Episodes

  • #12 Exploring The Creative Process in Art: All you need to know (Part I)
    Dec 4 2024

    This is the first episode of a new series exploring the creative process in art with Lynn Schwarz, American artist based in France, and Bianca Vinther, creator of The Pointless Artist Blog and The Pointless Artist Podcast.

    In this episode and in the first blog post of the series called „The Creative Process in Art: All you need to know“, we answer the following 5 most frequently asked questions:

    1. What is the creative process in art and what is the key to the process?

    2. How can the art-making process feel successful and rewarding though challenging and, perhaps, hard at times?

    3. Creative processes are individual actions. Although every creative process is unique and different, they all seem to have something in common. What is that?

    4. What does it mean to be a process-driven artist: does it mean to not have any idea or outcome in mind at all?

    5. Does a creative process have a beginning and an end?

    Stay tuned, and hit subscribe if you enjoyed this podcast episode. You can drop an e-mail or pm Bianca Vinther on Instagram: @the_pointless_artist. I'd love to hear from you!

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    22 mins
  • #11 MEANING IN ART & AUDIENCE RESPONSE with Lucianna Whittle
    Dec 8 2023

    This sharp and to the point podcast episode with Lucianna Whittle, a Brighton-based process-driven painter, is about meaning in art and audience response.

    Does art have a purpose? Do and should contemporary artworks have a meaning, a specific content? Can and should they be interpreted?

    How does contemporary audience response look like? What shouldn't visual artists expect from their audiences?

    And how should visual artists make art best: with the potential buyer and his expectations in mind or, like the Sudanese painter and Tate Gallery artist Ibrahim El-Salahi once said, "with no idea whatsoever about what [the artwork] is going to look like"?

    Take a listen to this poignant conversation with Lucianna Whittle, and come talk with us next time on The Pointless Artist Podcast about purpose in art, the art-making process, and audience response!

    Via The Pointless Artist Blog and The Pointless Artist Podcast, I support the creative energy of life and the artists who contribute to transforming this world into a freer, kinder, more inclusive, caring, transparent, and compassionate place to live. I firmly believe in the passion for art, the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences, and the power of personal stories to bring us together.

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    36 mins
  • #10 ART TALK with Sandy Kilpatrick, Scottish musician based in Portugal
    Nov 3 2023

    In this podcast episode, Sandy Kilpatrick, Scottish singer-songwriter based in Portugal, unfolds his life story, and gives us an insight into his creative process.

    He first takes us back into his formative years, when he was a student in Lancaster and then a Manchester-based singer in an indie-rock band. Further, he discusses the transition from a fast-paced professional life in England to a family life in Portugal. One of the highlights of our conversation is Sandy’s almost idyllic description of his large forest, the lush green hues of the leaves, the dazzling variety of his fruit trees, and the wonderful fragrance of orange blossoms. As he confesses in this podcast episode, in such moments of pure grace, when he feels most clear and free, Sandy becomes receptive to inspiration and he allows it to flow. If his guitar happens to be around, then he freely plays its strings, the magic occurs, and a new song is being born. The floodgates open when he silences his self-critical voice for a while.

    Sandy argues convincingly that making peace with the inner demons and getting rid of the tyranny of the mind, an expression he borrowed from his wife, is essential for personal growth and creativity in art.

    Listen to this podcast episode with Sandy Kilpatrick and feel his joy and creative energy! They're contagious :-)

    Via The Pointless Artist Blog and The Pointless Artist Podcast, I support the creative energy of life and the artists who contribute to transforming this world into a freer, kinder, more inclusive, caring, transparent, and compassionate place to live. I firmly believe in the passion for art, the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences, and the power of personal stories to bring us together.

    From Germany with love,

    Bianca Vinther

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    43 mins
  • #9 ART TALK with Susan Hopkinson, Canadian Feeling-Better-About-Life-Expert
    Feb 19 2023

    In this fascinating podcast episode, Susan Hopkinson talks about creativity, inspiration and artist block. She also discusses the link between creativity and inspiration, and she reveals the secret to unlocking your creativity, finding inspiration, and being in the creative flow.

    Susan stresses here the importance of humility and letting go in the art-making process. With this talk and like the previous guest to The Pointless Artist Podcast, the Polish painter Kristof Klimek, Susan sends out a clear and profound message of humility in a visual culture dominated by ownership and the monetary value of art.

    Here's a snapshot from my art talk with Susan: Once you start to contain what you’re doing while you are in a creative flow, and you begin to make choices based on an idea of what you should do instead, you “box yourself and your own creativity in”. Put simply, artist block is not allowing yourself and your creative energy to flow, as well as not letting go of your creative impulse. "If you're not able to let go, nothing new can come in." (Susan Hopkinson)

    I wholeheartedly invite you to listen to my art talk with Susan Hopkinson and to benefit from her wisdom!

    Via The Pointless Artist Blog and The Pointless Artist Podcast, I support the creative energy of life and the artists who contribute to transforming this world into a freer, kinder, more inclusive, caring, transparent, and compassionate place to live. I firmly believe in the passion for art, the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences, and the power of personal stories to bring us together.

    www.thepointlessartist.com

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    46 mins
  • #8 ART TALK with Krzysztof Klimek, Polish painter & photographer
    Jan 5 2023

    In this podcast episode, Kristof Klimek tells us his fascinating story from when he first fell under the spell of art until now, when he is not only a passionate painter but also a committed husband and father of two.

    He talks extensively about the unique experience of painting in nature, primarily in the countryside, among regular people going about their daily lives and carrying out regular jobs, and the challenges of being a plein art painter.

