Podcast · Arts & Books

Creative Connections

by Mandy Jakich · English · Arts & Books

In conversation with Aotearoa's visual artists, talking practice, process and creative life.

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 25 min
Latest: 8 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 36 min

Maico Camilo - Contemporary Artist

Maico Camilo has been a professional contemporary artist for nearly two decades and has made a significant impact on the art scene. His abstracted figurative and abstract paintings are unashamedly neon bright, bold, textured, energetic and unique. Born in Southern Brazil, Maico Camilo first arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2005 and has since lived, travelled and shown his work throughout Europe, Asia, The United States and Oceania. His experiences across different cultures have informed an ...

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S11 · E205 · 1 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 23 min
Andrea Robinson - Painter
Andrea Robinson is a painter from Wellington Aotearoa NZ. Her paintings celebrate nature and are made with the intention to touch people's hearts and shine a light on conservation and environmental protection. From stylised realism to illustration, Andrea explores many styles and approaches within 3 series: florals; landscapes and native birds with a particular focus on kiwi. In this episode Andrea shares her personal challenges with health issues and periods of chronic pain and how she...
S11 · E204 · 16 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 16 min
Nicole Russell - Watercolour painter
Nicole Russell is a watercolour artist born in Germany and now living in Ruby Bay in the Tasman district at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. Nicole paints her local environment and what she sees and she loves to paint en plein air. In this episode Nicole talks about how she came to a full time painting practice after a career in law, her journey to living in Aotearoa, her watercolour journaling practice and what informs the paintings she makes. We discuss her experience study...
S11 · E203 · 27 May 2026 · 1 hr 12 min
Tallulah Nunez - Painter
Tallulah Nunez was born in Wellington and raised in the Hawkes Bay. She is a painter currently based in the remote Gascoyne region of Western Australia, with a strong creative connection to New Zealand. Her practice is grounded in place — exploring the rich textures, colours, and forms of arid landscapes, native botanicals, and geological structures. Working primarily in drawing and painting, she uses layered mark-making, and gestural linework to reflect the raw beauty and quiet resilience of...
S11 · E202 · 14 May 2026 · 1 hr 11 min
Kylie King-Hazel - Portrait painter
Kylie King-Hazel is a portrait painter living in Pōneke Wellington. https://www.instagram.com/kyliekinghazel/ Kylie's practice inhabits the space of a soliloquy - an internal dialogue shaped by uncomfortable questions and self-reflection. It begins as a love letter to her Māori husband and children and moves to questioning her responsibility in creating work shaped by love, proximity and relationships. Kylie's practice sits intentionally in an uneasy place and explores the uncomfortable...
S11 · E201 · 8 May 2026 · 1 hr 25 min
Tracey Coakley - Figurative painter
Tracey Coakley is a narrative oil painter working primarily in figurative painting and portraiture. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Tracey has lived in New Zealand since 2007 and now works from her studio in Waipu, Northland. https://www.instagram.com/traceycoakleyart/ Predominantly self-taught, she has been painting since 2000 and working full-time as an artist since 2017, completing a Diploma of Visual Arts in 2006. Her subjects are often friends, family, and self-portraits, and over ti...
S11 · E200 · 22 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 46 min
Lynne Sandri - Contemporary artist
Lynne Sandri is a contemporary artist and a curious idealist living in Seatoun in Wellington. With a career spanning over 25 years as a full time artist Lynne has had over 100 exhibitions and numerous artist residencies, she has built studios and opened them to the public, she's taught students and mentored artists and she sells just about everything she makes throughout NZ and internationally. Lynne’s artwork delves into the beauty of nature, the cycles of life and the evolving concept...
S11 · E199 · 13 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 23 min
Jo Tricker - Glass artist
