Nitty Gritty

On this week’s episode, Kate and series regular Flick are discussing the ethics and etiquecy of copying.

Imitation vs. inspiration, and the cold hard truth that no idea is completely original. In a world of instant gratification and limited patience, where everyone wants the destination without the journey, ideas are being copied and pasted left, right and centre.

But where do we draw the line between inspiration and stealing? Is copying ever okay? And how do you develop your own creative voice when everything has been done before?

From finding your artistic style to navigating copycats and creative ownership, Kate and Flick unpack the messy grey area between borrowing ideas and making them your own.

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This week Flick and I are back in London with artist Alma Berrow. Self-taught, Alma calls herself an artist who works with clay rather than a ceramicist. Her sculptural installations turn everyday objects into something humorous, surreal and quietly loaded: ashtrays, oysters, Ritz crackers, pomegranates, a lone gherkin placed beside a bowl of them.

We talk about how having no formal training became an advantage, why she still can’t make a vessel, and what she took from a three-month residency in Montana. We get into the point where her art career stopped feeling like play, her fear of becoming “Ashtray Girl,” and the stranger at a show who wondered aloud whether she’d turn out to be a one-trick pony.

Alma also shares how she found her way back to joy in the studio and the gallery owner who brought gender into a negotiation. She explains how months of research into myth and folklore become a full tablescape, including the one she’s building for her first solo booth in Miami this December.

It’s a conversation about making without an audience in mind, and about protecting the playful part of a creative practice once it becomes your job.

See Alma's work here, and her Instagram here.

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I’m back with illustrator, artist and curator Tabby Booth for round two! A year after her first Nitty Gritty episode, we caught up outside the Tate Modern for a chat I'm very excited to share.

Since we last caught up, Tabby has launched her Substack, Cult of Create, where she shares more of the inner workings of her practice — money, motherhood and the truths of being a working artist. We talk about why she’s building more of her creative world away from the Instagram algorithm, why buyers can make the best sellers, and how to know when it’s time to stop saying yes.

And yes, we get into the £83K month. Tabby breaks down her biggest month to date and the mix of paintings, art fairs, print-on-demand, licensing and other income streams behind it.

If you haven’t listened to Tabby’s episode from last season, it's just as insightful as this one.

Find Tabby's:

~ Instagram here

~ Substack here

~ Website here

~ Gallery here

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Got a big following but no one's buying? I'm flying solo today to break down the difference between building an audience of peers and one of buyers, and why your approach to content makes all the difference when it comes to selling art online.

I get into why attention doesn't equal intent, how "process content" can bring about students instead of collectors, and why clarity (not virality) is what actually sells your work. I also share the exact question I ask myself when I'm stuck on how to present my art online, and why confidence in your work matters just as much as the work itself.

If your engagement's high but your sales aren't, this one's for you.

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This week Flick joins me in Copenhagen for a chat with artist Arne Ohlsen.

Arne started his art practice in Australia while working as a carpenter, painting on wooden offcuts because canvas was out of reach. He gained momentum quickly, exhibited at several shows, and moved into a full-time creative practice before returning to Europe, where the work turned darker, leaning into identity, isolation, power and struggle.

We talk about the real differences between making art in Australia and Europe, whether struggle actually produces more emotionally powerful work, and what happens to a practice when the desire to sell starts shaping what gets made. We get into his decision to keep carpentry alongside his art career, the pull between experimentation and building a recognisable style, and why his version of success isn't commercial art stardom but a nice studio in a warm climate.

Arne also opens up about his discomfort with being seen, how comparison in the art world knocked his confidence, and the challenge every working artist faces: promoting your work without becoming a version of yourself that doesn't feel real.

Find Arne on Instagram here!

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Should your work look like an extension of you? This week, I sit down in Lisbon with Ukrainian-born, Portugal-based textile artist Bombony. Best known for her geometric textile works, Bombony draws on her background in architecture to create intuitive compositions that balance structure and softness, allowing meaning to reveal itself over time.

