podcast - Suggested Donation: Recent Episodes
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Suggested Donation is a podcast devoted to the arts in all forms. Hosted by two contemporary painters, Tony Curanaj and Edward Minoff, the conversations provide an insight into the creative mind. By speaking with both traditional and non-traditional artists and craftsmen, curators and restorers, we create a dialog through which we discover common ground across disciplines and spaces united by a love of and deep devotion to skill.
Episode 78: Travis Schlaht Suggested Donation Podcast Download Ted and Tony sit down with their dear friend and brilliant painter Travis Schlaht to talk Paris adventures, father-son art collaborations, NCAA basketball memories, and the inspiration fueling his latest body of work.
We are honored to have been included in another Drawing Discourse at UNC Asheville. We are joined this year by Michael Grimaldi, who returns for his second appearance on Suggested Donation Podcast. A lot has changed since his first visit, and while the flying cars and colonies on Europa haven’t panned out, Grimaldi is as insightful and inspiring as ever. Thanks to Tamie Beldue at UNC Asheville for organizing this one!
We’re thrilled to present a new episode of Suggested Donation Podcast, featuring Oscar-nominated special effects maestro Mike Marino!
Join us as we explore Mike’s journey into the world of special makeup effects, the enduring impact of practical effects, and the inspirations that shaped his career. We also dive into his incredible work on HBO’s The Penguin and his Oscar-nominated makeup design for A Different Man.
Mike has worked with some of Hollywood’s most visionary filmmakers and biggest stars, including Martin Scorsese, Darren Aronofsky, Eddie Murphy, Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Will Smith, John Travolta, and many more.
Don’t miss this deep dive into the art of transformation and storytelling through makeup effects. Tune in and be inspired!
https://www.prorenfx.com
https://www.instagram.com/prorenfx/
Ted and Tony have a conversation with Michael Klein, artist and Director of the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art in New Salem, Massachusetts. They discuss Michael's new responsibilities as director and curator of the collection, his teaching role, and an exciting painting competition that the museum will host, which is open to the public.
Tony and Ted hang out with legendary painting support craftsman and guru Simon Liu. When it comes to stretched canvas, there is only one person to talk to. We are grateful to Simon for sitting down and recording with us. Simon set us straight on how to properly stretch a canvas and talked shop about all fine painting supports. He backs all of this information up with unassailable logic built on a foundation of a few variables. Super fun conversation - we learned a lot and hope you will too.
The Suggested Donation Podcast is back with all-new episodes! Our first guest is the incredibly talented artist Greg "Craola" Simkins. In this episode, we discuss Greg’s early influences and inspirations, including his experiences in the Southern California graffiti scene. He also shares insights into his creative process, which enables him to produce amazing paintings. We’re sure you’ll enjoy this fantastic episode! Thanks to Trekell Art Supplies for the support.
https://gregsimkinsart.com
https://www.trekell.com
In collaboration with UNC Asheville’s 15th Annual Drawing Discourse, we sat down with the great artist, Christopher Gallego. We had a wide ranging conversation that centered on but not limited to drawing. Chris is incredibly knowledgeable and generous with sharing his ideas and experience. We are excited to share this episode with you all. Thanks to Chris, UNC Asheville, and Tamie Beldue! We hope you enjoy it!
We sit down with our dear friend, Artist, and Author Patricia Watwood and chat about her excellent new book, “ The Path Of Drawing. Lessons for Everyday Creativity and Mindfulness”. The book Introduces a practice to enhance mental and spiritual well-being to enrich one’s life through drawing and creativity. A beautiful and thoughtful book and we enjoyed talking to Patty about it.
Suggested Donation is back with celebrated sculptor and Athens Sculpture Atelier Director Robert Bodem. We discuss Rob’s approach, called “Drawing in Space” which he developed as the Director of Sculpture at the Florence Academy of Art and has continued to refine in Athens. He has a book coming soon that covers his approach for anyone unable to study in person with him. Rob discusses his journey from abstract to figurative sculptor and how this informed his process and perspective on working from life from the figure. Rob is a great friend and we hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.
