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I had Logan Maxwell Hagege on the podcast today. He's such an interesting person and a wonderful artist. I think you'll really enjoy this podcast as it's my 200th podcast. It's appropriate for Logan to be my guest on this milestone episode just because of the ride we've had together and how I’ve had the pleasure of watching him mature as an artist over the past 20 years. I remember him when he was in his early twenties. You could see there was a mountain of talent there, but he was struggling to find his voice at that particular point in time. Flash forward to now and he's one of the top artists in America. His work is very recognizable and when you listen to him speak on his journey, he makes it evident that people don’t/can’t become great artists overnight. It takes struggle and it takes evolution to get to that next level. Logan’s drive and desire to bring a unique voice to the art world helped him overcome the adversity that every artist faces. He's a perfectionist when it comes to his work. He only wants the best stuff out there.  It was a really fun podcast and I think you'll really enjoy it. Logan Maxwell Hagege on the 200th episode of Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.Logan Maxwell Hagege - Close to Home (Serigraph)https://www.medicinemangallery.com/catalog/product/view/id/68866

I had Matt Fitzsims on the podcast today and he wrote a wonderful book called 'The Counterfeiters of Bosque Redondo: Slavery, Silver and the U.S. War Against the Navajo Nation. I read this book twice, actually. There's so much in-depth history. I feel like you can actually hear the voices of the people sharing their perspectives of these dark times. Truth is, it was a devastating time for the Navajo people from 1849 to their release from Bosque in 1868. The book not only tells the story of the tragedy but also dives into the actual origin of Navajo metalworking. The book really enlightened me on just how early the Navajo people started working with silver and other metals. This was a  great podcast and Matt is a wonderful human being. I enjoyed our conversation a great deal and I encourage everyone listening to buy the book. It's available July 25th, 2022 but you can preorder on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Matt Fitzsimons on episode 199 of Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467151429https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/counterfeiters-of-bosque-redondo-the-matt-fitzsimons/1141347192https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeiters-Bosque-Redondo-Slavery-Against/dp/1467151424/

I had Jeff Mitchell on today. I've known Jeff for around 27 years and he's a really interesting guy and a very sweet man who loves art and has a unique background like so many art dealers do. This podcast tells the story of how Jeff became a leader in his field, primarily dealing in art by deceased artists, with a specialty in Maynard Dixon, which is an area that he and I have in common.We hear about the constant evolution in Jeff's life, from joining the marines to being a construction worker a couple of times, going to school for design, becoming a museum director, then a gallery owner, and finally a private dealer. He illustrates just how that happens–how somebody like Jeff has their professional life unfold like that over 45 years.When you get the opportunity to just sit down and talk with somebody in a very intimate situation where you can learn about the things that they went through, it's always unique and exciting. This is no exception and I enjoyed this podcast a great deal. Jeff Mitchell on Art Dealer Diaries episode 198.

I had Philip Garaway on the podcast today. I knew it would be a very interesting podcast and I also knew it would also go very long (which it did). It was over two hours so we're going to break this into two episodes.Part 2 of the Philip Garaway interview is about his transformation into a leader in the field of Native American art. He started selling items in 1975 as a 23-year-old and even had a show at the gift shop at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Philip goes on to discuss the gallery that he owned in Los Angeles, as well as his well-known friends and clients such as artists Tony Berlant and Billy Schenck, senator and silversmith Ben Nighthorse, and comedian George Carlin.I've known Philip for over 30 years. In fact, he was one of the first people I bought pottery from when I was still in the military in Los Angeles in 1988. So a very long history of who the players were in the Native American art field and how he was involved in forming it into what it is today. It's quite fascinating. Philip Garaway part two.Watch the Ethnic Arts Council of LA's documentary "LA Collects!"https://vimeo.com/354284476The ONWARD Project:https://www.onwardproject.org

I had Philip Garaway on the podcast today. I knew it would be a very interesting podcast and I also knew it would also go very long (which it did). It was over two hours so we're going to break this into two episodes.Episode one is about his early life and how he became who he is spiritually and emotionally from a walkabout in India for a year to living on a kibbutz in Israel and just all these interesting components of his life that make him who he is. We also speak on the Vietnam War and how that affected him and his family. Philip shares some stories that he hasn't shared publicly before and they are not only interesting but quite moving.  I've known Philip for over 30 years. In fact, he was one of the first people I bought pottery from when I was still in the military in Los Angeles in 1988. So a very long history of who the players were in the Native American art field and how he was involved in forming it into what it is today. It's quite fascinating. Philip Garaway part one.

