Ep. 060 Paul Weiner - American Contemporary Abstract Artist
Wes and Todd talk with Paul Weiner. Weiner talks about infusing social commentary into his art, art and Covid, Covid lexicon, process, Instagram, art and the American flag, free speech, Pierre Soulages, patriotism, art as investment, collecting, zombie abstraction, gallery representation, residencies, Kehinde Wiley, pricing, and legacy.
Ep. 059 Mary Chiaramonte - American Painter, Narrative Figurative Realism
Wes and Todd talk with Peter Strange Yumi. Yumi talks about his name, optimism, exploring painting and technique, Art Historians and Zoologists, imagery, mediums, self-examination, photography, Eugene Delacroix, voice, process, routines, social satire, Autonation, Fruitland, roller disco, sex and sexuality, the unified mind, buffoonery, science fiction, Yumicorp International Studios and Brave New World.
Ep. 055 Arlette Lucero - Artist, Art Educator and Advocate
Wes and Todd talk with the phenomenal Denver Artist, Arlette Lucero. Lucero talks about art sales during the pandemic, being a two-artist family, inspiration, being an Art Educator, trees, prominent women in her work, Carlos Castaneda, illustrating books, CHAC, Year of La Chicana, Hecho en Colorado, and leaves us with some great advice for aspiring Artists.
Ep. 054 A.L. Lummus - Artist, Metaphor-Heavy Imagery
Wes and Todd talk with A.L. Lummus, aka Amy Lee Lummus. Lummus talks about art in the time of Covid, pop-up shows, influences, art education, balancing family with an art career, the journey to becoming a full-time artist, pricing, artist statements, time, some of her favorite pieces from her new series, and regales us with a poem that she wrote for Bend the Iron.
Ep. 053 Wes and Todd's Year In Review
This week Wes and Todd reflect on their first year of doing the podcast, what they expect in the coming year, what guests they would like to get on and then they are joined by surprise special guest and friend, Dan Drossman.
Ep. 052 James Holmes - Abstract Artist, Executive Director of Cherokee Ranch & Castle Foundation
Wes and Todd talk with James Holmes. Holmes talks about lettering race cars as a kid, auto racing, his various business ventures, motorsports sponsor management, Cherokee Ranch & Castle Foundation, how to pivot during the pandemic, the incident that was the catalyst for him becoming an artist, his criteria for himself to be called an Artist, social media, collecting art, art advocacy, pricing, art and social commentary, the role of music in the creative process, and the power of positive thinking.
Ep. 051 Eriko Tsogo - Mongolian American Cross-Disciplinary Artist
Wes and Todd talk with Eriko Tsogo. Tsogo talks about immigrating to the United States, being a DACA recipient, identity, art as calling, spirituality, art education, the various mediums that she works in, agency representation, residencies, Meow Wolf, social media, defiance, her diverse series of work, soap play, senses, Buddhism and shamanism, and the Mongolian Culture and Heritage Center of Colorado.
Ep. 050 Adrianna Abarca -Founder, Latino Cultural Arts Center
Wes and Todd talk with Adrianna Abarca, Founder of the Latino Cultural Arts Center and Curator of Hecho en Colorado at History Colorado. Abarca talks about her family history, growing up in Denver, identity, collecting art, and her vision for the Latino Cultural Arts Center, an integrated cultural campus in the Sun Valley neighborhood west of downtown Denver that will feature two museums, one dedicated to Mexican heritage and the other to Latin America; with a library of Latino arts…
Ep. 049 Cynthia Ramu - Pueblo Levee Mural Project
Wes and Todd talk with Artist, Director and Curator, Collin Parson. Parson talks about growing up in an artistic family, his formal and informal art education, the definition of an Artist, being an Artist as a profession, influences, process, George Carlin and Carl Sagan, his public art project for the City of Lakewood, and his favorite exhibits that he has curated for the Arvada Center.
Ep. 048 Collin Parson - Artist, Director, Curator - Arvada Center
Wes and Todd talk with Artist, Director and Curator, Collin Parson. Parson talks about growing up in an artistic family, his formal and informal art education, the definition of an Artist, being an Artist as a profession, influences, process, George Carlin and Carl Sagan, his public art project for the City of Lakewood, and his favorite exhibits that he has curated for the Arvada Center.
