Welcome to a special episode of Art Crush! Hosts Paula Telizyn and Fi Marks are joined by guest artists Jela Prancic (Toronto) and Susan Gardner (Leicestershire) to discuss the final preparations for their highly anticipated 51% Collective exhibition.
If you are an art lover in Derby, a regular at the Artcore Gallery, or a woman navigating your own creative business, this episode offers a beautifully candid behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to build a collaborative art show from the ground up.
The group discusses the complex logistics of planning an international show, from figuring out how to safely transport mixed-media pieces from Canada in tubes to overcoming local mobility challenges.
Most importantly, this episode celebrates the incredible power of women artists supporting one another. The collective shares how leaning into each other’s unique strengths—whether that’s digital mockups, sourcing local gallery furniture, or handling marketing—made this exhibition possible.
They also challenge traditional gallery norms, discussing why artists should take control of their own curation, lighting, and framing choices.
Join us in person! “The Wild Within” opens at the incredibly supportive Artcore Gallery in Derby. The opening night is October 23rd from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM UK time. Come enjoy some nibbles, meet the artists, and experience the inaugural show of the 51% Collective!
- International Logistics: How Jela is preparing to travel from Toronto with her artwork in tubes.
- Overcoming Obstacles: Susan discusses navigating exhibition prep and curation while dealing with mobility issues.
- Breaking the Rules: Why the collective decided to mix framed and unframed pieces, challenging traditional gallery expectations.
- Community Support: A shoutout to the Artcore Gallery team in Derby for their unmatched enthusiasm and partnership.
Art Crush season 3 episode 32
00:00:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to Art crush with artist Fi Marks and Paula Telizyn where we talk about being an artist, being a woman who’s an artist, having an art business, and more.
00:00:23 Speaker 1: Hello, fee.
00:00:26 Speaker 2: Hi, Paula.
00:00:28 Speaker 1: So today’s episode is actually a really fun surprise. surprise for two of the people involved in this episode, we have brought back the fifty one percent that’s Jela Prancic in Toronto and Susan Gardener in Leicestershire. to talk about where we are at with the show because at the time of recording, it’s September first and we are about six weeks out from our inaugural fifty one percent show called The Wild Within at Artcore Gallery in Derby. So we want to talk, a little bit about where we’re at with the prep because there’s a lot of stuff going on and we all have different practices for our art businesses and we are all coming from different spaces. Now, granted, Fee and Susan are a hell of a lot closer than Jela and I are to the physical gallery. So we have different logistics coming in from Canada. But, at the heart of it, prepping for the show has involved all of us doing the things we are good at. And it’s been actually really wonderful and surprising to see how everybody has stepped up in their own ways to make this possible. so Jela, let’s start with you. How are you feeling about the show? Where are you at in terms of your parts that you’re doing? And can you believe it’s September?
00:01:46 Speaker 5: Well, yeah, first of all, September is quite a shock, but it’s also the time that I’ve been looking forward to because it’s, figuring out logistically the best way to get the artwork to the UK. And as we learned recently from the gallery, which we’re really incredibly supported by, gave us the best advice, which was to travel with our art. So my art will be in tubes And just knowing that the supplies are on the ground in the UK, that will have a mad race to pick up frames and things like that and get cracking and hang the show and work together to make it a immersive experience for our audience. And to treat this as a installation as well really excites me.
00:02:53 Speaker 1: That’s awesome. How about you, Susan? Where are you at with, your show prep and, how you’re feeling about where we’re at the stage we’re at as a collective.
00:03:05 Speaker 3: This is getting to be the, the good bit. Now I think it’s starting to get real. I’ve been to see the venue with Fi finally. So, I’m more excited now. but I’m somebody that needs a quite a tight deadline when I’m doing something like painting for a show. I like the idea of having loads and loads of time like a year to prepare, but I won’t start really until about the last two months before because it’s not real yet. So now I’m starting to get a bit more motivated as to what I’m. And also because I’ve seen the scene, the place. I’m starting to get more, not motivated, you know, you’re always motivated to paint, but more, inspired as to what I’m actually wanting to produce to go with the rest of your works, especially hearing some of the other ideas that are going to be involved now and seeing because there’s different spaces for different feelings. So now I’m starting to think what I’m going to put where and, um. So yeah, I’m glad we’re getting closer and closer to it now.