    He addresses topics like creativity, inspiration, finding versus seeking, and the question of perception and reality in visual arts, and reveals the secret behind artist block. He also discusses the link between passion and discipline, as well as the wisdom of living in hic et nunc and of practising art in a less rational and more intuitive way.

    Kristof touches also upon the incomprehensible and undefinable in art, that something else that transcends logic and language, as British-born Mexican artist Leonora Carrington would put it. He reveals himself as an artist who understands what it means to be an instrument of grace, a channel of creativity, as Henri Matisse wrote in one of his art books named Jazz.

    Not least, Kristof tackles the topic of humility as an artist and the significance of being humble when making art. He sends out a subtle and profound message of modesty with this art talk in a culture dominated by ego, vanity, and obsession with mundane concerns, such as number of followers and profit.

    Via The Pointless Artist Blog, I support the creative energy of life and the artists who contribute to transforming this world into a freer, kinder, more inclusive, caring, transparent, and compassionate place to live. I firmly believe in the passion for art, the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences, and the power of personal stories to bring us together.

    www.thepointlessartist.com

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    46 mins
  • #7 ART TALK with Lindsay McCulloch, American artist and professor of visual arts
    Jun 30 2022

    Hi, I'm Bianca Vinther, the creator of The Pointless Artist. This is a conversation I had with Lindsay McCulloch, American artist and professor of visual arts based in Maryland, USA on Saturday, 28 May 2022.

    Lindsay comes from a family of artists, where creativity was part of everyday life. In 2005, she received her Master of Fine Arts in painting from Boston University. Nine years later she became Associate Professor of Visual Arts at the Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland.

    In this podcast episode, Lidsay explains the meaning of change, the tension between being a mother and an artist, her artistic development, and the stages of her creative process. She also talks about the female artists who influenced her art, like Elizabeth Murray and Cecily Brown, her sources of inspiration and creativity, and how she deals with artist block.

    Lindsay's art, as well as her work as a teacher and, more recently, as a protester for women's rights, is a powerful example to emulate – an example of empathy, patience, and strength, of resilience and faith in the power of good and togetherness.

    Listen to this podcast episode with Lindsay McCulloch and get lots of hope, light, and inspiration for your art!

    Via The Pointless Artist Blog, I support the creative energy of life and the artists who contribute to transforming this world into a freer, kinder, more inclusive, caring, transparent, and compassionate place to live. I firmly believe in the passion for art, the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences, and the power of personal stories to bring us together.

    www.thepointlessartist.com

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    42 mins
  • #6 ART TALK with Jacques Moreau, French concert pianist and professor of music
    May 30 2022

    Hi, I'm Bianca Vinther, the creator of The Pointless Artist. This is a deep conversation I had with Jacques Moreau, French concert pianist and professor of music based in Lyon, France on Tuesday, 12 April 2022.

    Jacques graduated from the Paris Conservatoire. Aside from piano concerts, he taught and held management positions within the network of French music schools since 1982. In 2002, he became Deputy-Director of the Music Department at the Lyon Conservatoire and Head of Cefedem Rhône-Alpes in Lyon, an institution that trains music teachers in innovative, student-driven, and project-based ways. During the academic year 2014-2015, Jacques was appointed by the Belgium Quality Agency for Higher Education to chair a committee in charge of assessing the four musical higher education institutions of Belgium (French part). Among other things, he’s also Academic Advisor to the Princess Galyani Vadana Institute of Music in Bangkok, Thailand.

    In this episode, we talk in depth about the essence of music and the secret to being a musician, the importance of artistic expression, the role of the performer on stage and of a holistic, student-driven musical education, and we draw striking parallels to the visual arts and the art-making process.  

    Listen to this podcast episode with Jacques Moreau and learn about the experience of music in hic et nunc!

    Via The Pointless Artist Blog, I support the creative energy of life and the artists who contribute to transforming this world into a freer, kinder, more inclusive, caring, transparent, and compassionate place to live. I firmly believe in the passion for art, the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences, and the power of personal stories to bring us together.

    www.thepointlessartist.com


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    52 mins
  • #5 ART TALK with Anne Brenner, Paris-based French artist
    May 17 2022

    Hi, I'm Bianca Vinther, the creator of The Pointless Artist. On Saturday, 16 April 2022, I had an inspiring conversation with Anne Brenner, French painter from Paris, France.

    Anne is a skilled observer, explorer, and painter of nature, especially wild animals. She approaches life in its infinite diversity with the zest, curiosity, and adventurousness of a 19th-century explorer although she doesn’t work distinctly as an explorer or a scientist but as an artist. She uses field work and silent observation to build her art not as an intruder into nature's secret chambers, but as a humble yet curious discoverer. Her unique experience of tracking animals in Africa is a milestone in her career, which has paved the way for her further development as a wildlife painter. 

    In this episode, we talk in depth about Anne's creative process and the way she observes Nature. We also talk about science and adventure, and the intricacies of tracking animals in Africa and producing a body of art works that are authentic testimonies of life itself. In this art talk, Anne reveals the secrets behind her works from the Ivory Coast, Canada, and the Italian wild mountains. She also discusses the ways in which she connects with the natural world and her understanding of wild animals as invaluable creatures in their own integrity and as pendant to humans.

    Listen to this podcast episode with Anne Brenner and enjoy the adventure in the African bush and the Canadian forests!

    Via The Pointless Artist Blog, I support the creative energy of life and the artists who contribute to transforming this world into a freer, kinder, more inclusive, caring, transparent, and compassionate place to live. I firmly believe in the passion for art, the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences, and the power of personal stories to bring us together.

    www.thepointlessartist.com

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    39 mins