PODCAST

Hello and welcome to Curator on the Go Podcast –a perfect blend of art appreciation, education, and entertainment. With each episode, you embark on a new adventure, delving into the diverse and inspiring practices of guest speakers, including artists from various backgrounds, curators, and individuals with unique perspectives on art. I invite you to be part of the “Curator on the Go” community, where artists, art lovers and enthusiasts come together to celebrate creativity in all its forms. Subscribe to our podcast to embark on an artistic journey that transcends time, place, and culture.

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S04 EP011 – Interview with Michael Findlay

Michael Findlay is a director of Acquavella Galleries in New York. His career began in 1964, when he became a pioneer of SoHo’s legendary gallery scene, presenting the first solo exhibitions of many then unknown artists who went on to become household names. He is the author of The Value of Art and Seeing Slowly (both published by Prestel). His new book, Portrait of the Art Dealer as a Young Man: New York in the Sixties, is an evocative and exciting journey through the 1960’s New York as an art dealer makes a career of emphasizing the importance of lived experience of art over its pursuit of financial gain, while launching the U.S. careers of some of the most sought-after artists of the late twentieth century. 

S04 EP010 – Interview with Erin Schuppert (Affordable Art Fair ) 

After working for almost a decade in the auction and blue-chip gallery world, Erin Schuppert became the Director of Affordable Art Fair NYC in January 2022. With a mission to spread the joy of collecting art in an accessible and welcoming way, the fair holds two editions annually, in March and September. Each fair hosts over 75 galleries from around the world showcasing over 400 artists. Inspired by her vision to make a positive contribution to the vibrant NYC arts ecosystem, Erin began the Fellowship Program shortly after joining the fair. The Program invests in the long-term growth and success of local emerging galleries, inviting them to exhibit at the fair free of charge over three editions. Erin is also proud to work with local organizations such as Arts Gowanus, Materials for the Arts, FIT, and The Art Therapy Project to create joyful, engaging, and welcoming arts experiences. She holds a BA in Art History from Boston University and an MA in Museum Studies from NYU.

S04 EP09 – Interview with Anna Holmes (Cowley Abbott Auctioneers)

Anna Holmes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours from Queen’s University, majoring in Art History and History. While undertaking her undergraduate studies, Anna volunteered and worked at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, acting as both a Curatorial Assistant and Collections Assistant, enriching her knowledge of research procedures, cataloguing, acquisitions and art handling. What began as a curiosity about the art auction industry developed into a career choice which Anna explored through internships at respected Toronto houses and with further advanced study, Anna pursued a Masters degree in Art, Style and Design, Art World Practice, with Christie’s Education in London, England, earning her MLitt degree from the University of Glasgow. Anna’s professional background includes fifteen years of experience in the Canadian auction world, working with various Toronto firms and receiving mentorship from recognized experts in the Canadian Art auction industry. She is currently holds a position of Senior Art Specialist at Cowley Abbott Auctioneers. When she is not focusing on her professional responsibilities, Anna enjoys keeping current with cultural activities, including the theatre, music, and dance. Among other arts-related organizations, she is a member of the Women’s Art Association of Canada.

S04 EP08 – Interview with Jenn Goodwin (Toronto Biennial of Art)

Jenn Goodwin is the Public Programs Curator at TBA. Prior to joining the team in April 2023, she worked for the City of Toronto with a focus on Nuit Blanche, for which she was the inaugural programmer and played an integral role in shaping its artistic and cultural identity and evolution. Recently, she was also Lead Programmer on ArtworxTO Programs and Cultural Community Hubs.

Jenn is also an artist, choreographer, independent curator, and artistic producer/programmer. Much of her art and producing practice has focused on art in public space, envisioned through a choreographic and feminist lens, while championing artists and communities by way of their art practices. Jenn is a graduate of the Master of Visual Studies – Curatorial Studies Program at the University of Toronto and received the Reesa Greenberg award for Curation. Prior to that, she received a BFA from Concordia University in Contemporary Dance. 

S04 EP07 – Interview with Alex Farkas (UGallery)

Alex Farkas is the founder and gallery director of UGallery. Alex enjoyed a small-town childhood in the old mining town of Jerome, Arizona – there were more ghosts than residents and the arts community thrived. It was his mother’s ceramic studio and gallery that first nurtured Alex’s taste in art. He spent his early years carving wood sculptures, exploring abandoned buildings, and avoiding the rattlesnakes and centipedes under every rock. At the University of Arizona, Alex loved studying art history and sculpture, and he also enrolled in the Entrepreneurship program. It was here he realized he could combine the two worlds of art and business. After graduating in 2006, Alex launched UGallery using his entire savings. After a few years, he packed up a truck and moved to San Francisco to join its vibrant art market. After almost 15 years in San Francisco, he moved to Amsterdam where he runs the business today. Alex has curated the UGallery portfolio since its inception, hosted booths at the New York Affordable Art Fair for over 8 years, and seen UGallery featured in dozens of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, and TechCrunch.

S04 EP06 – Interview with Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti

Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti are a curatorial duo for arts and advanced technologies. They co-direct Multiplicity XXnft, an online platform that curates, publishes and promotes art with a focus on diversity and inclusion. 

Auronda is a curator and public figure who lives between London, Dubai and the metaverse. She regularly appears on the art and technology conference and summit circuit and is a lecturer at several university courses, as well as working as a curator, advisor, and global ambassador for art and culture. The House of Lords wanted her as expert witness on art, culture and new technologies at the UK Parliament, part of the first evidence session for a Commission on Web3 and the metaverse; SkyTV / ClassCNBC interviewed her among academics, artists and researchers on AI, art and museums; the PlusTate UK institutional network of museums invited her to organise webinars on art and new technologies; She delivered a lecture-performance at the House of Beautiful Business conference in Lisbon in front of 700+ world leaders. During the latest World Economic Forum on Web3 and Metaverse for 100woman x Davos had her as discussant about equity and diversity.

Alfredo is the director of Media Majlis museum of art, media and technology at Northwestern University, Qatar. He is president of IKT–International Association Curators of Contemporary Art, chair of the Digital Strategies Committee of AICA–Int’l Association of Art Critics, and advises the KSA Visual Art Commission, UK Government Art Collection, British Council Visual Arts, and the Italian Ministry of Culture.  He is a renowned for his work in contemporary art and media, often exploring the intersections of art, technology, and society. He has curated exhibitions and projects worldwide, such as four national pavilions and collateral events at the Venice Art Biennale; Hong Kong Arts Centre; EXPO Chicago, and the biennials Sequences VII in Reykjavik, Iceland and Manifesta 8, Region of Murcia, Spain.

S04 EP05 – Interview with Judith Tatar

Judith Tatar is a Founder & Creative Director of Tatar Art Projects (TAP) – a global art consulting firm that connects clients to its community through artwork. TAP curates art programs that amplify diverse voices in visual art and its representatives of the communities they serve. Integral to a successful art program; whether hospitality, corporate or public, is that it enriches the experience for the viewer and maximizes return for the clients’ investment by unlocking the value of storytelling through visual art. 

S04 EP04 – Interview with Svenja Katharina Frisch

Svenja Katharina Frisch is an art advisor and curator based in Berlin. She is also a co-founder of POV contemporary – a fusion of curation and advisory aimed to host international invite-only salons to communicate the passion for art and foster a like-minded community.

S04 EP03 – Interview with Carrie Scott

Carrie Scott is an American/English curator, art historian, TV presenter and art writer living in London. Over the past 16 years she has worked with numerous galleries, businesses, collectors and artists worldwide. While at the University of Washington, Seattle doing a Master’s in Art History, Scott was noted curator of the Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University’s Lee Center, and Director of the James Harris Gallery also in Seattle, Washington. While working with James Harris she curated the first solo show of Rashid Johnson’s work outside of Chicago. From there she went on to be Director of Nicole Klagsbrun gallery in New York. In 2009, Scott launched her own business Carrie Scott & Partners, an art consultancy and curatorial endeavour that could exist beyond the walls of the traditional gallery. 

S04 EP02 – Interview with Katharine Earnhardt

Katharine Earnhardt developed an in-depth art market knowledge and aptitude for developing client taste through 15 years of experience in the New York and London art worlds. She has worked at the Museum of Modern Art, Christie’s Inc, and Gurr Johns, conducting extensive research on art value and investment. Katharine has a dual degree in Art History and Economics from Williams College and a Master’s in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Known for her approachability, and transparency, Katharine instills trust and confidence in her clients and industry colleagues.

S04 EP01 – Interview with Gemma Rolls-Bentley

S03 EP31 – Interview with Amy Stewart

Vancouver-based artist Amy Stewart has been drawn to the interconnections of art, play and nature since her childhood in 108-Mile House, British Columbia, where she spent most of her time outdoors. That first northern home continues to dominate much of Amy’s current artistic world. The memories of childhood and nature shape her adult imagination, and they are reflected in her paintings’ rich textures and vibrant tones. Her pieces are often inspired by the feelings that come both from the natural world and from engaging fully in her community and with her loved ones. “I paint how I feel and who I am,” Stewart explains. And that sense of humanity—the private experiences of suffering and celebration—is evoked by her canvases’ unique explorations of colour, which range from exuberant bursts of brightness to contemplative reflections on darkness. Amy paints from her studio on Granville Island as well as at her Eastside, Parker Street studio. Her art hangs in galleries and private homes around the world, and has been featured in several films, television series, and architecture and design magazines. 

