Art Dealer Diaries Podcast

I love my job because it allows me to interact with artists in a way that other people don’t get to. And in this case, it was with William Matthews at his show, which is called Decades, and it’s at the Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West. It’s running through the fall of 2024.

It’s all there on the walls, no matter what part of his life you’re going to see, Williams is there to talk about it. We walk through his show and discuss it. This podcast really is one that would be best seen on YouTube versus just listening to it, but I’m sure it will still have great interest even that way.

I talked to William about three or four years ago in episodes 86 and 87, so you can go back if you want to hear his back story. But this particular podcast really is at the show, and you’ll see his books, his illustrations, his album covers. He’s really done some amazing album covers. This is, again, just a small little part of his life.

He’s also done major murals. Once you go through this show, you can see the variety of things that have created the excitement for him to go to all these creative places. And sometimes it’s really interesting, like these big, huge ties that he’s made, which are in museum collections like the Booth.

So again, I hope you can watch it on YouTube. It’s a beautiful show. Go see it if you can. It’s up through the fall of 2024. This is William Matthews on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast Episode 285.

When I decided to do this podcast seven years ago, one of the main reasons for doing it was to capture the voices of artists, dealers, collectors, art curators, all of the components that make up my world as an art dealer and how they affect me. That's why the project is called the Art Dealer Diaries. 

One of the biggest personalities to impact my life was a man named Ed Mell. He was a good friend and such an important artist. It was interesting to listen to and watch this podcast. I know he knew he had a place in the legacy of art, but he felt that he needed to let his art speak for himself and not make it so much about himself, the person. 

He was just a very humble guy. It took a long time for me to get him to do this podcast.I had to work on it for three or four years. I had so many guests that talked about Ed and how important he was in their lives and I kept saying "Ed, you know, your life is intertwined with all these different artists and curators and that we really need to hear your story. Finally, he relented and said "okay, okay, I'll do it."

We had a great time because it's just two friends talking, right? That's what this can be sometimes, you know, every once in awhile you get lightning in a bottle. For me, this podcast was one of those times. 

I got to spend time with my dear friend and hear things that I might not have heard, even after 30 years of friendship. You really get to know a person pretty well over that amount of time, especially when you are lucky enough to spend birthdays together, or Christmases, or whatever it might be. 

So Ed shared this time with me and and now we have this record. I really want people, if they have the chance to listen to all of this or watch it on YouTube and you can see and hear a giant among giants speak. I hope you enjoy listening to my good friend, Ed Mell.

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Original Description:

Ed Mell came by the studio today and I was thrilled to be able to record a 2-part podcast with him. Honestly, I've been trying to get Ed on the podcast for three whole years. I've had so many people on Art Dealer Diaries talk about Ed Mell in their own podcasts... I think it's probably up to about a dozen people now. It's just one of those things, you know? It's hard to get together sometimes especially when a pandemic gets in the way. 

Out of all the podcasts I’ve done recently, Ed’s was a podcast I really wanted to do in person. I've known him for 25+ years and for me just being able to sit across the desk from him and have a wonderful discussion about his life, all of his accomplishments, the people that have influenced him throughout his life and made him who he is and what he is, was a gift for me. He's just such an interesting guy, definitely not the type of person that you get to meet every day.  

Ed’s artwork is really important to me and to many, many other people as well. I collect his artwork and have since I've represented him. I personally own numerous Ed Mell works of art including his oil paintings, bronze sculptures, lithographs, and display them in my home. 

We recorded for two hours.The first hour is kind of an origin story for Ed. How he got to become an artist and how he found his way in the world. The second hour goes into a bit more detail about the people that influenced him and what he’s been up to recently.

From sculpture to flowers, to figurative works, this is one that everyone needs to listen to. Put it on your hit parade, Ed Mell on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.

This podcast is different than most because it's really a visual podcast. So I highly recommend watching the YouTube version so you can see the imagery that we're talking about. Not that it isn't interesting to listen to, but the imagery will really add to the experience.

I had the opportunity to go and spend the afternoon with Tim Peterson, who curated the Tom Gilleon Retrospective at the Western Spirit: Scottdale's Museum of the West, as well as Courage and Crossroads, an exhibit of Peterson's personal art collection that has been on display at the museum since it opened. Tim spoke with me at length about both exhibits and the incredible look into western art that they both provide.

