Painting Insights

Jason is moved by the beauty of nature and our modern world and is interested in narrative and metaphor. His work searches for a way to express an emotion, experience, a moment or an event. By seeking out the truth in nature, he explores his most authentic self. As it turns out, that results in being a rather silly person. Jason's work is timeless at first glance because he uses traditional techniques. However, the work's subject matter ultimately interjects the technique's seriousness with humor, dissolving any lingering tension from such a controlled and skilled hand. Jason is continuously discovering new meaning in his work. The work is not meant to be static; it takes time to get into it and peel back the layers to get to the truth.

Jason Polins lives and works in the Boston area. He has a BFA from Boston University and Graduate degree from the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. He returned stateside to pursue direct studies with notable painters Nelson Shanks and Gary Hoffmann. His genres include portraiture, figure, still life, and landscape/cityscape. Polins works in pen, graphite, charcoal, and oil paint.

In addition to painting, Jason Polins also teaches art classes in oil painting, drawing in his atelier and several local art centers.

Find out more about Jason here

Lisa Lebofsky is a nomadic plein air painter, collaborating with nature and people. She paints the susceptibility of nature, correlating its restlessness with our own human vulnerabilities. Her direct participation with the landscape is vital to imbue a painting with the energy of a specific place, so that viewers can connect viscerally: to move, excite and engage them. The paintings are on surfaces that remain visible through various layers of paint, permeating the entire image. The push and pull of lights and darks, opacity and transparency, abstract and real, enhances the variability of these transient scenes. By painting in this dichotomous manner, nature becomes a metaphor for our emotional struggles and encounters.

Although artistic blood runs through his veins, Nicholas, a third-generation artist born in 1993 in St. Louis, Missouri, did not discover his love of artistic inspiration and creation until 2014.

Nicholas appreciates the characteristics of a variety of artistic mediums and, therefore, does not restrict himself to one. Typically, he expresses himself through gouache, pastels, charcoal, oils, and digital although he has also been known to work in photography and to use his own body as a canvas.

Nicholas' drive to create echoes as a visceral compulsion. Fortunately, he has orchestrated his life in a way that he surrounds himself with habits of artistic exploration, offering a multitude of subjects to satiate his creative appetite. Nicholas sees inspiration as not a dream to be waited and wished upon, but as a muse of opportunity born of the willingness to seek out and appreciate the beauty in his surroundings.

Learn more here

Award winning artist, Marjorie Hicks's canvases capture the play of light and the drama of shadow and color that fall on any and all of her subjects. As much as she enjoys painting. She is also a popular teacher to artists. John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Henry Potthast among others continue to inspire her works. Marjorie is grateful for the talented and supportive community of artists in Nashville, where she resides. She is equally at home painting commissioned portraits in studio or outdoor scenes in a style inspired by the Impressionists.

Find more about Marjorie here

Edward Povey was born in 1951 in London, England, and grew up as an only child, painting obsessively and writing prose and music. He studied drawing at Eastbourne College of Art and Design, and then psychology and painting at The University of Wales. While in his twenties, he made his name as a mural painter, and was filmed by the BBC while he created 25 massive murals. He later came to regard this period as his apprenticeship.

In 1982 he moved his studio to the Caribbean Island of Grenada for seven years. This adventurous decision was taken to allow him to concentrate on painting on canvas and to give himself a fresh vision away from the fame and distractions derived from his murals. During this time his work began to be acquired by collectors in the United States. He studied color and composition with established artists such as the Danish architectural abstractionist Paul Klose, the American colorist Malcolm T. Liepke, and the Belgian art dealer Jan de Maere. By 1991, he was showing in John Whitney Payson’s New York gallery beside 20th Century American masters, and over the next three decades his work was on exhibition in galleries spanning seven countries.