00:04:07 Speaker 2: I think for you too as well. I mean, although Paula has said, that you and I are both sort of quite local you’ve had a few challenges because you haven’t been able to come to the space. You haven’t been able to visit Derby. and that’s been quite frustrating. do you want to explain that because, I think anybody thinking about doing a show, you have to think of the logistics of, how you manage your prep. So even though we are hosting as such, sometimes it’s not that easy.
00:04:45 Speaker 3: for anybody that most people that don’t know, I’ve got some mobility issues, these days. And so currently I’m not driving and so I may as well be in Canada as regards almost. It feels like that sometimes. I mean, I’m not a million miles away from Fi and from the space, but it’s been quite difficult, very difficult logistically and financially to just keep affording to go backwards and forwards. some of the frustrations I’ve had have been just in my head, feeling like I haven’t been able to put as much in as I want to, in my part of the collective, because of not being mobile. I’m kind of restricted to doing some of the other bits and pieces, which don’t seem like such big things, like trying to source some of the furniture and things like just things that I can do online, but I would have liked to have been a bit more mobile. I still am not driving now. And we’re getting close now to the actual event. So there are those types of frustrations. So I suppose if anybody was thinking about putting a show together and you have got any situation like that where you may not be able to run about because you’ve been running about a lot, haven’t you? Backwards and forwards?
00:05:57 Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:05:58 Speaker 3: Doing a lot of miles and a lot of talking to people and putting things together. And if I’d been doing it on my own, I just wouldn’t have been able to do all that. So which is why, I mean, that’s why we’re doing it as a four, isn’t it? So that we can all do our part.
00:06:15 Speaker 2: Exactly. I think that’s really, really important. we’ve talked about, working together and finding people who are like minded and that has been a game changer for all four of us. because Paula has always advocated doing your own show, doing pop ups and it’s not easy by yourself. we finally made it happen by working together because we’ve all got our own restrictions, and challenges, as I say, it’s not just sue all of us have. And it will be the same when we do our show over in Canada, but instead of seeing those as obstacles, it’s thinking about how we can all do different things. I mean, and Sue has got like a job of making some crowns, which I’m really looking forward to. I’m sure everybody else is. And she’s also an absolute whiz, on, developing reels and using the computer, developing, advertising and she’s been researching that. So even though I wasn’t pointing the spotlight on sue su to show that it’s negative, but it’s also to think about, well, what can I do? What? You know, I am part of this. So what am I able to do rather than what I can’t do?
00:07:42 Speaker 1: We are able to lean on each other in different ways when things get challenging, for whatever reason, I’m a single parent and, um, have some challenges that are going on right now. I know that I can say I need somebody else to step up and do whatever and they will. Right. And it’s the same way in reverse. So the sourcing of furniture that Susan mentioned, we want to make sure that people feel like they can come and sit with the art and be in the installation and not feel like you have to stand around and move on and get out. We couldn’t do this without somebody on the ground with the ability to source this stuff. It doesn’t matter whether you’re driving or not. That that mental, um, figuring things out. Is this possible? Is it affordable? Is it available? Is it safe? Do we have to do anything about it to make it useful for the public? In the gallery is a really critical part of making our show a success. So we all have different things. But I think as women, we also all minimize what we bring to the table because we’re used to sort of showing up and being invisible. And oh, my part didn’t really matter, but I don’t think we could do this show without every single person that’s in this group right now in this podcast, everybody.
00:08:56 Speaker 4: I know, I know.
00:08:56 Speaker 2: We couldn’t.
00:08:57 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:08:58 Speaker 1: Absolutely. It makes such a huge, huge difference and fee with your connections in Derby and, you being on the ground, like working with Art Corps, I think is going to be a key to making this show success. They are the most supportive group of people I’ve ever talked to for doing an art show. Incredibly supportive. Cannot recommend them enough.
00:09:19 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:09:19 Speaker 2: hopefully, obviously we’ll see how this show goes, but we would definitely like to do some more partnership work with them because of the support and the enthusiasm they have. that’s taken me by surprise. when we talked initially about hiring the gallery, I didn’t realize how excited and passionate they would be about it as well. And that is so refreshing, I think to have that, behind us, so suddenly they’re also part of the team, they are doing stuff. we had a meeting with them and of course they are able to say, yes, we can sort that. Yes, we’re going to do that. communication with them has been key. and will continue to be, especially as this is our first show as a collective. we are learning on the way and obviously we will be sharing all the things that we come across and say they will be seen as challenges. Every venue is different, but we’re going to make it work. I don’t have any doubts about us making this work and going on and supporting other artists who want to do the same thing and want to do it in their own way. We’re not saying copy what we’re doing, but find your own way. I think that’s the biggest message of the fifty one percent, and the fact that it’s bigger than just finding a venue to show our work or to sell our work, even this means so much more to us and the community, than I ever thought was possible. And that is a huge, huge privilege.
