Join Tamara for an interview with Danèlle Lejeune, who is a poet, memoirist, and photographer, as well as the Assistant Director at the Ossabaw Writers’ Retreat. From her website: "Danèlle was a livestock farmer in Southern Iowa. She moved to Georgia with her three kids and nothing else in 2016, to begin again from the ground up. After a twenty year hiatus she's writing poetry, making art, and creating a a lot of chaos with her opinions on onions and pies." You can find her debut poetry collecti...
Apr 03, 2024•55 min•Ep. 161
Join Tamara for an interview with Molly Cusick, who works in the dual arts of photography and pottery, and shares a City Market studio with her mother (who also works in two art forms!). Traveling through the world's most beautiful places, Molly sees beauty where others are not looking. Faces of rocks, creek reflections, abandoned cars and barnacled boats offer a rich interplay of texture, color, and tone. Her eyes are drawn to the way that nature overtakes manmade objects. She has a specific pr...
Mar 20, 2024•57 min•Ep. 160
Join Tamara for an interview with Phoebe Plank, who is just a few months from finishing her MFA in Fibers at SCAD. Her path to making art in the first place began when she studied abroad in Paris during her undergrad program, and had her eyes opened to a more unconventional way of life by the older woman who housed her. After graduating, she moved from Vermont to San Francisco, eventually making a bunch of artsy friends and attending the Burning Man festival, and from there she decided to move t...
Mar 06, 2024•53 min•Ep. 159
Join Tamara and David for an interview with Stephen Kasun, who moved to Savannah and began working in the City Market studios back in 2009, and now has two ground-floor studios/gallery spaces. Before that he went to art school at Memphis College of Art, and then University of Cincinnati, and then sold his work in art fairs for years. Lately painting with acrylic paint and a palette knife, Stephen says: "My subject matter can be anything--as long as it’s about mood and light. My direct, deliberat...
Feb 21, 2024•58 min•Ep. 158
Join Tamara and David for an interview with The Maxines, "a badass all chick rock band in Savannah, GA - grunge w/ a kiss of metal." They're led by AJ Grey on vocals, with Emma Smith on bass, and twins Coco and Maddie Oke on drums and guitar. You might remember them from our musical episode back around Thanksgiving - if not, go have a listen! The Maxines released their debut album "Skin Tight" - named after the first song they ever wrote - back on October 1. Their next show will be Feb 24 at El ...
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 157
Join Tamara and David for an interview with Logan Artisan, a painter who works in an impressionistic style and who shows/sells her work primarily at the Savannah Gallery of Art. Originally from Fayetteville, NC, she earned an undergrad degree at Wingate University in music & vocals, with an aim to becoming a professional opera singer (!). After moving to Savannah, she studied fine art and illustration in graduate school at SCAD. Stick around for the 54-minute-mark of the show, when Logan sin...
Jan 17, 2024•57 min•Ep. 156
Join Tamara for an interview with full-time musician Matt Eckstine, whose songs we featured on a recent special musical episode. Within this episode you'll also hear a few snippets of his music, both solo and with past band The Accomplices. Matt was voted Best Local Americana/Folk/Roots Band/Artist in Connect Savannah's "Best of 2022" awards. Harnessing a wide range of influences from Tom Petty and Jack Johnson to Steve Earle and James Taylor, he released a debut solo album in 2017, and then in ...
Jan 03, 2024•59 min•Ep. 155
Join Tamara – and David Laughlin, previous co-host of the show! – for an interview with Bobby Bagley, a full-time painter. Born and raised on a military base in Arkansas, he painted his first piece during his freshman year of college. After moving to Savannah, he spent 10 years spent selling every painting he created through the Morris & Whiteside Gallery (now the Red Piano Gallery) in Bluffton. After that relationship ended, he moved into his own City Market studio (307 W. St. Julian Street...
Dec 20, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 154
Happy holiday season! We're celebrating with a special show of music by some of Savannah's beloved local musicians. First, Matt Eckstine, voted Best Local Americana/Folk/Roots Band/Artist in Connect Savannah's "Best of 2022" awards. Harnessing a wide range of influences from Tom Petty and Jack Johnson to Steve Earle and James Taylor, Matt released his debut solo album in 2017. In 2020, the mandatory quarantine provided him with an opportunity to move to a home studio, resulting in "Lil' Blue," 8...
