Creative Matters
Mandy Jakich
Conversations with visual artists and arts practitioners from Aotearoa New Zealand
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Top 10 Creative Matters Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Creative Matters episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Creative Matters for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Creative Matters episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Kell Sunshine - Lettering artist, Muralist & Illustrator
Creative Matters
05/26/22 • 75 min
Kell Sunshine, a.k.a Kelly Spencer, is a lettering artist, muralist & illustrator from Gisborne with a big love for Mother Earth.
Her creative style is characterised by bright and retro-fresh colour palettes and curvaceous forms, meticulously hand crafted lettering, and illustrative elements of flora and fauna.
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/creative-matters-with-kell-sunshine
“I consider it a privilege to be able to use my creativity to amplify the voice of Mother Earth, with my personal and client work often serving as a platform to promote love & respect for our natural environment.” says Kelly
Kelly’s portfolio of 12 years in the industry includes murals/street art, illustration (editorial, promotional, books), sign painting, apparel graphics, festival & gig branding, installation, identity design and more. She has collaborated with clients such as Trade Me, Red Bull, Whittakers Chocolate, Boon Street Art, PangeaSeed Foundation, Bell Tea, Ministry for Environment, Garage Project, Good Buzz Kombucha, Rhythm & Vines, Department of Conservation, Creative HQ and Framingham Wines
Kelly does not engage in conversation before consuming coffee in the mornings but is henceforth a social creature. Things that make her happy include: Her pup, sunshine, seedlings, the sound of tropical rain, scuba diving, and TRAVEL.
Kelly shares her journey from fashion design through to graphic design, illustration and large scale mural making, some of the collaborations and inspiring projects she's been involved in and her passion for typography, sunshine and all things retro.https://www.instagram.com/kell.sunshine About your host:
Mandy Jakich is the Founder and CEO of Creative Matters, an award winning business providing creative, educational opportunities to enrich the lives of our children, educators, artists and community. https://www.creativematters.co.nz/
She is a practising artist www.amandajakich.co.nz and a teacher, with more than 30 years in various capacities at primary and intermediate schools across Auckland NZ.
Mandy founded Creative Matters in response to an increasing need and demand for creative visual arts opportunities for children - both in and out of school - with a genuine belief in the value of a rich creative process and developing creative experiences and connections through art.
Creative Matters facilitate Professional Development visual arts courses for primary teachers:
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/professional-development
Visual art creative workshops and experiences for children:
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/for-children
Public art projects and creative opportunities in the community
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/for-communities
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
James Watkins - Painter
Creative Matters
02/06/25 • 85 min
Born in Oxford in the UK in 1984, James Watkins moved to Auckland, New Zealand at a young age, kicking off a lifelong journey of travel and creative exploration.
James thinks of his intuitive painting practice as limitless and sees defining his practice as a certain style or describing himself as a certain type of artist as restrictive and unnecessary.
In this episode James shares how he never really felt creative as a young person but discovered photography in his late teens. From photographing beautiful things around him, James went on to explore writing, poetry and arts journalism and then made his way to abstract drawing and painting in his mid twenties.
We discuss materiality, why he likes to use more than one medium in a painting, why he likes to create what he calls 'history' in a painting, his techniques for starting a painting and the metaphors he see in his paintings. He talks about how and why he 'listens' to a painting and how abstraction for him is a form of therapy and self expression.
James thinks of 'excitement' as one of the ingredients and resources he leans on most in his art practice and when he loses that excitement his creativity retreats. We dive deep into the pros and cons of Instagram for artists and explore his approach to building community, connecting with galleries and sharing his work.
This episode is like no other. James has many interesting perspectives on life, life as an artist and ways of thinking about and responding to art, creativity and process.
To be honest, talking to James has really made me think about my own life as an artist and my artistic process.
You can see the work of James Watkins in the NEW COLLECTORS GROUP SHOW at The Frame Workshop and Gallery in Auckland NZ from February 20th - March 8th.
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Tim Jones: Contemporary painter
Creative Matters
06/16/24 • 76 min
Tim Jones is a contemporary painter born in the UK and living in Matakana New Zealand. He creates bold abstract paintings through the use of strong gestural mark making.
Driven by inquiry, and with evocative reference to the natural environment, colour and painterly form are intertwined and steeped in rhythm and movement.
Tim talks about how he has always liked to draw and paint and also take photographs and how his background travelling extensively, diving and working on super yachts has ultimately informed his art practice. He shares his intuitive painting process, the worlds he creates in his work and what they mean to him.