00:11:08 Speaker 1: Absolutely.
00:11:09 Speaker 2: so Paula, obviously, you’ve asked the three of us and, I’m really intrigued to hear from your perspective because you’ve almost had to have a mind shift having come from being a mentor. and being the one, the organiser, the one in charge. It’s been a bit of a shift that I don’t think you were expecting in your mindset and what it’s been like working as a collective rather than as the leader and the guider of somebody putting on shows.
00:11:47 Speaker 1: It was surprisingly challenging to shift my mindset because I am used to leading. I’m used to leading in my own business. I’m used to not my current business, but previous businesses. I’m used to leading groups of artists. I’m used to being the person that somebody comes to. I’m used to being a parent for twenty six years. so being in charge and being the person where the responsibility stops with them and starts with them is kind of my thing. to let go of that requires a level of trust and vulnerability I wasn’t expecting. It’s not that I can’t trust Fee and Susan and Yella because obviously I can, but I have to allow myself to let go because I grip things so tightly. And when I did that the first time, it did shift the group because it didn’t lower me down, but it let the other three join me as leading the group. We have three leaders for leaders in a group of four. And you think that that sounds silly or untenable or whatever, but it actually works really, really well because we each lean into our strengths and do the things that allow our group to grow. I think the greatest thing was that three of them made space for me to figure out how I fit in when I wasn’t in charge. And that was huge. Absolutely huge. I really appreciate that. It’s also given me a chance to share when things have sucked or been challenging for me, whether at home or whether it’s because I was struggling with revisiting my art. I have a complicated relationship with my art and it was a start, stop stop, stop stop, stop, start, stop, start, stop to build this body of work. And now I’m in flow and back into it, but it was a lot of effort and I couldn’t have done it without the three of them. It just, you know, each one of them has inspired me, goaded me on, made fun of me or teased me in the nicest way, but definitely like, a bit of quit faffing around. Paula. and so this is the power of being in a collective where each member is invested and handling into where they’re strong. I greatly appreciate that. So yeah, prepping for the show has changed my life in the same way that Art crushed the podcast has changed my life. and having these wonderful three women around me, as if I’m the queen, but being in this wonderful group of women has been the greatest time of my life. Sorry, kids. Actually, is this time not your birth? Um, that.
00:14:22 Speaker 4: But, uh.
00:14:24 Speaker 2: I don’t think they’ll take offense. Paula, I think you’re okay.
00:14:29 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. I think this is the greatest season of my life. and I’m honored to share it with these wonderful people.
00:14:35 Speaker 2: I think that is the most heartwarming thing because it’s not like this is a one off. we are all so excited to see how this business, the fifty one percent collective, it’s not, oh, we’ve all come together for one show and then that’s going to be it. We’re going to build on our experience and share our experience. hopefully one day you’ll see us all on a Netflix series or something like that. because we’re doing something new and fresh and different. Not that we’re saying we do it right or anything like that, because I know anyone who knows us knows that’s not our feeling, I think the fact when Paula was talking, I don’t think Paula realized how much she had struggled and stalled with her actual art career. that she sort of pushed it all to one side because she’d been focused. Well, first of all, it was because of an accident. Then, she’d reinvented herself as a mentor and a guide to other artists. But we all know when we’re an artist, it’s still there. You can push it down and push it down, but it needs to come out. You need to go and revisit that no matter how. And I think that sort of has been very therapeutic because although you’ve been working with particularly Sue and I and our businesses, you haven’t been doing it at the same time as us. So that was like another facet that I don’t think any of us expected, but particularly not you, Paula.
00:16:20 Speaker 1: Absolutely. I want to jump back to Susan and Yella so we can hear more from them, because we did bring them on the podcast to share. Yella, your work is mixed media and you mentioned that you’re going to be bringing it in tubes. Um, not a tuba, but tubes, uh, on the plane and all of that. you want to talk about some of the logistics of, getting your work to a point where you are, you know, ready to hang it in the show. What are you facing?
