Dr. Ursula Betka was one of my favourite lecturers and tutors during my 6 years at Melbourne University studying art history in the 1990’s.  Her area of specialisation, in which she has a Ph.D,  focused on Medieval and Renaissance sacred images. On 3rd December, Ursula’s beautiful new book, published by Hardie Grant, is coming out and I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy.  Titled “Techniques of Painting and Gilding in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Italy.  Egg Tempera and Gold Leaf on Wood Panel”, this sumptuously illustrated, hard back book is a detailed tech ..read more

Welcome to season 13!  I’ve started a new season as I have recently started a new chapter of my life and career as an artist.  Three months ago, I started my Master of visual at Federation University, which is here in my hometown of Ballarat.  So I thought it was about to time to check in and let you know what I’ve been up to and how it’s been going.  LINKS: This podcast is also a video! If you’d like to see the visuals that accompany what I’m talking about, be sure to pop on over to this video episode. Subscribe to my Youtube channel⁠ Check out my upcoming workshops Art ..read more

To membership or not to membership, that is the question that Steph and I are asking in this weeks podcast episode. We mean literally, we are asking you the question, would you like to have a membership with us? This idea has been inspired by the suggestion of one of our lovely listeners and the particular way she framed up what she would like, felt very resonant for both of us. So listen in and let us know if it feels resonant for you too. If you like it, we’ll do it, if you don’t, no stress, we’ll just move on. In this episode we discuss; Why we’ve resisted a membership model up to this poi ..read more

Hi friends and welcome to episode 117.  It’s been a wild month for me as I’ve had my second solo exhibition, ‘An Ornamental Education’ running here at the art gallery of Ballarat.  It’s been an incredible ride having my first exhibition at a public art gallery and I wanted to make sure that I shared it with you before it ends on 14thApril. I’ve created a full guided tour for you on my YouTube channel. I really hope you head on over there to check it out, because the audio for this episode makes a whole lot more sense when you can see the artwork.  But nevertheles ..read more

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 me, with my art history background, that what I had created already would be a great ..read more

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 artist and writer called Louisa Anne Meredith, who migrated from Engl ..read more

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 artist and writer called Louisa Anne Meredith, who migrated from Engl ..read more

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 you find your flow with completing those tricky artworks. If you'd like to see me working on ..read more

It’s just me on the podcast today and I’m doing something a little different. I’m undertaking my Painting as a Practice challenge this month and I thought it would be fun to talk you through all the fantastic things that I’ve learned in the first week of my practice month about painting on timber panels and raw linen. Bringing you inside my studio practice in a more practical sense has been something I’ve wanted to do for ages, so in order to make this chat as rich as possible, I’ve made a Youtube video about it too.  So if you would like to see the video that accompanies this podcast, bu ..read more

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 focusing on Steven’s vast knowledge in these areas. So join us as we dive deep into how it is that w ..read more