S03 EP30 – Interview with Bibiana Hooper

Canadian artist Bibiana Hooper lives in the beautiful Okanagan, British Columbia. She moved with her family from the city a decade ago to live in the country with expansive views of vineyards, orchards, lakes, mountains and sky. As a self-taught artist, she began exploring her skills in 2018 when she joined a collective art gallery. Bibiana’s art practice is all about capturing the beauty of flowers and landscapes through a contemporary and poetic brush stroke. Her passion for nature shines through her with the flow and organic elements in everything she creates. Bibiana paints in her home studio and she’s also an integral part of the Naramata Art Group. You can find her artwork hanging in galleries and private homes all around the world. 

S03 EP29 – Interview with Billie Rae Busby

Billie Rae Busby is an award-winning contemporary artist who uses a precise hard-edge painting technique and colour theory to reinvent her surroundings. Her abstract landscape paintings evoke wonder and possibility by depicting mood, memory, movement and time. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she is inspired by both the complexity of urban architecture and the vast rural landscape. She strives to interpret ordinary places in a fresh, new context.

S03 EP28 – Interview with Claire Crawford

Claire Crawford (née Gaulin-Brown) is an artist and illustrator living and working in San Francisco, California. Claire uses surrealism and abstract tools to inquire about nature culture dualism as a place to imagine a post anthropocentric world. Claire has exhibited works in Victoria, Whistler, and Montreal, and has worked on illustrated conservation efforts through not-for-profit organizations such as the Bateman Foundation. Claire earned an Art History degree from McGill University in Montreal.

S03 EP27 – Interview with Andrea Soos

Andrea Soos is well known for her playful abstractions that combine creative mark-making, patterning, and gestural application of colour. Working with a fresh modern palette, Soos’ paintings allow the viewer to freely journey around the canvas, enjoying the twists and turns of her engaging compositions. Although she may not know the outcome of the piece when she begins, the artwork evolves as a visceral and therapeutic practice, driven by music and song lyrics. Viewers of Soos’ work connect with the many visual entry-points and feel at liberty to apply their own experiences and history to the marks on the canvas. Soos lives and works in Victoria, British Columbia, where she also trained for her BFA. Soos’ work has been collected across Canada and in the USA, and works to release new series’ of artwork year-round. 

S03 EP26 – Interview with Jodi Miller

Jodi Miller is a contemporary, Canadian impressionist painter whose landscapes explore our sense of belonging and how we interact with our natural environment. She is a veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, following a 20 year career as an aerospace engineer working in aircraft maintenance and project management.  Jodi pivoted to become a full-time artist in 2015, returning to the prairies where she grew up on a family farm. She now finds inspiration in the vast land and skies. Jodi paints in response to her time in nature and her work represents optimism where the artist sees metaphorical life journeys in the many paths carved out in nature. Jodi’s work has been recognized for “capturing Canadian identity through landscape” and she has been named one of “28 Contemporary Canadian Artists You Need to Know” by Create Magazine. Her work has been requested at shows across Canada and is held in private collections world-wide. 

S03 EP25 – Interview with Jennifer Mohr

Jennifer L Mohr is an acrylic and mixed media painter living and creating in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada (the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 Nations in Southern Alberta, and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3).  She began exploring visual arts in early childhood, later earning her B.F.A. in painting at the University of Saskatchewan in 2003.  With a nostalgic palette, expressive, layered marks, and lingering, ground-level perspective, Jennifer’s paintings place the viewer within the landscape, allowing them to experience the beauty and complexity of self-reflection within nature.  Her paintings are part of private collections across the globe and have been featured in publications, including Create! Magazine, The Jealous Curator blog, and the popular website, My Modern Met.

S03 EP24 – Interview with Andrew Wang

Andrew Wang is a Toronto based mixed media artist.  He has a non-traditional background, coming from two decades in engineering and business.  He left this career 6 years ago to pursue art and has developed into a professional artist showing in galleries, art fairs and public art installations. Andrew uses meticulously folded origami objects to create large scale assemblages. He tells stories of individual journeys and migrations of previous generations.  With his unique background, he draws on science and mathematics for his compositions and metaphors.  Fluid dynamics, planetary motion and weather patterns are often seen in his work.

S03 EP23 – Interview with Cobie Cruz

Cobie Cruz was born in Manila, Philippines into a family of artists. He started his career in advertising as an art director, then became a director of television commercials before starting to paint professionally. Cruz participated in several group and solo exhibitions before emigrating with his family to Canada in 2005. Cobie Cruz’s paintings are an exploration of composition, color and texture. The bold and determined brushstrokes are created by both intention and spontaneity and reflect his interpretation of the world around him. Cruz is curently represented by Canvas Gallery, Petroff Gallery, Arta Gallery in Toronto and Galerie Bloom in Montreal. Learn more about Cobie Cruz here. 

S03 EP22 – Interview with Carol Loeb

Carol Loeb is a Canadian acrylic and mixed media artist who has always been fascinated with nature and our relationship to it. Carol’s main subject is the landscape, both rural and urban. She works mainly in acrylics, usually blocking in dark and mid-tone areas first then adding thin layers of saturated color to create luminosity and depth. The result is a realism that goes beyond a photographic representation or record of place. In the lead-up to Canada’s 150th anniversary, she conceived and executed the Trans-Canada 150 art project, a cross-continental documentation of the Canadian landscape along the Trans-Canada Highway from coast to coast, culminating in a series of 52 studio paintings and a book. More recently, as travel had been restricted by the global pandemic, she has concentrated on industrial and urban landscapes. Carol is represented by galleries in Montreal, Toronto, Perth, and Laguna Beach, CA. Her works are in private collections in Canada, USA, Germany, UK and Philippines.

S03 EP21 – Interview with Ramona Nordal

Canadian-born artist Ramona Nordal began her art exploration at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia. Here she studied lithography, colour theory, painting and drawing and later focused on anatomy drawing and painting. Colour theory has always been a huge part of Nordal’s process and she is quickly becoming known for her richly evocative colour palette.

The central theme that unites all of her work is the mixture of the traditional with the unconventional. Her work is a representation of her interest in the human form, pop art culture and capturing the presence of her subjects. Nordal is hyper aware of art’s relationship with human emotion and her subjects reflect this as they captivate you and entice you into their world. Her work can be found in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Australia, Honk Kong and Europe.

S03 EP20 – Interview with Britni Mara

Chicago-based visual artist Britni Mara is innately drawn to paint as a medium and has a sensory attachment to the physical push and pull of pigment. Intuition and years of experience guides her work as she seeks a meditative state to curate chaos towards intentional happenstance. She strives to bring a sense of structure to coincidence. Mara finds freedom in gestural energy and peace in the color field interplay which is rooted in post-war abstract expressionist movements. Her original artworks have been sold and shown all over the world. 

Britni is also deeply passionate about creating platforms for emerging artists to thrive. In 2020, Mara founded the hallway gallery, which is an alternative pop-up style gallery dedicated to showing female and non-binary artists in the Chicago area. The goal is to turn the empty walls of hallways into opportunities and provide support to first-time and upcoming artists.

SE03 EP19- Interview with Claire Desjardins

Claire Desjardins is an award-winning abstract painter based in Gore, Quebec and Sarasota, Florida. Claire’s paintings, though abstract, take their visual cues from forms, colors, textures and patterns in nature: the feathers of a bird, the shades of turquoise in the water, how the light through the trees dapples on the ground below. Beyond the canvas, Claire’s art transforms commercial and residential interiors, urban exteriors, housewares,  furniture, package design and women’s apparel. Her work has appeared in major motion pictures and popular television shows. Claire’s long-standing corporate collaborations shape and define the customer experience – most notably for retail North American retail giant Anthropologie. 

SE03 EP18- Interview with Toni Hamel

Toni Hamel describes her work as “an illustrated commentary on human frailties“. Rooted in story-telling, her art practice draws from personal experiences and outward observations to create thematic bodies of work that reflect on and interpret the psychological unease of this anthropocentric age. Virtues and vices, the holy and the profane, the good and the bad all share equal weight in her work and supply an infinite source of material for her investigations. Pointing to historical references, popular culture and our current conceptual standing, Hamel’s satirical narratives ultimately seem to question our behaviour while alerting us about the repercussions of our current thinking models.

SE03 EP17 – Interview with Alex Garant

Internationally renown as the Queen of Double Eyes, Alex Garant studied visual arts at Notre-Dame–De-Foy College just outside Quebec City. After graduating in 2001, she ultimately settled in Toronto, Canada. She decided to truly commit to her passion for Arts after suffering from a heart attack in 2012, changing forever how she would see the world.

​As a pioneer of Contemporary Figurative Op Art, her oil paintings offer a graphic quality combined with traditional portrait techniques. Garant establishes herself as one of the leaders of analogue Glitch Art by using patterns, duplication of elements,  symmetry and image superposition as key elements of her imagery. Her paintings are a reflection on human duality, the battle for self-definition between one’s inner self and outer persona. Represented by galleries in Canada, United States and Australia, her works have also been shown in several museums across United States.