As a single mother and full-time artist, she's built a sustainable creative practice spanning painting, textiles and sculpture, finding the intersection between fine art and interior design as a way to create on her own terms.

In this conversation, we explore the relationship between artist and artwork, the tension between image and identity in a male-dominated art world, how motherhood sharpened rather than limited her practice, and the role of cultural displacement in shaping an artistic voice.

Find Bombony on Instagram here or visit her website here.

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This week we’re getting a crash course in Marketing 101 with the person who markets me — Felicity “Flick” Brown, my marketing and brand strategist, plus basically 55 other jobs in one.

For the past 18 months, Flick has helped me scale my art business, and now we’re finally sitting down to unpack exactly how we got here — from landing on my new marketing plan to all the trial and error attempts we made along the way.

We get into the purchasing funnel and why selling high-value art is a much longer game than a simple impulse buy. We talk vanity metrics, why ‘how-to’ content might not be converting the way you think, and how world-building and storytelling can actually help you sell.

Flick explains why the why behind a piece can matter more than the how, whether artists should embrace being elusive or build a front-facing persona, and why sometimes you just have to try on different content styles until you find what actually fits.

If you're a working artist trying to figure out how to actually market your art career and sell your work, this one's for you.

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Nitty Gritty is on tour with me while I move around Europe and this week I'm in London with oil painter Adam Baker.

In his practice, Adam focuses on intimate, imagined snapshots of queer life and love, drawing on personal experience to build fictionalised narratives that speak to the emotional complexity of contemporary queer identity.

Baker often investigates the contradictions of connection — how queer spaces can feel electric with possibility yet, simultaneously, deeply isolating. Through merging figures, geometric structures and atmospheric environments, he subverts traditional depictions of masculinity, revealing the vulnerability, strength and fluidity inherent within queer relationships.

Both being emotional lil human beans, we talked about the woes and throws of allowing feeling to drive your creative practice. When art from the heart becomes something slowly killing you — substance abuse and pain as a necessary medium — what happens to you as a person? Do we need all of this suffering to make good work, or is just being human enough?

Find Adam on Instagram here and on his website here!

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Bella McGoldrick and Tyler Rogers built a thriving art business by breaking every rule the traditional art world swears by.

As the duo behind Looks Pretty Good, Bella is a coloured pencil artist producing hyperrealistic works inspired by mementos from the places she's lived, and Ty, with a background in design and tech, keeps the wheels of their art business turning behind the scenes.

Ty's decision to join full-time only came about a few years ago, and since then the pair have doubled down harder than ever, stepping away from gallery representation to do it all themselves. Fiercely independent and headstrong, Bella and Ty are building a new way of working that challenges the traditional landscape of the art world.

In one of the most honest conversations we've had on Nitty Gritty, they laid it all on the table. From content strategy experiments and hard-won hypotheses about actually selling art, to the power imbalances and flat-out incompetence they encountered with galleries, and how that gave them the confidence that they could do a better job themselves.

Dollar signs, hot takes, and niche references. This one's for every working artist trying to figure out if the traditional path is really the only one.

Find Bella on instagram here and the Looks Pretty Good studio here

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Creativity thrives inside structure, and Lauren and Kass of Crossing Threads are proof.

This week, I sat down with the Sydney-based sisters behind one of Australia's most distinctive fibre art practices. Together, they use weaving as a way of exploring emotion, memory and connection through texture and form — describing their creative practice as "breathing through their hands."

This episode tackles the business of being a working artist - how to optimise workflow, efficiency and creative output while still prioritising time for one another and family. From contracts and workflows to platforms, tools and processes, Lauren and Kass get into the nitty gritty of how they've optimised their art business without sacrificing the slow, intuitive nature of their craft.

Type A listeners will love every minute. Type B's should bring a pen... so many goodies!

Find Crossing Threads online here, and on Instagram here.

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Befriending fear has been the best decision I ever made.