00:16:51 Speaker 5: Oh, I mean, I’ve simplified it just to backtrack a little bit, I really. Had to overcome a lot of challenges with accepting my art because it started off as collages, all different sizes and photographed and posting online looked captivating. Interesting. Can’t tell like if pieces of paper are coming off, you know? Does it need to be glued down again? And just realizing that I can’t show art like that. I can’t show it like that. I can’t sell it like that. And I had to go through three different print companies to show them the art. the files started off as photographs. Can you print this? No. Second printer. Can you at least, like, appraise the files? And they still said no. And then I went to another printer after I went through, it was at least thirty hours of my time to go through twenty four pieces that I curated where I had to scan them at eight hundred dpi, and then I had to rework them in Photoshop to be a consistent size, like because we’re using UK sizes forty centimetres by fifty centimetres. I spent a lot of time living with the pieces and getting reintroduced to all the stories and now having that. And when I printed them and then I, I had a reveal with them when they came off the press, I was completely blown away that, you know, it was so worth my time to invest in my art that way. And even, oh, the whole printing team came out and they said, we can’t wait. You have to send us pictures from the gallery in the UK. This art is incredible. It’s so vibrant and the whole world needs to see this. We can’t believe what you’ve created here. We’ve never seen anything like this. And I was just like, I’m getting out of here. I wasn’t expecting that, because they do print jobs for fine artists, reproductions. They specialize in. Yeah. All work like that. And to hear that from someone who’s had a relatively low profile was a big deal. So between this collective close people in my life And the printer and Art Corps people, I feel, yeah, I’m excited to roll up the art, and travel with that. And yeah, I can’t wait. I’m yeah, I’m finally ready for that because three months ago, I was still kind of tiptoeing around it and opening my box and looking at the pieces, but not, not really taking them seriously. Now I do.
00:20:27 Speaker 4: That’s wonderful.
00:20:28 Speaker 2: So good. Yeah. Can I, can I ask you, Yella, how? I mean, I don’t even know if you have totally decided, but how have you curated what you are going to bring to the UK? Because I think that’s quite difficult. And I know when I come over, I’m going to really sort of struggle with narrowing everything down and what is actually feasible and what will also show. What I want to say.
00:20:58 Speaker 5: Well, it’s sort of looking at all the artwork and imagining when like Paula had us do the exercise where we lay all of our pieces out and arrange them and figure out, first of all, what’s consistent. Are there any recurring imagery? do the colors flow, do the contrast? Like, you think of how to position the art so that it will keep people from, scanning and passing by within three to five seconds. You want at least one out of three pieces to be like a showstopper where somebody is going to sit there, read the write up and actually like, look closely at all the imagery. that’s our goal is, to create art that way and to install it in a way that, yeah, it tells a story. So kind of like an origin, meet the characters and then make people curious and then have like they’re ready to flow away. Right. That’s how I look at it. But. I guess telling a story visually is easier for me to do than with words. Somehow the art and the subject matter that’s in there speaks for itself, and I just can’t describe it with with language, I just am not sure. I hope I’ve done a decent job of it, but somehow. Okay.
00:22:40 Speaker 2: And yellow, you’re going to actually, because obviously I was thinking we aren’t going to actually be able to curate the show until we’re all together, but we’re going to have a go on a yellow you’ve got some amazing computer thing that we can say. These are the pieces that we want you because we don’t, it’s not going to be like, this is yellow is part of the gallery. This is Paula’s, this is Sue’s. We, our work is going to be together. So we’re going to have a go at trying to curate it before, aren’t we? Which is going to be exciting, challenging. I’m amazed what you can do using technology.
00:23:17 Speaker 4: Well.
00:23:18 Speaker 5: Yeah. I mean, a lot of it is basically, you know, for interior decorating, they have software. So you enter what the room is and then you arrange the art, the furniture. So that’s sort of the what we can do so virtually we can get an idea. This was mainly for Paula and I to know, like, can we even bring thirty pieces of art? Will it fit?
00:23:45 Speaker 4: No.
00:23:46 Speaker 5: So that’s kind of what instigated this because, I looked at the floor plans and I was thinking, twelve to fifteen pieces each at that forty by fifty range. And Paula was like, I don’t know, I can’t tell, I need to see it. So here we go. So that’s what we’ll do. it’s great because then as you said, fee, we can actually not do it in this really stagnant way where this is fees wall. This is Susan’s wall. This is Paula’s wall and or room. Like who gets a whole room to themselves, you know?