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SE03 EP16 – Interview with Félix Bélanger |Divina Dalí Exhibit

Félix Bélanger is a long-time contributor in the world of art and culture in Canada.   His encounter with the work of Savlador Dalí was a turning point that changed his life, eventually leading to a close relationship with the world-renowned scholar and archivist for Dalí, Frank Hunter. His friendship and collaboration with Frank Hunter broadened his vision of the great master of surrealism and led to the success, development and creative vision for Divina Dalí.

SE03 EP15 – Interview with Colin Morris

I had the pleasure of chatting with Colin Morris from Kingston FrameWorks and discussing his passion for helping artists thrive. Colin studied finance, but when he was in his early 20s, he never imagined taking over his father’s business. Now, helping Kingston artists and improving FrameWorks’ online store has become his “central focus.”

We discussed topics like limited edition prints, framing, and marketing art products and services on social media to connect with buyers from all over the globe. We also discussed a new show Colin is launching – called Prolific. I am excited to be Colin’s first guest on June 15th and we hope you can join us live. Get a free link here.

SE03 EP14 – Interview with Breann Ritchie

SE03 EP13 – Interview with Nicole Allen

Canadian artist Nicole Allen is motivated by colour and the chaotic beauty of the organic. Born in Oakville, Ontario, Nicole developed an early appreciation for painting the Canadian landscape from her father. Over the years, Nicole has consistently developed her painting and figurative skills through her studies at the Ottawa School of Art and local artists’ groups. In 2010, Nicole began exhibiting her work in the Ottawa region and now paints full-time at her studio as a member of The Loft Artists collective. Her paintings are held in private collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

SE03 EP12 – Interview with Alex Hunt

Alex Hunt is a Canadian abstract artist with a flair for bold, well-constructed colour palettes and elaborate compositions. Alex’s love for colour and working with acrylics as her chosen medium stems from her longstanding background as a magazine Fashion Editor. This has enriched her talent and technique evident in her colour combinations, exquisite layering and spontaneous brush strokes. Her artwork evokes joy reflective of her positive and playful personality. Intuition and raw emotion make up the layers and texture in her artworks creating a visual delight for her clients to love and adore in their homes.

SE03 EP11 – Interview with Alexandrya Eaton

Alexandrya Eaton is a contemporary Canadian painter. In the past decade her practice has grown to include rug-hooking and weaving, incorporating the same vibrant palette and feminine icons across all mediums. Alexandrya Eaton’s work is an emotional tribute to the self, working mothers, and women everywhere who have experienced the loss of significant   figures. Eaton’s superpower has always been her radical expressions of love as she navigates the world with an open heart and confidently proves there is strength in vulnerability.

SE03 EP10 – Interview with Adele Webster

Early in life, Adele Webster found the escape creativity provided, the peaceful place your brain wanders while creating. Everything she paints begins in nature; the way water moves, the way clouds form. Natural landscapes, seascapes and horizon lines are a constant theme throughout her creations. She works on birch panels with acrylic allowing the wood to peek through and add a natural, textural element to her work.  Adele paints to find peace and joy and hopes that it’s reflected back to everyone that sees it.

SE03 EP9 – Interview with Karen Jeffrey

Karen Jeffrey is an abstract artist working in acrylic, and cold wax, and oil. Karen’s body of work is largely reflective of her many travels and she draws her inspirations from her surroundings and the ongoing dialogue in her mind. Each painting represents a collection of fragments from her memories of travels, and they come together to form a larger visual story. Giving the piece lively energy and captures an environment, where the forms, lines, and marks coexist. She’s an OCAD graduate and an accomplished Pastry Chef and her two favorite tools for painting are her pastry palette knife and her plastic bowl scraper, bringing all her creative worlds together. 

SE03 EP8 – Interview with Steve Perry

Stephen Perry’s paintings range from intimate to mythic. There is a story going on in Stephen Perry’s work… but you’re never quite sure what it is. There are recurring themes: animals, nature, humanity, technology… and the places and moments where they intersect. The creative approach has a unique contemporary feel – a “stylized realism” – with smooth gradations, subtle blends and a distinct use of light and shade. Stephen Perry’s background includes photography, graphic design, film making and 3D animation.  

SE03 EP7 – Interview with Gail Blima

Toronto-based artist Gail Blima is a creative innovator who has explored photography, representational art and mixed media. She uses the power of language to make a statement and draw out emotion. “By layering vibrant acrylic accents over a collage base and incorporating the written word, I connect the audience to cultural references that are ironic, humorous or directed from pop culture. The first thing people notice about my art is the clear-cut message. I want to convey a feeling of empowerment, optimism, and positivity through my paintings.”

SE03 EP6 – Interview with Keren Toledano

Keren Toledano is a self-taught artist based in New York City specializing in art to furnish existing spaces.  She worked as literary agent, editor and writer and after publishing several short stories in literary journals, writer’s block led her to explore fine art. Her current work revolves around the act of telling stories in the absence of a formal language. She now splits her time between painting and writing, finding connections across disciplines. In addition to collaborations with interior designers and art publishers, her work has been featured at international fairs and in various magazines.

SE03 EP5 – Interview with Crystal Beshara

Crystal Beshara has been drawing and painting since childhood inspired by her rural upbringing in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Crystal moves easily between watercolour, oil and dry media. Her work is recognizable with its rich, earth toned palette and emotionally charged, rural narrative. She spent years as a child observing and quietly illustrating the life around her which has informed the accuracy of her anatomy in both her flora and fauna subject matter as well as her ability to capture expression and emotion in her portraits.

SE03 EP4 – Interview with Kristy Gordon

Kristy Gordon is a Canadian-born artist living in New York City. “My visual narratives counter-historical representations of the figure in painting, namely white bodies performing conventional gender roles. Instead, I populate my work with people from diverse backgrounds. I also insert feminine or camp motifs—flowers, unicorns, and fairies, for example—into traditionally masculine genres. The presence of monsters and mythic beings further suggests that these are spaces where identity is fluid.”

SE03 EP3 – Interview with Marina Nazarova

Marina Nazarova is a Russian-Canadian painter and illustrator. Her work mainly focuses on people and spaces as she endeavours to investigate themes of subjectivity, duality and shifting perceptions.

SE03 EP2 – Interview with Mimmo Baronello 

Sicilian-born and raised Toronto-based artist Mimmo Baronello paints the tensions he observes as a new Canadian, pristine nature contaminated by consumer culture and the slow erosion of the natural landscape by human industry. His paintings blend the mannerist and baroque style present in Sicilian culture and architecture, with contemporary imagery from Canadian natural richness.

SE03 EP1 – Intro

Welcome back to Curator on the Go Podcast. 

SE02 EP44 – Interview with Patrick Skals

Patrick Skals is a Canadian contemporary artist living in Toronto, Canada. After working 10 years in corporate marketing, in 2017 he decided to make a career shift in pursuit of his artistic ambitions. For years Patrick produced commissioned artworks while developing his signature style. In 2021 he finally discovered his unique identity – his work challenges societal norms and rules, intent on reframing common perspectives and exposing overlooked ones. Patrick draws audiences in with engaging imagery and stimulating composition. His art is distinctive, spirited and curated to provoke reverie and reflection. 

SE02 EP43 – Interview with Aadila Munshi

Toronto-based artist Aadila Munshi is known for her paintings of distressed urban surfaces. In her work, grit and decay are uniquely juxtaposed with elegant marks and her signature calligraffiti forms. Her paintings are meaningful, emotive, and ultimately inspired by the human condition. A former Criminologist at the University of Cape Town, Aadila grew up in South Africa during the apartheid regime and paints from a deep sense of repressed voice. Composed intuitively, her abstract expressions emerge as visual representations of her perception of the push and pull between struggle, hope and the ability to rise above. She studied painting with a professional artist and has been painting for over 25 years. In 2000, she moved to Toronto permanently, where she studied at the Toronto School of Art and established her painting practice. Her work has been sold in North America, Australia, U.K. and South Africa.

SE02 EP42 – Interview with Boyd Waites

Canadian artist Boyd Waites has always been most interested in our natural surroundings and people, as well as people’s impact on the landscape. He is not interested in faithfully depicting a particular place, his work could be categorized broadly as Abstract Expressive Landscape. Boyd keeps inside emotions and feelings about places and my own experiences or inner reactions and their memories. He is always seeking to elevate and uplift through his paintings, to elevate the viewers perceptions, feeling or mood and sense of place.

SE02 EP41 – Interview with Alyson Borycki

Alyson Borycki is a contemporary abstract artist based in Toronto, Canada. Her work tells stories of empowerment, healing, growth, and self-acceptance. “Using bold and playful gestures and colours, I feel my way through my work, infusing both raw emotion and energy with softness and tranquility. I create my paintings by adding layer upon layer of colour as the story unfolds.  Every piece is a reflection of myself at any given time, but I love the idea of viewers seeing themselves reflected in the work and connecting their own experiences and interpretations to the work. In this way, the story I tell continues to evolve after it leaves my hands.”

SE02 EP40 – Interview with Morgan Jones

Morgan Jones is a mixed media artist, living and working in Toronto, Ontario. This former Director of Sales turned artist is inspired by the casual observation of the people and life around him. His work is constantly evolving, guided by his tendency toward patience, observation, perseverance and, quite simply – effort. His philosophy embraces ‘trial and error’ which he believes are wonderful teachers. With a keen eye for texture, design and composition, coupled with a whimsical flair, Jones creates works that are aesthetically engaging while also evoking a visceral response in the viewer.