In 1991 The University of Wales commissioned Povey to create a major painting for a chamber concert hall in Wales, measuring 20 x 40 feet, for which he designed a work with intensely direct narrative, comprising seven panels framed by trompe-l’oeil stonework. The mural is called the Hall of Illusion, and is considered one of the ten most important university owned artworks, as stated by the London Times.

By the year 2000, Povey’s work was acquired by prominent institutions including The National Museum of Wales; MOMA Wales; the National Library of Wales; the Glynn Vivien Art Museum; the Anglesey Museum Art Collection and numerous corporate art collections, and in 2018 The British Library documented his career for the British nation.

Povey is preoccupied with the human experience in general, and his own personal experiences steeped in adventure. As a child he was unusually sensitive and empathic, prone to fainting. He has had three marriages through two wars, in Israel and in the Caribbean. There is a clear development in his art, from observations on society in his 1970s’ murals, through family psychology and symbolism in his works of the 1990s, and culminating with insights into individual human vulnerability and mortality in his current paintings.

His paintings were most recently exhibited in 2023 at the European Museum of Modern Art, Barcelona, described by the museum as a curated selection of the most outstanding artists in contemporary representational art. He lives and works in Devon, England, and still devotes up to a hundred hours a week to his work.

This week’s episode is with David Shevlino.

David Shevlino was born in Jersey City, NJ in 1962. A graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania, he also studied at the Art Students' League in New York. Growing up near NYC, Shevlino was exposed to art as a teenager. He began making trips to art museums at age 15 and developed a love of traditional figurative painting. His early work was very traditional and classically inspired. However, after many years of experimenting, Shevlino began exploring a looser paint application which stradles the line between representational painting and abstraction. This "in between" area is where the painter feels most comfortable and best able to express his artistic voice. His paintings are characterized by broad brushstrokes, a sensuous application of paint and an obvious feel for tonal harmonies. At the same time, the artist demonstrates a firm sense of control, tightening up the composition through his deft modeling of the human form. Shevlino has exhibited work nationally in both solo and group exhibits over the past two decades and currently lives in NC.

We have come to the end of season II. Thank you to all our viewers, listeners and supporters. In this episode Simon and Richard catch up and share some news and look back on season II.

We look forward to seeing you all soon

This week we are joined by the wonderful Heather Jeanne Chontos. Heather’s dynamic and idiosyncratic style is immediately recognisable. She joins us to discuss her work and share insights from her creative journey.

“As a painter, I work impulsively, harnessing the power of gestures to create instinctive compositions that combine bold colours, dynamic marks and organic forms. Rather than using brushes or other traditional tools, I apply paint with scraps of plastic, such as hotel-room key cards, or draw and scratch at the surface using the paint tube itself. The fine edges of my chosen instruments allow me to draw long, penetrating lines and create large, highly saturated fields of colour.”

Heather Jeanne Chontos

This week we are joined by Pete Monaghan. Living and working in North Wales, Pete’s idiosyncratic approach to mark making and composition result in fascinating paintings that are concerned with both landscape and architecture. Pete says of his work “Most of my work is concerned with vernacular architecture, especially of the “celtic fringes” of Wales, Ireland and Scotland but also the higher slopes of the Alps”.

Learn more about Pete here

This week we are joined by Zoey Frank, a representational oil painter whose work includes perceptual painting, narrative, and formal investigations. Zoey shares insights from her creative journey along with thoughts on painting, passion for representing the figure and working on a large scale.

Find out more about Zoey Frank here

This week we are joined by Gavin Glakas. Gavin is a painter and teacher whose draftsmanship and technical skills result in brilliant paintings, capturing the life and soul of the scene. From plein air landscapes to portraiture, Gavin shares insights into his creative journey and development as a painter.

Learn more about Gavin here

This week we are joined by painter and teacher, Bhavani Krishnan

Born in Switzerland and raised in India, Bhavani Krishnan currently lives and paints in beautiful Oregon, USA. After pursuing a career in engineering, she picked up the brush again in 2012 and rediscovered her passion for art. She has always found tremendous inspiration in nature, expressed by her love for art, hiking, and travel.