We talk about NFT scams and the merits and downsides of social media, how his identity has been stolen more than once on Instagram and the difficulty he has had resolving this issue. He shares how he sometimes experiences imposter syndrome as a self taught artist and how he deals with that.
We discuss Tim's current solo show Quo Vadis at Parnell Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland and we explore some of the works within the exhibition. Quo Vadis is on now and runs until June 25th 2024.
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Jennie De Groot - Contemporary Painter
Creative Matters
08/11/24 • 83 min
Jennie De Groot is a contemporary painter living near Hamilton in the Waikato.
Jennie's oil paintings occupy a space where reality, imagination and memory all hold equal tenancy. These psychological landscapes hold the tension between realism and abstraction, place and non-place. Her status as immigrant informs her work, exploring themes of identity and adaptation.
After studying archeology, a career in travel consultancy, moving to New Zealand from South Africa and then contracting a serious infection at the age of 39, amongst many other things, Jennie finally devoted herself to her art practice at the age of 40.
In this awesome episode, Jennie talks about how her landscape paintings reflect more of a feeling, an idea and are often more about self than an actual place. She talks about being in the state of flow and how music contributes to this, how she thinks of herself as a colourist, how she builds her colour palette and how she creates balance in her work. Also the different surfaces she likes to paint on and the mark making tools she loves to use. We talk about her amazing Cold Comfort and her Figures in Space series and how and why these paintings came about.
We talk about what she loves about painting plein air, why she went back to university in her fifties to gain her masters in fine arts and how that has contributed to her art practice and what she gains from her mentor relationship and friendship with fellow NZ artist Di Tocker, who will also be on the podcast later this year. And we touch on so much more!
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/post/creative-matters-with-jennie-de-groot
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Anna Gibbs - Conservation Artist
Creative Matters
01/19/25 • 98 min
Anna Gibbs is a contemporary painter living in Banks Peninsula, near Christchurch in the South Island of Aotearoa NZ.
If you search her name on Google you'll see she is described as an "internet personality" which probably comes from the amazing work she does on the Instagram social media platform and her loyal audience of more than 100,000 followers.
Anna is interested in conservation and fortunate to live on a rural lifestyle-block populated by many native birds and plants. Her oil paintings are inspired by her daily observations of the interaction between native flora and fauna. She is deliberate with her composition and, whilst her work is detailed, she describes her subject with neither abstraction nor absolute realism.
In this episode we have a fabulous chat about all sorts of things - such as why Anna likes to gild her backgrounds with 24ct gold leaf and her delicate gilding process, her strong connection to NZ native birds and why she loves to paint them and her passion for conservation.
Anna speaks of her apprenticeship with painter Judy Curnow, who studied with legend New Zealand painter Tim Wilson, and how that influenced her painting approach particularly with glazing techniques and helped her confidence as a self taught painter.
We explore her painting process, framing, the size of her paintings, her gorgeous studio, how she prepares for an exhibition and her upcoming show at Little River Gallery. She shares some tips for Instagram and how she feels about this platform
This is another quite long episode but it's full of really interesting tips and treasures and is so worth listening to - maybe over 2 walks or 2 commutes or 2 art making sessions, however you like to listen.
You can view Anna Gibbs unbelievably beautiful paintings at her solo show South Island Songs at Little River Gallery from January 30th - February 24th 2025 https://littlerivergallery.com/
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Vanessa Fong - Clay Jewellery Artist
Creative Matters
10/15/21 • 69 min
Vanessa is a young Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland artist who gained a fine arts degree at 20 years old and has worked in Art Galleries and art education since then. She is now 27 and celebrating ONE year in business selling her intricately handmade clay earrings through her Dewdrops brand, informed by her fine art practice in sculpture and installation and her love of painting.
Vanessa started making earrings during the first COVID lockdown in 2020 as a creative hobby and suddenly found herself obsessed with polymer clay.
Her website and first collection was launched in Spring 2020 and she received so much encouraging support, firstly from friends and family and then from further afield and she hasn’t looked back.
A year ago Vanessa never imagined she would be stocking her creations in gallery shops, promoting herself and her brand, running workshops, managing a creative business, creating look books and newsletters to customers and selling her creations to people all over NZ.
Vanessa’s story of her creative practice, process and business will be especially fascinating for young art students and people interested in starting a creative business, as well as creatives who love a good story and want to feel inspired.
You can see her beautiful earrings on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog-podcast and on her website https://www.dewdrops.co.nz/
About your host:
Mandy Jakich is the Founder and CEO of Creative Matters, an award winning business providing creative, educational opportunities to enrich the lives of our children, educators, artists and community. https://www.creativematters.co.nz/
She is a practising artist www.amandajakich.co.nz and a primary school teacher, with more than 30 years in various capacities at primary and intermediate schools across Auckland NZ.
