Creative Connections – Details, episodes & analysis
Podcast details
Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.
In conversation with Aotearoa's visual artists, talking practice, process and creative life.
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Apple Podcasts
No recent rankings available
Spotify
No recent rankings available
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
See all- https://www.creativeconnections.nz
201 shares
- https://www.creativeconnections.nz%20
196 shares
RSS feed quality and score
Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.
See allScore global : 68%
Publication history
Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.
Mark Whippy - Figurative Painter
Season 11 · Episode 195
vendredi 13 mars 2026 • Duration 01:26:53
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 art and helping others gain confidence and grow their skills.
In this episode we talk about life drawing, teaching art, participating in art battles, Mark's experience studying fine art at Whitecliffe in Auckland, his experiences drawing people's portraits in public, Mark's painting process, entering art awards, neurodiversity and the ideas behind Mark's paintings. Mark talks about his introverted younger self and the ways he has gained confidence in himself and his practice over the years through his time at Whitecliffe Art School, participating in online art classes and stepping out of his comfort zone.
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Roots Tattoo Auckland Convention - with tattoo artist and founder Ben Kaye
Season 11 · Episode 194
vendredi 6 mars 2026 • Duration 48:31
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 significance as tattooing. An expression of cultural, artistic and personal narrative, tattoos have transcended their origins to become a global phenomenon, celebrated and revered across diverse communities. The Roots Auckland Tattoo Convention is an exceptional tattoo convention designed to unite New Zealand and international artists, enthusiasts, and industry leaders in a shared celebration of ink and artistry.
In this episode I speak to Ben about his own creative journey and tattoo practice as well as the Roots Auckland Tattoo Convention, which is on at The Cloud for the very first time on the weekend of March 14th and 15th 2026, with plans to continue each year.
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Andrew Barns-Graham - Contemporary artist
Season 10 · Episode 185
jeudi 13 novembre 2025 • Duration 01:41:24
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 lives his life.
We discuss the different phases of portraiture Andrew has explored throughout his practice, and the ideas behind these series of works - from themes communicating nostalgia, identity, social issues, scientific ideas and the past/present/future to climate change and outer space. He talks about the women in his paintings, his titles, the symbols in his work, the eyes and gazes of his subjects and the significance of his landscapes.
Andrew explains how Arthaus Contemporary, a community based contemporary artist run space, came about and how it works, which BTW is a wonderful space for artists to rent for their own exhibitions and a very good rate.
Andrew's solo exhibition at Arthaus Contemporary opens on November 19th and closes Nov 30th 2025, with an opening event on Thursday 20th Nov. I'll to see you there!
This is a gorgeous chat - thank you to Andrew for letting me take up his precious time while he was preparing for his show and thank you lovely listener for joining us.
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Julie and Michael Freeman - Hyperrealist Pastel Artists
Season 4 · Episode 96
jeudi 5 octobre 2023 • Duration 01:26:44
Julie and Michael Freeman are award winning hyperrealistic pastel artists living in Auckland NZ.
Julie is currently creating work with the intent of realism beyond the photograph. Her subject matter is varied, from coastal and nautical to the natural fauna and flora of NZ, but if asked she would say she has an affinity with painting animals.
Michael’s subjects range from his current series of still life paintings featuring iconic New Zealand toys and objects, through to landscapes featuring old weathered sheds, barns, railway carriages, windows and doors, old locks, and farm animals (mainly cows) – all inspired by his photographic trips along New Zealand's roads with his lovely wife Julie.
It was such a pleasure to meet Julie and Michael on a gorgeous Muriwai day. We discuss the similarities and differences between their practices and creative process, the ins and outs of sharing a studio space and teaching together as a couple and the different ways they like to work. They talk about how they have built and connect to their audience on an international level and how the competitions they enter and pastel societies they belong to contribute so much to their success and artistic careers. They both demystify the pastel process and make really interesting comment about how hyper realist artists and pastel artists are viewed by some within the hierarchy of the art world.
https://www.instagram.com/michaelfreemanpastelartist
https://www.instagram.com/juliefreemanartist/
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Toby Raine - Contemporary Artist
Season 4 · Episode 95
mercredi 27 septembre 2023 • Duration 01:16:32
Toby Raine is a contemporary artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. He has a distinctive approach to his work, moving large quantities of oil paint across the surface of a canvas with confident strokes, creating expressive, emotive, gestural paintings.
Toby spent eleven years studying at Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland, beginning in 2006 when he was 23-years-old. Over the next decade he would go on to complete a degree, then a masters, then a doctorate in Fine Arts.
In this episode Toby talks about how he chooses his subjects, how he achieves the delicate balance between representation and abstraction and how his paintings reflect his personality. We discuss his journey to being represented by dealer galleries in Australia as well as in NZ, why he doesn't like his paintings to be described as portraits and how he communicates with the viewer through his titles.
https://www.instagram.com/tobyrainepainting
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Matthew Browne - Abstract Artist and Founder/Director of Browne School of Art
Season 4 · Episode 94
samedi 16 septembre 2023 • Duration 01:56:08
Matthew Browne is an abstract painter living in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Born in London UK, he relocated to New Zealand in 1991.
Matthew's striking geometric paintings feature sharp lines with bold, experimental colour palettes. His process starts in exploring formal relationships in colour and form and develops greater complexity as the work progresses. He has been making and showing paintings and sculptures for more than 40 years.
After many years of teaching visual arts in both the community and tertiary sectors, Matthew founded his own art school Browne School of Art in 2013.
We have a wonderful chat and I Ioved welcoming Matthew into my studio at Muriwai. Matthew talks about how he wants to make paintings that have an untroubled aspect to them in response to the crazy cacophony of everyday life, and for people to feel a moment of solace when viewing and experiencing his work. He shares how his work and process shifted from more figurative, externally motivated paintings over the years to abstract and more internally driven expressions.