Bhavani strives for painterly realism in the various subjects that she paints in oils. Her paintings are built upon abstract shapes of colors, yet they are representational. Painting from life is the ultimate thrill for her. She is inspired by patterns of light and shadow, evocative passages of color and exciting variety of shapes. Her vision as an artist is to convey this spark in her painting in hopes of transcending her visual experience to the viewer.

Learn more about Bhavani here

This week we are joined by Ken Goshen, who shares his insight into his painting journey, teaching and art education.

Ken Goshen (חן גושן, b. 1988, Jerusalem) is an artist and educator based in NYC. His paintings bring together classical techniques and contemporary outlooks, striving to bridge the gap between tradition and progress. Goshen’s recent paintings are currently exhibited at the Jerusalem Biennale, at the Museum of Jewish Art at Hechal Shlomo.

Goshen teaches painting and drawing at his school, Goshen Art Academy, located in midtown Manhattan, and he also provides online art lessons to hundreds of students worldwide. He is passionate about equipping contemporary art enthusiasts with classical skills, and believes that art–like language–can be learned by anyone. Goshen regards both his artistic creations and his teaching as integral components of an overarching mission: to contribute as much meaningful art to the world as possible, with a lesser emphasis on whether it originates from his own hand or that of his students

Learn more about Ken here

This week we are joined by John Wentz. John Wentz is a contemporary artist whose work is an exploration of process and technique. Working within the classical idiom of the human figure, his goal is to reduce and simplify the image to its core fundamentals: composition, color, and mark-making. Paint application and brush strokes are broad and simplified as a means to connect and convey these ideas to the viewer with an abstract sensibility.

John joins us to talk about his artistic journey, techniques and the ideas behind his work.

Learn more about John here

This week we are joined by Sharon Schock. An Oil and Gouache painter from California, her paintings sing with the natural light of the area. Sharon shares with us her creative journey, her process and navigating being a painter and mother. Sharon’s works are beautifully captured moments in time and we are delighted that she shared her insights with us.

Learn more about Sharon here

David Baird (b. 1986, USA) is an oil painter and draftsman focused primarily on figurative work. While inspired by subject matter familiar to art history, his work is equally motivated by the translation of perception into painting, a process by which the sensuality of experience is in constant tension with the materiality of paint.

Benefitting from extensive exposure to some of Europe's greatest works of art, the artist has traveled broadly. He has attended classes throughout the US and Europe, including Ryder Studio School (NM, USA), the Art Students League (NYC, USA), Studio Escalier (FR), and the Jerusalem Studio School (Jerusalem, IL). In 2019, the artist was awarded the Avigdor Arikha Masterclass Scholarship to continue his studies in Italy.

He has participated in numerous exhibitions, including the inaugural exhibition Memento Vivere in 2021, celebrating the reopening of the historic Lyme Academy in Lyme, CT. In 2022, he won first prize in the New York Figurative Show at the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York, NY, and was subsequently invited to exhibit in the first ever Hartley Invitational at the same institution. Most recently his work was featured alongside some of the most prominent figurative artists working today in the show Beyond Description, a dual-gallery exhibition taking place simultaneously in Seattle, WA and New York, NY.

The artist is represented by Tregony Gallery in London, UK, and Mary Woerner Fine Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. He currently lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama.

This week Simon is joined by painter, Emanuel De Sousa. Known for his loose but highly skilled figurative paintings in Acrylic. From pop cultural references to portraiture, Emanuel shares insights into his creative process and the inspirations behind his striking work.

Learn more about Emanuel here

This week we are joined by Michael Weller. Michael is a still life painter whose rich and colourful work is a testament to a meditative study of colour and form. A member of the NEAC, Michael discusses his process and influences along with his colour palette and the process that goes into creating his work. From abstract to direct observation and the nuances in light and colour.