She worked for 4 years as an art educator at the Auckland Art Gallery - New Zealand's largest and finest gallery - designing and delivering visual arts programmes to primary, secondary and special needs children, as well as Professional Development courses for teachers.
Mandy founded Creative Matters in response to an increasing need and demand for creative visual arts opportunities for children - both in and out of school - with a genuine belief in the value of a rich creative process and developing creative experiences and connections through art.
Six years on, Creative Matters has blossomed into a well known company with a team of 15 passionate art educators and administrators. Creative Matters facilitate Professional Development visual arts courses for primary teachers:
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/professional-development
Visual art creative workshops and experiences for children:
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/for-children
Public art projects and creative opportunities in the community
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/for-communities
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Levi Hawken - Contemporary sculptor
Creative Matters
09/29/24 • 124 min
Levi Hawken is a brutalist | modernist sculptor living and working in west Auckland. His practice includes sculpture in concrete, glass, wood and bronze as well as painting.
As a skateboarder, Levi understands the undeniable attraction of the urban concrete landscape. His work responds to the forms and elements of this environment.
In this very authentic conversation Levi takes us through his extraordinary life from early graffiti days and his world of skating to his appearances on TV and in film and the Nek Minute meme that made him famous, although not necessarily for all the right reasons. He speaks from the heart about experiences in his life that have affected the person he is, the way he works today and the art he makes.
We discuss Levi's early work, how his first show came about and how he built his reputation as a serious artist. We talk about his current work the False Idols series and the Solv series and how his work is inextricably intertwined with skateboarding and urban forms. Levi describes the ideas behind his work and his process for making and how he feels about showcasing his work in a more commercial environment.
This is an amazing story which will inspire young and old, giving you a true insight into the person and artist that is Levi Hawken.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome and Introductions
02:34 Childhood Memories and Early Influences
04:11 High School Art Journey
06:10 Discovering Graffiti and Skateboarding
09:10 Pursuing Art and Skateboarding in Melbourne
13:07 Transition to Professional Art and Design
27:08 Life in Dunedin and Artistic Evolution
45:27 The Impact of the 'Neck Minute' Meme
52:37 Freestyling Shapes and Downhill Skateboarding
53:24 Exploring Helmet Designs and Aero Helmets
53:46 Collaborations and Exhibitions
54:35 Landscaping and Concrete Sculptures
55:47 Discovering Brutalism and Smaller Works
56:25 Buffable Show and Permanent Art
57:04 Challenges in the Art World
58:39 Transition to Full-Time Artist
59:19 Experimenting with Glass and Bronze
01:02:10 Architectural Influences and Brutalism
01:05:54 Urban Environment and Skateboarding Influence
01:14:05 Large Scale Projects and Problem Solving
01:23:32 Commercial Success and International Reach
01:31:01 Reflections and Future Aspirations
01:40:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Sue and Karen Gardiner from the Chartwell Trust
Creative Matters
10/06/24 • 56 min
Creative visual thinking is fundamental to us all as human beings as we strive to understand our sense of self and the world. Chartwell seeks to deepen understanding about the importance of art and creative thinking for our future and our wellbeing.
The Chartwell Trust was set up in the early 1970s by Robert Gardiner, then a Hamilton businessman and accountant, as a charitable trust to realise Chartwell's vision for wider access to and deeper understanding of creative visual thinking.
The Chartwell Collection was established in 1974 as a privately managed public collection, a new model for its time in New Zealand. From the beginning, all acquisitions went immediately into public gallery care and use.
In this episode I speak to 2 of the Chartwell trust directors Rob Gardiner's daughters Sue and Karen Gardiner, as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chartwell Trust’s involvement with and support of the visual arts in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Karen and Sue share some lovely stories about their early days with their parents Rob and Ev and the man that is Rob Gardiner. We talk about the long 50 year history of Chartwell, how and why Rob started the Chartwell Collection, why the collection eventually came up to Auckland from the Waikato to the Auckland Art Gallery in 1997, why contemporary art makes up the collection and how acquisitions are chosen.
Chartwell's activities and projects are divided into four key domains - Being, Seeing, Making and Thinking. Karen talks about one of the Chartwell outreach projects named Squiggla, which is a cross curricular tool that helps develop creative thinking through the power of mark making https://www.squiggla.org/
Sue takes us through ideas around asking questions in art, how we respond to contemporary art, the affects of viewing art, slow looking and Chartwell's hopes for the next 50 years and she shares the 50th year Chartwell anniversary programme which is running from March 2024 - March 2025.
