manurewa in Auckland. His photographic practice focuses on his lived experiences, his heritage and his cultural ties to the history of and the lands within the Pacific. In his hands, the camera gains a voice and connects to the cherished Samoan tradition of storytelling. As Raymond says, his camera has been there when he has laughed with friends, it's been there when he has cried with family and it's been there...

Auckland based artist James Emery has always had a keen interest in art and art history, particularly NZ art from the 1950s and 60s and the American abstract expressionists. Majoring in art history at Auckland Uni James worked within the art industry for many years before developing his own practice only 2 years ago. This month he celebrates his first solo show at The Grey Place in Grey Lynn, Auckland, which opens March 26th 2024. This chat was highly motivating and interesting for me and...

Jae Frew is a contemporary portrait photographer previously based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland and now living in Mahurangi. Jae's commercial career spans over 30 years and the highly respected and sought-after photographer lists prime ministers, heads of state, TV personalities, corporate CEO’s, film and television actors, and prominent sports people among his subjects.  With time and space to pursue his own photographic projects during the 2020 / 2021 COVID lockdowns, Jae began exploring...

Artist Michael McHugh is New Zealand born and resides in Sydney Australia. For more than three decades, he has been exploring the vast potential of colour, composition and abstract form with an inquisitive emphasis on the natural world.  McHugh believes constant drawing and collaging to be fundamental to his painting process. This foundation enables him to fully explore composition and vigorously push boundaries with colour, pattern and technique. I had a lovely chat with Michael. We talk...

Faleata Ualesi is an emerging contemporary Samoan Artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. His current work is built around motifs shown through grids and pacific patterns. I loved meeting Faleata and welcoming him to my studio (and black taro patch) at Muriwai Beach. In this episode we talk about Faleata's teaching career, how he manages his art practice around his job, and how he feels having a full time job in a way takes away the pressure to sell his artwork, allowing him to focus on...

Tony Ogle is known as one of New Zealand’s leading screen printers. He currently lives in Tairāwhiti, Gisborne.  Next month in March Tony celebrates a prolific art career of more than 30 years with a retrospective solo exhibition at Parnell Gallery in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, showing more than 60 of his original paintings that have rarely been seen in their original state. Tony digs deep into his fascinating life story and art practice. He talks about how his grandmother inspired him as...

Tawhai Rickard is a contemporary New Zealand Maori artist born in Gisborne, Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, of Ngati Porou decent. He is influenced by the epic history of his country Aotearoa, New Zealand and its historical interrelationship between Māori and Pakeha to the present day.  His work reflects the social, historical and cultural landscapes of Aotearoa - Korerō, commentary, history and stories about our journey as New Zealand.  In this episode Tawhai talks about his journey from growing up...

Esther is a photographic artist living in Greytown in the Wairarapa. She has had a long successful photographic career firstly in wedding photography then in project and portrait photography. Her personal fine art photographic practice has become her main focus since 2020. At her core Esther loves to illuminate others and give them their opportunity to shine. She is passionate about giving people a voice and is interested in the emotion and story behind a work. It's important to her to...

Naomi Azoulay is a middle-eastern-born, Auckland-based award-winning portrait and mixed media collage artist.  Naomi creates captivating, bold, intimate and vibrant mixed media collages and oil paintings. She aims to tackle social justice issues, decolonise the art space and expand the definition of beauty. She is passionate about exploring the female gaze and probing traditional gender roles. With over three decades of experience in education, Naomi has also earned a reputation as an...

Oliver Cain is an English born artist who emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2013. His work covers a wide range of topics and materials and takes many forms from ceramics to sculpture to installation and painting. His artworks push the boundaries between conceptualism and post-pop art.  As a proud member of the queer community, Oliver uses his work to examine, question and criticise the relationships between gender, (homo) sexuality, and society's misconceptions about these themes. His...

Joshua Davison is a contemporary artist from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, with a diverse body of work in both realism portraiture and sculptural painting. Josh is a self taught artist who has developed personal techniques which he uses throughout his impasto and sculptural paintings such as a methodical palette knife technique, layering MDF like a topographical map, making moulds and piping modelling paste. Joshua talks about how he strives for originality and how experimenting with...

Tanja McMillan, a.k.a Misery, is an Australian born painter, sculptor, photographer and mural artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Her creative reach is extensive, ranging from highly crafted fine art paintings and wall art to animation and fashion. Tanja’s work, under the name Misery, graces streets and galleries in Aotearoa NZ and around the world. She has exhibited in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Melbourne, Taiwan, Berlin, Los Angeles, California, New York, Hawai'i and Paris...

Sierra Roberts is an artist from Wānaka, in the South Island of New Zealand. She creates bold, statement portraits exploring perceptions of beauty and the female experience.  Her travels through Australia, Asia, South, Central and Northern America have strongly influenced her art, inspiring her to share and celebrate the beauty she has experienced, challenging her work beyond traditional portraiture. We talk about Sierra's experience studying fine arts in Utah and at Whitecliffe in...

Angela Rowe is an artist, writer, curator and mentor based in Whangārei. Her creative practice includes storytelling across performance, installation, photography, drawing, and textile works.  Angela is interested in the future of arts in Aotearoa and how to create a more sustainable arts industry. She founded Creative Practice, a collaborative mentoring program designed to empower artists and creatives with a focus on resilience and community support. I loved hearing stories about...

Jamie Chapman is a painter based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. He was born in the United Kingdom and immigrated with his family to New Zealand when he was 2 years old, settling and growing up in Whangarei. Jamie talks about his figurative oil paintings and how they have evolved over the years into different 'series' of portrait works. He shares how he likes to "shift it up" and challenge himself to loosen up in his painting process, partly because he doesn't like to get bored and partly...

Sofia Athineou is a full-time artist of Greek heritage, based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Her practice is mainly in glass, a medium she sees as having many sensual and optical qualities.  Surrounded by the dramatic bush of Auckland’s west coast Waitakere Ranges, it’s easy to see the inspiration behind Sofia Athineou’s incredible glass sculptures. These pieces represent vitality through light, texture and colour and appear to blend into the ever-changing landscape. Elemental forces such as...

Andrew J. Steel is a New Zealand contemporary artist with a passion for story telling. Over his career he has worked across the mediums of public art, private interiors, fine artwork, letterpress, land, body, photography and digital works.  "An artists role is to live a remarkable life and report back on it in their work." says Andrew. Andrew makes art to learn more about people & the world, then he retells these stories in his work to offer perspective and peace - both for himself and...

Tanya Blong was our very first guest on the Creative Matters podcast and lucky for us she is back 96 episodes later to talk about her artistic journey since March 2021 and how her practice has developed and evolved.  In this episode we start by talking about the Creative Matters podcast, how it has evolved over the last 2 and a half years since I first interviewed Tanya in episode 1 and my goals for the podcast going forward. Tanya talks about her upcoming solo show State of Leisure at...

Julie and Michael Freeman are award winning hyperrealistic pastel artists living in Auckland NZ. ​Julie is currently creating work with the intent of realism beyond the photograph. Her subject matter is varied, from coastal and nautical to the natural fauna and flora of NZ, but if asked she would say she has an affinity with painting animals. Michael’s subjects range from his current series of still life paintings featuring iconic New Zealand toys and objects, through to landscapes...