Episodes
It’s been a while between episodes, so in this chat I’m filling you in on some rather big changes that have been happening in my art practice and, well, my whole life as a consequence.  As I’ve been working on my latest solo exhibition ‘An Ornamental Education’ (Art Gallery of Ballarat 7th-14thMarch 2024), I’ve been working intimately with historical sources for the first time, and it has lit a big fire in me for this method of making research-based artwork.    It gradually became clear to...
Published 02/27/24
Welcome to episode 115 of the Studio insider art podcast.  Today’s episode is once again an audio extract from my latest YouTube video.  If you’d like to check out the visual to everything, I’m talking about then I highly recommend that you pop on over to the YouTube video and check it out.   In this episode I’m taking you along with me as I do some historical research at the State Library of Victoria that relates to my latest exhibition.  I’m researching an early Victorian female Botanical...
Published 02/27/24
Finishing difficult paintings.  I think we all have one (or two or three) faced against a wall or at the back of a cupboard, those difficult paintings that we just can’t seem to face completing. I know that you know what I’m talking about. Well, I have some artistic medicine for you today.  In this month’s episode, I’m walking you through 20 tips that I use in my own art practice to help me finish difficult paintings. All tips are super practical and down to earth and I hope will really help...
Published 06/15/23
In today’s podcast episode once again sharing with you the audio component from my latest vlog over on YouTube that was released a few days ago. It’s a bit of a mixed bag of topics including how I grow my own botanical art samples and how I photograph them later in the studio for future reference. The main topic of today’s conversation is a big ‘ol life update. If you’ve noticed that I’ve been around much less often in 2023 and not very present on social media and are curious as to why...
Published 05/15/23
In today’s episode, I’m talking about how to create a compelling and cohesive body of artwork.  This episode audio was taken from the second half of my latest YouTube video titled “Studio Morning + How to kickstart a compelling body of artwork”.  In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been putting in lots of time learning how to make beautiful YouTube videos over the past couple of months and I’m really enjoying sharing with you in this format. I’m still on a steep learning curve with this, but I...
Published 04/02/23
For today’s episode, Steph and I got together at the Old Butcher’s shop gallery here in Ballarat where my exhibition Autumnal Dreamscapes is currently happening. We recorded our very first live episode in front of what was meant to be a live audience.  As it turned out, the only people that turned up were Steph, myself, the gallery owner Julie and my mate Amie who helps me in the studio sometimes!  So as you can imagine, I kind of felt like crawling under a rock and hiding after. But as I’ve...
Published 11/22/22
In today’s episode, I’m chatting again with Steven Patterson, the CEO of one of my favourite paint brands, Derivan Matisse.  Steven and I first chatted in episode 96, so if you’d like to hear more about his journey with this fabulous and innovative Australian paint brand, then be sure to go and check that out in the archives. We identified in that conversation that we both had a fascination with colour and the history of pigment and thought it would be great to have another chat, this time...
Published 11/07/22
In today’s episode, Steph and I are chatting about how our recent decision to pursue exhibiting our artwork has enriched our art practices in a variety of ways. Since re-orienting our art businesses to include exhibiting, both of having found that we are reaping huge benefits in the way we are approaching day-to-day studio time. For both of us, it now includes more of the deep and considered exploration of materials and techniques that come with upping the ante with what we are creating.  We...
Published 10/24/22
In today’s interview, I’m chatting with Irish-born, Sydney-based artist Marnie McKnight.  I first fell in love with Marnie’s beautiful abstract expressionist artwork over on Blue Thumb. Since getting to know more about her, I’ve marveled at how she moves through different styles of painting and mediums in her practice with ease.  We had a great conversation about how Marnie keeps focused on the joy of the painting and how this focus has shaped her thriving art business. We chat through how...
Published 08/29/22
In today’s episode, Steph and I are chatting through our processes with overcoming limiting beliefs we’ve held in the past and exploring opportunities that we once thought we’d left behind. For me, this has happened in my desire to exhibit, which I never thought that I would do again.  In this episode, I unpack some of my process of realizing that this was something that I really wanted to do again and then going on a journey to heal old wounds and create permission for myself to do...
Published 08/15/22
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Sydney-based artist and surface designer Maggi McDonald. Known for her bold use of color and signature palette knife style, Maggi has always been creative. But it wasn’t until her son started pre-school and she confronted a period of depression after suffering miscarriages, that Maggi discovered the healing power of art and she decided to study design. During her studies, Maggi discovered that painting was calling her and since that time she’s built a...
