Explore every episode of the podcast Friday Feature Artist

Textile artist Caroline Bartlett draws on memory to create poetic installations and pleated forms that honour material, history, and transformation. In this episode, she reflects on the emotional weight of cloth, her journey through education and public art, and how the process of making can centre us in times of flux.

Visit our website to view Caroline's work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

In his layered, personal collages, Melbourne-based artist Robert Lee Davis transforms materials into whimsical landscapes of memory and place. From seed pods to postcards, Robert’s mixed media works ask us to look closer, not just at art, but at the world around us. This episode explores personal archives in the form of pictures, books and music, and the power of preserving story through collage. 

Visit our website to learn more about Robert's upcoming course with us, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

In this tender and courageous conversation, textile artist Cas Holmes and fibre sculptor Clarissa Callesen explore how creativity becomes a lifeline in times of uncertainty. From caregiving to mental health, and found materials to found meaning, they speak honestly about making as an act of survival, resilience and quiet activism.

Visit our website to view Cas & Clarissa’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

Architect-turned-quilter Luke Haynes creates quilts that comfort, challenge and connect. From monumental public installations to intimate affirmations and photo-based portraiture, his textile practice pushes the boundaries of what quilts can be. In this conversation, Luke speaks candidly about scale, intention, and the deeply personal reasons quilts became both his medium and message.

Visit our website to view Luke's work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

As we celebrate the launch of Karen's first course with us, photographer, papermaker, and forest therapy guide Karen Olson returns to share how sensory experience, forest immersion, and intuitive making can unlock deep healing. Exploring the connection between art, nature, and the nervous system, Karen invites us to reimagine creativity as a practice of restoration, one rooted in rhythm, relationship, and the quiet intelligence of the heart.

Visit our website to view Karen's work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

From fibre to found object, Theda Sandiford weaves stories of resilience, identity and social justice into tactile installations that invite healing and dialogue. Rooted in her lived experiences and community engagement, her work transforms everyday materials into catalysts for change – from zip tie blankets to emotional baggage carts. This episode explores art as both a personal sanctuary and a platform for collective truth-telling. 

Visit our website to view Theda’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

Italian artist Carlotta Parisi brings poetry to life through handmade pigments, delicate paper sculpture and soulful stitch. From a vibrant career in illustration to a deep reckoning with grief, her work now emerges from the earth itself - textured, tender, and rooted in the land she loves. This episode honours creative renewal, ancestral wisdom, and the quiet power of transformation.

Visit our website to view Carlotta’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

Jason Logan’s process for turning foraged materials into natural ink is one that’s as poetic as it is scientific. In this conversation, Jason explores the alchemy of colour, the power of observation, and the joy of creative experimentation. From black walnuts to ochre, he reveals how every pigment carries a story - and how anyone, anywhere, can become an ink maker.

Visit our website to view Jason’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews.

Claire Wellesley-Smith isn't just an artist; she's a weaver of communities. Her long-term, community-based projects are deeply rooted in the rich textile history of her surroundings, with a special focus on wool and cotton. We'll explore her acclaimed books, 'Slow Stitch' and 'Resilient Stitch,' and discover how her work champions sustainability, mental health, and local heritage. Get ready to hear about Claire's daily stitching practice, the challenges of fast fashion, and the therapeutic power of textiles that connect us to history, environment, and each other. This is an episode you won't want to miss!

Click here to explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews.

Think quilting is all about perfection and precision? Think again. In this episode, we meet Amanda Nadig, a Chicago-based artist, whose quilts are stitched from stories hiding in secondhand fabric. Inspired by parenting and teaching high school art, Amanda has developed a textile practice as life happens around her. If you’ve ever felt pulled toward fabric, or want permission to find flow in the fabric of everyday life, this conversation is for you. And just a warning - if you’re not already a quilter, watch out - we may well tempt you!

Take a look at some of Amanda's work on our website, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews.

What happens to the dresses we once danced in, the gloves that warmed us during cold winters, and the fabrics that held our stories? In sculptor and installation artist Hannah Gartside’s hands, these fabrics don’t fade – they’re reborn. A former costume designer turned textile sculptor, Hannah reshapes worn and discarded fabrics into sculptures that dance with movement and emotion. For anyone drawn to the poetry of textiles, the energy of movement, and the way materials can hold both past and possibility, this episode’s for you. 

Visit our website to view Hannah’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

Can art save the planet? This week, we catch up with Swapna Namboodiri to hear how she repurposes everyday waste into striking, sustainable artworks. With an eye for the overlooked, Swapna challenges us to see beauty and potential in what’s been cast aside. If you’ve ever wondered how creativity can inspire change, this episode is for you.

Visit our website to view Swapna’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

Have you ever read a quilt? This week, we sit down with Sara Impey to chat about the intersection of text and textile. From exploring the subtleties of everyday language to weaving narratives with thread, Sara’s quilts challenge us to read between the lines - literally. If you’ve ever wondered how art can make you think, feel, and read all at once, this episode is for you. 

Visit our website to view Sara’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

What story does your personal space tell? This week we chat with Ricky Boscarino - the madcap artist and craftsman behind semi-private museum, atelier, and private home, Luna Parc. Born into a lineage of Italian artists dating back to the Medici era, Ricky has spent decades transforming a dilapidated house into his own whimsical wonderland. If you’ve ever been enchanted by Antoni Gaudi’s architectural art, wondered how to turn your home into a work of art, or simply want to explore the possibilities of personal expression, this episode is for you.

Visit our website to view Ricky’s work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

Can a seemingly ordinary object surprise you? This episode, we sit down with renowned mixed media artist Lissa Hunter to discuss her new course Finding - Fibre Art, and explore how our materials and techniques become a form of storytelling in art-making to delight ourselves and others.

If you’re interested in themes of nature, domestic life, and transformation through basketry, drawing, and mixed media, or have always wanted to make fibre art that speaks to the soul, this episode is for you. 

Visit our website to view Lissa’s first Friday Feature Artist interview, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

What if a mask wasn’t about hiding, but about revealing? This week, we step into the evocative world of Katie Green, a visual artist who brings identity, emotion, and self-expression to life through eerie yet ethereal watercolour portraits, murals, and masks. If you’re curious about the art of ‘finding a face’ in watercolour, how artwork can conceal and reveal identity, or the power of personal and public storytelling, you won’t want to miss this conversation.

Visit our website to view Katie's work, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

In this episode, we sit down with Amanda Cobbett, an award-winning textile artist whose stunning embroidered sculptures bring the intricate textures of nature to life. From delicate fungi to organic bark formations, Amanda’s work blurs the line between scientific observation and creative craft. If you’ve ever felt tempted to try your hand at free-hand embroidery, been mesmerised by the beauty of fungi (or just wondered how someone could embroider a toadstool so convincingly it might start sprouting spores), this episode’s for you.

Visit our website to view Amanda's artwork, explore our courses, or dive into more articles and interviews. 

After sharing over 150 Friday Feature Artist interviews with you over YouTube, we’re excited to bring you another way to connect with top mixed media fiber artists!

Each week, we explore their stories, inspirations, and techniques from artists around the world.

Whether you're an artist, craft enthusiast, or simply love fibre art, join us for an exclusive glimpse into the creative world— straight from the artists themselves!