SE02 EP39 – Interview with Samantha Williams-Chapelsky

Work of Canadian Abstract landscape artist Samantha Williams-Chapelsky interprets landscape with colour, gestures, and texture using acrylic paints to capture patterns of meaning and historical significance. She investigates the parallels between grassland crops to textile patterns, conversational meaning and emotion within a skyline, and spirituality within a landscape.

“My work primarily focuses on the depiction the landscape of Canada and specifically that of Western Canada is in a constant state of change. From weather to the effect of human presence to the pastoral landscape, idyllic in the minds of prairie dwellers, there are never ending conversations of patterns, lights, and landscape horizons. I aims to capture the relationship between the sky and ground. This stark divisional line suggests a disconnect and yet neither sky nor ground would exist without the other.”

SE02 EP38 – Interview with Edith Levy

Toronto-based photographer Edith Levy is inspired by the world around her and strives to translate what she sees into unique pieces of art. She has been involved in photography and the creative arts for over 30 years and in the last 10 years Edith’s focused primarily on landscape and travel photography, embracing the beauty that she sees around her and the people that she meets during her travels. Her limited edition photographs are held in private collections in Canada, US, Israel and Europe.

SE02 EP37 – Interview with Jenna Kast

American artist Jenna Kast started painting as a way to express emotion and release her anxiety. Through painting she discovered an outlet of self-expression, healing, joy, passion – and not just her own – for her collectors too. The work Jenna creates is colourful, interpretive and free-flowing. Her self-taught style has been developed through exploration of the natural interaction of paints and pigments, and inspiration of natural colours and movement that have positive effects on our mood and emotions. She often uses a combination of fluid painting techniques, along with texture-giving brush work and light-catching metallics.

SE02 EP36 – Interview with Jose Cifuentes

Jose Cifuentes is a mixed media abstract artist from Colombia. Jose moved his life and practice to Toronto, Canada, to find inspiration for his current chapter of creation. Known for manifesting varied visual representations of freedom, his art is a mixture of thick knife strokes with free-hand illustrations on canvas and recycled surfaces. He collects and portrays moods and faces that are in vivid, visceral paint strokes, loose lines, deliberate drips and passionate splatters. All this to the great end of creating the ideal marriage of fine and urban art.

SE02 EP35 – Interview with Natalie Very B.

Natalie Very B. is a Polish-Canadian illustrator, muralist, and educator. She is passionate about facilitating art workshops with a strong focus on the therapeutic aspect of creative expression. Her large-scale murals depict modern female empowerment and can be found all across the city of Toronto. She makes art with the goal of changing preconceived notions of feminism and promoting self-love and body positivity in the world.

SE02 EP34 – Interview with Antony John

Canadian artist Antony John is well-known as an organic farmer and singer, he is also an accomplished painter who has been painting for three decades. Antony is interested in the emotional and moral effects that generate tension and unrest in both the controlled, ordered world of farming, and the unknown, apparently chaotic world of the American jungles, representing a journey through an unfamiliar landscape, where the world of the unknown carries its own tensions to resolve. He has received numerous juried show awards and his works hang in private collections across Canada and the United States. He has lectured at the Perimeter Institute, The Art Gallery of Ontario, and Fogo Island Inn, and his work has been discussed in the National Post, the Toronto Star, and numerous periodicals and television.

SE02 EP33 – Interview with Rachael Speirs 

Rachael Speirs is an award winning fine artist from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She creates unique, moody, narrative mixed media textile art that is full of atmosphere and evoke a dreamy, fairytale-like memory. Her creations are conversational pieces, brought to life with the intention of sparking imagination, connection and meaningful conversation. Like a Rorschach ink blot, each viewer will see something new in the work. Seeing the work in person is like losing yourself in a kaleidoscopic dreamworld. Though her work is beautiful at first glance, the work goes beyond just being decorative art to enrich your world. Rachael believes in the life changing impact of art and creates all her works with intention and meaning. 

SE02 EP32 – Interview with Yahel Yan

San Diego-based artist Yahel Yan was born and raised in Mexico City where she was exposed to art and color from a young age. Yahel’s palette and compositions lend life and spirit to inanimate objects which are often overlooked. She is always seeking to express the unexpected, unseen magic hidden in each “thing.” Yahel gives her imagination full freedom to pursue this mysterious journey. She wishes for her art to inspire humanity and love for one another.

SE02 EP31 – Interview with Caterina Stambolic

Caterina Stambolic is an award-winning multi-disciplinary artist living and working in Toronto, Ontario. Harnessing her own experiences with depression and anxiety, her work seeks to make sense of those feelings and create spaces where people can feel a sense of togetherness and peace.  This has led her to investigate how our brain chemistry, and specifically mental illness, affects so much of how we relate to our world on a physical level. 

SE02 EP30 – Interview with Sandra Morellato

Sandra Morellato‘s artworks utilize colour to emphasize movement and sentiment. Her use of saturation and sensational colours often create a whimsical composition, immediately transporting the viewer to a marvelous and curious world. Meanwhile, her architectural background adds significant meaning behind every individual impressionist brushstroke, mapping the blueprints of a landscapes’ identity or a subject’s life force.

SE02 EP29 – Interview with Patricia Langevin

Patricia Langevin is a contemporary abstract painter living and working in Calgary, Alberta. Her engaging paintings are created intuitively in an expressionist style and are infused with movement and depth. Through her art, Patricia explores the role of play in building resilience in response to life’s hectic pace. Her artistic journey began at a young age. Growing up in Quebec City, in a family that loved music and the performing arts, she was encouraged to try different forms of artistic expression. This laid out the foundation for her desire to find her own artistic path, and in 2007, her fascination with abstract art compelled her to pick up a brush and start painting with acrylics.

SE02 EP28 – Interview with Fabrizio Sclocco

Italian-Canadian artist Fabrizio Sclocco creates a hybrid mix of abstract and figurative works revised in a Contemporary way, extrapolating the egoic mind, our fears, desires, compulsions, and habits strong themes of nostalgia, traditions, belonging, and the essence of emotions as an expatriate.  

SE02 EP27 – Interview with Ravinder Ruprai

Canadian artist Ravinder Ruprai works mainly in acrylics on canvas. Her paintings invite the viewer into binary worlds where layers of pattern and texture, drawn from her East Indian heritage, combine with nature, the body, and the landscape. Her use of colour is rich, bold, and dramatic. Ravinders’ paintings often use her own internal struggles as a starting point with the aspiration of ‘mapping’ out solutions. She firmly believes that it is through the arts that we gain profound insights into the human condition.

SE02 EP26 – Interview with Allison Rietta

The works of Toronto-based artist Allison Rietta are strongly influenced by spirituality, nature, and architecture. Primarily abstract, her work has led her to explore sacred—or mystic geometry—tapping into the magic of imagination and the sub-conscious mind. Textures, colours, and the relationship between shapes and forms is what guides her intuition most. 

SE02 EP25 – Interview with Kari Serrao

Born into a somewhat nomadic family, Kari Serrao grew up in the Caribbean where she was exposed to many different avenues of creativity. Before graduating from the Ontario College of Art (1991) in Toronto, she spent her final year in the renowned Florence program, which has continued to inform her encaustic practice. Having recently returned to Toronto from another year abroad, one of both global significance and personal resonance, her work has shifted once again to examine the human condition through animal portraiture with equal parts intensity and empathy.

SE02 EP24 – Interview with Cami Levin

Cami Levin is best known for her original, mixed media art, which is created primarily with paint, clay, resin, and found objects depicting a vision of nature which includes symbols of hope, love, happiness, and stories of life. Her work begs the viewer to look time and again, always finding something new and has been described as art within art.  Her art has been exhibited in numerous group and solo shows and is included in private collections around the world. 

SE02 EP23 – Interview with Sara Mozafari

Sara Mozafari is a Canadian-Iranian artist. Her current practice’s primary focus is to recognize space, displacement, and memory, in diverse aspects of human identity and social relations. She received Honors Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies from the University of Toronto and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts, Media, and Design from OCAD University in 2021. She is currently a Director of Thirding Studio Gallery located in Markham, Ontario. 

SE02 EP22 – Interview with Anastasia Fedorova

Anastasia Fedorova is an award-winning Ukrainian Canadian painter. She creates beautiful multilayer oil paintings using the traditional Italian technique impasto. All of her multilayer oil paintings have a thick and rich texture. The main subjects of Anastasia’s oil paintings are conceptualized landscape, cityscape, and floral pieces. She usually starts her work from nature doing her Plein-airs outside in nature because the direct experience is very important to her. Anastasia won numerous International art awards and has a long history of solo and group exhibitions.

SE02 EP21 – Interview with Anastessia Bettas

Anastessia Bettas is a Toronto based, Canadian visual artist and an expert in the use of encaustic paint. Anastessia’s encaustic abstract pieces connect the urban developing world with the world of art. She uses grid to portray urban sprawl, loss of open space, and imaginary territories. Her work can be admired in various commercial and public galleries throughout Canada and the USA.

