Art Unknown Podcast

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Create art for other people to experience and to enjoy and for it to enrich their lives." - Shanti Hershenson Everyone is inspired by the success of the youth. As for the young adult novel world, our Episode 67 guest, the award-winning author, Shanti Hershenson is taking it by storm. Starting from very early on in her teenage years, Miss Hershenson has written over 30 books and published 20. This alone is an accomplishment any author can be proud of. But add in the fact that Shanti is barely 17 years old and one quickly realizes the power...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "If you can't tell your own story; really, who's story can you tell?" - Alan Katz Episode 66 continues the conversation with Hollywood legendary phenom, Alan Katz. We get very deep from jump, as they say, but pretty soon Alan weaves a fascinating tale of recovery and discovery and we talk about his world today as a podcast storyteller, his beliefs on plant medicine, and much more in this second half of the gripping life of the voice of the Crypt Keeper. Enjoy! images: ©alan katz the donor podcast website MORE ART UNKNOWN PODCASTS.fusion-portfolio-wrapper#f...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Making Tales From The Crypt was an extraordinary creative experience... it was fantastic." - Alan Katz Our Episode 65 is an Art Unknown first! The conversation with Hollywood legend Alan Katz was so good that we made it our first ever two-parter. Anyone enjoying tv in the 1990s will remember Tales from the Crypt and the lovable, terrifying Crypt Keeper. Mr. Katz developed the Keeper as a fully fledged character in the show. From a running dialogue of jokes and horror, Katz created the words, attitude, and sass of the Crypt Keeper. From TV to...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "[Art] is one of those quality of life things that give you a reason to get up in the morning." - Isaac Hersh Gutwilik Looking back at a life filled with art and music, our Episode 64 guest, Isaac Hersh Gutwilik is a drummer's percussionist. That is to say, while he knows his way around a drum kit, his true expertise lies in his ability to create complex beats and rhythms which balance and drive the music using traditional backing drums - bongos, congos, etc. After living and studying percussion around the world, Hersh found...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "You do not want to leave this earth with things on a bucket list and wishing you had done something." - Teri M Brown What do you do when life has beaten you down? When you question your place in the world? After a bad 14 year marriage ended, Teri M Brown found herself questioning everything. It was during this tumultuous time that she met the man who would become her champion and would challenge her to reach new heights. It was time for a grand adventure. Teri and her new husband Bruce created a...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Without [music] the world would be empty. This is a huge part of the happiness of our soul." - DJ Windy M As creatives go, DJ Windy M is a true chameleon of the arts. From her humble beginnings in the world of hair, to time spent embracing her love of music, she has put in the hours and the hard work required to not only take the stage, but to own it. Her dynamic presense and positive energy is felt far beyond her music. She has traveled the world and found a home...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "No matter how dark the day may seem there will always be light." - Ant Boogie When it comes to being immersed in what you love, few do it as well as Anthony Frazier - aka Ant Boogie. From musician to producer to radio DJ, Ant Boogie keeps himself busy with plates spinning and pots boiling. His love of music is infectious and his passion for life easily spills over to everyone who spends time in his orbit. With a lifelong dream of being on the air, Ant Boogie took the steps through learning...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art is the food of our souls." - Isabel Hülya Ergül What more can be said about the angelic vocals of our Episode 60 guest?! Isabel Hülya Ergül has lived a life of music from a very young age. She is classically trained as an choir singer and has progressed to become a powerful director of Antalya, Türkiye's own Choro Canzonetta; an international group of ameteur signers who love music and sing in multiple languages. I was extremely blessed to be a part of this group and perform in two conce...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Music, when it's done the right way... people can come together. Feel that energy. Feel that vibe." - Afro Preachah When your ancestors several generations back are men of the cloth, it would be natural and almost expected for you to preach the word of god as well. But then you find music. James Porter III grew up in the church, sung gospel and loved creating music. A child of the 80's he also fell in love with hip-hop. Fast-forward and we now have Afro Preachah, spreading his own gospel and preaching the truth...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "[Art is] a way of expression. It's something we need as human beings." - Sofia Zolezzi Chilean visual artist Sofia Zolezzi has had a lifetime to prepare for her relatively new art career. From studying art at a young age to playing around in the art realm for most of her upbringing, she took a left turn somewhere along the way to become an engineer, then a mother and a teacher. But she was left unsatisfied in her engineering and even teaching career and with the support and encouragement of her husband, decided in 2020...