In collaboration with UNC Asheville’s 14th Annual Drawing Discourse, we recorded with Israeli artist Sigal Tsabari. While our conversation focused on drawing, Sigal has a profound way of thinking and talking about art in general that we are excited to share. Thanks to Sigal, UNC Asheville, and Tamie Beldue! We hope you enjoy it!
http://www.sigaltsabari.com
https://aah.unca.edu/exhibitions/drawing-discourse/14th-annual
Integrated Growth, 2017, oil and pencil on paper, 106X107 cm
Gravity, 2009, pencil on paper, 70x52 cm
Internal Transparency, Pencil, charcoal and pastel on paper, 2021-2022, 70X70
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I Drew Myself a Field, 2020, Pencil on Paper, 76X56
The Suggested Donation crew sits down and has a lively chat with the talented California-based narrative artist and friend Carl Dobsky about his work. Definitely a fun one for us. Thanks to the fine folks at Trekell Artist Supply for the support as always. https://www.trekell.com
Suggested Donation is back with another sizzling hot podcast. We recorded with Jay Newman, the author of the recently released and highly acclaimed thriller Undermoney, which looks at the intersection of finance, military, and politics. Art is peppered throughout his book and we discuss the role that money plays in the art world and the role that art plays for its collectors. Jay, having spent a career in finance before beginning his first book, has a unique insight into the relationship between art and money and power and corruption all of which we explore in our conversation. We hope you enjoy this one!
It is not an overstatement to say that Amaya Gurpide’s work has redefined the medium of drawing: Her exploration of materials expands the boundaries of what is possible for works on paper. She is the Artistic Director of the Lyme Academy and teaches online workshops independently. Her work and teaching are both widely admired and sought after and we were so honored to get the chance to record a conversation with her as part of UNC Asheville’s 13th Annual Drawing Discourse.
We sit down and have a great chat with artist, teacher, author of the excellent book, “The Art of Still Life”, and a friend of the show, Todd Casey.
Suggested Donation sits down with the great artist and teacher Kamille Corry. We really enjoyed our time chatting about Kamille's amazing art, teaching, and living the artist lifestyle. Enjoy!
The crew sits down with the celebrated artist Carlo Russo to talk about art, the methods and practices of traditional realism, still-life, teaching, and picture-making.
We sit down with great artist Nicolas Uribe, who currently resides in Colombia, and have a great uncensored conversation about art and his philosophy of how he approaches his work.
We are proud to present a special Drawing edition of Suggested Donation Podcast, in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Asheville. As part of their 12th Annual International Contemporary Drawing Exhibition, we recorded a conversation with our friend and one of our favorite artists, Peter Van Dyke.
Suggested Donation LIVE show! We have a great and lively discussion in front of an audience featuring the amazing Daniel Sprick, Patricia Watwood, Rose Frantzen, and Peter Trippi. We touch on so many important and inspiring art topics. We know you'll enjoy it.
Suggested Donation is back with a new episode featuring the inimitable Josh LaRock, who's been amazing us since he was a student at GCA. We get into our shared experiences and formative years as well as a peek into Josh's unique style and insight - enjoy this episode, we sure did!
Suggested Donation sits down with great Artist and philosopher Anthony Mastromatteo for a stimulating and thoughtful conversation. The episode was recorded way back in November at the Figurative Artist Convention Expo. We chat about Anthony’s beginnings studying mathematics at Princeton University, working for Sotheby’s, his love for philosophy and history and his journey to becoming a working fine artist. We hope you enjoy this Episode as much as we did. Stay safe and healthy.
Ted, Tony and Jay have a great remote conversation with Chris Prynoski, animator, director, producer and president and founder of Titmouse. The boys reminisce about their days at MTV when they all worked together on shows like Beavis and Butthead and various other projects before Chris and his wife opening up Titmouse studios in LA that has created/produced many fan favorite shows/movies. They discuss the current state of quarantine and how it’s affecting tv and film production, early artistic influences, the business of making tv shows and movies, Titmouse’s newest project Netflix Midnight Gospel and the awesomeness of Dungeons and Dragons. Always awesome to hang with the great Chris P.. Enjoy!!
Ted and Tony have a great discussion with the talented painter Zoey Frank remotely. They talk about the recent change in everyone's life and how they all are dealing with the current situation, Zoey's formal education, a look into her technique, how her work has evolved over the years and the success of recent online teaching. Enjoy the chat and stay safe out there.
We had the pleasure to sit down and chat with the talented artist Teresa Oaxaca. We find out about her journey to becoming a professional artist, studying classical painting in Italy, what inspires her unique personal style and how it influences her great paintings in this lively episode. We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did.