SE02 EP20 – Interview with Amanda Wand

Amanda Wand is a Toronto-based abstract intuitive painter that uses painting to process her lived experiences and emotions. She does not plan her pieces, instead, she allows her vulnerability to lead the way. As a prolific painter, this process creates multiple authentic works representing the full spectrum of human emotion. Every piece is an extension of her subconscious and they all hold certain energy and message. Her work is influenced by how people treat others and themselves. It explores concepts of connectivity, identity, and self-worth.

SE02 EP19 – Interview with Emilie Darlington

Emilie Darlington is a freelance illustrator, painter, and muralist specializing in work that expresses connections with nature. Most often working with big blooms and bright colours, Emilie’s botanical murals can be found throughout Canada. Emilie’s botanical and abstract series are aimed at creating a targeted sensation for viewers, whether it be by scale, distortion, or immersion. These qualities are intended to evoke a shared experience for viewers and are tailored for each piece to induce a desired emotional response or mental state. The use of vibrant color communicates strong, positive energy, and a secondary layer of patterning is added when filling in color using dots.

SE02 EP18 – Interview with Grace Croughan

Grace Croughan is a Japanese-Canadian artist who works in acrylic and pastels. She especially loves to build up textures for her signature style in acrylics and is really enjoying creating her Mountain Dream Series of paintings. For Grace, color and light are the keys to creating and sharing her emotions and vision of the scene. She hopes to move the viewer with this expression in pastels and acrylics and share with others what she is so passionate about. Grace is an elected member of the Colour & Form Society, a signature member of Pastel Artists of Canada with Master Pastelist status, an Associate Member of the Pastel Society of America, and a member of the Richmond Hill Group of Artists.

SE02 EP17 – Interview with Manaz Raiszadeh

Manaz Raiszadeh is an American artist and explorer who has been exploring and discovering our world and herself through art. Referring to herself as an “intuitional abstract painter,” the genesis of her artistic inspiration comes from her parent’s tale and her Afghani cultural background. Manaz often depicts houses and villages in her compositions, as she believes that “we can all relate to the place where we are from”. She creates her works using acrylics, pastels, and collages on canvas or wood.

SE02 EP16 – Interview with Kim VanDerHoek

Kim VanDerHoek is an American contemporary fine artist who creates vibrant, textural oil paintings of landscapes and urban scenes in her Southern California studio. She learned to paint by painting en Plein Air because it combined her love of being outside, creating art, and studying from life. Kim feels that through Plein Air painting she has gained a better understanding of the effects of light and atmosphere. She aims to translate those effects into her studio paintings. Currently, she is working on a series of studio paintings documenting iconic bridges across the U.S.

SE02 EP15 – Interview with Ella Mazur

Ella Mazur creates art traditionally with pen and ink, as well as digitally on her iPad, often combining the two. When she was a child, was always looking for magic in the world around her. Now she makes her own. Her work is continually inspired by the great diversity of our planet, by the graceful and bizarre creatures and plants that inhabit it, by the endless depths of the ocean waves, the enchantment of the forests, the mysteries of the stars in the sky. With just a little bit of ink, Ella can tell stories about all of these things, and she hopes that they will make people pause and wonder, remind of a special person or moment, let you escape into an impossible world, or awaken your curiosity.

SE02 EP14 – Interview with Robin Crofut-Brittingham

Originally from Western Massachusetts, Robin Crofut-Brittingham’s (https://robincb.com/) work is inspired by mythology, science fiction, and current events and examines human relationships with the natural world. She works primarily with watercolor and gouache on paper from her studio in Montreal. Robin was the recipient of the Murphy Cadogan Award from the San Francisco Foundation and a Martha Boschen Porter Award through the Berkshire Taconic Foundation. Her work has been featured in Juxtapoz, Novella, Frankie, My Modern Met, Hi Fructose and on Booooooom, among others, and has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the US and Canada.

SE02 EP13 – Interview with Katrina Elena

 Katrina Elena (https://www.katrina-elena.com/) is a self-taught oil painter from Toronto, Ontario. She is continuously inspired by the natural world, currently the endless power of water. Katrina is known for her realistic depictions of seascapes through the process of observation, photographing, and translating those memories onto canvas. She sets out to capture organic movements and transient moments in her work to create space for the viewer to connect with a recognizable yet ephemeral subject matter. Katrina’s paintings can be found in private and collections across Canada, the United States, and internationally.

SE02 EP12 – Interview with Brianne Burnell

Brianne Burnell (http://brianneburnell.com/) is a mixed media artist from Toronto, Ontario. Her work is intuitive and explorative, more interested in the process of combining colors and shapes to create unexpected results than executing a specific image. She combines torn hand-painted paper with acrylic and other media in a distinct uplifting color palette. In this process, she finds calm and softness, and this serene feeling is passed on to the viewer. Though Burnell’s work is abstract, natural elements like mountains, clouds, and water often emerge as an ode to the landscape of Thunder Bay, Ontario where she grew up, and specifically, Lake Superior, for which she is always longing. Brianne has been working professionally since 2013, creating artwork for the City of Toronto, The Brain Project, Spin Master children’s toys, PATCH Project, Collective Arts Brewing, and a variety of local and international print publications.

SE02 EP11 – Interview with Heather Fraser

Heather Fraser (https://www.heatherfraserart.com/) grew up in North Gower, a small town in the Ottawa Valley.  After completing a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Toronto, worked in the financial industry. During that time, she also completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at OCAD University, which included a year sabbatical studying art in Florence, Italy.  She graduated with distinction in 2013 with a degree in Drawing and Painting. Heather now paints full time, while also juggling two young daughters. Although Heather’s subject of choice has historically been the figure, her recent body of work focuses on food. Her paintings explore our sensual experience of food, including pomegranates, oranges, lemons, and tomatoes, as well as burgers, ice cream, pancakes, and many, many donuts.

SE02 EP10 – Interview with Nadia Lassman

Nadia Lassman (https://www.nadialassmanart.com/) is an international artist with showings in Toronto, New York, Miami, and Scottsdale, and her work has appeared in Vogue, House & Garden, World of Interiors, and House of Coco magazines. Lassman’s work reflects the happiness she feels, the beauty of nature, and her joy in traveling. She is particularly fond of water scenes, keeping her viewers fascinated by the contrasting tones found there; the warm greens and yellows paired against the cooler shades of purple and blue that nature generously shares. By capturing seaside buildings with complex architectural details – such as rows of balconies and baroque facades – she is able to explore the complexity of man-made structures along with the interplay of light and reflections on the water. Her contemporary take on Impressionism is created by adding depth and interest to her romantic pieces with tactile, textured effects, which she achieves through the application of layers of pigments, along with sand and gels. She also specializes in creating custom vacation photo memory paintings, allowing the painting to become even more meaningful. 

SE02 EP9 – Interview with Sierra Barber

Sierra Barber (https://www.sierrabarber.com/) is a Toronto based Indigenous artist of Upper Mohawk/ mixed ancestry. She graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in 2015, majoring in Sculpture and Installation with a minor in the Indigenous Visual Culture Program. Sierra has been exploring the characteristics of wax as a medium for a decade, developing a process that allows full control over the material. She creates small scale, meditative works where beads of hot wax are precisely applied and built up in layers to create intricate patterns both planned and intuitive. Sierra’s professional practice has explored themes of preservation, transformation, identity, and the collection of memory.

SE02 EP8 – Interview with Darlene Winfield

Art for award-winning Canadian artist Darlene Winfield (https://www.darlenejwinfieldart.com/) is a way to communicate without words, a universal language she enjoys. Darlene’s style is representational while at times leaning into semi-abstract.

Darlene resided in Mexico and Indonesia for many years and spent extended periods of time in Europe. She was constantly sketching and dreaming of oil painting during that time. With the opportunity to finally oil paint large scale, Darlene immersed herself into her life as a full-time painter. Her work has been showcased at various locations and art galleries in Ontario. Darlene has been juried into numerous shows including the Artist Project and the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. 

SE02 EP7 – Interview with Cherie Harte 

Toronto-based artist Cherie Harte (https://www.cherieharte.com/) is best known for her experimentation. Her use of symbolism, as well as hidden and fractured images, draw the onlooker into multilayered portals of storytelling. Although at times seemingly raw, Cherie challenges the onlooker to lean in and fully immerse ones self, with an open heart.  

Cherie also draws on her background in psychology, yoga, and reiki to delve into the human psyche through the lens of growth. ​Intrigued by the evolution of the human spirit; Harte seeks to translate intimate thoughts, moments, and feelings of daily life into her artworks. Cherie’s work has been celebrated in ads for Saatchi Art and was recently named “Must See Artist” at “The Other Art Fair.” Cherie has exhibited in Canada, the USA, London UK, and Tokyo Japan.

“I explore painting as a form of mediation, universal connection, love, and acceptance. With no preconceived notion of what I will create, I release all judgment and control. By silencing this ever-present chatter in my mind, I am able to get out of my own way, and create space for what naturally wants to emerge.”

SE02 EP6 – Interview with Mais Al-Sheikhly 

Mais Al-Sheikhly (https://maisarts.com/) began her career as an artist after having immigrated to Canada as a teenager from Iraq. The traumatic experience left her struggling to find the words to understand the world around her, and as a result, she turned to art to create what she couldn’t express. A self-taught artist that has been working with the mentorship of Barry McCarthy, she found that cubism and abstract art allowed her to freely express her imagination on the canvas.

