Art on the Air

Art(s) on the Air with Brian MacGregor

Join Tamara for an interview with Brian MacGregor, a fine artist and - more so over the past couple of years - a muralist who's had a studio in City Market for 20+ years now. He moved to Savannah from Richmond, VA in 2000 and got an Illustration degree from SCAD.

Brian says: "You may have notice​d all the handwriting in the backgrounds of my paintings. These pages come from thousands of different people's hand written nocturnal dreams that I collage into the background of my work.​ I have been collecting these dreams for over 15 years in several journals hanging outside my galleries for the public to write in. I call my style "Romantic Surrealism" inspired by the artists of the late eighteen hundreds, mixed with contemporary artistic methods."

 

Check out Brian's work and follow him here:

https://brianmacgregor.net/ 

https://www.instagram.com/brian.macgregor/

Topics in their chat include:

How Brian started showing at A.T. Hun Gallery in City Market in 2003 (until 2008), while still a student, because he was assertive about getting involved in, and volunteering for, the gallery; his trial and error with layering different colors as transparent layers that will be saturated, yet still show the collaged handwriting pages beneath; how he plans out and draws the compositions of his paintings precisely, but then wants the painting stage to be fairly loose; how currently his art business has shifted to be more mural jobs than fine art sales; the importance of researching how much sunlight an outdoor mural is going to get; renting a construction lift for his big murals; how physically arduous painting a mural is; the huge ceiling mural he did on the soon-to-open Subaru dealership in Pooler (and how hard that was on his body); his devotion to Behr paint and toned primers; the recent mural he did for the City, right on the surface of a road at an intersection in Cloverdale, intended to slow down traffic; and Brian's advice to begin your mural portfolio just by painting your own walls. 

 

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air with Mary Carol Kenney

Join Tamara for an interview with Mary Carol Kenney, a "figurative artist known for her work in painting and mixed media, often drawing inspiration from her surroundings to explore themes of nature, people, and culture."

Mary Carol moved to Savannah in early 2021, largely because someone once told her she would really like it here, and joined the City Market Art Studios at the beginning of July, after having spent years working from her home studio. Visit her symbolism-filled figurative paintings and her pop art screenprints in her studio, or on Saturdays at the farmers' market/lane of artists selling in Forsyth Park! 

* This Sunday, Sept 8 from 4-7pm we're throwing an Open Studios event at the City Market North side (above the Georgia Tasting Room) - please join us to chat with the artists and enjoy light refreshments and music! *

 

Check out Mary Carol's work and follow her here:

https://www.marycarolkenney.com/
https://www.instagram.com/marycarolkenney/

 

Topics in their chat include:

How Mary Carol transitioned from being a "happy hermit" in her home studio to working out of City Market at the beginning of July, to boost her sales from just selling Saturdays in Forsyth Park; what are cyanotypes and screenprints?; her time spent in Santa Barbara taking all variety of art and craft classes at the local school; her first career of working as a self-taught seamstress for 40 years; her thoughts about the "generosity of spirit" she saw amongst artists both in Savannah and in Santa Barbara; how Mary Carol ended up in Savannah based on someone once telling her she would really like it here; how she began her painting series of shells with Dutch pours through doing crafts with her young grandchildren, of which 6 paintings were recently chosen by a new interior decor shop downtown (!); how her "To Err is Human" series was inspired by the time she spent caring for her mother with late-stage dementia; getting involved in a few upcoming art fairs this fall: Gordonston and Isle of Hope; and her thoughts about selling in Forsyth Park and all of the energy the SCAD students bring to town. 

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air - Two-year anniversary chat w/ Tamara, Rob, and David

It's the 2-year anniversary of Rob Hessler handing the podcast over to Tamara Garvey (after having done it for 5 years)!

To celebrate, Tamara, Rob, and David Laughlin - who also did the show for a few year with Rob - met up for a looooong wild chat about Savannah's creative scene and the art(s) of interviewing and writing about it. 

(One thing we all agree on is the excitement of getting feedback from people who are listening to/reading our interviews HINT HINT!)  

 

Do you want even more of our unhinged thoughts? Check out each of our social media here:

https://www.instagram.com/tamgarv/
https://www.instagram.com/work_by_rob_hessler/ 
https://www.instagram.com/thedavidlaughlin/ 

 

Topics in our chat include:

Rob insulted his way into a regular writing gig at the Savannah Morning News; the in-and-outs of the current publishing cycle of the SMN; how the nature of the 1-on-1 interview is much easier for (introverted) creatives to talk about their work than at public Artist Talks; how creating each interview episode is an art project in itself; how rewarding it is to interview a burgeoning artist and give them a little boost; particular interviews that have stood out to each of us; the time David recorded a car crash during one of his interviews; the fact that Savannah has been a cultural mecca for years and we are wondering if it has/is peaking (a la Key West), because of housing prices; we each answer a few of David's "studio questions," including a great piece of advice we've each received; Rob talks about a recent article he wrote that has drawn some heat; choosing interview subjects and the necessity of being inspired by each other; "art decorates space and music decorates time;" the shared experience of trying to protect our time and our creative labor when society tries to get these things for free.  