This is a wonderful conversation which recounts an important part of Aotearoa New Zealand's social and visual art history and celebrates the value of art and the creative process for everyone.
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Lucy Davidson - Contemporary Landscape Painter
Creative Matters
03/18/22 • 64 min
Lucy Davidson is a contemporary landscape painter from the Tutukaka Coast in Northland NZ, currently living in Auckland. Her abstract paintings explore the notion that nature and human emotion are interconnected and affect each other.
To Lucy, Memories are inherent in our natural landscape and she uses colour to highlight the things we might miss in our daily encounters with natural elements.
Her experiences at Elam School of Fine Arts (Auckland NZ) and in the film, TV and design industries in twenties have informed her painting practice and she is now a full time artist at the age of 30. She has created a busy practice and an inspiring life for herself that allows for freedom, flexibility and creativity.
https://lucydavidson.nz/
https://www.facebook.com/lucydartist/
https://www.instagram.com/lucyd_art/?hl=en
About your host:
Mandy Jakich is the Founder and CEO of Creative Matters, an award winning business providing creative, educational opportunities to enrich the lives of our children, educators, artists and community. https://www.creativematters.co.nz/
She is a practising artist www.amandajakich.co.nz and a teacher, with more than 30 years in various capacities at primary and intermediate schools across Auckland NZ.
She worked for 4 years as an art educator at the Auckland Art Gallery - New Zealand's largest and finest gallery - designing and delivering visual arts programmes to primary, secondary and special needs children, as well as Professional Development courses for teachers.
Mandy founded Creative Matters in response to an increasing need and demand for creative visual arts opportunities for children - both in and out of school - with a genuine belief in the value of a rich creative process and developing creative experiences and connections through art.
Seven years on, Creative Matters has blossomed into a well known company with a team of passionate art educators and administrators. Creative Matters facilitate Professional Development visual arts courses for primary teachers:
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/professional-development
Visual art creative workshops and experiences for children:
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/for-children
Public art projects and creative opportunities in the community
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/for-communities
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
Valerie Auersperg (Valerism) - Illustrator, Painter
Creative Matters
09/27/22 • 63 min
Valerie Auersperg, also known as Valerism and I Am Valerism , is an Austrian artist living in New Zealand. She creates acrylic paintings and digital drawings depicting pop-surreal scenes in a colourful, dream-like manner. Her work brings a smile and sense of wonder to the viewer.
Valerie explores the world inside and around herself, pairing the expected with the unusual. She focuses on themes such as memory (real and perceived), pop culture and mental health. Her work is a whimsical commentary on how our inner journeys, moods and situations are something that connects us.
Valerie is a self-taught artist who has worked in fashion, animation and advertising. Art has always been her passion and side hustle and finally she took the leap to become a full-time artist in 2020.
We have a really fun insightful chat about how Valerie processes her pregnancy through her work, the potentials of NFTs, the reasons why some of her characters are masked and how she uses symbolism and narratives to express herself. Like her work, this episode will make you smile I'm sure. Enjoy!
https://www.valerism.com/
About your host: https://www.instagram.com/creative_matters/
Mandy Jakich is the Founder and CEO of Creative Matters, an award winning business providing creative, educational opportunities to enrich the lives of our children, educators, artists and community. https://www.creativematters.co.nz/
Mandy is a practising artist www.amandajakich.co.nz and a teacher, with more than 30 years experience teaching in various capacities at primary and intermediate schools across Auckland NZ and as an art educator at Auckland Art Gallery.
As well as this podcast, Creative Matters facilitate Professional Development visual arts courses for primary teachers, visual art creative workshops and experiences for children and
public art projects and creative opportunities in the community.
Ngā mihi, thanks for listening!
Follow us on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/creativematterspodcast/
Learn more about Mandy and the podcast
https://www.creativematters.co.nz/podcast
See images of each guests work and relevant links on our blog https://www.creativematters.co.nz/blog
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FAQ
How many episodes does Creative Matters have?
Creative Matters currently has 163 episodes available.
What topics does Creative Matters cover?
The podcast is about Leisure, Artist, Visual Arts, Creativity, Creative, Podcasts, New Zealand, Arts and Crafts.
What is the most popular episode on Creative Matters?
The episode title 'James Emery - Emerging Artist' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Creative Matters?
The average episode length on Creative Matters is 75 minutes.
How often are episodes of Creative Matters released?
Episodes of Creative Matters are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Creative Matters?
The first episode of Creative Matters was released on Mar 8, 2021.
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