With over a decade of experience, and an endless imagination Mais Al-Sheikhly has presented exhibitions both on the domestic and international stage. With an astounding eye and limitless imagination, Mais continues to bring her ability to take traditional culture and concepts to create works of art that are both abstract and imaginative in new and intriguing ways.

SE02 EP5 – Interview with Michelle Vella

Canadian artist Michelle Vella (https://michellevella.com/) is known for her bold, fun, and colourful works. From her studio in Toronto, Michelle Vella paints subjects that celebrate pop culture, feminism, fashion, and equality. Vella’s art has been exhibited in Canada and the United States and has been featured in publications such as Harper’s BAZAAR, W magazine, City Life Magazine, and The Washington Post. Plus TV appearances on The Marilyn Denis Show and Cityline. Her most popular works include her portraits of pop culture icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Andy Warhol to Pop Food brands like Nutella and Kraft Dinner. Her custom commissions vary from portraits, cottage landscapes to pop art brands.

SE02 EP4 – Interview with Amber Hahn

Amber Hahn (https://www.instagram.com/amberhahnart/) is an abstract mixed media artist based in Toronto, Canada. When she’s not face painting her four-year-old, she loves to paint using a number of different mediums such as acrylic, pastel, and ink.  Growing up, she was always drawn to creative outlets; painting, drawing, and writing.  A five-year cancer survivor, Amber uses art to navigate the many emotions she experiences in her life journey and is imagined through themes of love, hope, strength, empowerment, reinvention and discovery. Her abstracts instill a sense of calm, with soft flowing colours, bright lines, and a splash of brilliant, shimmering gold. Amber’s mission is to embody the spirit of happiness and light through her work, in order to elicit the strongest of emotional bonds with her viewers.  Her work has been collected across Canada and the USA.

SE02 EP3 – Interview with Sarah Carlson

Sarah Carlson (https://sarahcarlson.ca/) uses her training in painting and filmmaking to compose narratives around themes of nature, kinship, female identity, and humour. Her work spans painting, murals, sculpture, video, and installation. Recent exhibitions include Gladstone Hotel,  Red Head Gallery,  Propeller, and solo exhibitions at Gallery 1313 and Ignite Gallery. She lives in Burlington, Ontario, and works in and around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area.

SE02 EP02 – Interview with Caroline Chorazy

Caroline Chorazy (https://www.instagram.com/artcc86/) is a self-taught, Toronto based abstract artist specializing in acrylics and gold leaf. She draws her inspiration from natural elements in an attempt to capture organic movement and flow in all of her artwork. Her use of gold leaf and/or pigment gives each piece a unique gesture and ability to change appearance or shape in cohesion with the room and light.

Welcome to Season 2 of Curator on the Go Podcast. This episode is a get-back-together episode to give you some updates on what I am up to and answer some questions you’ve asked me. Don’t forget to tune in every Tuesday for a new episode! 

Episode 45 – Outdoor Mural Commission

Murals are an excellent way to transform your walls, especially if you want to create a bold statement and add character to a space or site. It is no wonder that murals are becoming increasingly popular additions to corporate offices, hotels, cafes, residences, and co-working spaces. Working as an art advisor, I always guide and help my clients throughout the entire mural commissioning process and I would like to share with you details and insights from my latest project that took place in Toronto. 

Today I have the pleasure of speaking to Althea Johnson (the owner of Shop Propr Life+Style in Toronto https://shop.proprlifestyle.com/) and Leslie Phelan a Toronto-based mural artist (https://www.lesliephelan.com/). When you want to commission a mural, you will have to go through a few stages. During this interview, we’ll go through it all and, you will hear the feedback about the process of commissioning a mural from 3 parties: the client, the art advisor, and the artists and I hope will enjoy this unusual format. It was so much fun to record! Enjoy!

Episode 44 – Interview with Julie Hawkins

Julie Hawkins (https://juliehawkins.ca/) is an abstract painter from Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. She is a self-taught artist, although formally educated in interior design. Her works are created out of intuition through spontaneous movement and expressive brushstrokes. Julie’s painting practice is an integral part of her ability to live a mindful life. Painting, for her, is like a bridge to the present moment. Julie has exhibited her work in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, and New York City. She has been working as a professional artist for over 10 years, selling work directly at exhibitions as well as through gallery representation.

Episode 43 – Interview with Laura Costantiello

Laura Costantiello (https://www.lauracstudio.com/) is inspired by nature and led by love, each bright and bold piece is infused with her breath and soul, creating authentic energy that will make any space look spectacular. The colour combinations in her work are often inspired by nature as well as the countries she has explored. Laura also uses the beautiful Italian language to title her paintings – as an homage to her heritage and love for the diverse country. 

Episode 42 – Interview with Kathryn Last

Peterborough-based artist Kathryn Last (https://www.kathrynlast.com/) explores the intersection of creation and the expressivity of material through the artworks that she creates.  Kathryn graduated from Trent University in 2013 specializing in Visual theory, Media, and Cultural Studies. Kathryn is currently completing her Master’s Degree at Trent University pursuing a research-creation project in conjunction with her own artistic practice. 

Episode 41 – Interview with Patricia Coulter

Patricia Coulter (https://patriciacoulter.com/) is an award-winning artist who lives in Alberta, Canada. She creates large contemporary, bold, abstract paintings. Combining the subtle blending of colours that were hypnotizing in watercolour and using a different substrate, Patricia uses her experiences and skills to design and create paintings that are brimming with vitality and sizzling with colour. Patricia’s paintings can be found in numerous private collections in Canada and the United States.

Episode 40 – Interview with Alanna Peters

Alanna Peters’ (https://www.alannapeters.com/) work explores concepts of impermanence through the use of light and movement. Her paintings use the juxtaposition of detailed realism of the figure against the abstraction of the setting. She captures weightlessness and reflection through transparency. Her work is a predominantly figurative oil painting on wood panel. She has a desire to connect with the viewer on an intimate level in order to share in a dialogue of emotions and human experience. 

Alanna was born in Ottawa and currently lives in Toronto. She earned an Honours BA for Fine Arts from McMaster University (2001) and a BEd for Arts-Based Learning from Queen’s University (2005). A recognized artist, her work is found in private and public collections in Canada, the United States, France, Germany, and Uganda.

Episode 39 – Interview with Marta Stares

Marta Stares (https://www.martastares.com/) is an artist and educator interested in painting the outdoors, especially the Northern Ontario landscape. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Toronto area including Gallery 1313, Black Cat Artspace, and Ontario Legislative Assembly. She works primarily in oils and uses bold, vibrant colours in her work. After receiving her BFA from OCAD University, M. Stares has established an art program for young children at York University Daycare and featured children’s work at Gales Gallery. She has worked as an educator at McMichael Canadian Art Collection and Visual Arts Mississauga. M. Stares currently teaches Visual Art at the high school level in Peel District School Board, where she co-organizes Peel’s annual student art exhibition called Walk the Art.

Episode 38 – Interview with Rebeca Segura

Rebeca Segura (https://www.rebecasegura.com/) is an artist born and currently residing in Mexico. The landscape of her color palette and its combination on canvas is largely influenced by the colors of the city she has been residing in for over thirteen years, Chiapas, Mexico.

At the beginning of her artistic career, Rebeca painted what her eyes saw. Today, she paints what her soul feels. Her work is formed by layers and like life itself, each piece is an experience with distinct taste, color, and texture, similar to how our souls lie in each experience. Rebeca is captivated by documenting time through the use of collage and abstraction. She concentrates on expressing the radiography of our contemporary world while fusing it with ancestral wisdom that is inspired by Celtic symbols, Latin phrases, or poems written in Tzotzil. All of these ideas are mixed with materials such as mirrors, paper, natural resins, and woven wool; resulting in work that is loaded with energy and embodies concepts from years past as well as the present day. Rebeca’s works have been exhibited in group and solo shows in Mexico, U.S., and Europe, and featured in numerous magazines and publications.

Episode 37 – Branding & Art Buyers 

Today we’ll have a quick chat about the importance of branding, who can be a potential art buyer, and the importance of nurturing your relationship with past and new clients.

Episode 36 – Interview with Victoria Lyons

Victoria Lyons (https://www.thetowelseries.com/home) is an Art Director & Illustrator from Canada, currently living and working in New York City. She has studied at Miami Ad School, with experience at top agencies including TBWA\Chiat\Day, Ogilvy, R/GA, and Publicis Sapient in New York City. She has spent time studying in Toronto, Singapore, France, Poland, and New York.

Episode 35 – Interview with Sarah Rutledge

Sarah Rutledge (https://www.sarahrutledge.ca/) is inspired by the endless potentiality of creative form and expression. Through using a variety of abstract techniques and styles, Sarah creates an abstract language through which to communicate with the world. Sarah believes that creativity serves a larger purpose for the wellbeing of the individual and society and the goal of her work is to create an opportunity for the viewer to connect with a deeper part of themselves.

Episode 34 – Interview with Shaina Hardie

Growing up in the Kawartha Lakes and later moving to the city has had a large impact on Shaina Hardie’s (https://www.shainahardie.com/) style and chosen subject matter. Her paintings showcase a signature geometric elegance with collections inspired by both the natural and urban landscape. A self-taught artist from a young age, Shaina has spent the better part of her life developing (and continuing to develop) her craft. Currently, Shaina is studying the effect of color on our psyche and how to best apply these principles to her future artwork and commissioned pieces. 