The first exhibit was all about the art and career of the amazing contemporary western painter, Tom Gilleon. I was really blown away at the sope of the work and the many pieces on display that highlight Gilleon's contribution to the world of western art.

The second, Courage and Crossroads, is a compilation of early Native American art as well as Western art, all the way from the earliest Catlins all the way through to the Taos founders and Maynard Dixon.

It's really an amazing collection. I've probably seen the collection 50 times, and I still find things that I didn't know about. It's a great place for learning and absorbing the history of the American West and I was very fortunate to have Tim take the time and go through the entire collection.

I hope you enjoy it. Again, I think you'll find it more interesting if you  watch  the YouTube component, but either way, it's great to hear someone as knowledgeable as Tim Peterson speak on the art we all love so much.

The different voices I get to hear on the podcast keeps it fresh and interesting for me and make me want to continue doing it. This is my seventh year and doing the Art Dealer Diaries and I'm always amazed that there's still something that I haven't heard / some person that I haven't met that fills in the gaps. So today I had Alvin Yellowhorse and he's a silversmith. I like to think of him not only as a silversmith but also as a very creative artist who works in metal. He not only produces great work but also teaches classes to inspire and spread his gift to others.

I've had his work in my gallery but I've never actually met him and I never had the chance to purchase things directly from him. So he called me and set up an appointment and I got some great work as a result. I was thrilled to be able to buy some and I got to hear his story.

He took the time to share his path in life, which is like almost all artists, is filled with twists and turns you can't see coming. Alvin grew up close to Gallup and a little town called Lupton and he still has a store there and his family has owned and operated the Yellowhorse stores there for decades. 

One thing I noticed about his jewelry, even before we met, was that he will use different types of stones that you just wouldn't expect. He uses meteors, for instance, and the highest-grade stones he can find. You can tell his work is all about uniqueness, quality, and most importantly, creativity. 

It clearly shows in this podcast. He's a humble guy, and he's one of the best. So I had an interesting and really fun time getting to know Alvin, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I  ad Scott Burdick on today. What an interesting man. We had a very long talk and the reason it was so long was we went over a lot of subjects. It wasn't just a podcast about a painter talking about painting. I would say painting was something we discussed the least. 

We went deep into his belief system, how he sees the world, and how his creativity flows through different fields, not just traditional art, which is what most people know him for. He's also a writer and he works in film, making documentaries. He's so much more than just an artist so it was great to explore that side of him. Scott Burdick is just a really deep, profound person. 

It's a fun interview. I highly recommend taking the time to listen to both episodes. You can see what life can be like if you let creativity take over.  So I had a great time and the two and a half hours flew just like that. So this is part two of Scott Burdick on episode 281 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.

I had Scott Burdick on today. What an interesting man. We had a very long talk and the reason it was so long was we went over a lot of subjects. It wasn't just a podcast about a painter talking about painting. I would say painting was something we discussed the least. 

We went deep into his belief system, how he sees the world, and how his creativity flows through different fields, not just traditional art, which is what most people know him for. He's also a writer and he works in film, making documentaries. He's so much more than just an artist so it was great to explore that side of him. Scott Burdick is just a really deep, profound person. 

It's a fun interview. I highly recommend taking the time to listen to both episodes. You can see what life can be like if you let creativity take over.  So I had a great time and the two and a half hours flew just like that. So this is part one of Scott Burdick on episode 280 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.

I had Dr. Larry Len Peterson on today, and we're discussing his new book "Edward S. Curtis, Printing the Legends: Looking at Shadows in a West Lit Only by Fire" it's a terrific book. I read this whole book and I'm going to read it again. There's just so much information, not only about Edward Curtis, but about that whole time frame from 1860 to 1945. All the big players, whether it's J.P. Morgan or Buffalo Bill or Custer, and even the Indian boarding school systems.  If you're interested in Curtis, this podcast is a must-listen. 

The other component that makes this project so important is the array of beautiful reproductions within the book. Did I mention he only printed 1,000 copies? It's not going to be available for long and it's going to be one of those great collector items.

Dr. Peterson is uniquely positioned to write a book like this. He's a great author. He's won dozens of awards and he is a former physician who has written and published many research papers in his previous area of expertise. He's just one of these polymath individuals that you're lucky you get to meet and have in your life.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to be able to meet Dr. Larry Len Peterson and have been working with him on occasion. I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend time with this book and delve into the subject of Edward Curtis with an expert. 