Jo Tricker is a glass artist based in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa NZ. Jo creates glass fused, slumped, cast and lamp worked objects that are shaped by a love of literature and travel and the people from different cultures that she has met along the way. Jo is an exuberant storyteller. In this episode she talks about her younger life living in the UK and studying English and linguistics at Massey University and her initial love of mosaics which 14 years ago led to learning a...
S11 · E198 · 2 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
Rosanne Croucher - Landscape painter
Rosanne Croucher is a landscape oil painter from Hamilton New Zealand. She sees herself as a 'painter of moments' as well as landscapes, capturing the splendour, light and mood of ordinary everyday Aotearoa scenes. In this episode we talk about Rose's experience completing a masters degree of design and visual arts at Unitec in Auckland, which she completed in 2013; how she juggles being a mother of 3 children whilst still prioritising time to paint; why she likes to capture ordinary scenes a...
S11 · E197 · 26 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 19 min
Katie Robinson - Painter
Katie Robinson is a painter based in both Alexandra, Central Otago and in Devonport, Auckland. https://www.katierobinson.co.nz/ Katie makes work that sits at the intersection of memory, emotion, and mischief. Her art is grounded in its making, but often not in its mood. It’s underpinned by real stories and personal heritage, often tangled up with humour, oddness, and where I unexpectedly find emotion. Much of her inspiration comes from the Otago region—its landscapes, its histories, its ghost...
S11 · E196 · 20 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 33 min
Janet Mazenier - Contemporary visual artist
Janet Mazenier is a contemporary visual artist living in Te Hau Kapua Devonport in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Janet's practice engages with place, time, affect, world bending, and materiality. Her drawn-paintings are characterised by texturally rich, excavated, and striated surfaces that evoke ancientness, the hidden, the unseen, and the ephemeral. Janet's paintings are created using oil paint mixed with beeswax (known as cold wax medium), enabling a low-toxic practice that results in beautifu...
S11 · E195 · 13 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 27 min
Mark Whippy - Figurative Painter
Mark Whippy is a Kiwi-Fijian artist born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. Mark’s figurative and portrait art is inspired by observing the ordinary everyday people and scenes of his environment, hoping to capture their stories and characters, finding the beauty of every day life. Mark's style is a playful blend of realism and abstraction. His focus currently has been on the urban environment of Auckland City life. As well as being a practising artist, Mark has a passion for teaching...
S11 · E194 · 6 Mar 2026 · 49 min
Roots Tattoo Auckland Convention - with tattoo artist and founder Ben Kaye
Ben Kaye DBKAYE is an Auckland tattoo artist and the co-founder with his wife Madeline of the Roots Auckland Tattoo Convention. Auckland is set to host its first-ever international tattoo convention in 2026 with the launch of the Roots Auckland Tattoo Convention, a weekend celebration of artistry, culture, and community taking place Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th March at The Cloud, 89 Quay Street, Auckland. In a country like New Zealand, few art forms hold as much personal and cultural signif...
S11 · E193 · 26 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 11 min
Carol Bucknell - Figurative painter
Carol Bucknell is a Waiheke artist who has come from a successful career in journalism and garden design. She has been painting commissioned portraits and figurative works in oils for 20 years, and now produces more abstracted figurative works using oils and cold wax. In January 2024 Carol and artist Sally Tagg held a joint exhibition at Waiheke Community Art Gallery. Later that year she was a finalist in the Walker and Hall Art Awards. In January 2026 she won the runner up prize at the Craig...
S11 · E192 · 19 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 12 min
Lyndy Wilson - Contemporary painter
Lyndy Wilson is a contemporary New Zealand painter of Tainui descent. She grew up and still lives in the small town of Ngāruawāhia surrounded by the Waikato and Waipā rivers and the majestic Hakarimata ranges, a constant source of inspiration. Her style can be described as diverse, eclectic and ever evolving which allows her the freedom to explore different subjects such as floral and botanical, abstract, landscape and more recently figurative. Growing up in Ngaruawahia Lyndy was immersed in ...
S11 · E191 · 3 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 22 min
Helen Kerridge - Contemporary Painter