Ep. 047 Anna Kaye - Charcoal Drawings
Wes and Todd talk with Artist, Anna Kaye. Kaye talks about her solo exhibit, Heatwave, at Sandra Phillips Gallery, her charcoal drawings, her love of nature and science, her fascination with wildfires, environmental advocacy, Drop-in Drawing at the Denver Art Museum, aspens, Pink Progression, community art and activism.
Ep. 046 Jerry De La Cruz - Denver Art Legend
Jerry De La Cruz. De La Cruz talks about growing up in North Denver, being drafted during Vietnam, using his GI bill to go to art school, his early years as an artist in Denver, teaching at the Art Students League of Denver, art advocacy, producing Art Barn in 1987, owning a radio station in Pueblo, Art in Action Studios, the Denver scene...
Ep. 045 Melissa Richardson Banks, Photographer
Melissa Richardson Banks, President and Founder of CauseConnect, a consulting firm, servicing clients nationwide in the arts. She is also a photographer that has documented the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles and is known by the moniker Downtown Muse. Melissa has produced, marketed, managed, and toured museum exhibitions of Cheech Marin’s Chicano Art collection.
Ep. 044 Kat Nechleba - Artist, Art Therapist & Psychotherapist
Wes and Todd talk with Artist, Art Therapist and Psychotherapist, Kat Nechleba. Nechleba talks about growing up a military brat, attending art school at the Kansas City Art Institute, Art Therapy, Carl Jung, Psychotherapy, found object art, her various art series, Ruche Mére, the book she wrote entitled, This World is Strange & I Blame it on You, being kind to others and how to navigate the waters during these weird and difficult times.
Ep. 043 Alexandrea Pangburn-Painter, Muralist
Wes and Todd talk with Denver muralist, Alexandrea Pangburn. Pangburn talks about growing up in an artistic family in Kentucky, horses, getting a degree in Animal Science, running a horse rescue, doing pet portraits, moving to Colorado and embedding herself in the art scene, doing her first mural at Crush Walls, and how she took an idea for a mural festival dedicated to women and their art to fruition with one of the most successful Denver art events of 2020, Babe Walls.
Ep. 042 Daniel Sprick - Contemporary American Realistic Painter
Wes and Todd talk with Denver painter, Daniel Sprick. Sprick talks about his early years in Glenwood Springs and his introduction to drawing, his exploits into the outdoors to get out of the studio and paint, favorite artists, 20th century art, his portrait and still life painting, what it takes to be bold in the world of art, the importance of sleep, happiness, and his pursuit of beauty and aesthetics.
Ep. 041 Ron Hicks - Painter
Wes and Todd talk with Denver painter, Ron Hicks. Hicks talks about growing up in Denver, Colorado and Columbus, Ohio, going to art school, finding his voice and focusing on his art career, his beautiful individual series that he continues to explore, mortality and legacy, and a plethora of perceptions.
Ep. 037 Lisa DiAmor Sanchez - Art with a message
Wes and Todd talk with Denver artist, Lisa DiAmor Sanchez. Lisa talks about how she made the jump to become a full-time artist, her process to create her beautiful paintings, how her family inspired her entrepreneurial spirit, selling art at festivals, and how she has learned to pivot through the years to have a successful art career.
Ep. 036 Garrett Ellwood - Sports Photographer, Denver Nuggets
Wes and Todd talk with sports photographer Garrett Ellwood. Ellwood is the team photographer for the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Rapids and photographs numerous other sports. Ellwood talks about how he got his start photographing sports in Los Angeles, the different sport markets he’s worked, some of the highlights of his career photographing sports icons and championships, the business of sports photography and talks the logistics of photographing an NBA game.
Ep. 035 Lee LaBier - Installation Artist
Wes and Todd talk with Denver artist, Lee LaBier. A multidisciplinary artist, LaBier creates with photography, video and installation to fully interpret specific projects. LaBier defines the work as autobiographical confessional art, mainly composed of self-portraits, exploring identity, its formation and transitions.
LaBier investigates the self, gender, physical, factual, illusory, artificial, and why certain identities are acquired. A method of introspection, LaBier contrasts dark subject matter, such as trauma, veiled by beauty.