Peter Nesbit came by today and we actually recorded on a Sunday (something I never do). I did that because I really wanted him on this podcast and sometimes you have to work around a person's schedule to capture important stories from important people. Anyway, Peter was in Tucson and I thought: "God, I got to have Pete on my podcast." Peter is just a really interesting individual. I've known him for 30 years, but you don't know somebody until you sit down and have an intimate talk about how they got through life accomplishing all the things they've accomplished.This podcast was uniquely Pete Nesbit. From his time in the Navy on a ship that was involved in a major ship-to-ship collision during Vietnam and how this moment affected how he sees things, to just his whole world view and how he wants to be remembered as a painter.It's clear that he puts that personal history and his place in the broader history of the world on a very high pedestal regarding what he does and why he does it, which is really trying to make an impact in every painting that he does. I think you'll find it very unique. I know I did.  I was really happy to have him on and I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. Art Dealer Diaries episode 195 with Pete Nesbit.

I had Tom Figarelle on the podcast today and he's the Executive Director of the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana. This podcast is unique because we get to hear the extent of Tom's love for his hometown which is Great Falls, MT. It's where he's from, where his parents are from, and where he lives and works to honor a historical figure that loved Great Falls just as much. The idea that a Western artist who died in 1926 can have such an impact on the world of art, but also have an immense influence on the state of Montana where he's kind of a superstar... It's mind-boggling stuff.You see, I'm very fortunate in my personal, most recent connection to the C.M. Russell Museum. I was actually invited to go and lecture there on August 20th of this year (2022) at this massive Charles Russell show that they have. There's a  major auction component to the show and they give out an award, the Western Heritage Award, which I'm very fortunate to be the recipient of this particular year. I encourage everyone to listen to this and if you can come out and see the show in August, it sounds like it's going to be an amazing event.I guess what really amazes me is that in some parts of the world, in some parts of America, there are artists that can break through and we can really see how important these people are. So I was thrilled to talk to Tom because he really could talk about this in a very intimate and personal way, having grown up in Great Falls and really kind of ended up with his dream job of being the executive director of this museum.Learn more about the upcoming show and auction at the C.M. Russell Museum:https://cmrussell.org/https://cmrussell.org/experience/upcoming-events/406-727-8787info@cmrussell.org

I had Krystii Melaine on the podcast today. She was born and raised in a very small town in southeastern Australia called Bairnsdale and followed her love of art up and down, trying to find her path. Eventually, she found her way into America and started painting Western art, which was a thing she didn't even know existed. Fast forward to today and she's one of the top artists in America painting wildlife and western figurative realism. She's done Native American subjects as well as cowboy subjects and is in more than 25 museum collections.It's just really fun to just hear how somebody from a little town in Australia can have a dream that a lot of us in the art world have/ had and pursue it so successfully. That's a big deal, right? To leave your country,  leave your family and friends,  follow your dream, and find success and security from your passion.Krystii will tell you her motto is: "How hard could it be?" Well, let me tell you, achieving what Krystii has achieved is incredibly difficult. It's something to be applauded. So if you're anything like me you'll find this podcast very interesting. I had a great time listening to her, she's just so upbeat, fun, and authentic. Krystii Melaine on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast Number 193.