Bonus article David found that related to our talk about Savannah!

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air with Molly Cusick

Join Tamara for an interview with Molly Cusick, who works in the dual arts of photography and pottery, and shares a City Market studio with her mother (who also works in two art forms!). Traveling through the world's most beautiful places, Molly sees beauty where others are not looking. Faces of rocks, creek reflections, abandoned cars and barnacled boats offer a rich interplay of texture, color, and tone. Her eyes are drawn to the way that nature overtakes manmade objects.

She has a specific project called the Tree Pilgrimage:

"...born from the ashes of the Thomas fire, in January 2018, is a project honoring embodied connection and awakening.  

I followed a calling from deep within my heart to be with and photograph the amazing Trees around the world while I still had the chance."

 

Check out Molly's work and follow her here: 

https://www.instagram.com/mollycusickphotography/
http://www.mollycusickphotography.com/ 
https://www.thetreepilgrimage.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mollycusickpottery/

 

Topics in their chat include:

Growing up in a creative home and receiving her first (film) camera at 14; her affinity for junkyards and rusty old cars; in February 2020 Molly went to New Zealand for a 3-6 month photography trip, and when the pandemic hit she ended up staying there for 1 1/2 years, extending her visa to travel solo and do nature photography; her early time in Savannah selling work at the Savannah Gallery of Art; being a part of the Clayer & Co pottery teaching studio in Thunderbolt; getting photo prints made and her discovery of metal prints; close calls with bears and cobras; and her plans for future photography trips to Bulgaria and Madagascar.

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air with Stephen Kasun

Join Tamara and David for an interview with Stephen Kasun, who moved to Savannah and began working in the City Market studios back in 2009, and now has two ground-floor studios/gallery spaces. Before that he went to art school at Memphis College of Art, and then University of Cincinnati, and then sold his work in art fairs for years.

Lately painting with acrylic paint and a palette knife, Stephen says: "My subject matter can be anything--as long as it’s about mood and light. My direct, deliberate approach requires a lot of pre-mixing my colors and doing most of the "thinking" on my mixing plate. Each paint stroke is carefully considered beforehand." 

Check out Stephen's work and follow him here: 

https://www.kasunstudio.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kasunart/

 

Topics in their chat include:

His switch from oil paint to acrylic 10 years ago and the experimental nature of acrylics; how both pig bladders and earwax (!) have figured into creating paint through the centuries; falling in love with Savannah and City Market back in the 1990s; his recommendation to young artists starting out; the time he lost an entire wall full of paintings into the Savannah River because of a gust of wind during a River Street art fair; how does one pronounce the word "scourge?"; the benefits of selling art through a gallery even though they're taking a commission; is a palette knife the Ferrari of painting materials?; the requirement when you have a ground floor space in City Market to staff/open your studio 7 days a week, but the tradeoff of how high your sales are; the specific qualities of acrylic paint that allow Stephen to be a "mad scientist" and do experiments with air brushing, mediums, etc; Stephen's bespoke palette knives (!); how the Six Pence phone booth is a "gift to artists;" and his upcoming work hopefully to be based on his new drone photography hobby.

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air with Bobby Bagley

Join Tamara – and David Laughlin, previous co-host of the show! – for an interview with Bobby Bagley, a full-time painter. Born and raised on a military base in Arkansas, he painted his first piece during his freshman year of college.

After moving to Savannah, he spent 10 years spent selling every painting he created through the Morris & Whiteside Gallery (now the Red Piano Gallery) in Bluffton. After that relationship ended, he moved into his own City Market studio (307 W. St. Julian Street, Upper Level, Studio #11), where he now works and sells his art.

In his highly realistic paintings, he typically depicts landscapes that are "a perfect bubble," like his childhood environment, yet they always include some winks to Black history as well. His titles are evocative and include "The Brown Girl You See" and "Come Sunday."