Helen Kerridge is a contemporary painter from the Hawkes Bay. Many of Helen’s paintings are set in sparse environments, with a minimal grouping of subjects exude a sense of stillness, contemplation, and a celebration of the beauty to be found in objects and the stories to be told. Helen has been painting all her life, from as far back as she can remember. She started her photo realistic painting career in New Zealand and the US, touching up professional photographs before the days of Ph...
S11 · E190 · 23 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 11 min
Quirky Fox Art Gallery - with Vicki Fox
Vicki Fox founded Quirky Fox art gallery in 2012. It is located in Hawera, a small town of 10,000 people south of New Plymouth. Showcasing both established and emerging talents, Quirky Fox invites both New Zealand and international artists to be part of its carefully curated range; all international artists are exclusive to the gallery within New Zealand, while New Zealand artists are exclusive to the gallery within Taranaki. Quirky Fox aims to provide a home for artists working in new ...
S11 · E189 · 7 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 21 min
Scott Lawrie - Gallerist, Writer
Scott Lawrie is a well known, much loved gallerist and writer who was based in NZ and is now living in Scotland. I absolutely loved catching up with Scott again a few months ago while I was living in Turkey. I last spoke to Scott on the podcast more than 3 years ago in episode 62. Scott Lawrie Gallery began life in 2017 in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland and continues to thrive now in Edinburgh Scotland. As the gallery’s reputation grew the focus pivoted away from art as a business ontology, t...
S10 · E188 · 16 Dec 2025 · 1 hr 26 min
ART BY THE SEA art gallery - with Linda and Mike Geers
In this episode I speak with Mike and Linda Geers, the owners of Art By The Sea, an art gallery in Hurstmere Road Takapuna, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. This is a fabulous chat with 2 people who are very passionate about the visual arts in Aotearoa. Linda and Mike see themselves as conduits between artist and audience, as kaitiaki guardians of artists' work, making connections through art. We talk about how they came to purchase Art By The Sea in 2001 when it was in Devonport, the early challeng...
S10 · E187 · 2 Dec 2025 · 1 hr 40 min
Katie Leigh Stewart - Multi media artist
Katie Leigh Stewart is a mixed media artist living in Wellington, Aotearoa NZ. Katie's paintings explore floral landscapes, portraiture, everyday life and nature. Her bright and bold palette as well as signature brush strokes gives viewers a moment to pause and find joy. In this episode Katie talks about her early nursing career and how she finally came to focus on her artist career as a new Mum. We explore her paintings which are mostly inspired by her life, everyday experiences ...
S10 · E186 · 23 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 32 min
Natalie Gelder - Multi disciplinary artist
Natalie is an emerging multi-disciplinary artist born in Yorkshire, England, with a current focus on figurative oil paintings. Nat moved to New Zealand in 2016 in her early twenties.and is currently based in Auckland. In this episode Natalie shares how creating likeness in a portrait has become a challenge too tempting not to take on as she's got older, becoming thirsty for something that felt more difficult and less forgiving. As a Mum of 2 boys, her sons have become treasured subjects that ...
S10 · E185 · 13 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 41 min
Andrew Barns-Graham - Contemporary artist
Andrew Barns-Graham is an established Auckland-based artist known for his hard-edged contemporary portraits with a pop realist style. He renders smooth, gradient-infused figures set against minimal, atmospheric landscapes. In this episode we talk about the pivotal moment that led to Andrew devoting himself to his art practice after a career in advertising. Andrew tells us about a traumatic near death experience and how that has influenced his art practice, his outlook and the way he liv...
S10 · E184 · 3 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 18 min
Kyra Alkamil - Emerging young artist
Kyra Alkamil is a 19 year old emerging artist from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, in her first year studying fine art at Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland. Kyra paints in oils and is interested in storytelling, the human figure, nostalgia, domestic scenes and surrealism. In this episode we talk about the ways Kyra discovered and developed her love of art and her skills in visual art as a homeschooled teenager, how life drawing has contributed to her figurative practice, her shift from acrylics t...
