Podcast: Being an Artist

Being An Artist With Tom Judd is a weekley podcast where we explore what it takes to be an artist and what drives this life long commitment. Tom interviews established artists about how they manage their lives and create their artwork and make it all work.

“I have always wondered what has certain people take on their talents in such a seemingly irreversible fashion.”

We will explore the different practices that artists put into play to make sure they get the work done. We also look at how artists promote themselves and relate to the market place?

These are all questions that get considered and talked about in a context that is provocative and compelling.

Episode 12. Within this Patchwork: The Art of Richard Watson

Richard Watson is a fixture and legend in the city of Philadelphia. His idea of being an artist includes the way he dresses with great care and style. He’s an activist and committed to the breaking down of racial exclusion in the arts and elsewhere.

Episode 11. Rosanne Cash: The Unsettled Heart

On today’s episode, I’ll be talking with Rosanne Cash; singer, songwriter and author.

She has reinvented herself and her art many times, on her way to finding her own very original voice.

Episode 10. Derrick Velasquez: A Language Of Structure

Derrick Velasquez is an artist and exhibition organizer who lives and works in Denver, Colorado. His most recent exhibitions include solo shows at The Herron School of Art and Design, The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Robischon Gallery, Pentimenti, and The Black Cube Nomadic Museum. He has had recent group exhibitions at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Carvalho Park and Transmitter in New York, and was a 2017 recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors and a 2019 MacDowell Fellow. Derrick also runs Yes Ma’am Projects, an artist-run gallery in the basement of his Athmar Park home and Friend of a Friend, a project space in the Evans School in the Golden Triangle.

Episode 9. Peter Paone: A Legend In His Own Time

A legend in his own time, Peter Paone is a fixture in the Philadelphia art world. He has exhibited his artwork internationally including New York, London, Vienna and Germany… and in major cities across the US.

His work is in many prestigious collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Gallery in Washington DC, and the Yale University Art Gallery, to name a few. He is a prolific painter, printmaker, archivist, and teacher.

Episode 8. Mikel Elam: The Path With Heart

Mikel presently makes his home in Germantown Philadelphia, but has travelled the world on his way to being the established and formidable artist he is today.

He has been featured in international publications and media, including commercial television, and feature films. He earned a BFA degree in painting from U Arts in 1986 and also studied at The School of Visual Arts in New York.

In 1987 he took on a life changing job of being a personal assistant to the great jazz icon Miles Davis and was with him until his death in 1991. This profoundly impacted his life both as an artist and a human being.

His art reflects the rich and varied life he has led. He collages materials and imagery together to create a rich tapestry of meaning and experience.

Episode 7. Brooke Larsen: A Passionate Journey

Brooke Larsen has had a remarkable career that includes single handedly starting an art program at the Richard Stockton University in Pomona, New Jersey in the early seventies. He was the only teacher! Then, after moving to New York City, he became an integral part of the early eighties art scene in New York. Along with his artwork, he became one of the most important frame designers and makers of this generation of contemporary artists’ work.

In 1991 he reluctantly took an offer to teach a Saturday afternoon class at the School of Visual Arts. This turned out to be a revelation for Brooke in rediscovering his passion for teaching.

Thirty years later he is still teaching at SVA and has become a legend for his engaging projects that challenge and inspire students to go beyond their limitations. In 2018 he taught a semester at the School of Creative Arts in Shanghai Tech University and had a show of his work.

He has kept up a vigorous art career throughout exhibiting in galleries and museums. Wherever Brooke Larsen shows up, or whatever he does, he brings his passion, commitment and sense of humor with him.

Episode 6. Rococo And Resistance: The Artwork Of Jane Irish

Jane Irish has created an expansive career that has included ambitious projects and collaborations with others. She has used her great talents as a painter and inclusive visionary to take on big subjects and has brought everyone along for the ride. Her most famous and ongoing project being exposing the fraud and consequences of the Viet Nam War. To this end she has given voice to veterans and other committed activists in curating extensive ground breaking exhibitions.

In her own practice she interacts with history, place and politics and social norms to comment on the state of our human drama. She is both a painter, ceramicist and a would-be theatrical stage designer. She transforms spaces into large environments, and she invites us into her world of wonder. Along with all of that, her paintings by themselves, are astoundingly beautiful and engaging.

Episode 5. Something About Mythology With Eileen Neff

Host Tom Judd speaks with Eileen Neff about how literature has influenced her work, including the poetry of Wallace Stevens.

Neff, a Philadelphia based artist, began as a painter until she discovered photography was the pathway to her expression as an artist in the early 80s. Known also as a sought after art critic and writer, she went on to develop an astounding body of work over a 40 year period.

You can learn more about her on her website eileenneff.com

Episode 4. The Practice Of Extroverted Painting With Ray Smith

Born in Brownsville Texas and raised in Mexico City, Ray Smith emerged as an important voice in the 1980’S post modern reinvention of painting in New York city, along with his friend Julian Schanbel.

Ray is best known for his large segmented paintings, his elements of cubism and surrealism, and his work with Mexican muralists, with the use of anthropomorphic animals akin to his hero Pablo Piccaso.

Ray refers to his subject matter this way… “They are Beasts, but they are directly attached to a blueprint of our own existence.”

His works reflects upon the complexities and absurdities of society, family, culture, the human condition between birth and death.

You can learn more about Ray Smith on his website raysmithstudio.com

Episode 3. Plush Onus: The Artists David Humphrey And Jennifer Coates

Two powerful artists by themselves , the married couple love to mix it up including collaborating on paintings and sharing ideas about art and artmaking.

Established contemporary artists, they are both published writers and love to play music together. The interview reveals an expansive studio practice between their two homes, New York City and a country house in rural Pennsylvania.

The COVID outbreak impacted them immediately when Jennifer came down with the virus and was bed ridden for a month back in March. She talks of how she drew her way out of it with drawings from bed which later led to a whole series of large paintings.

David produced an astounding body of work for his show at Fredericks and Freiser in the fall with a Title surprisingly appropriate “Arms of the Law.” He also completed an extensive monograph of his long career, “David Humphrey” edited by Davy Lauterbach.

You can learn more about them on their websites davidhumphreynyc.com and jenniferlcoates.com

Episode 2. Tim McFarlane: Art & Life Stirred Vigorously

Host Tom Judd sits down with painter Tim McFarlane to discuss the importance of putting in the work, and showing up. Tim also talks about the daily challenges with a painting, even when it’s not going well, and how to listen to the painting instead of your busy mind.

Your can learn more about Tim on his website timmcfarlane.com

Episode 1. Dead Birds And The Art Of Darla Jackson

On this episode of Being an Artist, host Tom Judd talks to sculptor Darla Jackson about her love for clay and sculpting, quitting her full time job to pursue art while pregnant, getting endorsed by Courtney Love and more!

Darla ran Philadelphia Sculpting Gym. It was a coworking space for sculpting that ran for four years. She is currently working on her show Enter the 36 Chambers, a series of 36 bird sculptures that tells a blend of Kung Fu, Wu-Tang and fairytales through the lens of her brain.

Check Darla Jackson out at DarlaJacksonSculpture.com