Dec 06, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 153
Join Tamara – and David Laughlin, previous co-host of the show! – for an interview with Ron Martinez, owner of Hostess City Hot Glass, and his assistant Chris Charley. A native of nearby Metter, GA, Ron was first introduced to glassblowing while in college in the Pacific Northwest. While supporting himself in jobs ranging from salmon fisherman to antiques dealer, Ronald continued to pursue his love of the ancient craft in Seattle, the Bay Area, and even on a program in Sweden! Ron eventually ret...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 152
Join Tamara - and David Laughlin, previous co-host of the show! - for an interview with Ted Michalowski, a Professor of Illustration at SCAD with a long career as an On-the-Spot/Reportage/Lifestyle Illustrator. He graduated in the inaugural class of Murray Tinkelman’s MFA Illustration program at the Hartford Art School, University of Hartford. Ted went on to work as a courtroom artist in a variety of high-profile trials, broadcasted by CNN, CNN en Español, CBS News, ABC News, and Fox News. For t...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 151
Join Tamara for an interview with Ivan Chow, who's lived in Savannah since 2013 and is in the process of retiring from his lifelong career as an architect. At the same time, he's ramping up his fine art practice - Ivan has been drawing buildings and cityscapes throughout his life, of Savannah scenes and of everywhere else he's visited. For a few years now, he's been working as an Artist-in-Residence and Educator at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. He's also self-published two books of his artw...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 150
Join Tamara for an interview with Axelle Kieffer, painter and handcut collage artist. She was raised in a tiny French town on the German border, then moved to Strasbourg for college, and eventually came to Savannah at age 35 and has been here ever since. She currently has a show up at Sulfur Studios - Paper Cuts, An International Collage Exchange - which runs through this Saturday, Oct 21. She's collaborated on over 200 collages since 2019, mostly through the postal service with other artists fr...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 149
Join Tamara for an interview with Matt Toole ("Maker. Teacher. Explorer. Collector.") of Toole Sculpture Works. He creates contemporary artwork, custom furniture, lighting, and other unique objects for a variety of home and garden applications. Most elements are handcrafted from ferrous metals or upcycled from selected materials both manufactured and found in nature. Matt grew up around the barrier islands and salt marshes of Savannah, Georgia. He received a BFA from Georgia Southern in 1994, an...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 148
Join Tamara for an interview with Kurtis Schumm, a 20-year Tybee Island resident who started his adolescence playing guitar in the "esteemed haunts of Nashville and beyond, including the famed Bluebird Cafe at 14." After moving here, he transitioned into a culinary career, opening Tybee Island Social Club with his wife and eventually running 4 successful restaurants at once. Just before Covid, they sold their restaurant concepts and Kurtis transitioned again, into a full-time art career. His wor...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 147
Join Tamara for an interview with Charla Pettingill, a published illustrator, surface designer, and illustration professor with 14 years of industry experience designing for print and pattern. A native of East Tennessee, she graduated from SCAD with a B.F.A. in Illustration and an M.A. in Visual Communication, then moved to Atlanta to work in the industry. She's now back in Savannah, having returned to SCAD's Illustration department as a professor. Charla juggles this with her freelance work cre...
Sep 06, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 146
Join Tamara for an interview with Faran Riley - local artist, geology enthusiast, fine jewelry connoisseur, and aspiring surfer. A Savannah native, she was one of the first classes to go through Savannah Arts Academy. After living in both Boston and NYC, she returned to town in 2020 and now works out of Sulfur Studios, exhibiting her drawings, paintings, and rock collections. Faran begins her paintings with abstract imagery in Sumi ink (and sometimes acrylic paint), then "carves the image out," ...
Aug 30, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 145
Join Tamara for an interview with singer and musician Trae Gurley. He's a long-time Savannahian who specializes in songs by The American Songbook legends, such as Sinatra, Mercer, Porter, Gershwin, and Cahn. Over his 30-year career, Trae has performed at restaurants, jazz bars, private parties, and weddings, from The Hollywood Hills to Cape Cod. When downtown staple Jazz'd first opened in 2003, Trae began a weekly Thursday night singing gig, and he stayed for 10 years! After all these years, he ...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 144
Join Tamara for a re-interview with freelance artist/illustrator Adonis Deking. He was Tamara's first interviewee, so we're checking in to see what the past year has brought him! Adonis recently had a month-long exhibition of landscapes and pet portraits at the Churchwood Gallery in Pennsylvania. He's a self-directed learner who recently taught himself the impasto and sgraffito techniques, and he's juggling his pet portrait commissions with fulfilling orders of his stickers and prints on both Fa...
