Ep. 122 Nicole Grosjean – Sculptural Illustration, Jewelry, Fan Art
This week, Wes and Todd talk with Nicole Grosjean. Nicole talks about growing up and exploring art in the mountains of Colorado, winning an art scholarship to the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, sculpture, galleries, working with a ceramicist as a production artist, deciding to do paper art, process, incorporating LED lights in her work, finding her voice, inspiration, finding community, social media, fan art, jewelry, Guillermo del Toro, pocket watches, pricing, how she sells her art, exploring new materials, Illustrator & Photoshop, challenges in business, prints versus originals, overcoming challenges, commissions, fairy fossils, and making the work for yourself.
Ep. 108 Dan Drossman – Artist, Curator – The Waiting Room Gallery
In this episode, Wes and Todd sit down with Denver Artist and Curator, Dan Drossman. Dan talks about the “alternative art space,” The Waiting Room Gallery, that he has been curating, the catalyst for the Waiting Rooms existence, exhibitions – past, present and future, what he’s learned curating, and we talk about the upcoming exhibition with Roy Nydorf and Michael Dowling.
Ep. 107 Elle Naef – Content Producer & Strategist at PBS 12, Co-Founder & Producer of Head Room Sessions
Elle talks about Headroom Sessions and its mission, jaw rock, ReCreative Denver, Denver Creative Movement, her start promoting and managing bands, the wall of death, curating playlists, Tom Jones, rock and roll moments, Girls Rock Camp, being a Producer at PBS 12, Generation GRIT, Colorado Inside Out, puppets, her favorite PBS shows growing up, and activism.
Ep. 106 Jen Starling – Painting, Collage – Mixed Media
Jen Starling talks about art co-ops, business, support for the Arts in the US as compared to other countries, the catalyst for becoming a full-time Artist, discipline, finding her voice, problem solving, transition, incorporating collage into her work, exploration, vulnerability, identity, her upcoming solo show “Confronting the Void,” art festivals, teaching, goals, and confidence.
Ep. 105 Autumn T. Thomas – Interdisciplinary Artist, Wood Sculpture
Autumn T. Thomas talks about becoming a full-time Artist, the non-verbal language of art, Ashe, her M.F.A experience, being self-reliant, the catalyst that led her to explore wood sculpture, process, engaging people with art, her piece “Lift Every Voice”, residencies, and finding balance.
Ep. 103 Heather Link-Bergman & Peter Miles Bergman – is Fair 20202021, Institute of Sociometry
Wes and Todd talk with Heather Link-Bergman and Peter Miles Bergman. We discuss being intentional in art, being ‘artners, the Institute of Sociometry, collaboration, the is Fair, mom – men observing modesty, art appropriation, owning your mistakes, P.O. Boxes, zines, humor and capital punishment.
Ep. 050 Adrianna Abarca -Founder, Latino Cultural Arts Center
Wes and Todd talk with Adrianna Abarca, Founder of the Latino Cultural Arts Center and Curator of Hecho en Colorado at History Colorado. Abarca talks about her family history, growing up in Denver, identity, collecting art, and her vision for the Latino Cultural Arts Center, an integrated cultural campus in the Sun Valley neighborhood west of downtown Denver that will feature two museums, one dedicated to Mexican heritage and the other to Latin America; with a library of Latino arts…
Ep. 049 Cynthia Ramu - Pueblo Levee Mural Project
Wes and Todd talk with Artist, Director and Curator, Collin Parson. Parson talks about growing up in an artistic family, his formal and informal art education, the definition of an Artist, being an Artist as a profession, influences, process, George Carlin and Carl Sagan, his public art project for the City of Lakewood, and his favorite exhibits that he has curated for the Arvada Center.
Ep. 048 Collin Parson - Artist, Director, Curator - Arvada Center
Wes and Todd talk with Artist, Director and Curator, Collin Parson. Parson talks about growing up in an artistic family, his formal and informal art education, the definition of an Artist, being an Artist as a profession, influences, process, George Carlin and Carl Sagan, his public art project for the City of Lakewood, and his favorite exhibits that he has curated for the Arvada Center.