So I hope you enjoy. It's a two-parter. This is part two. Dr. Larry Len Peterson on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 279.

I had Dr. Larry Len Peterson on today, and we're discussing his new book "Edward S. Curtis, Printing the Legends: Looking at Shadows in a West Lit Only by Fire" it's a terrific book. I read this whole book and I'm going to read it again. There's just so much information, not only about Edward Curtis, but about that whole time frame from 1860 to 1945. All the big players, whether it's J.P. Morgan or Buffalo Bill or Custer, and even the Indian boarding school systems.  If you're interested in Curtis, this podcast is a must-listen. 

The other component that makes this project so important is the array of beautiful reproductions within the book. Did I mention he only printed 1,000 copies? It's not going to be available for long and it's going to be one of those great collector items.

Dr. Peterson is uniquely positioned to write a book like this. He's a great author. He's won dozens of awards and he is a former physician who has written and published many research papers in his previous area of expertise. He's just one of these polymath individuals that you're lucky you get to meet and have in your life.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to be able to meet Dr. Larry Len Peterson and have been working with him on occasion. I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend time with this book and delve into the subject of Edward Curtis with an expert. 

So I hope you enjoy. It's a two-parter. This is part one. Dr. Larry Len Peterson on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 278.

Wow, I had a great time with this podcast, Mike Brainard. He is a writer, an actor, a podcast producer, and a woodworker, just to say a few of the things that he's accomplished in his life. He does a podcast called The Ernie Pyle Experiment!, which is a 13-episode podcast that actually came in second, I believe, for an Audie Award, which is like the top award that you can get in audio-based production. I've listened to a portion of it, and I highly encourage you to listen to it. You can get that on any podcast platform. 

There's a really deep kind of discussion about what your life can become and things that happened in your life.  For Mike, one of the things was that he was very famous when he was younger as an actor on soap operas. He was an actor for All My Children and Santa Barbara. So it was fascinating to hear that trajectory. People often think, Oh, I want to be famous. Well, you know, fame is a double-edged sword.

I think it was a very deep, interesting conversation and the kind of conversation that I enjoy and one of the reasons I do this podcast is to learn and to see the human condition in all forms of creativity, which he has lots of. So I hope everybody enjoys it as much as I do. He really was interesting. Mike Brainard on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast Episode 277.

Listen to the Ernie Pyle Experiment! Here:
https://indianapublicmedia.org/erniepylepodcast/

Shonto Begay joined me today for a special podcast right before Christmas. I've had Shonto on before. In fact, he was my guest on the second podcast I had ever done. I've known Shonto for over 20 years and have been collecting his art as well as selling it. You know, he just is unique. He's unique in so many forms and fashions. It's almost hard to describe.

Shonto shared some of the things that are, you know, very deep and moving to him and how he creates. He speaks on the trauma that he had to go through in his life as an artist and as a kid growing up on the reservation and being forced into boarding school when he was nine years old.

I asked Shonto before we even started the podcast because I think it's an important part of his paintings and who he is today if we could talk about these traumatic experiences. I don't want to trigger him or make him feel bad in any way. He obliged and that's the heart of today's podcast. Shonto provides a very unique perspective of somebody who's lived through this system, a system that was devastating for Native American culture.

We also have an upbeat talk about creativity, spirituality, and painting. Shonto talks about where this insight comes from. It was very enlightening. I learned things that I didn't know, which is always fun for me when it's a podcast where I know the guest quite well. 

That's what I love about doing these podcasts and being able to share these stories with the rest of the world. This is one of those that I would recommend watching on YouTube.  The reason is that he shares his Etch-A-Sketch abilities, which is something he picked up during his time in the Indian school system.

He's the most talented person in the world when it comes to doing these Etch-a-Sketch drawings. They're amazing. We recorded it during the podcast because it was so compelling. When you hit the few areas of dead sound there, it's just because, quite frankly, I'm enthralled by what he's doing.

I'm very thrilled that I get the opportunity to deal with artists and learn about the many different forms of the creative process. Shonto Begay is one of these individuals who adds to the dialog in a different form and fashion than almost anybody can.

So I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did, and I did. Trust me.

Moira Geoffrion joins host Mark Sublette to talk about her show "Pods, Plants, and Parts."  The show has 144 new paintings of the botanical structures that can be found throughout the Sonoran desert.

