Art Dealer Diaries Podcast

I've been wanting to do a podcast with Dominik Modlinski for a very long time. I've represented him for over a decade. He is just such an interesting, unique human being. Not like any other artist I've met actually. I represent him at my gallery not just because a skilled creative soul, but he's also just this, wanderlust incarnate-type person who has to go to the most interesting places on the planet to survive He immerses himself in these places for months at a time to capture the essence of wherever he is.Sometimes he goes on these long sojourns where he's on a motorcycle for months at a time, paintings and riding through backwoods and boondocks. He just got back from Mexico and he brought us some Mexico pieces and he also was just down in Ecuador. He was there for like nine weeks while they were going through major protests, kind of a "the country is closed down" type of scenario. He has a very unique unique story too. He comes from Poland initially, but he emigrated to Canada at 16  where he attended Art school. He's a fine artist that's academically trained and could be a very successful studio artist, but he just loves to travel the world. So a unique human, that paints beautiful paintings. I really had a great time on this podcast. I think everyone will enjoy listening to such an interesting and well-traveled human being. This is Dominik Modlinski on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 291.View Dominik Modlinski paintings here:https://www.medicinemangallery.com/collections/modlinski-dominik

One of the great things about this job is that sometimes these things come in that are just wonderful gifts. One of those gifts happened  to come in today, and her name is Karen Schmidt. Karen's grandfather was Albert Schmidt, who was a very famous Santa Fe painter.She came in with a large collection of paintings that she found in Albert's house after her grandmother passed in 1989. The house is not just any old house either. it's a house that was built and designed by artist William Pennhallow Henderson. It’s an important house. In fact, it’s a historical landmark and it's in Tesuque, NM. So she comes in, I’m looking at the paintings and I’m thinking, wow, this is amazing.  These paintings came with her grandfather’s house, and they somehow end up with me. Now I get the opportunity to sell this segment of the Albert Schmidt estate and it’s a very unique and rewarding thing that can happen as a dealer.It's sort of a dream situation when you have that opportunity and I thought I would share it. So we sat down together for a little bit and recorded the conversation. It’s not a very long podcast, but it’s meaningful and just know that when you’re seeing this, it is in the moment of when I’m meeting her for the first time and seeing these paintings for the first time.I knew who Albert Schmidt was. I’ve had his paintings. I love his paintings. So it’s a nice little inside scoop of how this collection became available and how it got to Medicine Man Gallery. Anyhow,  I just wanted to share it with you and I hope you enjoy. This is Art Dealer Diaries Podcast featuring Karen Schmidt, speaking on the paintings of her grandfather, Albert Schmidt.

Usually my podcasts are about the lives, the history, the particular path of creativity one takes. With Jill Carver, it's always interesting because this is my third podcast with her and each time it's fresh and unique.In this podcast - we're talking about her show "Land of Song - Grand Canyon Variations" which she's been working on for the last year and a half. That whole process of what it's like to go, "okay, I'm going to do a major show for a gallery and I want it to be fresh and different - and by the way, I'm going to do a subject that I've never done before, the Grand Canyon."The Grand Canyon... That's a tough one to take on for any artist. Hell, Maynard Dixon didn't paint it until the very end of his life. It's no easy subject matter. There's just so much to look at. That's what this conversation really focused on and I think this is a great podcast for artists and for collectors alike to get an inside look at what's involved in not just making a painting, but an entire show. I think it's one of those podcasts that people can used as a reference.Anyway it's a wonderful interview. I really enjoyed this podcast with Jill Carver and I hope you do as well.See Jill Carver's work on our website:https://www.medicinemangallery.com/collections/carver-jill

I had Amy and Andy Krane on today, and they own the magazine Art of the West. It's a longstanding magazine that has been around more than 36 years. The Krane's bought it in 2019. Since then, I have seen them at almost every show that I've gone to, and I've been at a lot of shows the last couple of years. I was really glad to see them in Tucson and to get a chance to speak with them about what they do. It was interesting to hear about the magazine business and some of the hurdles that they had to overcome. Buying the magazine right before the pandemic was a huge one. I mean, the price of paper and ink shot up 40% above what it had been. Luckily, Andy had experience running a very successful company before so he knew that steps he had to take to stay the course and stick it out. I think one major component was getting his family involved. The Kranes love art and it shows when they show up to all these events. I hope you enjoy this podcast and check out their magazine. It's a beautiful magazine with really great images and it's printed on great paper with a focus  on color accuracy.  Anyhow, I hope you enjoy Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 288 with Amy and Andy Krane.

Recently I've been interviewing artists at various shows in front of various paintings for use on my podcast and for social media videos as well. I must admit, the information that flows from these creative minds while in front of their respective works is really amazing and different from what you'd hear from a normal podcast of mine. This episode follows this format and then some. With that in mind, I highly encourage you to watch the YouTube version if you can.You see, the first half follows western artist Howard Post through his retrospective exhibit "Western Perspectives" at the Desert Caballeros Museum in Wickenburg, AZ. Howard speaks on some of his greatest paintings, sharing information about technique, inspiration, and just artistic insights in general from across the board. It was really great to journey through Howard Post's artistic career with him beside me narrating and guiding me from painting to painting. The second half of this podcast is completely different, and a real treat. Howard and I went down the road to a roping event, also in Wickenburg. This part is great because Howard is a decorated rodeo athlete. He explained so many of the rules and the more nuanced parts of the event. Howard is a real cowboy painting real cowboy paintings and it's amazing to see this side of him up close in personal.Howard is an amazing artist and friend. This whole experience was such a joy, and being able to share it with you made it even better. This is Howard Post on Art Dealer Diaries episode 287.

I had "Ranger of the Lost Art" Doug Leen on today. Very interesting, man, not only for what he's done for the arts, but just as much for what he's done for American history.He starts out as a park ranger, and even before that, he's in Vietnam Ultimately he gets involved in Kent State after he gets back from the war and meets with Nixon and talked to him about the his opposition for the war.It's also a story of discovery. You see, Doug finds this poster when he's in his mid-twenties, working as a park ranger. He makes this discovery and then decides that there's more to it and that he needs to figure it out. He keeps this poster his whole life. It goes with him from place to place and finally decides to solve the riddle he stumbled upon all of those years ago. That's what this podcast is really about. The story of the missing National Parks posters that were done by WPA  artists between 1938 and 1941. Doug has a book he just put out about his journey to uncover the missing pieces called "RANGER OF THE LOST ART–REDISCOVERING THE WPA POSTER ART OF OUR NATIONAL PARKS". To learn more about the book and to see various posters he found, visit his website: rangerdoug.comSo anyways, unique, fun, and interesting story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Douglas Leen on episode 286 of 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.-------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.