We discuss his yearning for a sense of balance, order and stillness which comes about in his current paintings through the relationships of colour. He uncovers the mysteries behind his painting titles, why he recoils when people describe his work as hard edged, why form and shape is so important to him in his work and why he loves to paint on linen and sometimes leave it exposed as the first point of reaction, the bouncing off point.
And of course we talk about how and why he founded Browne School of Art.
https://gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz/artists/226-matthew-browne/
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Fleur Woods - Contemporary Fibre Artist
Season 4 · Episode 93
vendredi 1 septembre 2023 • Duration 01:37:53
Fleur Woods is a contemporary fibre artist based in the beautiful rural village of Upper Moutere (near Nelson, New Zealand) She is surrounded by vineyards, hop farms, orchards and country gardens - it makes sense that her work is largely inspired by nature.
Fleur describes her style of her work as contemporary stitched paintings. Coming to stitch as a mixed media artist she has taught herself a variety of embroidery techniques which generally don't follow traditional embroidery but beautifully serve the kind of mark making she loves to create.
From so called "Nana craft" to discovering your "creative soul". Fleur talks in this episode about her love of nature, connecting people, encouraging creativity and inspiring others. She shares how she came to be a full time artist starting with mixed media and paint, how she discovered embroidery through her love of mark making, how vintage fabrics resonated so much with her but she was never sure why until later in her practice. She talks how connected she feels with past generations of women and how she feels stitching is part of her DNA, part of her "maker genes".
We chat about her entrepreneurial approach to her business and art practice which includes creating and selling beautiful personally assembled kits and textile treasure packs, teaching workshops around NZ and in Australia and building a hugely engaged community and audience across the world through social media. AND she tells us about her most recent exciting project and new baby, her own book The Untamed Thread, which is out next month.
https://www.fleurwoodsart.com/
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Evan Woodruffe - Abstract Artist
Season 4 · Episode 92
vendredi 25 août 2023 • Duration 01:32:43
Abstract artist Evan Woodruffe lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. He is a well known, much loved figure in the NZ art world.
Evan is an artist with many threads to his practice. Most of his time is spent making work for exhibitions, projects, and commissions. He's also the “product specialist” for Gordon Harris, running workshops and writing editorial for their art stores. He is one of six Global Brand Ambassadors for both Schmincke Artist Colours and da Vinci Artist Brushes in Germany. He teaches at Browne School of Art in Auckland and he is an active advocate for the visual arts, a collector, awards judge, fabric lover and writer.
In this episode we talk about his parents' art store Studio Art Supplies in Takapuna, Auckland, which they started in 1973 and how this has influenced the work he does now. He shares how he began his adult life as a musician then later decided to study fine art, completing a BA in fine art at AUT and then switching to another art school Elam School of Fine Arts to complete his MFA, and how this changed his art practice. We discuss what makes a good abstract painting, what he wants his paintings to do to the viewer, why he loves to paint big and how he builds a painting starting with collage using fabrics from his favourite NZ menswear tailor Strangely Normal (who also make all the gorgeous shirts he wears) and sometimes finishing with found materials (such as fur from the vintage throw on his bed.)
He talks about his work as a brand ambassador and educator and he gives us a lovely insight into his and his partner Jeannie's growing art collection.
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Sean Beldon - Visual Artist
Season 4 · Episode 91
jeudi 10 août 2023 • Duration 02:05:20
Sean Beldon is a South African born, Auckland-based artist best known for his large New Zealand landscape paintings. His style is mostly painterly with a modernist feel.
For more than a decade, Sean has been photographing and painting landscapes from the far north to the deep south of Aotearoa. He finds his inspiration on road trips throughout the country and only paints places he has been. Even though his compositions will be quite abstract at times, the scene always originate with what he sees through the camera’s viewfinder – his primary canvas - and every painting has a story to tell.
Sean is a wonderful storyteller. In this episode he talks from the heart about his ancestry and how that connects to his current work, the story behind his use of and connection to clay oxen and how he incorporates them into his art practice. He describes his painting style and how he doesn't think of himself as an abstract artist despite his work being quite abstract. He speaks of his appreciation of colour, how he makes his own colours, his incredible attention to tonal qualities and how he sees colour almost as a form of communication.
https://www.instagram.com/seanbeldon/
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Jasmine Kroeze - Artist and Textile Designer
Season 4 · Episode 90
vendredi 4 août 2023 • Duration 01:18:57
Jasmine Kroeze is an an artist and textile designer living in Papamoa near Mt Maunganui. With a background in the fashion and textile design industry, Jasmine fell into the art world through painting large scale murals as a passion project and now she applies the same creative process to her original paintings and digital artworks.
Jaz enjoys working with commercial clients and interior and product designers and she has collaborated with many well known companies such as Kathmandu and Bolt of Cloth.
Her designs have been printed on stationery and textiles, installed in private homes and commercial interiors and painted on large scale exterior murals.
This is an inspirational story about a motivated, passionate woman who has created a highly successful creative business as well as a beautiful art practice. We talk about the many ongoing projects she is involved with from licensing her work and writing and designing an Ebook about artists' overcoming creative block - to her Etsy Interior Mock Ups store and her reels on Instagram showing examples of ways to encourage play in your creative practice.
We talk about how Jaz manages her social media presence so expertly and how as a self confessed introvert she is so comfortable with videoing herself and creating perosnal content for her loyal audience. Both Jaz and I buzzed about our chat for some time afterwards and I'm sure you'll feel the same after listening.
https://www.instagram.com/jasmine.kroeze/
See our website for more about us and artist blogposts with images + links of the things we talk about in each episode.
CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