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art can really touch a person. It's very available for those who want to enjoy it." - Janet Dossigny With this episode of the Art Unknown Podcast we bring you yet another artist who had a full life and career BEFORE she became an artist... of sorts. Janet Dossigny is a well traveled, deeply spiritual creative who spent part of her adult life in the painting business. House painting that is. Though not traditionally thought of an artistic endeavor, painting houses taught her much about the use of brushes and application processes which has...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art elevates our lives everywhere." - Laura Viola Preciado A career as a full-time mom only lasts until the kids are grown and out of the house. This presents a perfect opportunity to embrace a new calling and explore a second passion. Laura Viola Preciado did just that. She went back to school with designs on being a nurse practitioner, but somewhere along the way, she found her inner artist. With coaxing from respected teachers and incredible support from her husband, Laura embarked on her journey to art school. After her studies she moved...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "You have to live every single day to the fullest because you don't know when you are going to leave." - Suzanne Frazier When life presents opportunities, it is the most aware among us that seize and create. After a lifetime of service and leadership in multiple industries, Suzanne Frazier rediscovered her artistic roots. A few classes in art led to a full blown fine art degree- 20 years after she finished college the first time. With a huge shift in her life, Suzanne embraced her artistic calling and went on to perfect what she...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Don't be afraid to be yourself." - Dr. John Bacon Our Episode 54 guest is proof positive that we can transition from one successful career to another. With a fruitful medical practice as an orthopedic surgeon, John Bacon really had no reason to become an artist. But while on vacation and at the urging of his wife, they took a painting class together and he found a love for putting paint to canvas. He decided to pursue life as an artist as he was heading toward retirement from medicine. Making the wise choice to take a c...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "In our own way, every human being is creating their own masterpiece of themselves." - Heidi Luerra Though most of the Art Unknown Podcast interviews are with artists, every once in a while it becomes necessary to tap into the mind of an art influencer; to get deeper insights into the business side of art. However, to call Heidi Luerra just an influencer is a discredit to her artistic nature. Her humble beginnings in the fashion world led to a vision of creating something so unique in the arts, it is not surprising that oth...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "One should always believe in what he or she can create." - Murat Germen For many of the world's best artists, life didn't start out with dreams of art. Murat Germen walked a similar path. His degree in architecture and city planning left him feeling constricted and boxed in. Instead of stifling his creativity, he allowed his artistic side to flourish, leading him to his life's passion... photography. Ever the artist, and not wasting the years of study, Germen infuses his architectural sensibility in much of his work, in documenting the cities he finds him...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Find whatever stokes your inner fire and pursue it." - Monalicious When music permeates one's soul, there is little they can do other than let it out. Our Episode 51 guest, Monalicious has embraced their musical gifts from an early age, knowing that music and art would be the focus of their life. As a non-binary artist, Mona realizes their influence and impact on others trying to find identity in a strange, mixed-up world. As a business person, Mona has founded Free Music 4 Free People, expanding from live shows to video and music production. Their wor...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art feeds the human soul. It makes the world a better place" - Jim Wills Episode 50 sets a milestone at the Art Unknown Podcast. A name change, a pandemic, and a journey across the world. These are just some of the topics we cover in Ep50, as we look at life as lived by Jim Wills and his partner, the artist Janrace Prudent, aka JRP. The tables are turned once again and Janrace takes control of the conversation. They discuss their journey in the arts and how the world has changed since the days of...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "You can change the world through art." - Angel Espino Seeing the artistic works of a master can move us in many ways. For Angel Espino, such an encounter awakened a desire deep within. A desire to paint; to express his emotions through art. The encounter was with an original Picasso piece and Angel was so taken by the experience that he decided to work on his own creative process. His journey has taken him almost 10 years and he is now on the cusp of realizing his dream of being a full-time artist. When he...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Oneness I think is the only way that all humans on planet Earth will be able to sustain and progress and move forward in our evolution." - Jesse Doyle Sometimes life carries us down the road in one direction. After a time our soul yearns for something more, or maybe just a different path. Visual artist Jesse Doyle has lived that very experience. After high school and some time in college, he decided the military would give him a sense of purpose and direction. Upon completing his time in the Marines, he entered into sec...