We lost a legend last week, Daniel Greene. We recorded a podcast with him late last year at the FACE conference. Our condolences go out to Daniel Greene’s family, especially Wende who helped us with the recording. We hope this episode will be a welcome reminder of a sage voice to those who knew Daniel and an introduction to one of the greatest portrait painters for everyone else.
Ted and Tony sit down with landscape artist, author, Magician and Mentalist, Ken Salaz. We chat about his early education as an artist, his other career being an outstanding and highly accomplished magician and mentalists ( Ken may just do some magic right in front us to our amazement!!) We also get to discuss his great new book “Landscapes in Oil” and what that was like making it. It’s a great episode and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
We are proud to release our newest Suggested Donation Podcast featuring a legend in representational painting, Tony Ryder. Tony’s exceptional teaching comes through in his metaphors and relentless desire to share all that he knows — boatloads — about the visual world. We also discussed his late, dear friend and mentor, Ted Seth Jacobs.
It’s been a while but we are finally back with a GREAT new podcast. I am so excited to put this one out with one of my favorite artists and people; Katie G Whipple. Katie has been redefining flower painting over the past several years, initially inspired by ancient Roman wall painting. We discuss her personal history and her paintings in between having a great time just hanging out. Hope you enjoy this one!
The boys sit down with the talented artist Julio Reyes resulting in a great and inspiring conversation on art and living as an artist. Enjoy.
The boyz sit down and have a great and lively conversation with the very talented artist Candice Bohannon. They talk about her upbringing in a small rural town in Northern California, her art education, philosophy, having a talented artist husband and being a mom. You'll enjoy this one for sure. Thanks to Trekell Art Supplies, https://www.trekell.com, for sponsoring this episode.
We caught up with acclaimed artist Robert Liberace. We had been planning to speak with Robert for a while so we were excited to finally record with him. Robert is one of the top figurative artists working today, drawing and painting figures that are swirling with life and movement
We sit down and have a lively conversation with the talented artist Shana Levenson at the Figurative Art Convention & Expo (FACE) in Miami where we discuss life after kids, being a mom, finding the time and passion to dedicating ones life to pursuing a professional art career, art techniques and much more. Enjoy! Thank you Trekell Brushes for sponsoring this episode. Use coupon code SD18 at https://www.trekell.com for 15% off trekell brushes.
We sit down for a chat with our dear friend, amazing draftsman and painter, Dean of Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia and Professor of Drawing and Painting at The New York Academy of Art, Dan Thompson.
The boys sit down with great artist, social media influencer, super pregnant and super fun, Dina Brodsky.
We sat down with artist and teacher Kerry Dunn. Apart from painting his own outstanding portrait and figure work, Kerry has had a front row seat in the building of Nelson Shanks Studio Incamminati where he now works as one of the primary instructors.
We present our latest Suggested Donation Podcast featuring artist and writer Daniel Maidman. Daniel is a talented painter and draftsman. He has also published two books, Daniel Maidman Nudes and Theseus and his art criticism has been published by The Huffington Post, Poets and Artists and Blue Review to name just a few. We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!
Figure painter Stephen Bauman sits down with Suggested Donation for a great conversation at The Florence Academy of Art, US in Jersey City, NJ where he is currently the Director of the Anatomy and Ecorche.
We are very excited to present the latest Suggested Donation Podcast with Peter Van Dyck. Peter’s paintings are a perfect storm of talent, integrity, dedication, intelligence and raw coolness. His subjects range, but have hovered recently over place. His work is a favorite of ours and so many other painters with whom we speak. He is cerebral and hilarious and this episode is already a hall of famer. We hope that you enjoy getting to hear more from this singularly talented painter and good friend of the podcast.
We are launching our latest Suggested Donation Podcast joined by Maria Kreyn from her spaceship in the bubble. Maria is a serious talent with several artistic identities which we explore with her. She walks us through her process and outlook with fantastic tales from Burning Man, psychedelic art experiences, Norwegian adventures, nomadic lifestyle and the chaos of her mind.
Your pals sit down and have an entertaining conversation with artist Jacob Pfiffer during a trip to San Francisco. Jacob’s work is provocative, meticulously crafted and often humorous. We chat about his education in Milwaukee ,graffiti, his move to San Francisco, John Pence Gallery and his journey to becoming professional artist. A fun time with a great artist. ENJOY!!!