Episode 33 – Interview with Carlos Delgado

Carlos Delgado (https://www.artcarlosdelgado.com/) is a Colombian artist with international recognition living between Colombia and Canada. Carlos is fascinated by the way human beings express themselves and relate to one another within our modern systems. The environment that he is, including all of the cultural and social aspects, are the influences and the subjects of his work. Within these systems, Carlos tries to find the human elements, those subtle expressions of our emotions, experiences, and stories which make us unique and yet at the same time connect us to each other. Through his abstract portrait work, Carlos focuses on the subtle way these human experiences are expressed, be it in our facial gestures, in the way we occupy and share space with each other, or the way we present ourselves to the world.

Episode 32 – Interview with Lisa Litowitz

As a child, Lisa Litowitz (https://www.lisalitowitzart.com/) explored the art of painting. Throughout her career, she has shown versatility, painting in a variety of styles. She is influenced by the beauty of nature on her daily walks and seeks to represent them through her own eyes. She works in oils, painting impressionist landscapes and subjects with bright colors and bold strokes. During her 25+ years of painting, Lisa Litowitz has created over 50 pieces of art, ranging from petite product sketches to large sprawling landscapes. She has a willingness to push boundaries. She has the innate ability to capture moments and combine them with an emotional brushstroke style.

Episode 31 – Interview with Nada Hamatto

Edmonton-based, soon to be Toronto-based artist, Nada Hamatto (https://www.hamattoart.com/art) is known for her expressionist emotions large scale portraits using two different techniques: brushes and palette knives. Nada is also known for her portraits of iconic pop figures and her take on famous photographers’ inspired work. She uses her characterized style to capture emotions, aura, and feelings. Nada had solo shows and group shows in Canada, the USA, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Jordan just to name a few. Nada has also been commissioned for special design and art projects across the globe.

Episode 30 – Interview with Anthony Ricciardi

Anthony Ricciardi ( http://www.ricciardipaints.com/) is a renowned multi-disciplinary artist from Toronto, Canada who has traveled internationally showcasing his artwork and murals. Driven by enthusiasm, depth, and storytelling to produce art without limits, Ricciardi introduces viewers to distinctive, vivid, and colorful one-of-a-kind masterpieces orchestrated in uncommon forms. After leaving the comfort and clout of the corporate finance world to pursue his true passion, the self-taught creator induces a flair for inventive color-mixing and layered creations to elicit reaction and emotion. Ricciardi’s large-scale private commission murals and artworks have been shown worldwide in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Miami, London, Manchester, and Montreal.

Episode 29 – Interview with Fiona Debell

Toronto-based artist Fiona Debell (http://www.fionadebell.com/) creates beautiful, color-filled art for clients across the world. Primarily an abstract artist, she believes in the power of ‘now’ – drawing inspiration from many beautiful daily moments. Her art calms the eye as she directs the viewer to find balance in color, composition, and texture. In 2014 Fiona emigrated to Canada from the UK. As a female creative experiencing an entirely new life, her artistic journey reflects her everyday experience. It is the physical embodiment of her own naivety. 

Episode 28 – Interview with Matt Pine

Matt Pine (https://www.mattpineart.com/) is a Toronto-based mixed-media and spray-paint artist. He works with mixed-media as he finds that it allows him to keep pushing boundaries and exploring new ways of expressing himself. To create his images, Matt works with multiple models and photographers around the world. His artistic toolbox ranges from photography and digital drawings to spray-painted portraits and custom clothing creations. His paintings depict the juxtaposition of beauty and resilience in the face of struggle. Each of Matt’s subjects has faced some form of trauma or life difficulty and overcome it. It is a modern-day reminder not to judge a book by its cover. Matt’s style is heavily influenced by his past in tattooing and graffiti. As such, his style can be explained as taking street art, cleaning it up a bit, and bringing it indoors. It is a meeting of raw experience and raw emotion, thoughtfully processed and translated onto the canvas.

Episode 27 – Art Submissions

It’s been a while since I had an informal chat with you and shared some advice. This episode will be about my new gallery job and I will share some insights about what gallery curators are looking at while going through art submissions, ways to contact or approach a gallery and get a response back, and much more. 

Episode 26 – Interview with Paige Ring

Paige Ring (https://paigering.com/) was originally raised in Halifax, NS, but moved to Toronto to pursue a career in fashion design. After creating womenswear for some of the world’s top department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Holt Renfrew, and Harvey Nichols, she decided to try her hand at graphic design. That career change opened her up to a love of artwork, which quickly turned into an obsession with large scale abstract expressionist painting. Her abstract works showcase bold brush strokes and are often colorful with layers of organic lines weaving through them. Paige is a minimalist at heart, so most of her work provides a space for the viewers’ eye to rest, she likes to think of it as a moment of calm in the sea of beautiful chaos. Paige uses her work to escape the realities of the world, retreating into a playful, imaginary place where color and whimsy take over.

Episode 25 – Interview with Amanda Arcuri

Amanda Arcuri (http://www.amandaarcuri.com/) is an award-winning, emerging photography artist based out of Toronto. She completed her BFA at Ryerson University in Photography and is a recent graduate of the Masters of Applied Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC. Amanda is interested in our connection with the natural world around us. She explores this through various photographic techniques like dramatic lighting and long exposures while playing with photographic tropes. Her work has been exhibited at numerous galleries, at Vaughan City Hall, with a recent commission by the city of Vancouver. She has also enjoyed teaching opportunities through Emily Carr University and the Vancouver Art Gallery. She is currently living and working out of Toronto where she teaches youth and children’s art classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Episode 24 – Interview with Mishel Schwartz

Mishel Schwartz (https://www.mishelschwartzart.com/) is known for creating pieces with captivating colors, rich, complex detail, and multi-textured elements. Through her work, she strives to find a balance between the need for control and the desire for freedom. Her primary inspiration comes from the organic world and the undeniable lure of nature. using the dynamic interplay of light and shadow, she alludes to the sights, smells, and shapes of all living things in the abstract, enabling the viewer to interpret its form and meaning. Through what she calls ‘the mysterious fluidity of alcohol ink,’ she has uncovered a gorgeous malleability that allows her to delve deeply and add complexity to each element. Through experimentation, she has developed a layering and carving technique that has become her signature in every piece. Mishel spends endless hours in her studio painting, working on commissioned pieces and developing a body of work for future shows. She has participated in several exhibitions around the world as well as collaborating on various projects.

Episode 22 – Interview with Christine Lieu 

Christine Lieu (https://www.christineldesigns.com/) is an expert behind CL Designs. She is a Toronto-based graphic designer who’s traded in climbing the corporate ladder for climbing mountains around the world. She helps lifestyle businesses realize their vision and connect with the people most important to them through branding, web design, and social content creation, with a holistic brand 360 perspective. Saying no to dull and clunky visuals and yes to consistency, creativity and efficiency forms the core of her approach. Christine is also the host of the Brand Party Podcast where guests and her share fun, honest, to-the-point branding tips you can implement RIGHT AWAY!

Episode 21 – Interview with Lori Burke

Throughout her life, Lori (https://fickledesignsartstudio.com/) has always had a passion for painting. The creative process itself captivates her. She loves abstract and mixed media paintings in acrylics. Lori’s focus is often the drama and tension between color and light. She is inspired by natural elements, fire, water, sky, sand, and wind… She ‘feels’ her art. Lori is intuitive so her ideas develop in dreams and strong impulses that must come out. She loves and lives to paint and is humbled and grateful daily for all those that support her!

Episode 21 – Interview with Madeleine Gross

Madeleine (https://www.madeleinegross.com/) customizes her photographs with paint in a way designed to abstract landscapes but without completely abstracting reality. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design where she gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography, Madeleine intuitively applies gesture, texture, color, and strokes with paint with the idea of emulating an immersive reality for viewers and in turn induces the sensation of actually being there just by looking. The inspiration she finds in nature, light and the effortlessly entertaining pastime of people watching can be felt in her images; with textural color layers and a realistic movement, her images embody the ripped water from a jet sky, ocean waves, the fresh beach breeze. Positive connotations are at the heart of her work, with each of the photographs taken on her trips across the globe, all enhanced by a warm and bright palette applied through a few happy strokes of a brush. Her past clients are KitKat Canada, Fashion Magazine Canada, i-D Magazine, Nike Air Society, Roads Group, among others. Her work was featured at CBC Arts, Fashion Magazine, Saatchi Art, Interview Magazine Germany, Redmilk, etc.

Episode 20 – Interview with Roshni Wijayasinha

Roshni (https://roshnisart.com/) specializes in large abstract expressionist paintings that are inspired by nature and its energy. Using acrylic and mixed media, these paintings experiment with light, colors, textures, and finishes, and many of her pieces can be transformed under a black light, or glow in the dark. She’s painted live at ArtBattle Toronto, ArtBoxEvents, and Fresh Paint’s Live Painting Jam where she placed first, and her work has been featured at several juried exhibits and galleries across North America, in product launches, at a food festival, in a Hilton Hotel permanent collection, in an art publication, and can be found on the streets of Toronto on traffic boxes, curbside planters, and murals. She is also a founder of Prosh Marketing – a marketing and consulting services that help startups and small businesses realize their potentials.