Opening with the artist is Friday, December 29 from 12 - 2 PM at Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona.

View the Show Online:
https://www.medicinemangallery.com/collections/december-20-2024

Numerous important bills signed in Congress between 1869 to 1925 set the stage for the Osage Reign of Terror in 1920's Oklahoma. David Grann’s book “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the 2023 Martin Scorsese movie by the same name serve as the backdrop for this deep dive and historical overview. This is unlike any of my previous podcasts so I hope you enjoy Art Dealer Diaries Episode 274.

I had artist Danuta Tomzynski on today. She's such an interesting human being. You know, just starting we went right to the heart of it by talking about her parents.  They were both Polish and were in Poland during World War II. Her father fought in the war after being taken to Siberia by the Russians and her mom was taken from Poland to Germany to be a servant. What they had to do to make it out and to get to America was extraordinary. Without their struggles and their stories, she doesn't exist. 

 She is an artist, but she's done so many things with clothing design and different types of creative endeavors. She finally found her way back to what she was supposed to do, at least at this point in her life, which is painting. She does these realistic still-life paintings, which are quite beautiful. She's starting to win awards and starting to get that kind of attention and for her, it's a little later in life, which is fantastic.

I'm sure somebody will hear this podcast and go, "Oh my gosh, I need to have her in my gallery." So she has that kind of talent, which is nice to see and fun to recognize.  So I had a great time with the Danuta Tomzynski on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast number 273.

This had to be one of the more interesting podcasts I've done.  It's with Helen and Richard Shull, and they own Esmeralda Turquoise Company in Nevada. They had come into my gallery and we were talking about what they do. It turns out they're miners/gemologists and they own turquoise mines that are scattered through northern Nevada.

After a brief conversation I asked them to come on the show and they gave this wonderful talk about how you find mines, and what it means to be a miner in 2023.  They clearly love what they do. I mean, these are very intellectual, savvy individuals. 
Richard's a gemologist and Helen is a botanist, but they just love turquoise.

I wrote a fiction book called Stone Men. That was kind of the ethos of what this was like. To have these two actual stone people who have dedicated their entire lives, eating, breathing, and living turquoise on the podcast, well, it made for a phenomenal episode. Richard and Helen Shull on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 272.

Paula Baxter was on the show today and she's very interesting, as most of our guests are.  All of our guests have a similar thread of the arts running through their lives in some form or fashion. In her case, it was 1986 when she was in Santa Fe and bought a piece at Ortega's on the Plaza. It was like an epiphany for Paula. She needed to be more aware of this material. 

Paula has worked as the head curator of art and architecture for the New York Public Library, she worked at MoMA, and she was a humanities professor.  She held these significant positions, but at the end of the day had always wanted to be a writer. I think that's what her gift is to the world. 

She's done these wonderful books on Native American jewelry. Her most recent book "Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry Design: 1870–1945," is a really great book. In fact, it's been at my bedside for a long time because the material is wonderful, the photos are beautiful, and the timeline she inserted is very helpful. The amazing photographs were taken by her husband, Barry Katzen. 

So I think this podcast is one that follows the journey of somebody's life, you know, and how they get to where they get and why they're on planet Earth. Palua is clearly here to spread the word and to educate. To tell people that Native American jewelry is such an important art form. It is a form of art that is very close to my heart and it's a privilege that I can wear and appreciate every single day.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the podcast. I know I did. Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 271 with Paula A. Baxter.

I wanted to re-air John Morris's podcast. I had him on episode 11 back in 2018. John recently passed and was such an interesting human being and I'm so happy that he took the time during Indian Market in 2018 to come talk to me about his life. 

You know, John was a guy who was intimately involved in the 1969 Woodstock show. He booked all the people he worked with, all the acts. You know, he was if you look at the Woodstock movie. He was a unique man who had multiple interests and never took himself too seriously. He had all these interesting people like Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison or Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, all of these musicians he knew and worked with. 

I knew him for 15 years before he even discussed the Woodstock. The only reason he did is that I saw the movie and I saw him on the TV. His real gift to our culture and the Native American world was that he loved Native American material and tribal art and he, along with Kim Martindale, promoted shows.

They promoted different shows that were the objects of art shows, both in San Francisco as well as in Santa Fe. ohn did one in Seattle as well. So, you know, it's sad when you lose somebody of his magnitude, but I wanted to replay his podcast so we could all bask in the wonderful beauty of John Morris.