00:24:24 Speaker 4: No.
00:24:25 Speaker 5: Yeah. seeing our art that way is going to be pretty exciting, because we’ve never seen our art side by side, and we could have something in common, our stories. Right?
00:24:42 Speaker 2: It’s going to be so exciting.
00:24:43 Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:44 Speaker 2: What? What about you, Sue? Have you selected the paintings that you are going to be showing And has it made you perhaps think about doing some specifically, or do you just selecting from what you have because it fits in so well.
00:25:08 Speaker 3: It’s half and half I think. I was just going to select from what I have, but I’m actually going to do some slightly different ones. It’s all going to be animals obviously.
00:25:21 Speaker 4: Of course.
00:25:22 Speaker 3: But I am going to do a little bit of something slightly different, I think now. in the little run up that we’ve got the time that we’ve got, it’s such a big, thing and it’s such a, such a, an important sort of a milestone event. I definitely want to bring something new. I just want to, for the occasion. but I haven’t painted it yet, so watch this space.
00:25:47 Speaker 4: Exactly.
00:25:48 Speaker 2: And that’s really exciting. Really exciting.
00:25:51 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
00:25:53 Speaker 5: Plus we’re each doing a piece of art that is our own version or our own story that reflects the wild within as a theme.
00:26:06 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah as well. So yeah.
00:26:12 Speaker 3: You know, you were talking about trying to curate the exhibition before we go. I’ve done that myself many years ago. Well, not many years ago. A few years ago, and I had a booked part of a gallery in Buxton well it was a big chunk of the gallery and I’d never, never, I’d only been there very, very briefly for a look round. So I did that very thing, and mapped it all out and measured everything. And I can’t even remember what app I used. It was some kind of app that I, sort of fiddled about with and I definitely would recommend it. And when I got there with all my pieces, I knew exactly where they were going because I’d spent a lot of time, hours, hours at home deciding where I was going to put everything very enjoyable doing that as well, because you can spend time to think how it’s going to look. when I got there, the woman was so surprised because I was hung within the hour and she said, well, people spend all day doing this, looking and faffing and standing back and arguing and, you know. And I said, yeah, but it was all planned. It was all curated before I arrived. So I think that’s going to be that is going to be really helpful. I know it’s not going to be fully because you haven’t got all the artworks, but you get some idea, don’t you then?
00:27:25 Speaker 2: it’s essential because, we don’t want to be going in on the Wednesday or the Thursday and we’ve got the opening on Friday with no idea. We haven’t got the luxury of that time. And I think that’s the thing when you’re doing an international show, so many of these things, you’ve just got to think through before because it’s not the same. you need to embrace technology. Otherwise, these things aren’t possible. And I know for some of us, you know, it’s quite scary. Like, oh, I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t do that. this is a plus of being in a collective where you have people who don’t find that perhaps as threatening as others. So it’s all that mutual support, rearing its beautiful head once again.
00:28:17 Speaker 3: it’s nice not to have to worry about even though we’re taking on the responsibility of hanging the work. So nice to not to be handing off the paintings to somebody and hoping for the best, and then turning to look at the exhibition and realising that they’ve all been hung touching each other, or some of them are on the floor, some of them are in really terrible light. It’s going to be good because we can make sure that doesn’t happen ourselves and take the responsibility, can’t we, for that ourselves?
00:28:46 Speaker 1: Yeah, that’s the real beauty of this is, there will be obviously some shifting as we get into the space, but, having the plan and being responsible for the lighting and all that, we’ll have the support of the technician at Artcore, but we get to make the choices. I’ve been in shows in the past because I started with galleries where the pieces I would go to the show opening and be like, why am I in the corner? Or why did you put this stuff together or whatever? Like, it’s been so frustrating. And I was in one show where I couldn’t make the opening, and I don’t think they hung my piece knowing was I wasn’t going to be there. Like, it just was ridiculous. So having this ownership is a double edged sword because yes, we can make sure that everybody is, showing to the best of what we can do. And then the show has a specific feel and sound and all of that that we are working on right now. but we’re also responsible for all of that too. So there is that double edged sword, but quite frankly, I will take that responsibility over letting some yahoo think that they know stuff when we are at a stage in our careers where we understand how to get the best impact from our work. So this is exciting.