Published 08/01/22
Well, it feels like forever since I’ve released an episode! After being well whacked with influenza, I really needed some time off to recover, so thanks for your patience. I’m so happy to be back with today’s episode where Steph and I are unpacking the subject of collaborations.  This can be a bit of a buzzword out there in the online world, but the reality is that collaboration can take on several different faces. Join Steph and I as we walk through many of the different forms that...
Published 07/18/22
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with fellow Aussie artist Anna Price. Anna is a Sydney-based artist who began painting full-time in 2019 after craving time away from her screen-based interior design career. Growing up she was constantly drawing, and she’s circled back around to art as an adult and Mum of four. Anna paints intuitively, unscripted and untrained. She draws on her creative intelligence to come up with multiple styles of busy abstract expressionist and geometric style artworks....
Published 05/30/22
In today’s episode, Steph and I are talking about teaching what you know as an artist.  Steph talks about her experience teaching in-person workshops and delivering teaching for institutions. And I talk about my experience teaching in-person workshops, retreats and online courses. We talk through how teaching can be an important income stream for artists seeking to generate a bit more of a regular payday.  We also talk through the pros and cons of each method of teaching and which we prefer...
Published 05/16/22
In today’s episode I have a lovely interview with fellow Aussie artist Lizzie Alsop. Lizzie is a full time contemporary artist who works from her home studio on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. She’s been creative all her life and launched into her full time art career after a move to the coast fourteen years ago. Her artwork is a joyful and colorful mix of abstract and realism.  Lizzie loves to create and express the wonder of her natural environment with abstract layers of geometric...
Published 05/01/22
I can’t believe we’ve created 100 episodes of this little podcast.  It’s been such a joy to connect with you in this way over the past couple of years and I’m so grateful to each and every one of you for tuning and sharing the journey with me. I love the connection with you and with creatives all over the world that I’m able to nurture thanks to the podcast.  It’s been the perfect way for this little introvert to deepen my connection with other artists and such a pleasure to be able to share...
Published 04/04/22
In today’s episode, Steph and I dive deep into the sometimes elusive question of what our art is truly about and what motivates its creation. Anyone who has ever written an artist’s statement knows how tricky this question can be to answer, particularly when it comes to articulating it for the gatekeepers of the fine art world. But this conversation goes so much deeper than that. We explore how excavating this information can help in binding together all the different avenues and mediums of...
Published 03/21/22
In today’s episode I’m on my own talking about some of my favourite books that I read over the summer holidays that have just passed here.  There is a pretty big range in breadth of the books that I read, but the ones I talk about in today’s episode are all ones with a focus on creative inspiration in one way or another. Some relate directly to art, some to interiors and women, some on the Eastern approaches to painting, and one is soulfully reflective. I’ve listed all of them in the show...
Published 03/07/22
In today’s episode, Steph and I are unpacking the world of art prizes and grants. We talk through various aspects of this world- such as how prizes and grants differ from each other and what the experience of applying for each is like. We also talk about the exposure to the risk of failure in this process and how, for someone like me, this can be disabling.  But for Steph, she has found that she’s been able to move on from hearing no and find her way through this. I was recently the...
Published 02/21/22
Today's episode is a real treat for all the art supply nerds out there. Steven Patterson is the CEO of Derivan, a family-owned Sydney-based company that manufactures one of my favourite brands of acrylic paints: Derivan Matisse. Many of the Aussie artists out there would likely have used a Derivan product at one time or another as they were the first company to manufacture student grade acrylics back in the 1950s when his father started the company with a couple of partners. Steven grew up...
Published 02/07/22
Today Steph and I have a special little bonus episode for you. We’re talking all about the FREE painting challenge we run for our community every February and we’d love you to join us. In this studio chat we talk about the immense value we’ve both found after taking on this challenge, which we’ve done 3 times now and also how much we love the connection it gives us with you guys and the work that you’re making. Be sure to pop on over the challenge page on susannethercotestudio.com/challenge,...
Published 01/30/22
It’s a fresh new year and new podcast season, so in today’s episode, Steph and I are talking about some of the big projects we have planned for 2022. Neither of us is a big one for micro-managing our art businesses.  But each of us does have a couple of big projects coming up this year that we are excited to share. Join us as we chat about: Crowdfunding your next project Creating e-courses that feel very ‘in the flow’ Relocating to another country Creating a brilliant art...
Published 01/24/22
In today’s episode, Steph and I are discussing our mutual tendency to go off on unexpected tangents in our artwork.  In the world of art business, honing on one style that sells is what we are often encouraged to do. But as this conversation unfolds, we realise how vitality important following these tangents is for our emotional, spiritual and intellectual wellbeing. We also realise that it is an essential component to building integrity and professionalism as an artist in the longer...
Published 12/20/21