I had Kim Wiggins on the show today and, wow... He's such an interesting guy. It's fun to be able to have such an erudite and wonderful artist that has such a unique story. He's from a ranching community in southeastern New Mexico (really close to where I grew up, actually). His father was a photojournalist, a very well-received photojournalist and he started his own paper. He had his own gallery and wrote books on Alfred Morang, Emil Bisttram, and William Lumpkins. Kim was around some of these great artists from time to time. Alexandre Hogue worked with Kim, and I think they did five shows together. Kim's also a wonderful storyteller. You'll see this in his paintings, too. I think it's really important to look at Kim's work when you listen to this podcast because it gives you a sense of where he's coming from. He believes, and I wholeheartedly agree with him, that he is telling the story of his New Mexican/cowboy culture where he grew up and the life he knows. In today's world, I think it's important to have something where you can go: "This is mine." And Kim feels that way about the West and about the ideas and emotions he projects through his paintings.  It's a fun podcast and again, he's an interesting individual, so it ran a couple of hours. I'm going to make this two-episode podcast, and this is episode two.

I had Kim Wiggins on the show today and, wow... He's such an interesting guy. It's fun to be able to have such an erudite and wonderful artist that has such a unique story. He's from a ranching community in southeastern New Mexico (really close to where I grew up, actually). His father was a photojournalist, a very well-received photojournalist and he started his own paper. He had his own gallery and wrote books on Alfred Morang, Emil Bisttram, and William Lumpkins. Kim was around some of these great artists from time to time. Alexandre Hogue worked with Kim, and I think they did five shows together. Kim's also a wonderful storyteller. You'll see this in his paintings, too. I think it's really important to look at Kim's work when you listen to this podcast because it gives you a sense of where he's coming from. He believes, and I wholeheartedly agree with him, that he is telling the story of his New Mexican/cowboy culture of where he grew up and the life he knows. In today's world, I think it's important to have something where you can go: "This is mine." And Kim feels that way about the West and about the ideas and emotions he projects through his paintings.  It's a fun podcast and again, he's an interesting individual, so it ran a couple of hours. I'm going to make this two-episode podcast, and this is episode one.

Juraj Skalina was my guest on the podcast today. I've known Juraj for.. gosh.. 25, almost 30 years? I started using him as a framer in 1996 and I think it's so important (when we talk about the business of art and the world of art) that we don't forget it's not just artists and art dealers. It's also people that work to optimize art for display in homes, galleries, museums, etc. such as framers, a critical component of our business. The craftsmen and craftswomen that work in framing often get overlooked. As for Yuri, he's a really interesting human who came from Czechoslovakia. He emigrated during a Russian-led invasion of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic for the purpose of suppressing political liberalization during a period of time known as the 'Prague Spring (a situation that is eerily similar to what's going on now in Ukraine). Basically, this is the story of a refugee who ended up in art school, ended up being in the military in Israel, owned an art gallery in New York City on the Upper West Side, and finally landed in Tucson, AZ, where he became a framing legend.I really enjoyed listening to him talk and learning his incredible backstory. Even though I've known this man for a very long time and he's framed a lot of things for me over the years... I've never dove into the intricacies of his life and getting to sit down for an hour and just have an intimate conversation was incredibly rewarding.I think you'll enjoy this podcast very much AND It's an especially valuable resource for artists looking to understand the value of a great frame, or better yet, a great framer.

I had Mike Fox on the podcast today and we spoke for almost 3 hours. I knew that was going to be the case when I started because he's a very unique individual with a rich background in the arts. He's had a lot of different jobs throughout his life, and when I say jobs I mean they were all museum or nonprofits type jobs.Mike has done great work for the likes of the Heard Museum, Museum of Northern Arizona, the Muhammad Ali Museum (an institution that he helped start in Louisville, Kentucky), and Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West. The last one is a fantastic museum and it's where I met Mike. I encourage people to go to it as I really believe in it and personally, I support it. Mike brought that museum to the forefront of the Western art museum scene and did a great deal to develop the museum in its infancy. Mike doesn't like to take credit for a lot of these things, but he is the impetus. It is an undeniable fact that he was a major player for many an institution, in Arizona especially. Not to mention he's met unique and interesting people along the way, like Sandra Day O'Connor and Muhammad Ali.I think you'll find this podcast very fascinating, especially if you've been to any of the museums that Mike was involved in forming/leading - or if you just enjoy museums in general. I know I did. So much so that, again we spoke for a long, long time. So it's a two-parter. This is  Mike Fox part one on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast Episode 188.