00:30:05 Speaker 2: there continues to be very sort of blurred understanding on who is in charge and is it the gallery or is it the artist? artists are very much, when their work has gone in, have gone into galleries. It left it up to the gallery to decide. we’ve been advocating all the time, it’s like, and then you’re upset. Then you’re like, oh, okay. It wasn’t where I thought it was going to be. Oh, don’t really like the lighting, and you can’t do anything because you’ve actually given that ownership over to the gallery. you’ve enabled that relationship to not be equal, and that you’re working as a team to get this artwork seen and sold. It’s actually, you’ve stopped that happening so it is something that we have to be continually aware of. Whatever show, wherever you are showing your art, take control. It’s your artwork.
00:31:08 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:31:09 Speaker 1: Yeah, that’s really important too, because, in a lot of cases, artists are taught that we have to be grateful for any opportunity as though we’re holding out a little bowl and asking for a second helping of gruel. which I resent because we’ve all spent years building up our skills. And while there is a level of inclination or what people can even call talent. We still have to spend years improving our skills, working on things, always wanting to level up. So why are we going to places and going, oh thank goodness you picked me! Thank goodness you picked me. Thank goodness I, I have this opportunity. That that’s one of the reasons why we own this. I mean, let’s be clear, our core has never done this with us because they are amazing. But we did show up with a complete twenty four page proposal with the floor plans and intentions and research on why we’re doing what we’re doing and everything else for them so they can understand where we’re coming at. We never once said, thank you for this opportunity in a way that lowered ourselves. We said thank you in a way that ends up being a collaboration. And there’s a big, big difference between that. but yeah, I think at this stage we are where we need to be in the prep for the show. We’ve got a few things we still need to do, but, surprising things have happened. Like Susan came up with a kind of video with, showing her work and voiceover that’s really easy to produce, even for people who are camera shy in our group. we’re working on creating animations. We’re going to be projecting and talking about things like the audio, soundscape that we’re going to be doing and even talking about, all the senses. So even smell. So we’re in a good space, at this time for what we need to do. It’s a matter of now all these moving pieces need to come together. And I’m very confident in our group to be able to do that.
00:33:04 Speaker 2: if things don’t work, we know there’s going to be a next time. I think that’s really, really important. We’re building on this, you can’t go in with a perfectionist mood or attitude because it’s all about developing, developing your practice as a curator, as a gallerist. that’s not where we come from, but we want to learn. we want to learn off art core and any other space where we exhibit so that we become better. And I think that’s the thing to look at it. It’s not this one off gig. And then it’s like, oh, you know what we should have done? Oh, we should have done that, shouldn’t we? Oh, well, never mind. Maybe next time, you know, and then it’s like, no, this is, this is all going to develop. And I think that takes the pressure off.
00:33:55 Speaker 4: Yeah yeah.
00:33:57 Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:33:58 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:33:59 Speaker 5: I’ve had requests from people to do live streaming from the opening so that they can feel.
00:34:07 Speaker 4: Like if they.
00:34:08 Speaker 5: Can’t show up in person that they can attend. And, uh, yeah, that’s pretty cool. So I, I’m not sure. I think that we have individuals in the group who know how to do that.
00:34:21 Speaker 3: May I have.
00:34:22 Speaker 5: Effectively.
00:34:24 Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:25 Speaker 1: we can all live stream from the show. I’m assuming that there’s Wi-Fi at our core. So for us as people with no UK data, we can still still live stream. I was going to say yeah, that, um, you spent your teenage years or early twenties being an assistant curator at a gallery. So we’ve been leaning a lot into your skills. And I know that Susan’s had experience hanging shows as well as fee. so we have a lot of, of good things to lean into. So yeah, with your experience, what are things that you are keeping an eye out for in terms of making sure our show looks cohesive even before we head over to the UK?
00:35:06 Speaker 5: from what I can see of watching all of our works, I can see a lot of connections, and a lot of it has to do with our subject matter. And the mood of different pieces is more than enough to connect them. I can see that coming together. despite the different mediums, Paula, yours are more close up portraits and Susan, you as well, because you focus in on the animal and fee, you have entire like very elaborate scenes, with your full body of women, right? So the perspectives are not the same, but I think we all carry Some moments of similarity between our subject matter. So I think, yeah, we’ll see the eyes of one woman and Paula’s piece can connect with one of the animals and Susan’s art, and then that can point to fees and then to mine. And it’s just going to be exciting because then it makes the story even bigger.