Lean more about Michael here

This week we welcome back Kim Eshelman for part two of her interview. Kim is a soft pastel artist whose beautiful works capture the spirit of light and the landscape in which she lives. In this episode we discuss more about pastels, Kim’s colour palette and more insights into her process and life as an artist.

Find out more about Kim here

This week, Simon speaks to Floyd Strickland. Based in Los Angeles, CA, Floyd’s work offers a reflective and critical exploration of American culture, particularly through the perspectives of black and brown children. Inspired by his childhood environment, Strickland employs realistic figures that intertwine with aspects of American cultural imagery, resulting in ethereal and figurative paintings. In this conversation, Floyd shares the story of his creative journey and gives a fascinating insight into his process and inspirations.

Learn more about Floyd here

This week we are joined by Julia Kamenskikh. Based in Georgia USA, Julia’s paintings exude a beautiful light that captures the very essence of the landscape. We discuss her painting practice and creative journey along with the particulars of colour and medium. From Plein Air painting to still life and studio, Julia shares some important insights into her process and practice.

Find out more about Julia here

In this episode we are joined by painter David Gray. David joins us to talk about his creative journey, influences and his process. We also have a fascinating conversation about abstraction and the differences in approach between realism and abstract painting.

Learn more about David and his work here

Amy Dury is a figurative painter from Brighton on the South Coast of the UK. Her paintings evoke memory and time through portraiture. Drawing inspiration from vintage family movies and photographs, Amy’s unique vision captures stories and histories that are open to interpretation and identification. In this episode we explore Amy’s creative journey and she shares with us her techniques and process.

Learn more about Amy here

Alex Foltz is a portrait painter who specializes in Alla Prima oil painting using rich colour and expressive brushwork that captures the subtle character of his subjects. Alex joins Simon to talk about his background and journey to becoming a professional artists. From the choice of subject matter to his techniques and approach to painting.

Find out more about Alex here

The podcast returns with our excellent guest, Andrew Farmer. Andrew is a British Plein Air and observational painter from the North of England. A member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, his work is both painterly and considered. From still life to landscapes and figurative work, Andrew’s style and palette is immediately recognisable.

In part one of our two part interview, Andrew discusses his path to becoming a professional artist along with style and his routine.

Learn more about Andrew Farmer here

To celebrate the end of season one, we share some clips from its episodes and share some news and updates.

It has been a great journey so far and we are looking forward to catching up with you all soon!

Mark Stopforth is a British landscape painter. He joins us to talk about his painting process, influences and the ideas behind his work. Greatly inspired by the landscapes of his upbringing, Mark’s paintings embody elements of the sublime and the play between dark and light. Atmospheric and expressive, his process is as important as the subject he captures. Our conversation takes us across a wider field of interest, from Art history to philosophy.

Learn more about Mark here

In this episode, Painting Insights hosts Simon & Richard have a conversation of their own. From the podcast and the idea behind it to its future and reflections on the experiences and guests so far.

They also discuss Art and the journey to finding style and how to experiment and push through challenges. The importance of Art history for a practicing artist and how to write about and contextualise both the practice and ideas behind your work.

A Pastel painter, Kim's landscapes are inspired by the beautiful woods of Washington State where she lives. She plays with light filtering through trees, reflective ponds, and stunning skies. She also enjoys the occasional still life and wildlife painting. In this first part, Kim discusses her painting journey and her use of pastel. From her techniques to sources of inspiration and working methods. Why Pastel is her chosen medium and how she unlocks their potential in her beautiful work.

See more of Kim’s work here

Andrew Tischler is an accomplished and internationally celebrated painter and teacher.

In this second part, Andrew discusses his painting practice and both the technical and theoretical elements of his work. From plein air and working direct from observation to bringing a painting together. Andrew is a very skilled painter and teacher and his insights are fascinating.

Find more about Andrew here

Ralph joins us to discuss being a gallerist, his journey into the business and the passion that underlies it. From how he began after being inspired in a Cardiff gallery to how Ffin y Parc was created, Ralph shares important insights into how a gallery works and what they look for in artists. A great listen for both artists and those interested in Art.