Ep. 045 Melissa Richardson Banks, Photographer
Melissa Richardson Banks, President and Founder of CauseConnect, a consulting firm, servicing clients nationwide in the arts. She is also a photographer that has documented the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles and is known by the moniker Downtown Muse. Melissa has produced, marketed, managed, and toured museum exhibitions of Cheech Marin’s Chicano Art collection.
Ep. 044 Kat Nechleba - Artist, Art Therapist & Psychotherapist
Wes and Todd talk with Artist, Art Therapist and Psychotherapist, Kat Nechleba. Nechleba talks about growing up a military brat, attending art school at the Kansas City Art Institute, Art Therapy, Carl Jung, Psychotherapy, found object art, her various art series, Ruche Mére, the book she wrote entitled, This World is Strange & I Blame it on You, being kind to others and how to navigate the waters during these weird and difficult times.
Ep. 043 Alexandrea Pangburn-Painter, Muralist
Wes and Todd talk with Denver muralist, Alexandrea Pangburn. Pangburn talks about growing up in an artistic family in Kentucky, horses, getting a degree in Animal Science, running a horse rescue, doing pet portraits, moving to Colorado and embedding herself in the art scene, doing her first mural at Crush Walls, and how she took an idea for a mural festival dedicated to women and their art to fruition with one of the most successful Denver art events of 2020, Babe Walls.
Ep. 042 Daniel Sprick - Contemporary American Realistic Painter
Wes and Todd talk with Denver painter, Daniel Sprick. Sprick talks about his early years in Glenwood Springs and his introduction to drawing, his exploits into the outdoors to get out of the studio and paint, favorite artists, 20th century art, his portrait and still life painting, what it takes to be bold in the world of art, the importance of sleep, happiness, and his pursuit of beauty and aesthetics.
Ep. 041 Ron Hicks - Painter
Wes and Todd talk with Denver painter, Ron Hicks. Hicks talks about growing up in Denver, Colorado and Columbus, Ohio, going to art school, finding his voice and focusing on his art career, his beautiful individual series that he continues to explore, mortality and legacy, and a plethora of perceptions.
Ep. 040 Dennis Scholl - Documentary Filmmaker, Lifeline:Clyfford Still
Wes and Todd talk with award-winning documentary filmmaker, Dennis Scholl about his early years growing up in Miami, his work as former Vice President/Arts for the Knight Foundation, the Oolite Arts organization and his role as President and CEO, making documentaries, his extraordinary documentary Lifeline:Clyfford Still, and the wonderful documentary that he co-directed, The Last Resort.
Ep. 039 Krista Lea - Artby13, Painter
Wes and Todd talk with Denver artist, Krista Lea aka Artby13. Krista talks about growing up in the Texas Panhandle, entering art contests in her youth, getting a masters in accounting, rediscovering and pursuing art again at age 25 following a devastating ski accident, using art as therapy and negotiating bipolar disorder, and the exploration and dissection of culture and society in her art.
Ep. 038 Charles Ragins - Animator for The Simpsons
Wes and Todd talk with animator and background designer for The Simpsons, Charles Ragins. Ragins talks about his early years in Fairbanks, Alaska where he discovered his artistic talent, attending the Rhode Island School of Design, moving back to Alaska and illustrating children’s books, making the jump into the world of animation on the television sitcom…
Ep. 037 Lisa DiAmor Sanchez - Art with a message
Wes and Todd talk with Denver artist, Lisa DiAmor Sanchez. Lisa talks about how she made the jump to become a full-time artist, her process to create her beautiful paintings, how her family inspired her entrepreneurial spirit, selling art at festivals, and how she has learned to pivot through the years to have a successful art career.
Ep. 031 Topher Straus -Digital Nature Painter
Wes and Todd talk with artist, Topher Straus about his journey to becoming an artist, his unique process in producing his paintings, the different series he has explored, tools he uses to market his art, and how he leverages social media to promote and sell his work.
Ep. 030 Lisa Garness Mallory -Etched Photography
Wes and Todd visit with fine art photography artist, Lisa Garness Mallory. They talk about Lisa’s unique process of etching photographs, how she came up with it, entering international photography competitions, etching international wildlife photographer Todd Gustafson’s photographs, and her Rocky Mountain PBS Art District episode….