In today’s episode I'm talking with Joshua Brew, an Australian artist working on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja country in Perth. Joshua explores contemporary masculinity in his graphite drawings. His practice looks at identity & vulnerability, often turning the focus inward and using his own body as his subject, examining what it means to see and be seen.

Joshua and I talk about his experience of being an emerging artist while balancing a full-time teaching job, a relationship, a mortgage and everything else that comes with life after art school. We talk about how he finds time to make work, using deadlines and awards to create structure, and making his practice more manageable by working at a smaller scale.

Joshua discusses his ongoing exploration of masculinity and his interest in making different representations of male bodies visible. We also talk about life drawing, community, experimentation and giving yourself permission to play. Joshua shares some of the artists, books, shows and other things that have influenced or interested him, and talks about the challenge of believing that what you have to say is worth saying while also seeing the opportunities that come with being at an emerging stage of an art practice.

You can find Joshua here on instagram and here on his website

Mentioned in this episode:

• Book- How to Art by Kate Bryant
• TV Shows: The Great Pottery Throw Down & Adults
• Andrew Sleeman on The Creative Kind

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This week I'm joined by two returning guests, Sarah Birtles and Rachael Parsons, who answered questions that have come in from listeners over the past year. Sarah is an art dealer and director of Sarah Birtles Gallery, who recently opened a new space in Springwood in the Blue Mountains. Rachael is the director of the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), marking 10 years in the role this year.

We get into a lot of ground: what question emerging artists should actually be asking themselves, whether you need formal art training to be taken seriously, what happens when work doesn't sell at a gallery, and the sometimes-blurry line between decorative and fine art. We also talk about how much artists should share of their personal lives online, how to navigate working across different subjects or genres without losing collectors, and a discussion on AI, where it's a useful tool and where it isn't. We finish with practical advice on how to approach a gallerist or curator for feedback.

This season is going to be made up of interviews plus a few Question and Answer episodes from different artists and arts professionals, and like Sarah and Rachael, they will all bring really different vantage points.

I loved hearing both Rachael and Sarah’s answers today, what they agreed on, how they built on what each other said and their different perspectives from both the commercial and public gallery sectors

If you have a question for the podcast, you can ask it here (or send me an email or dm)

You can find Sarah Birtles here on Instagram and here on her website

You can find Rachael Parsons here on Instagram and here at NERAM

• Rachael Parsons: Copy That: Rachael Parsons on copying in Art, copyright & AI
• Sarah Birtles: Art Fairs with Sarah Birtles

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In this episode I talked with Amy Stapleton about changing direction in her art practice. Amy has moved from painting gum trees and landscapes towards more abstract and experimental work. We discuss the difficulty of moving away from work that has been successful and how she has facilitated her practice to change.

Amy talks about burnout, the value of stepping away, and how a residency at The Corridor Project helped her reconnect with making. We also discuss exhibitions, art communities, building confidence, working across different materials and scales, and the challenge of creating without knowing what the outcome will be.

We talk about comparison, success and finding your own voice, as well as Amy's interest in art history and looking at how other artists' practices have changed over time.

Amy has an upcoming show ‘Do not go gentle’ with Side Gallery in Brisbane on October 8-17, where proceeds from sales will support Dangerous Females' work for domestic and family violence services.

Find Amy at her website here and on instagram here

People and places mentioned

• The Corridor Project,
• Laura Horn
• Cynthia Copley
• Julie Bradley
• Ipswich Art Gallery - Sharing the National Collection (Rothko & Agnes Martin, on loan from the National Gallery of Australia)

You can find the podcast here

Thanks so much for listening! Feel free to rate, review & share if you enjoyed it, this helps other people find the show

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Laura Brinin is back on the podcast, and today we're talking about mentoring. Laura is a curator and arts administrator, and one half of Side Gallery in Brisbane, and she also works at a university art gallery and does professional development with artists.

We talk about whether Laura had a mentor herself, and the piece of advice she got early on that she now thinks was the best bad advice she's ever received. We chat about how to know when you're actually ready for mentoring versus when you think you need it, and why finding the right mentor matters. We get into the difference between mentoring and just getting feedback on your work, and whether mentoring should come through your gallery or sit outside of it.