Check out Bobby's artwork here: 

https://www.instagram.com/bobbybagleyfineart/
https://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/bobby-bagley-painting-his-own-story/Content?oid=19995496 

Topics in their chat include:

Bobby burying hints/nods to Black history in his paintings and/or titles; composition, story, and color are the most important elements in his work; "Come Sunday" is a nod to the items in his grandmother's purse during church services; why he doesn't depict a person's entire face; Bobby's view that "art doesn't always have to be fun," because it's work, and making it can be tedious; his 10 years spent selling every painting he created through the Morris & Whiteside Gallery (now the Red Piano Gallery) in Bluffton; how that relationship eventually ended because of a disagreement over Bobby's desire to experiment with a different direction with his art's content; currently he works out of a studio in City Market (on the south side), juggling a few paintings at once; the surprising disclosure that Bobby listens to "the saddest music possible" while he works (!); how his color palette is heavily influenced by the colors in stained glass windows, because of all of his church memories; and Bobby's recent practice of revisiting old drawings from years ago, working in a quicker and less detailed way than he usually does.

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air with William Kwamena-Poh

Join Tamara for an interview with William Kwamena-Poh, who moved from Ghana to the U.S. as a young man. After studying art in college, he eventually arrived in Savannah in 1995 and has been here ever since.

He's a full-time artist with a City Market studio, a busy schedule of selling (and winning awards) in art fairs across the country, and he even had a solo exhibition at the Jepson Center for the Arts in 2019-20. Through his gouache paintings, William depicts scenes from Ghana, in order to communicate to diverse communities about a people who have been disenfranchised and viewed negatively throughout the years. 

Also, William was one of 5 artists profiled in the recently-released Savannah episode of the Amazon Prime show "The Story of Art in America!"

https://www.williamkfineart.net/
https://www.instagram.com/kwamenapoh/ 

Topics in their chat include:

being taught to draw without holding/using an eraser; how making $600 in a 1-night art show in Chicago in the late 80s made him move there; how screenprinting teaches you to really pare down your work's shapes and colors; his philosophy on being open to bargaining when you sell art at fairs; opening his City Market studio AND a gallery in 1996; how he started painting with gouache literally because a tube cost less than a tube of watercolor; his love of driving cross-country for shows; and working toward a big museum show coming up in 2025 at the Dennos Museum in Michigan.
 

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air with Paul Downs

*Hear ye, hear ye! Our show is now moving to the 1st and 3rd (and 5th) Wednesdays of the month, instead of every Wednesday. We want to continue making as high quality a show as possible, and biweekly will fit much better with our schedules and workloads. Thank you all so much for your great feedback on our first few months!*

Join Tamara for an interview with self-taught artist Paul Downs, who works in oil, acrylic, and watercolor paints, striving to evoke a sense of storytelling and design in his work. He shows regularly in art fairs in Savannah, St. Simons Island, and Hilton Head Island. Paul serves on the board of Arts on the Coast and is a member of Savannah Art Association, and has recently launched a watercolor painting class for adults! 

https://www.pauldownsartist.com/
https://www.instagram.com/art_monkey16/

Topics in their chat include:

Paul's recollections on living in Seattle during the 90s grunge scene; the gallery scene in Savannah's City Market in the late 90s/early 00s; how his pet portrait commission business has exploded just since Covid; what shape of head and eyes reads as "cuter" in a yeti holiday card; in which store you can shop his "tasteful nude" painted bookmarks; and the learning curve of doing your first outdoor art shows, including Paul and Tamara's hot tips for securing your small paper products during windy shows. 

 

P.S. - the local crime novelist he was trying to think of was...Rita Herron! 

 

Tune in and get all the details!

Art(s) on the Air with David Laughlin

Join Tamara for an interview with David Laughlin - freelance artist, muralist, and original host of this show! If you know David then you know that this will be a conversation about basically everything, but topics include: freehanding a mural, bicycle theft, Norman Rockwell, the Key Westying of Savannah, farm life, and auditory vs. visual learning. 

https://laughlinkw.wixsite.com/davidlaughlinart
https://www.instagram.com/thedavidlaughlin/

Get the answers to such burning questions as:

How does David cope with peoples' interruptions when he's painting in public? 
What's the backstory of the name behind this new jazz club where he's muraling?
How does he define the difference between "hostess" vs. "host" when it comes to Savannah's motto?

Tune in and find out!

Art(s) on the Air with Tafy LaPlanche

Join Tamara and Melissa for an interview with artist Tafy LaPlanche, who splits her time between Savannah and NYC. If you’ve passed by the Jepson Museum’s Boxed In/Break Out windows, you’ve seen her large portraits. She also maintains a studio at City Market and takes portrait commissions. 

Get the answers to such burning questions as:

How can one become adept at uncorking a wine bottle in a dark movie theatre? 

What’s so special about painting a pomegranate? 

What injury did Tafy sustain when attempting to paint Italian landscapes?

Tune in and find out!
——
https://www.instagram.com/lepouf_art/ 

https://lepouf-art.com/ 

Original air date: Aug 24, 2022