00:36:26 Speaker 1: Beautiful. And Susan, with your, history of doing shows, and you had mentioned how you pre-planned and curated so that you could hang your show quickly and everything else. what are you keeping an eye out for? And what are you thinking about as you’re creating your pieces specifically for our show?
00:36:42 Speaker 3: Well, framing was an issue. I’m not framing, as it happens. So I’m slightly more, mindful of the finish of the paintings and how I’m going to be presenting them as a whole, with a color theme. There’s always a color theme anyway, but, I want there to be some kind of, tonality that’s going to pull the whole thing together. I was just thinking about our colors actually, you know, you were talking about the curation of the whole of our work together. and we’ve all got, we’ve all quite punchy colour wise, aren’t we? I mean that’s something that I’m really thinking about when we’re putting this together is how my work’s going to sit because I like to be punchy with colour. But this last year or so, I haven’t really I’ve felt myself sort of almost going to a more natural color palette where my genuine love of painting leads me to being a lot more colorific. So I think this is going to be a chance to just go for it a bit more than I have done recently. I am thinking about that really. I’m thinking about along those lines at the moment. It’s quite colour orientated, but like I’ve said to you before about the framing, that is quite a consideration. because It’s got to look polished without the frames. I’ve always sold work without frames anyway, so it’s nothing new, but when it’s sitting alongside framed work for you, framing yours. You are, aren’t you? No you’re not.
00:38:20 Speaker 2: I think initially we sort of said, oh yes, we want to have them all framed and it’s just too, too difficult, too expensive.
00:38:29 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:38:29 Speaker 2: and the fact that you’re not, I I think it’s fine because I won’t be. So I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that I won’t be as well.
00:38:38 Speaker 5: I’m glad that everyone has come to that consensus. Your art is on stretched canvases. It’s one hundred percent acceptable to display like that. there is artwork in the national galleries by abstract artists unframed worth, a million plus dollars. So we have no reason to think that that’s necessary. My pieces are on paper, so they need to be framed because there’s just no way to hang that and be taken. it’s too, vulnerable, right?
00:39:20 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
00:39:21 Speaker 1: And I’m going to frame a few pieces, I think, I’m just making decisions about how that’s going to happen, but, in terms of pulling our show together, I think that having that mix of framed and unframed will work really, really well.
00:39:34 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:39:34 Speaker 2: we’ve had to question because in our heads, that was something that we’ve learned is to make your art look more, expensive or whatever you need to frame your work. Well, you don’t, you don’t, because we’re not conforming to other rules. Why do we have to conform to that rule? We questioned it, we’ve thought about it, and we’ve all come to our own individual conclusions. That will work absolutely brilliantly when they’re all seen together.
00:40:11 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:40:12 Speaker 1: Yeah, that’s the intention.
00:40:14 Speaker 5: when somebody buys a piece, they can carry it out and hang it on the wall. It’s all ready to go.
00:40:23 Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:40:24 Speaker 3: Ready to hang anyway.
00:40:25 Speaker 4: Aren’t we?
00:40:26 Speaker 5: We are selling our work at the show. October twenty third to the thirty first. Okay. Yeah.
00:40:34 Speaker 1: Awesome. Okay, so this is basically this episode of Art crush. Unless anybody else wants to add anything more. No. Okay. So as I did say, we will be at Artcore Gallery. The show opening is October twenty third, from six to eight p m UK time. Come and join us. You get a chance to talk to all of us. Plus get, some nibbles and maybe a cheeky little drink and a chance to experience the inaugural show of the fifty one percent. The inaugural show means we’re going to be doing more, but being at the first one will, will be awesome. It’ll be a chance to see us before we get super, super polished. So we’re very excited about it. Looking forward to seeing fee again. I’ve seen her before twice in the UK, but I’ve never met Susan in person. So this for me is very exciting and.
00:41:26 Speaker 4: I’ve never.
00:41:26 Speaker 3: Forgotten.
00:41:28 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
00:41:30 Speaker 5: My first time meeting Fee and Susan and even going to the UK.
00:41:35 Speaker 4: So I know that’s.
00:41:36 Speaker 2: That’s you’re going to just be blown away. You’re going to be like, I want to stay longer.
00:41:43 Speaker 1: Exactly, exactly. So we want to thank our listeners for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and share this podcast. We’re available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, audible in your Amazon, echo devices, connected car devices and Google Home devices, as well as wherever you find your favorite podcasts. New episodes come out every Saturday UK time and we will catch you in the next one.
