Art Ladders: The Creative Climb Valerie Allen and Armin Mersmann

I met Amy Keever at the wonderful ADC Fine Art Gallery in Cincinnati. We were both attending the 2023 Art Summit led by our past podcast guest Litsa Spanos and her sister, Sylvia Rombis. She walked in with the most wonderful hot pink pom-pom earrings and white artist smock and I, of course had to comment. That's all it took for us to hang out for 3 days before the Art Comes Alive Gala. Amy ended up winning Best of Show for that exhibit with her unique style. What a night.

Here is more about Amy in her own words:

"As long as I can remember I have had a passion for artistic expression and love the idea of challenging mediums in ways they aren't exactly created to be used- I love the play of hard and soft , like choosing to manipulate concrete to have a tenderness and elegance, painting in oils to give a work translucency and welding my sculptures that are actually quite strong to have a sense of delicacy. Somehow intuitively, I have chosen to embrace the road less traveled in both the way I think and the creative choices I make on a daily basis. I love to educate young artists on how I work as I don't think its typically a process they've seen before and have mentored young adults for many years now through teaching them an artform or giving them a chance to exhibit in a professional setting and experiencing all parts of being an artist."

Amy is launching a new podcast called "Creatively Audacious" in May with the mission to spread kindness and happiness. She is definitely an #artistshelpingartists person.

She also has a feature in the international "Where Women Create" magazine releasing on April 30th. Be sure to check it out.

Enjoy Episode 72 and our time with Amy!

Show Notes

Amy's Website

Amy's Instagram

Where Women Create Magazine Website

Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, AK

Passion can be elusive and it is always a good thing to consider how you can find your muse when times seem rough or even dull. Armin and Val approach art making as a relationship that needs to be cultivated and held in esteem. Let us know how you keep passion alive in the studio.

Show Notes:

Valerie Allen Art

Armin Mersmann

Workshops for the Summer:

Armin at Atelier in April now 20% off until April 12.

Valerie at Grosse Pointe Artists Association for a two-day Print-a-thon.

Creative 360 Experimental Drawing Workshop with Val and Armin

We met Jeannette MacDougall during an exhibition at Calvin College's (106) Gallery at ArtPrize 2015. In this exhibit "Weighing the Landscape", installed by curator Joel Zwart, Jeanette, Armin and I were hanging next to each other. Our friendship began during that time as we all felt our artwork had a very cohesive aesthetic and professionalism.

Jeannette now resides in Texas and continues her travels and artist residencies across the nation and internationally.

Her background in being the director in France for the art residency program of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts has given her the expertise to not only pursue her own residency goals but also advise artist who are looking to pursue that lifestyle in their art practice. She also hosts teaching workshops in the countryside of the south of France and in Scotland.

"I am an Artist-Painter on a gypsy sojourn. I seek the solitude of the landscape; content to travel the distance through my work to capture what I long for; a sanctuary in nature. I come away with what I can carry in memory and inspiration." states Jeannette.

I am a contemporary artist who works in a multitude of mixed paint mediums. My process culminates in the studio but the joyful inspiration comes from seeking out a piece of the landscape that stops me in my tracks. Like a hunter I observe what is hidden. It is in the underbrush and the dark beauty in nature that appeals to me. Dead limbs, fallen trees are evidence of our impermanence. Perfection is unreal but the imperfect is perfectly beautiful.  I build fresco-like paintings in plaster on birch wood panels which can handle the distress of marred surfaces. The application of various layers and removal of pigment is not unlike an excavation. I search for the undiscovered strata beneath the surface only to leave it be and carefully move on to new ground.

Southwest School of Art, San Antonio Texas / Graduate of Parsons School of Art NYC / Trinity University SA Texas 

Jeannette's Plein Air Workshop in Roane, France is June 11 - 18. You can email her for all the details.

Show Notes:

Jeannette's Website

Res Artis: Worldwide network of Arts Residencies

Artist Communities Alliance for artist residencies.

VCAA France: Moulin a Nef

We've been creating this podcast over two years and it's fun to check out the rankings. Here we have a replay of our #1 episode to date with UK artist Sally Hirst while we are installing a new exhibition.

Sally has boundless energy and you can't help but get fired up for your own art as you listen to this replay. She is an artist, teacher, and mentor. She works in painting, collage, printmaking and mixed media. Her use of texture and pattern in her work gives it a global aesthetic that is timely and universal.

Sally Hirst is currently based at her studio in Norwich, UK – where she also co-coordinates an exhibition space called oneuppergoat. She is a Certified Golden Artist Educator and teaches online courses titled Pushing Paint, Urban Explorations , Discover Collagraphy, and Approaches to Abstraction to students worldwide. 

⁠Click here to read more on Sally's website.⁠ 

⁠Visit Sally's Instagram Account by clicking here.⁠

⁠Facebook Page for Sally Hirst Artist and Tutor⁠  

Here are links to artists mentioned by Sally in the podcast. 

⁠Instagram for artist Daryl Burtnett⁠

⁠Instagram for JFK Turner⁠

⁠Instagram for Karen Stamper⁠

⁠Instagram for Nicholas Wilton⁠

⁠Instagram for Louise Fletcher⁠

⁠Instagram for Alice Sheridan⁠

⁠Instagram for David Mankin⁠

⁠Instagram for Jane Davies⁠

Art Ladders welcomes artist Sally Hirst to the podcast! This lively interview with Sally is about creating art, teaching and what it means to be an artist in this changing world of technology. Sally is a painter and printmaking who describes herself as a tutor, nomadic, restless, curious, experiential, irreverent, untidy, loud…lol...and we can add that she is a champion for discovering new mediums, fresh perspectives and innovative use of art supplies. 
As well as being a professional artist educated to Masters level, Sally is also a qualified teacher with many years of teaching experience. She currently teaches a range of online courses that enable her to reach students at all stages of their creative journey, worldwide from her studio in the UK.
Sally Hirst is currently based at her studio in Norwich, UK – where she also co-coordinates an exhibition space called oneuppergoat. She is a Certified Golden Artist Educator and teaches online courses titled Pushing Paint, Urban Explorations , Discover Collagraphy, and Approaches to Abstraction to students worldwide. 
Click here to read more on Sally's website. 
Visit Sally's Instagram Account by clicking here.
Facebook Page for Sally Hirst Artist and Tutor  
Here are links to artists mentioned by Sally in the podcast. 
Instagram for artist Daryl Burtnett
Instagram for JFK Turner
Instagram for Karen Stamper
Instagram for Nicholas Wilton
Instagram for Louise Fletcher
Instagram for Alice Sheridan
Instagram for David Mankin
Instagram for Jane Davies

Finding time to create artwork can be a real challenge just for one artist in the family. This becomes even more challenging when others depend on you as a family member, studio group or community. Events appear, marketing needs to be processed, household chores get in the way and the never-ending pick up and drop off of artwork to exhibits. In themselves these are all worthy and even celebratory activities but when your intent is to wake up and get in the studio as fast as you can, well, then you experience the rub.

In this episode, Armin and Val discuss ways to handle the stress and offer coping skills to make the extracurricular activities that artists participate in joyful. It's not always sunshine and lollipops but we are finding ways to not turn positives into negatives. We hope you enjoy this episode.