The Good Oil Graeme Douglas

In this episode I visit Karl Maughan in his Wellington studio.
Karl has built one of the most immediately recognisable practices in NZ art, painting almost exclusively garden scenes since his first solo exhibition in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland. His works are held in numerous public and private collections including Te Papa, The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu, The Fletcher Trust Collection and the Suter Art Gallery. He is represented by Page Galleries in Wellington, Gow Langsford in Auckland and Milford Galleries in Dunedin and Queenstown.
In this episode you’ll hear Karl talk about the deep history we all have with gardens and the control we exert of nature, the influence of his artist father and landscape gardener mother, encountering and being influenced at a young age by Phillip Trustam garden paintings, his subtle but constant experimentation, the slightly surreal experience of work being collected by Charles Saatchi and… narrowly avoiding a life managing the flow rate of sultana’s in cereal packets in the food technology industry.

Gow Langsford Karl Maughan Web Page

Page Galleries Karl Maughan Web Page

Milford Galleries Karl Maughan Web Page

Karl Maughan Instagram

The Good Oil Instagram

In this episode I visit Katherine Throne at her Wanaka home, studio… and garden.
Katherine has only seriously committed to a painting practice in her 40's. Despite that, her work has been in high demand since self represented sell out shows at the Allpress Gallery space in Freemans Bay Auckland in 2018 and 2019. Katherine holds a MFA from from Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with Honors from the Kendall Collage of Art and Design in Michigan, in the United States.
She is represented by Sanderson Gallery in Auckland.
In this episode you’ll hear Katherine talk about accidentally finding her way to painting through interior design, a want to resurrect the flower in paintings after it’s demise at the hands of modernism and industrialisation, our attraction to beauty and connection to nature, the anthropomorphic projections in her work and the importance of the first layers in a painting.
Katherine Throne Web Page
Sanderson Gallery Katherine Throne Web Page
Katherine Throne Instagram
The Good Oil Instagram

In this episode I travel to Michael Dells home and studio in Nelson, where he conducts a practice that works with both representation and abstraction.
Micheal holds a Bach of Fine Arts from Ilam at the University of Canterbury. His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, The Suter Gallery Collection, The University of Auckland Art Collection and The Ballin Collection. He has won several art prizes including the Parkin Drawing Prize and is represented in Auckland by Foenander Gallery.
In this episode you’ll hear him talk about the transition from print making and drawing to painting, how those two first disciplines inform his work now, how he’s more concerned with creating an object from a landscape rather than purely representing it, how his preferred support of linen is as much a material for him as paint… and is fear of taking a reference photograph that might be a little too good.
Foenander Gallery Michael Dell Page
Michael Dell Website
Michael Dell Instagram
The Good Oil Instagram

In this episode I travel to Otorohanga to visit Hiria Anderson-Mit-ah at her home and studio. Hiria is Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Apakura, Rereahu.
Hiria graduated from Whitecliffe Collage of Design & Arts with an MFA, first class honours. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the University of Auckland Art Collection, the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and The Waikato Museum. She is represented by Tim Melville in Auckland and Page Galleries in Wellington.
Sitting down to speak with Hiria was entertaining, fascinating, funny and disarming. You’ll hear her speak with a comfortable frankness about challenges that she has faced personally and those that still exist for her community. She talks about what is and isn’t tapu to paint for her, why cooking pots are an important subject in her practice… and about the pivotal role a naked man jumping out of a birthday cake has played in her career.
I started by asking about her childhood and first encounters with art.
Tim Melville Hiria Anderson-Mita Page
Page Galleries Hiria Anderson-Mita Page
Hiria Anderson-Mita Instagram
The Good Oil Instagram

Welcome to episode three of The Good Oil, conversations with Aotearoa painters. In this episode (part two of two part interview) I return to my conversation with Grahame Sydney. If you haven’t heard part one of this interview, I suggest you go to episode two of The Good Oil to listen to that first.
In this episode you’ll hear Grahame talk about how honesty and accuracy have little to do with his landscape painting, how key it is for him to trust his own instincts, contrasted with his battles with his confidence and his imposter syndrome, despite being 50yrs into a hugely successful practice. He talks about how deeply he loves where he lives, while not pulling any punches speaking about the changing landscape at the hands of industry and environmental mismanagement, the importance of finding the right home and guardian for each painting and what painting he’d like to steal if he thought he could get away with it.
Sir Grahame Sydney Web Page

Welcome to episode two and three of The Good Oil, conversations with Aotearoa painters. In this episode (part one of a two part interview) I visit Sir Grahame Sydney at his home and studio in the Cambrian Valley in the Maniototo, Central Otago. In over 50yrs of practice Grahame has made a huge contribution to NZ art, receiving a knighthood in 2021 for services to art. His work is held widely in public and private collections including Te Papa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Taamaki, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the Ballin Collection.
I know this is a bit presumptuous doing this so early in the life of this podcast, but the conversation with Grahame was a long one, with it being so entertaining and interesting I’ve decided to present all of it, but split it into two episodes.
In this, part one, you’ll hear Grahame talk about his early years and discovering Central Otago, his miserable move to London, establishing his practice, agonising over if $200 was too much to try to sell a painting for, his close proximity to so much of New Zealand contemporary art history including encounters with Derek Ball, Ralph Hotere, Jeffery Harris, Brent Wong, Colin MacCahon, Michael Smither and Peter Webb, and the bewildering experience of security not letting him into his first Auckland exhibition because he didn’t have a ticket.
Sir Grahame Sydney Web Page