View more here

Andrew Tischler is an accomplished and internationally celebrated painter and teacher.

In this first part, Andrew shares important insights into his creative journey, how he begun his painting career and where he is now. We explore the subjects of creative psychology, Art education, the power of the internet to both lean and teach and how the worlds of Art and business intersect in the modern world.

Find more about Andrew here

Linda Mann’s dramatic still life paintings evoke an ordered, stylized reality. Mann paints with an understanding of how people see and know the world, not by recording every detail, as a camera or computer would, but rather by observing the essential, and editing out the unimportant and distracting. Working exclusively from life with no reference to photographs, she observes the ephemeral effects of light and how they appear to the human eye, re-creating the experience in oil paint. Through her selective and heightened focus and dramatic lighting, everyday objects are imbued with weight and meaning. In unstable times, it is valuable to step back and be reminded that despite chaos, the world is still understandable and beautiful.

View Linda’s work here

Tim Benson is an oil painter specializing in figurative and landscape work. As well as working on commissioned pieces, he seek’s to tell the stories of people around the world whose voices are rarely heard.

Learn more about Tim here

Daniel Shadbolt is painter based in London. A member of NEAC, his work captures the familiar of domestic scenes, in a unique and highly skilled painterly language.

Daniel joins us to talk about his creative journey, training and artistic influences. He shares important insights into his practice, from still life to portrait and landscape painting. We discuss style and the development of a painting, the many challenges of perception and how intuition and the unknown are very much part of the process.

View Daniel’s work here

Sonia was born in 1996 in Florence, Italy. She is half Scottish-Canadian and half Ukrainian. As a young child she was able to experience the beautiful renaissance city of Florence and the incredible artistic ability of its historic master artists. Through her mother's artisan studio she learned many ancient techniques such as gilding and fresco from a young age, then proceeded to earn her bachelor's degree in fine arts from the Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence in 2019. After graduating summa cum laudae with a thesis project on spiritual ascension in the industrialized world, she completed a specialization course on techniques and design for artisans. Her studies and her experiences of both traditional and contemporary art led her to develop her own form of artistic expression through painting on gilded surfaces, continuing to explore the concepts tied to spirituality and emotion. She has since participated in group exhibitions and art fairs both in Italy and internationally, and her work is featured in multiple online galleries. View Sonia’s work here

This episode is with the very talented Tad Retz.Tad Retz resides in upstate New York and embarked on his artistic career directly upon graduating from high school. In those eight years, his drive and daily focus on his craft has resulted in a precipitous rise in national art circles. In 2021, Tad was listed as one of the top plein air painters to collect by PleinAir Magazine and his work continues to evolve with a sophistication well beyond his years.Retz travels widely and paints alongside artists he admires, and has more recently has begun teaching workshops throughout the US. His most recent body of work is a result of his desire to experiment with paint manipulation and to see what different tools can do to the look and shapes of color. He attempts to capture the timeless atmosphere of old American, European and Dutch Masters of impressionism, of which he devoutly studies.Reflects Retz, “The feeling of being surprised at the end of each painting session is invigorating. Through using new tools, thicker paint, and fast drying mediums, I am discovering new ways to suggest reality in my paintings. Through the act of scraping paint off, applying unmixed paint with palette knives, calligraphic brush marks, dragging tissues through the thick wet paint, and so on; I am able to achieve the look that I have been striving for – a look that is timeless and poetic and more in line with who I am as an artist.”View Tad’s work Here

Rod Major is a plein air painter from the UK. His unique, post impressionist style of painting is immediately recognisable. In this episode, Rod shares his important and fascinating insights with us, not only on plein air painting but also style and Art history.View Rod’s work here

Our interview with London based, plein air painter, Tushar Sabale. Tushar shares insights into his process, inspirations and creative journey. Tushar’s website can be found here