I had Mike Fox on the podcast today and we spoke for almost 3 hours. I knew that was going to be the case when I started because he's a very unique individual with a rich background in the arts. He's had a lot of different jobs throughout his life, and when I say jobs I mean they were all museum or nonprofits type jobs.Mike has done great work for the likes of the Heard Museum, Museum of Northern Arizona, the Muhammad Ali Museum (an institution that he helped start in Louisville, Kentucky), and Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West. The last one is a fantastic museum and it's where I met Mike. I encourage people to go to it as I really believe in it and personally, I support it. Mike brought that museum to the forefront of the Western art museum scene and did a great deal to develop the museum in its infancy. Mike doesn't like to take credit for a lot of these things, but he is the impetus. It is an undeniable fact that he was a major player in for many an institution, in Arizona especially. Not to mention he's met unique and interesting people along the way, like Sandra Day O'Connor and Muhammad Ali.I think you'll find this podcast very fascinating, especially if you've been to any of the museums that Mike was involved in forming/leading - or if you just enjoy museums in general. I know I did. So much so that, again we spoke for a long, long time. So it's a two-parter. This is  Mike Fox part one on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast Episode 188.

Jan Mapes dropped by the studio today to give us some paintings and a new bronze that she's recently produced. Luckily, I managed to wrangle her into the studio to do a podcast (which is not easy because she lives out in the middle of nowhere in eastern Colorado). Jan is a professional sculptor and painter and is very successful having shown in many museums and galleries, and is represented by my gallery here in Tucson. Her most recent museum show (at the time of recording) was the Briscoe Museum Night of Artists 2022 in San Antonio, TX. She was a rancher before taking the plunge into the art world, having operated a ranch with her husband doing hard ranching-type jobs for a number of years. Whether it was herding cattle, branding them, or doing what you do when you run cattle, Jan was surrounded by the subjects she chooses to sculpt and paint to this day. She lets us into that world during the podcast, which I particularly enjoyed hearing about.Jan is living proof that you can sometimes live two lives concurrently and shows just how important it is to find things that define you as a person. This podcast is worth listening to for more than just the artistic insight Jan provides, but also so you can experience the story of someone that refused to be denied the lifestyle she wanted to live.It was a really wonderful podcast. Art Dealer Diaries number 187 with Jan Mapes.

Oil painter Matt Ryder is my guest on the podcast today. He flew 23 hours from the U.A.E. to get to Tucson that's a commitment for your art. Matt reached out to me after hearing a podcast I had done with Eric Rhodes for his Plein Air Podcast, and now I represent him in my gallery, sometimes it can be that simple or hard if you are the one doing the flying.I love his work. He's gifted, as you can see when you look at his artwork, he's got the drive and that's what it often takes to succeed. I don't care what you do in life, you have to have a drive and believe in yourself and he absolutely does. Unlike many out there, however, he can back it up with what he's doing painting-wise.We discussed his early painting career doing caricature and illustration and the story behind how he ended up traveling from Dubai to Tucson to become a represented artist for Medicine Man Gallery. Matt also speaks on what it's like to be an artist making a living in Dubai and the many similarities between painting two deserts a world apart from each other. So anyone who's out there who says, I just don't know if I can do it, but I love it, I want to do it. Listen to this. Maybe you'll gain some knowledge that'll help you on your journey. So I had a great time. Matt Ryder on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 186.View Matt Ryder's available paintings here:https://www.medicinemangallery.com/western-fine-art/southwestern-contemporary-painters/ryder-matt