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art is how we respond to our environment. It is a way to process external events." - Mary Bue Musician. Yogini. Nature Lover. They say the best things in life often come in threes. As an artist, Mary Bue is more like three times three, and maybe times three again. She was a paid musician from an extremely young age and she knew while she was still a teenager that her musical journey would be her profession. So few artists these days have that kind of clarity as a youth. Yet, for Mary, it has...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Just make art more than you are thinking about art and the rest will figure itself out." - Messy Ever After What makes a true artist? In the case of Kelly Marie, aka Messy Ever After, it is a person who lives and breathes art in its many forms, every day. As a young creative, she was selling drawings to family friends at age 6. Fast forward through high school where she dabbled with creative writing, then to college where she decided on a traditional career path, only to be drawn back into the world of...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "So if you are an artist and you think you've got something in you, close the door. Work!" - Steven Dossou As a person growing up in a country without a lot of what we in the West would consider to be privilege; Steven Dossou has found a way to spread his message, his passion, and his influence to a world much larger than himself. In this podcast episode we talk about his humble beginnings, his struggle of leaving his home at the age of 18 and traveling across several countries, by foot, to reach Sou...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "When I've experienced films that are transformative I feel like it makes me able to understand the world better." - Elizabeth Lo As a young person growing up in Hong Kong Elizabeth Lo was always captivated by film. The ability to take one on a journey through the expansion of their own understanding of the world around them is a gift. Lo remembered this lesson as she embarked on her educational career through film school in the United States. She has embraced such a gift and has been making it her own through short fil...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Focus on what inspires you and lights you up inside and that's what's going to light other people up too." - Anna Murphy Anna Murphy is the epitome of a true artist, right down to her core. She was raised by English and American parents and while she enjoys her tea-time, Anna is never more content than with a brush in hand and paint on her clothes. With art instilled in her from a young age, she went from musician to poet to actor, and finally landing on visual artist. Graduating with a degree in...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "At the end of the day, art is what connects us to our souls." - Zialand Beguiling, sultry and hypnotic are three words that describe equally Zialand's music and her captivating beauty. She is a Norwegian powerhouse who set off in search of her musical dreams at the tender age of nineteen. Landing in Los Angeles, Zia quickly made waves with her angelic voice and her "I can do anything" attitude. After enduring the trauma of an extremely bad relationship, Zia came out stronger than ever and emerged fully formed with her release Unbridled and...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Music in general, is universal. It's that thing we can all connect over." - Cole Scheifele As a young up-and-coming musician, Cole Scheifele (shife lee) may inhabit the body of a young 20-something, but his folk music emanates from a very old soul. He is deep and reflective and his prose will get inside your head. His desire to break into the music scene was hit head-on by the COVID-19 pandemic so Cole did what any enterprising musician might do; he decided to cut an album. With a five-song EP under his belt, Cole set...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Just be Kind." - Jensen Sutta The conversation continues with photographer Jensen Sutta. In our first ever 2 part episode (Part 1 - Ep39) we expand on the ideas of networking and customer service and why both are so important in any business. We also discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Jensen's career and the shift he made during the shutdown to continue working. Jensen utilized his downtime from behind the shutter to organize his celebrity portraits and published the coffee table book Five Feet From Greatness. Not only is it a great way to showcase and...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art is that historical capture of time. It freezes it for you and jogs your memory and makes you happy." - Jensen Sutta Jensen Sutta might be the nicest photographer there is. But don't let his gentle demeanor fool you. He is extremely passionate and absolutely driven to create the very best, most stunning portraits and event photography possible. A catastrophic accident in his college days forever changed his life and career path and the photography world is far better for it. He brings a professionalism to his work that is rivaled by none and...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art... really fundamentally connects us as humans." - Patricia McInroy Photographer, videographer, teacher, award winner, mentor. Patricia McInroy is all of these, but none truly describe her. I personally was honored to take classes from her when I went back to finish my college degree and she has taught and mentored countless students before and after. Currently, as an adjunct professor at the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design in Denver, Colorado, Patricia brings with her a wealth of knowledge and just the right amount of outside the box thinking that makes for a ver...