Aug 02, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 143
It's the one-year anniversary of Tamara taking over host duties from Rob Hessler! Join her for a replay of the first show - an interview with then-co-host Melissa Taylor of recent SCAD graduate Adonis Deking. This episode originally aired on July 20, 2022. And stay tuned for our next show, when I'll re-interview Adonis to see where he is in his freelance artist/illustrator career now that it's one year later! Check out Adonis's work and follow him here: https://www.instagram.com/deking_art/ http...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 142
Join Tamara for an interview with Kristopher Monroe: "writer, editor, and freelance culture assassin with over two decades of experience writing about the arts and other symptoms of human creativity." He was born and raised in Atlanta, where he began his freelance writing career, then lived in Seattle and NYC before settling in Savannah in 2013. You've probably read Kristopher's arts column in the Savannah Morning News, which he wrote for many years. He's also contributed to publications ranging...
Jul 05, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 141
Join Tamara for an interview with commercial photographer and SCAD grad Anna Young Byrd, who works out of Sulfur Studios. She fell in love with Savannah at age 12 when her sister came to attend SCAD, and has now lived here since 2017. Two years out of school, she's at such an exciting time in her career - just about to transition into doing her freelance photography full-time! Anna's goal during a shoot is to make the subject feel like "the coolest person ever," and her dream project would be sh...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 140
Join Tamara for an interview with Ariel Felton, a writer and editor with a decade of experience in feature writing, travel writing, and copywriting. She first arrived in Savannah in 2013, to pursue her MFA in Writing from SCAD. Post-graduation, she held writing jobs with SCAD and then taught creative writing for local non-profit Deep Center. Her writing has since been published in The New York Times, Vogue, The New Yorker (Shouts & Murmurs), The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Bitter Souther...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 139
Join Tamara for an interview with photographer and multidisciplinary artist Nathaniel Thompson. He was born in Thailand, grew up on St. Simon's Island, and has now lived in Savannah for about 4 years. He primarily uses vintage and analog devices such as early digital cameras, 1980’s slide projectors, medium formats, 35mm, and instant film. Nathaniel finds inspiration through his current geographical location, road trips, and historical reenactments, depicting images of everyday architecture that...
May 31, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 138
Join Tamara for an interview with textile maven Katie Glusica. She came to Savannah in 2008 to pursue her MFA in Fibers from SCAD, where she would have access to a then-rare and sought-after jacquard loom. Post-graduation, she exhibited her personal textile work in tons of renowned shows, including the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, and a SCAD booth at Design Miami of Art Basel. She uses weaving as a means to engage her viewer with the quantum concept of wave/...
May 17, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 137
Join Tamara for an interview with Curtis Bartone, printmaker and SCAD printmaking professor, who's lived in Savannah since 2001. His paintings, drawings, and etchings focus on the uneasy relationship between human beings and the natural world, exploring the idea of wilderness and how it has changed from being a real place–mysterious, unknown, and pristine–to a distorted fiction. Curtis does a great job breaking down all the ins and outs of various printmaking processes, including lithography, in...
May 03, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 136
Join Tamara for an interview with Mary Hartman, who moved to Savannah in 1996 to get her M.F.A. in Painting from SCAD and has lived here ever since. She works with vine and compressed charcoal, pastel, and acrylic washes, traditionally on heavy hot pressed watercolor paper, but lately has branched out into canvas and panel as well. Her work is very distinctive - an abstracted, gestural way of depicting realism. The subjects of her ethereal drawings include: horses and other livestock; still life...
Apr 19, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 135
Join Tamara for an interview with Monica Jane Frisell and Adam Scher, who have been on the road since July 2021, working from their Nomadic Photo Ark - a converted cargo trailer equipped with a full black & white darkroom and photo editing space. Together they're creating A Portrait of US, "photographically exploring and recording audio of the divisions and similarities in ideologies within our current American culture as we emerge from the pandemic." Monica & Adam are documenting the U....
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 134
Join Tamara for an interview with Kamryn Shawron, who moved to Savannah from Ocoee, Florida about 10 years ago to earn her SCAD degree in Fibers, and now works as a multimedia artist. Her work focuses on the integration of portraiture, embellishment, and fibers, and she describes it as "stitching and sewing beads into both found and original photos, canvas, and everything else." Kamryn has created a large body of work stemming from her own photos shoots, which she directs and designs, using frie...
Mar 29, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 133
Join Tamara for an interview with Jessica Leigh Lebos: Writer, Adopted Southerner, Anti-Socialite, Camellia Thief (and, as we decided during the interview, Public Menace). She arrived in Savannah around 2005, and then spent years writing 3 columns a week during Jim Morekis's era of the Connect Savannah, where she was voted Best Newspaper Columnist. She's also a 2022 Winner in the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. In 2018 she compiled her essays into a book called "Savannah Sideways." Sin...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 132