One of the reasons I do podcasts is not only to understand the guests I have on,  or the art world for that matter but also to gain insight into my own creativity and who I am. Jill Carver really brought that home for me today because she was willing to share her incredibly personal  journey leading up to her 2022 exhibition "The Wild Southwest, Forces and Form"She had to go through some major uncertainty, and quite frankly, some really scary stuff. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer during the time she was painting for this show and had to deal with all the medical implications and mental anguish that goes with something like that.  Through all of this, she found a way to cope with the circumstances and managed to produce what I believe to be her best work to date. When you listen to this podcast, you'll be immersed in that component of going through a traumatic diagnosis. Toward the middle portion of the podcast, Jill gives valuable insight into her and many other women's battles and how she came out on top. That's exactly the kind of thing that I hope to provide my listeners and viewers. An honest look behind the canvas, so to speak. So enjoy, this is Jill Carver on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast Episode 185.

Today's podcast is a little different. Instead of me doing the interviewing, I am actually going to be one of the people on a panel. The panel consists of myself and Davison Koenig, who is the director of the Couse-Sharp Historic Site in Taos, New Mexico. It's a great museum and I highly recommend going and visiting it. The moderator is Michael Clawson, who is one of the editors at the Western Art Collector, as well as Native American Art Magazine. It was a really fun and interesting discussion that centered around the intersection of Western and Native American art in museum and private collections alike. We talk about where Western art is headed and where Indigenous art is making inroads, as well as some other relevant topics of discussion.We run the gamut of what's going on, not just as I see it as a gallerist, but as Davison sees it as a museum director, and then how Michael sees it as a writer and editor of, not one, but two leading publications in the field. I hope you enjoy it, and you can thank Michael Clawson for putting it together.

I'm always amazed when I do a podcast and somebody I've known for 25 years or longer like Veryl Goodnight manages to surprise me, and not just surprise me, but enchant me. Her enthusiasm for what she does and her love of animals is and has always been the driving force for her creativity, from childhood to now. So, artists out there who are wondering, you know, "How do I make a living or what can I do? Or How do I find my passion?" Just listen to this podcast and you're going to see passion on a different level.It's real. It's palpable. It shows through in her sculptures and in her paintings, and she's always willing to try something new, something different, whether it be horses busting through the Berlin Wall, or working on renditions of sled dogs and the whole history of the relationship between those human and canine counterparts. She looks for things that are interesting, that captivate her imagination, often tied to, I'd almost say, always tied to history in some form or fashion.She's 75, and I guarantee you the last day of her life, she's going to have either a paintbrush in her hand or clay underneath her fingers. So enjoy this one. Veryl Goodnight on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 183.

I had Charles Fritz on today. He's such an interesting person, not just as a painter, but also as a guy who really loves the outdoors. Charles not only likes to hunt and fish, but he's also an individual that really believes in conservation. He believes that you have to get out and do plein air paintings to be able to capture what you hope to capture in the studio and this shows in his paintings and the major projects he takes on.One major project began in 1998 when he was camping along the South Bank of the Missouri River. He came up with the idea of rendering segments of the Lewis and Clark expedition and capturing all of that history in paint.So he fills the next six years of his life doing this. Something that was going to start out as a twelve painting series grew all the way to 100 paintings. Fritz having since published a book about them and created a show that travels periodically from museum to museum. In fact, right now, the Lewis and Clark paintings are on display at the Wonders Of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri.Charles is a solid artist with a great reputation and somebody that I've known for years and have collected his work for probably 15 to 20 years. I have quite a few of his works in my home, so I really enjoyed just getting to sit and talk with Charles Fritz.

I had painter Sue Rother on the podcast today. Sue is married to oil painter Francis Livingston, and, you know, they're a dynamic duo of artists. Both of them started in illustration almost 50 years ago and moved into fine art over the last 20 years.It was fun to talk to Sue about her trajectory and how she made her way through the illustration world, especially in the timeframe of the early and mid-seventies. During that time she had to compete for jobs in a primarily male-dominated industry. So we talked a little bit about that, but also just what it's like to be married to another artist.Sue is a unique human being, and I've known her for a long time, so the conversation was very animated and laid back with lots of laughs. Sue Rother on episode 181 of Art Dealer Diaries.