Laura talks through a couple of mentoring myths, what her own process actually looks like, and a mistake she sees a lot in early-career artists around niching down too soon. We also talk about finding your community, how she likes to run a group critique, what to do if your work starts looking too similar to someone else's, and how mentoring is usually structured in terms of frequency and length.

• Laura Brinin @laura__who
• Side Gallery, Brisbane sidegallery.com.au
• Dunedin Public Art Gallery

You can find the podcast here on Instagram & here on Substack

If you're interested in a video of this episode- you can find it on the Substack or on Youtube

Thanks so much for listening! Feel free to rate, review & share if you enjoyed it, this helps other people find the show

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This week I chat with Nick Smith, founder and director of N. Smith Gallery in Sydney to talk about what gallery representation looks like; What does a gallery really do? How do they decide who to work with? And what makes a gallery relationship successful over the long term?

Since opening in 2021, Nick has built a gallery that represents 26 artists across Australia while exhibiting internationally through museums, art fairs and major projects.We talked about what representation means beyond simply hanging work on a wall. Nick shares how his team supports artists through pricing, museum relationships, public art commissions, publications, marketing and career planning.

We also discuss what artists often misunderstand about representation, some of the ways artists can approach a gallery, what to include in an email and how artists living outside major cities can still get noticed.

We also dive into international art fairs, the realities of running a commercial gallery, what happens when an artist's career plateaus, and why timing, trust and honest conversations are so important.

One of the things I appreciated most about this conversation was Nick's willingness to talk about the relationship between artist and gallery as exactly that: a relationship. It's built over years, evolves over time, and works best when both sides communicate openly about their ambitions, expectations and challenges.

You can find N.Smith Gallery at nsmithgallery.com and on Instagram at @n.smithgallery and @nw.smith

Find the Art Wank Episode with Nick here

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In this episode I sit down with Rachael Parsons, Director of the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), to talk about copying and copyright in visual art. We trace copying's long history as a teaching tool and talk about the point where it tips over into forgery or passing someone else's work off as your own. Rachael breaks down what copyright law actually protects (a specific artwork) versus what it doesn't (style, colour palette, subject matter).

We discuss how a reputation for derivative work can affect an artist's exhibition and grant opportunities & what artists can actually do if they think they've been copied. Rachael talks about some of the bigger historical cases of mass forgery & we also touch on the impact of AI in this matter- how training data complicates copyright, why some art prizes now have no-AI policies, and whether AI-generated art will end up as its own category altogether.

Links mentioned:

Find Rachael Parsons here on Instagram, and here at NERAM

• NERAM: https://www.neram.com.au
• Tamworth Regional Gallery here on instagram and here https://tamworthregionalgallery.com.au

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In this episode, I'm joined once again by Amanda Billing, who has completed several 100 Day Projects over the years. This time, she reflects on what happened when she spent 100 consecutive days working with clay, why she invited a community of artists to join her, and what she learned from watching dozens of people move through the same experience.

We talk about why the 100 Day Project can be used to learn an entirely new medium, deepen an existing practice, or simply create space for something that's been sitting quietly in the background for years. Amanda shares why she believes the most successful projects aren't driven by external outcomes, but by deeply personal motivations that keep you coming back, even on the days when the excitement has worn off.

Our conversation explores the reality of showing up every day: the boredom, the resistance, the unexpected breakthroughs, and the moments where you discover that the project isn't really about the work you're making at all. It's about the habits, stories and assumptions you uncover about yourself along the way.

We also discuss what Amanda observed while guiding a group of artists through the process together. From experienced professionals to complete beginners they talked and shared their experience together - the uncertainty, self-doubt, periods where it felt like nothing was happening, and eventually, a growing confidence that extended well beyond the creative work itself.

Amanda Billing is an actor, portrait photographer, and artist based in Auckland.

Find her at amandabilling.co.nz and on Instagram @amandabillingnz

Find her 100 day project page here @_householdgods_

Mentioned in this episode:

• The 100 Day Project is run by Lindsay Jean Thompson. Find the Instagram at @dothe100dayproject and the Substack at the100dayproject.substack.com.
• Wendy Mac find her substack here and her instagram here
• The podcast Make Art Not Content : find the episode here and the Instagram here

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