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Your story and who you are in your journey as an artist is part of what makes your art valuable." - Adrianne Tamar Arachne Every once in a while an artist comes along who creates something completely new and unique to the art world. Pollock did it with paint splatter. Warhol achieved it with repackaging everday items into pop art. Adrianne Tamar Arachne brings us a magical combination of traditional and digital mediums that make her paintings glow with a luminescence, both capitvating and yet not quite like anything we've seen before. With a str...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art is basic human language." - Aaron Burris-DeBoskey, Lé Secret What do you get when you combine the talents of three very accomplished musicians onto a stage where anything goes? We'd tell you, but it's Lé Secret. Aaron Burris-DeBoskey brings the guitar with a plethora of pedals to transform, modulate and otherwise alter every note that comes from his strings. Add in Jakey Wherry on what can be loosely defined as keyboard and synthesizer. The sheer volume of wires and plugs indicates that his instrument is so much more. And finally, add in a percu...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Whatever shows up and brings you joy, just listen to that." - Ariana Gradow "Stepping outside of one's comfort zone" could be the theme not only for this episode, but for the life of artist and businesswoman Ariana Gradow. Leaving a home in Aspen, Colorado to study yoga teacher training in Costa Rica would be just the first in what has become a lifetime of listening to her heart's desire and making big moves to fulfill those dreams. From yoga she moved into the air and studied aerial performance, becoming an expert in several dif...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Learn to become your own greatest teacher and your own greatest fan." - Ben Makinen Ben Makinen is a recording artist, composer (BMI), producer and filmmaker. In 2002 he founded the record label Bmakin Music. Born in Maine, Ben grew up in California, Washington and Oklahoma before graduating high school in Colorado. Seeing Miles Davis perform live three times and then meeting the Dalai Lama in person forever changed the way Ben would approach the art of music. As a drummer and percussionist, he has been touring the world as a sideman since 1985 with r&b, f...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art is one of the things the human race has done right." - Randal Roberts Embracing the divine. A window to the universe. Touching the unknowable. These are apt descriptions of what someone might experience when spending time with the master works of visual artists and live painters Morgan Mandala & Randal Roberts. Both are incredibly talented as individuals, though together they have become a fantastically successful team, finding their niche and finding their fans. Growing up in vastly different parts of the country, yet walking a similar road, Morgan and Randal's development of their art...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Gamelan is a community... and that's the most important thing about Gamelan." - Ade Wijaya Two years ago I entered into a world that many Americans don't get to see firsthand. It started with the music, then a trip to Bali and culminated with me joining a premier Balinese gamelan group, one with an incredible history and a promising future. Gamelan came to Denver, Colorado thirty years ago in what would become Gamelan Tunas Mekar (GTM). Throughout its three decade history the group has seen more than one hundred members come and go and tod...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "We are surrounded by metaphor, poetry and symbolism and it goes unnoticed by most of us." - Gordon Mehterian International artist Jesse Frazier has teamed up with art provocateur Gordon Mehterian to bring us a new and unique art experience. A space to find yourself immersed in art. To converse about art. To experience art throughout your entire soul. This is what the co-owners of the new Talk Gallery aim to bring us. In this episode, we talk about the impetus for the gallery, Gordon's love of all things art and Jesse's discovery of his...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS "Art is the expression of human creativity" - Andrew Clark We live in a world of dichotomy. As our human consciousness expands, the world itself becomes a smaller and smaller place. Lines are blurred and nations dissolve into one another. We as a species are only just beginning to understand just how interconnected we all are. The same can be said for photography. Ever since the advent of digital, the business of photography of has changed and blurred almost as fast as the upgrade cycle of the iPhone. Andrew Clark is a man who pivo...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS Live your Truth. The Universe will take care of the rest. - Joshua Gillow Joshua Gillow is a man of conviction. Of of his greatest qualities are his honesty and his honor. Getting to know Josh, I am confident that these qualities are what has helped him become incredible at his art and his work. Josh's business is about making life better. As the owner of Masterplan Outdoor Living, his artistry is that of a landscape architect. Based in northeastern Pennsylvania about an hour and a half from Philadelphia, Josh has built his career and...

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS Focus on Yourself and Follow Your Heart - Okuda San Miguel Talking with him today, you would never know that Episode 28's Okuda San Miguel came from a modest upbringing in northern Spain. Nor would you think him a pretentious modern-day master, though a master he certainly is. Yet his talent is as much about his business acumen as his artistic skill. He has struggled just like the rest, but he surrounded himself with a team of people who continue to support him today as he spreads his unique surrealistic vision around the world. From...