The Boys sit down with famed sculptor Sabin Howard to discuss his recent work for the National World War 1 Memorial that will be in Washington D.C. and how he landed this important commission.
End of Summer blues got you down? Well, the lads have the cure for your post-summer hangover- THAT'S RIGHT!! Boo-ya! Another dynamite Suggested Donation Podcast coming at ya! The fellas had a great time drinking wine and talking shop with artist Jeremy Mann in his home in Oakland California.
The boys sit down with Bay area figure artist and musician Aaron Nagel for a great conversation about his early days playing in the punk/ska band Link 80, his focus on becoming a figure painter, fitness and much more. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Great conversation with Editor-in-Chief of Fine Art Connoisseur Peter Trippi about the traveling Alma-Tadema show which he co-curated, the up coming Figurative Art Convention and Expo happening this November in Miami and the inner workings of the art world past and present. Enjoy!!!!
We met up with one of the brightest young stars of the realist art movement, Adam Miller, for a fascinating conversation. We could easily have talked for hours - Adam was incredibly generous sharing his ideas and expounding on his allegorical work.
Daniel Sprick is widely considered one of the leading realist painters. His work is featured in numerous private and public collections including the Denver Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, and the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock. His work has inspired countless artists including the Suggested Donation Duo.
We recorded with a legend in New York City Realism, Burt Silverman. Burt has had a long career spanning over six decades. His list of shows and honors is far too extensive to state here, but some highlights are the inclusion of his work in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the New Britain Museum, to name just a few. Burt is known for his figurative paintings, portraits and illustration for publications such as the New Yorker. He is also known as a generous teacher, a beacon for generations of young artists.
Welcome to Suggested Donation Unvarnished. This is the first in our series within the series of rougher, unedited conversations mostly between Tony and Edward, but here we are joined by up-and-coming superstar artist Anthony Baus to discuss summer, the fellowship that took him to Italy, and the most popular Scotch in Mexico. We hope you enjoy these episodes full of "Unvarnished Moments" which we will periodically and without warning throw into the mix alongside our regularly scheduled program.
Sharpen your pencils and get ready for our latest back-to-school spectacular! In by popular demand we have a wide-ranging conversation with the one and only Max Ginsburg. Max walks us through about seven decades of realist art and illustration enlightening us with his philosophy along the way.
We recorded with violinist and composer Michelle Ross exploring the intersection between classical music and art. Michelle is a hugely accomplished musician and we discuss her early introduction to the violin, the influence of her teacher Itzhak Perlman, her recent 33-days of Bach performances in NYC, and music composition.
We sat down with Mario Robinson for a great and completely unedited conversation - we have been wanting to record with him for a while and we finally had the chance on the heels of the release of his excellent new book about painting in watercolor: Lessons in Realistic Watercolor.
We recorded with artist and teacher Sharon Sprung. Sharon is a leader in the New York figurative art scene. We follow her from Glen Cove to Cornell to NYC, where she studied with legendary teachers Robert Beverly Hale and Harvey Dinnerstein at the National Academy of Design and Art Students League.
We sat down with sculptor Brian Booth Craig about his artistic beginnings, modern and classical art,artistic philosophy, sculpting process and his up coming show at Louis K. Meisel in NYC.
Fun conversation with acclaimed artist, teacher and now author, Jon DeMartin. We had a blast speaking with Tony’s studio neighbor and friend Jon. We covered baseball, his training with Michael Aviano, the elusive Ketchup Bottle painting, Baldassarre Franceschini and of course his new book: Drawing Atelier, The Figure.
We're back, again. This time we are joined by artist and old pal, Scott Waddell. Scott recently left his long run as one of the favorite core instructors at the Grand Central Atelier where we all teach to pursue his burgeoning online mentoring and instructional videos. We discuss this transition, his roots in film and, of course, his epic paintings. We hope you enjoy this conversation with one of our favorite artists!
We sat down with an artist who is widely considered to be one of the greatest living landscape painters, Joseph McGurl.
Suggested Donation Podcast is back with another dynamite episode! Hot off the presses, our back to school special edition is perhaps our most extraordinary scoop to date, featuring Old Master Dealer and real-life Indiana Jones, Robert Simon. Hear the gripping story of an art historical find of momentous proportions -- the discovery of the century.