S10 · E183 · 27 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 15 min
Katrina Cosgrove - Contemporary Artist
Katrina Cosgrove is a painter born in England who immigrated to NZ in 2005. She is now based in Bronte, a small settlement at the top of the South Island of Aotearoa NZ in the Tasman District, near Mapua. Katrina's nature inspired artworks delve into the themes of self discovery, transformation, freedom, and the profound connection between nature and the human spirit. With a background marked by resilience and a powerful personal journey, Katrina’s art reflects her transition from the c...
S10 · E182 · 19 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 56 min
Shelley Ryde - Painter, Printmaker, Writer
Shelley Ryde is a well known, highly respected Aotearoa art educator and artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland NZ. Shelley has led the visual art department and taught art at Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland, finishing this position in 2024 after 42 years of devotion, hard work, commitment and a lot of love. Many young art students and NZ practising artists have been taught and inspired by Shelley, including a number of guests on this podcast who speak so highly of her a...
S10 · E181 · 12 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 26 min
Kirsty Nixon - Contemporary artist
Kirsty Nixon is a contemporary New Zealand artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Her vibrant, light-filled paintings celebrate the untamed beauty of Aotearoa New Zealand — from the windswept beaches of the North Island to the soaring mountain ranges of the South. Drawing inspiration from the land, sea, and native birdlife that surround her, Kirsty’s work invites a quiet moment of reflection — a breath of peace amidst the noise of modern life. With an instinctive eye for colour and compos...
S10 · E180 · 6 Oct 2025 · 1 hr 38 min
Sarah Ritchie - Fibre artist and author
Sarah Ritchie is a New Zealand fibre artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Sarah specialises in creating framed works in natural fibres such as New Zealand wool, bamboo and cotton, showcasing her passion for texture, colour, and non-toxic creativity - drawing inspiration from the breathtaking beauty of Aotearoa New Zealand. In this episode Sarah unpacks her fibre art process for us: from her preferred fibres to use and the tools she uses to her technique , use of colour and the ideas be...
S10 · E179 · 29 Sep 2025 · 1 hr 29 min
Ceara Lile - Textile artist
Ceara Lile is a fibre-based mixed media artist who grew up in West Auckland. She creates abstract textile collages layered with meaning, memory, and emotion as well as eco inkless hand printed fabrics. She now lives in Keri Keri in the Far North of Aotearoa NZ with her partner Mario. From an early age, Ceara has been captivated by textiles, drawn to their textures and versatility. Her work takes the form of abstract, collage-based fibre sketches, where these materials serve as both her medium...
S10 · E178 · 21 Sep 2025 · 1 hr 41 min
Jane Shriffer - Abstract painter
Jane Shriffer is an abstract painter living and working in Wānaka in the south island of Aotearoa NZ. Jane paints intuitively, layering colour and texture, making her marks with a palette knife. In this episode we have a fantastic chat about Jane's experience studying painting at Dunedin School of Art as an enthusiastic 18 year old only to leave university with her degree and not return to painting for 10 years. She shares how she got back into painting through immersing herself in lthe local...
S10 · E177 · 16 Sep 2025 · 1 hr 27 min
Katie Blundell - Multi media artist
Katie Blundell is a contemporary New Zealand artist, living and working from her studio in Clevedon, south east of Auckland. Focusing on the human experience, her work is both personal and universal. Katie approaches her practice through different media depending on what ideas she is wanting to express, primarily focusing on on printmaking, painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. In this episode we talk about: her beautiful gallery/studio space in Clevedon where she teaches, creat...

About Creative Connections

In conversation with Aotearoa's visual artists, talking practice, process and creative life.

Creative Connections is a English arts & books podcast from Mandy Jakich. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Mandy Jakich
Language: English
Category: Arts & Books
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 25 min
Latest episode: 8 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1561034043

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