Episode 19 – Interview with Eyal Liebman

Eyal Liebman (https://www.chefsomm.ca/) is a Toronto-based Private Chef who believes in rocking the boat when it comes to the Toronto food industry: “Food & Art do not exist outside of Politics.” To be an artist is to be a responsible human, and to be a responsible human is to be a critical human, which in this case involves sourcing ethically raised produce & establishing connections with and supporting other artists in our like-minded journeys.

Eyal chooses to care about the meal in its entirety. In this way, Eyal’s food crosses a line into critical art – in the ways the ingredients are sourced, why certain dishes are included in a menu at certain dinner tables with certain people, the messages conveyed through beautiful plates … it all has intentional meaning and storyline. The narrative of every menu Eyal creates never repeats and is best described as consistently inconsistent – there is only one original menu for each event. Eyal believes that it’s hard to convince people that food can be an art medium beyond the fact of pretty plates and that food is cultural and has so much to do with politics.

Episode 18 – Goals Setting

Today is the last day of 2019. Each new year offers an exciting opportunity for a fresh start and new beginnings, which is probably why we all look forward to New Year’s Eve so much. It’s important, to celebrate all of your experiences from 2019 and to welcome the new year ahead. This solo episode will be a quick chat about the goal setting and how we can create a vision of our future. Using the vision map and a list of skills you have – we will talk about the ways to structure your upcoming year and feel happy about what you are doing. Enjoy!

Episode 17 – Interview with Emily Carriere

Emily Carriere (https://www.emilycarriere.com/) creates an intricate cut out vinyl and acrylic artworks. She works intuitively, letting the process take over, which allows the work to reveal itself through the natural progression of experimentation. The results are abstract images which can be interpreted in an endless variety of ways depending on the viewers’ experiences, memories, and histories.

Emily’s work explores the notion that the final element completing a work of art is the viewer. The artworks feature intricately cut and layered forms, refraining from any direct reference and yet feeling ingrained with familiarity and meaning. The juxtaposition of organic and symmetrical forms manipulated through technology, her own hand and the use of both traditional and commercial materials creates ambiguous, enticing & eerie forms reminiscent of Rorschach blots. Ultimately the viewer’s interpretation imbues the work of art with emotion and meaning.

Episode 16 – Interview with Nicholas William

Today, I had the pleasure of speaking to US-based artist Nicholas William (https://bynicholaswilliam.com/). From his early simple shapes to his current smooth line-work, Nicholas’ studio practice has now grown into something that feels familiar but removed from its standard context. Curiosity, communication, Micro-Cultures, Digital Technologies, and Education. This is where Nicholas’s inspiration comes from. Over the years, Nicholas presented his work in a number of solo and group shows and sold art to private collectors across the globe.

Episode 15 – Selling Art in Galleries VS Selling Independently

Today I decided to have a solo episode and discuss the question that I am asked every day – should artists work with an art gallery or sell independently or with help of an art agent, art dealer or any other professional outside the traditional gallery setting? Let’s dive into discussing the pros and cons of working with the gallery and how artists can be successful by selling independently via social media, website, newsletter, by working with an art agent, etc.

Episode 14 – Dani Febres

Dani (https://daniartshop.com/) is Venezuelan-Canadian and was always passionate about art. She believes that life is even more beautiful when it’s colorful, and, through her art practice, Dani fuels her paintings’ surroundings with joy and happiness! She believes that you can set the mood of a space with an artwork that is created with positive energy, one that has a purpose and that tells a story. Dani’s artwork lived mainly in Canada, Venezuela, and the United States, but now it lives across the world. I hope this episode will inspire you to look at life and see it even more beautiful when it’s colorful. Dani is an emerging artist, who started showing her works last year, but her passion to make an impact and share her joy and positive attitude will not leave you indifferent!

Episode 13 – Jacques Descoteaux

For over 25 years, Jacques (https://www.jdcoto.art/) was the accountant by day, the artist by night. He came from an artistic family and has studied under a number of professional artists – collectively, they all helped Jacques found his artistic voice. From watercolor to pastel to oil paints and a few other media, Jacques’ painting style has evolved over time, but it’s always been influenced by his first studies in watercolor. His paintings are an exploration of color, of light, of rhythms and patterns, of movement and space. Jacques is inspired by the landscape, but his paintings go beyond the landscape – they are about memory and transport you to imagined places, to imaginary moments. Over the years, he presented his work in a number of solo and group shows and sold art to private collectors in Canada and the US. When we recorded this interview, Jacques was at his art residency in Ireland. So, bear that in mind. When he describes what he does and how he paints “here” – he is talking about his art residency.

Episode 12 – David Brown

David Brown (http://www.encausticcollage.com/EncausticCollage/home.html) is a Toronto-based visual artist with a 25-year award-winning career in the international art and design industry. David’s abstract encaustic paintings have been shown at numerous galleries and museums across Canada and the U.S. Recently he had a solo exhibition at The Painting Center in NYC. His paintings are held in private and corporate collections in North America, Europe, and Asia. The products he designed have been sold across North America, and his work has been published in books and magazines throughout Canada and the United States, such as Azure, Canadian Art, Style at Home, House and Home and The Toronto Star to name a few.

Episode 11 – Philip Jacobs

Philip Jacobs is a Toronto-based mental and spiritual health advocate, sound therapist, and musician. His first real Love and Relationship is with Music, Sound, and Vibration. He later graduated from Toronto’s Institute of Traditional Medicine and had extended training and practical experience in China and Guatemala. Philip combines his love of music with his training in Herbal Medicine, Mindfulness, Relational Psycho-Somatic Therapy and experience with Sound Therapy to create and facilitate a unique client experience. Currently, Philip is returning to his roots of Song Composition, Recording and Performing and is working on releasing an album in support of his Mental and Spiritual Health Advocacy.

Episode 10 – Robbie Kaye

Robbie Kaye (https://www.robbiekaye.com/) is a classically trained pianist who later turned to photography looking for visual melodies. Drawn to finding beauty in unexpected places, Robbie works to intrigue, inspire, and evoke a reaction from the viewer and sees her photography as a way to contribute beauty, create change and give exposure to societal issues. Robbie also creates fine art and her artwork is inspired by the unpredictability and intensity of the sea and the playfulness and beauty of nature. Robbie’s work is currently represented by The Brittany Davis Gallery in Ojai, CA. Her work has been exhibited internationally in Boston, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, London, and Spain.

Episode 9 – Jana Stern

Jana Stern (https://www.janastern.com/) is a Toronto-based certified Life Activation Practitioner, metaphysical energetic healer, meditation guide, and self-love councilor. She has been traveling through her journey of living with and healing from her version of mental unwellness & eating disorders for more than ten years. During that time, Jana received a multitude of healings & tools that had such a profound effect on her life, that she made it her life’s work to learn them so that she is now able to use those tools to help others transform their lives!

Episode 8 – Monica Shulman

Monica Shulman (https://www.monicashulman.com/) is a self-taught photographer and abstract expressionist painter who has been creating art in various mediums for over 25 years. She believes in the power of art to create a moment and to evoke emotion. Her work is energetic and playful and reflects her interest in flawed beauty rather than perfection. Using strong colors and contrasts, coupled with heavy, sculptural layering, Monica strives to create connection and movement in each piece.

Episode 7 – Linds Miyo

Born and raised in California, Linds (https://www.wonderandstory.com/) work strives to evoke the strong, direct light of her childhood. A trauma survivor, Linds is interested in the balance between intention and that which is beyond our control, the meeting place between our best efforts and happenstance. She often uses broad representational panes of textured black in her work, washing layers of color over top – folding the dark relief of the past into multi-dimensional present-day, with honesty, happiness, and sparkle. Linds Miyo lives and works in Toronto and is currently in a studio residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Episode 6 – Nik Torres

Born in Colombia and raised in Canada, Nik (https://www.niktorresdesigns.com/) takes as inspiration her life experiences of migration and self-discovery. She finds ways through color and texture to create an abstract narrative that allows her to reconcile with her own mental health and constant emotional state. ​Throughout the years, her work has evolved into a much deeper emotional practice with a goal to bring the viewer into a personal comfortable and serene place where they can aim to appease their own internal battles. Nik wants to use her work as a visual anchor and reminder that life has serene moments even in darkness.

Episode 5 – Koa

Today’s podcast is special as I will be talking about a very special local artist. His name is Koa and he is a little parrot who creates unique abstract paintings that are sold all over the world (swipe right to see more images of Koa and his artworks). I talked to Koa’s owner Gee and she shared Koa’s incredible story that you for sure have to listen to.

Episode 4 – Interview with Sylvia Cohen.

Montreal-based artist Sylvia Cohen (http://www.sylviacohen.com/) combines a love of painting and observation to give life to her images. Her work is largely influenced by the fashion world. Portraits of women are Sylvia’s main focus as well as a process of finding beauty in everyday life and capturing the moment.

Episode 3 – Interview with Ladislas Chachignot.

Episode 2 – Starving Artist Myth.

Today I will be talking about the Starving Artist Myth and why it’s important to erase it today. 

Episode 1 – Intro.

Hello and welcome to the very first episode of Curator on the Go Podcast. Today I am launching my dream project that has been on my mind and in my heart for a very long time.