Juliette Aristides is a monumental figure in the classical painting community. Her three books on painting have been hugely influential to a generation of painters, with a new, fourth book in the works. She is also an old friend and we were happy to finally catch her on a trip to NYC
Suggested Donation is joined by artist Cesar Santos, who dropped by while in town for the Art Miami show in NYC. We had a super fun conversation about art, galleries, boxing and more.
The boys have a conversation with great artist, educator and founder of The Florence Academy of Art, Daniel Graves.
the latest installment of Suggested Donation Podcast with artist, teacher and founder and director of the Sadie Valeri Atelier: you guessed it...Sadie Valeri.
We sat down at the Grand Central Atelier's Eleventh Street Arts Gallery to record a much anticipated conversation with artist and Dinotopia creator, James Gurney.
We were recently joined by artist David Kassan for a fun conversation at the Salmagundi Club. David is coming off of the success of his Kickstarter campaign to fund his Parallel Palette. David discussed his work, inspiration, roots and his Kassan Foundation.
We were lucky enough to sit down with the executive chef and co-owner of two of NYC's most celebrated restaurants, Chef Nick Anderer of Maialino and Marta, both part of the Danny Meyer empire. We sat down in the private dining room at Maialino to discuss cuisine, craft and art. Chef Nick was in college focusing on art history on a semester in Rome when he first recognized his desire to find a career in food.
Edward, Tony and Jay talk about what 2014 was like doing the podcast, answering some listeners questions (criticism) and the all important what's in store for 2015. Edward makes Tony uncomfortable by saying nice things about one of his paintings.
We had the chance to sit down and talk to one of our favorite artists and dear friend, the incredibly talented Michael Grimaldi.
We sat down with a friend and one of our favorite painters, Marc Dalessio. Marc primarily paints portraits and landscapes, and has become known for his large and small landscapes paintings executed on site.
Steven has been a central figure in the realist painting world for decades. We explored Steven's introduction to art, and what continues to inspire his outstanding paintings. The conversation goes very deep into Steven's philosophy, ranging from cave paintings to Bruce Lee.
We sat down at the Salmagundi Club with our friend, the tremendously talented Michael Klein to talk about his roots in small-town North Dakota, his life in small-town Argentina, his video magazine, Instructional Documentary, his faith and, of course, his outstanding paintings.
We were honored to sit down with two-time Oscar nominated film-maker Bill Plimpton. Bill is a legend in the world of independent film, having produced six animated features and over 40 short films!
We are excited to share our awesome discussion with one of our favorite artists, Anthony Waichulis. Anthony paints breathtaking Trompe L'Oeil paintings, runs the Ani Art Academies, and has released a series of instructional DVD's entitled "The Language of Drawing" and "The Language of Painting", both long-term projects designed to share his rigorous training with a larger student base.
Vincent Desiderio is one of the leading figurative painters of our time. His work is featured in collections including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim Museum, The Walker Art Center among many others. He is a senior critic at the New York Academy of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Vincent has a reputation as one of the leading intellects in figurative art, and he did not disappoint.
We are joined by George O'Hanlon from Natural Pigments for an in depth geek-out on artist's materials. George walks us through his view on the state of the artist's materials business, and the differences in what we are using now versus what artists of the past used. George is very thoughtful and knowledgeable - to learn more you can sign up for his "Best Practices" lecture, which Tony had just completed before we sat down for the recording. Tony also tests Ted on his materials awareness. Check out George's great line of artist materials and more info on his site. Enjoy!
http://www.naturalpigments.com/
Jacob is a seminal force in the realist movement. He has taught and mentored countless artists, and inspired many more through his beautiful painting. We are excited to bring you a conversation with a teacher, mentor and close friend to both of us.
In this episode of Suggested Donation we sit down with the amiable Patricia Watwood. We talk about her solo show "Venus Apocalypse", education, influences and her perspective as a female artist.
In this episode of Suggested Donation we sit down with the amiable Patricia Watwood. We talk about her solo show "Venus Apocalypse", education, influences and her perspective as a female artist.
In this episode we talk to the very talented artist, historian and educator Graydon Parrish about growing up in Texas, searching for a proper artistic education, his work with color theory and the future of classical art.
Tony Curanaj and Edward Minoff met 20 years ago in NYC train tunnels doing grafitti. They talked about how much they loved to paint amongst the rats and grime and realized that they were big art nerds. They started this podcast as a way to talk about the arts, share their opinions and interview interesting artists about their craft. This is their first episode.