I had a wonderful podcast today with William Haskell. We had done a podcast together two years ago in the middle of the pandemic, but it was really nice to actually spend time with him in person. 

Instead of focusing on how got to where he is today (since that story was told in epi. 129), I wanted to find out about his new show that he's doing for us. He's going to have 15+ paintings in a one-man show this coming January. We delve into not only the show and the paintings but at the more technical aspects of his painting process. It was a very introspective podcast and it was amazing to hear him speak on his process and how he solves the problems that he encounters at the easel. We also go into AI-generated art and discuss the ramifications artists are going to face down the road. 

So that's the kind of podcast it is and the kind I enjoy doing the most.  We get to have a nice back-and-forth and explore what's happening in his world and the world of art as a whole. It was a really fun podcast and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Art Dealer Diaries episode 269 with fine artist William Haskell.

Visit Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, AZ for a show and sale of new works by William Haskell.  Opening night is Friday, January 12, 2024, from 5 - 7 pm, (artist in attendance).

I had Bill Alther on today and wow, he's such a unique individual and has a great story. He's an individual who always knew he was going to be an artist. He just didn't know what kind of artist. 

He started painting in high school and after college, he began carving wooden sculptures of birds. He was successful and made a living doing it, but it just wasn't fulfilling. At some point, he said enough was enough. At the time, he was a drummer in a band called 'The Shades' which he did for ten years. After that, he was a wildlife biologist who worked at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for another ten or so years. Finally, he said, "Okay, I have to go all in on what I'm meant to be," which was an oil painter.

I actually met Bill and got to see his art for the first time at the Woolaroc Museum, which is a great museum in Bartlesville. I was so impressed with what he was doing that I just felt that I needed to introduce him to my viewers and listeners. 

Bill is truly unique, and I encourage you to see his paintings in real life. So I had a wonderful time and he's a very interesting artist. Bill Alther on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast number 268.

I always have a good time with Barry Friedman and he was my guest on the podcast today.  Barry's specialty is trade blankets. These range from the traditional Pendleton to a variety of different types of blankets that were made commercially from 1892 up to today. The Pendleton company is still making wonderful blankets as we speak. 

I've done a podcast with him in the past (episode 15), where you can hear his whole backstory. It's extremely interesting because he was a professional writer for comedians and the whole of Hollywood for around 30 years. He's funny... really funny, actually - which is why I enjoy having him on the podcast so much. 

This time around we wanted to talk about the new Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon with Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone. It's about the Osage tragedy of 1921 and, while it's a great read, It's a terrible, traumatic story. Much of America's history with Native culture, and the atrocities that occurred are not dissimilar from the events told in this film. 

As far as the podcast goes, Barry provided all the trade blankets for the movie. He sold them over 60 pieces. We talked about the process of how he got involved and what that meant for him. It's an interesting story involving a guy who has spent his entire life loving this kind of blanket and has become the world's expert on the subject. We had a great, fun time. And I think this is a really interesting and unique podcast with Barry Friedman.

I took the Art Dealer Diaries on a little road trip this week to northeastern Oklahoma, in the heart of Osage Country, to get an inside look at this blockbuster movie by Martin Scorsese called Killers of the Flower Moon. The book was by David Grann and the story is a tragic one for the Osage people. 

The Osage call it the reign of terror. It took place from 1921 to 1926, and at least 25 Osage were murdered by this cadre of white opportunists trying to cash in on the oil boom, which was partly taking place in the Osage Nation. The Osage themselves owned the mineral rights, and those allotments were handed out to the members. 

We were very fortunate to speak to an Osage woman who grew up in the area, Billie Ponca, and we had a discussion at Water Bird Gallery.  She spoke about what it's like to be an Osage woman today and about the real-life events that inspired the film, which she was part of. Her home was one of the backdrops in the movie and she was asked to be an extra in some of the scenes as well.

Billie liked the movie. She saw it in Tulsa when they had a special opening, not only for the Osage people, but the stars showed up for this screening as well, which was a big deal and something that usually doesn't happen. 

It was very interesting to get her take on what it's like to live in a house in Fairfax now, the movie, and the process of how the movie was created. It was delightful she was delightful. Hopefully, this podcast will add this additional layer of depth when you see the movie and help communicate the story and theme from a Native perspective.