Today I'm flying solo and sharing the lesson that’s underpinned my creative career. In the last few months, I've made some enormous changes. I left my studio of five years, my community, and the entire foundation my creative practice had come to depend on. A choice to bite into the bitter taste of fear, hoping for something sweeter underneath.

And the result? This year has seen some of my favourite works yet. I faced materials, colours and ideas I’d be avoiding. I started dancing again. I made new friends, embraced more rest, more silence, more intuition. I've been fully present with the process and as I grew and expanded, my art career has too.

The lesson I’ve walked away from this with is that fear is your friend. In facing your fears as an artist, they grow smaller and you grow bigger. Listen to the little voice in your head telling you not to and choose to do it anyway.

If there’s anything you’ve been afraid to face, I hope this week’s episode can be the gentle nudge you needed, and the reminder that the creative life you want often lives on the other side of fear.

Follow the podcast on insta here!

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We’re back for our 5th season, and starting us off is an incredible conversation with Loribelle Spirovski.

Loribelle is a Filipina-Australian artist who, after almost giving up her art career due to a persistent nerve injury, intuitively taught herself to finger paint. What began as an act of perseverance became a technique that liberated her as an artist, ultimately leading to her winning the 2025 Archibald People’s Choice Award.

In this episode, we unpack the romanticism of the ‘damaged artist’ archetype and why safety, not struggle, is where the best work comes from. Plus, we wrestle with the questions artists quietly carry: Does the best work come from suffering? What actually makes art good or bad? Can you fake authenticity? And do creative ideas ever really run out?

For anyone trying to build a sustainable creative practice without burning themselves out along the way, this episode is a reminder that safety might be the key to your best work.

You can find Loribelle’s website here and her Instagram here.

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UNO REVERSE! Kate's on the other side of the mic this week for an expansive Q&A with Sophia D’Urso of ArtSupport.

From the psychology of sales to what bubble wrap to buy, this chat spans the mindset and mechanics of building and sustaining a serious art practice.

Kate shares her rules around commissions, how buyers invest in the story of you, and the not-so-sexy logistical realities of shipping, suppliers, and insurance.

This no-fluff, no-gatekeeping Q&A is for anyone who’s been craving a real roadmap!

Find Nitty Gritty on Instagram here, and check out ArtSupport Australia's website here and Instagram here!

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This week I’m chatting with the brilliant Sophia D’Urso, founder of ArtSupport and one of the most insightful voices in the Australian arts space.

Sophia created ArtSupport after her own creative journey, with a mission to equip artists and arts workers with the tools, resources and confidence to build sustainable careers. Through mentorships, workshops, and her weekly newsletter packed with opportunities, she’s become a go-to guide for creatives at all different levels of their career.

In this episode, we went through it ALL. From building a sustainable art practice to moving through fear, setbacks, and limiting beliefs. Sophia walked us through her experiences and some of the techniques she teaches clients to harness the best version of themselves.

If you’ve been craving practical advice and a bit of a reset, this one’s for you.

Check out ArtSupport Australia's website here and Instagram here!

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It’s that time again, and this week I’m sitting down with the talented Argentinian visual artist, Lola Erhart.

Lola is a painter born in Buenos Aires and now based in the forest of Patagonia. Her figurative work takes the human body as an object of study, exploring the way emotional and fundamental parts of the human psyche can be displayed through brushstrokes. Lola’s models are friends or women close to her, resulting in an intimate reverence for her subjects.

In this episode, Lola explained her practice to me, as well as some of the business processes and personal habits she has introduced to keep her work fluid and time productive.

This was such a grounded conversation and gentle reminder for all creatives to listen to—if we can’t remember to make space for ourselves, it simply won’t exist.

Thank you lovely Lola for taking the time to chat! Live tomorrow morning anywhere you stream your podcasts.

You can find Lola and her work on Instagram here.

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This week I’m joined by self-taught oil painter Tamika Hogan for a grounded conversation about the evolution of her practice over the last 6 years, becoming a full-time artist while co-parenting her son.

Known for her immersive West Australian land and seascapes, Tamika’s paintings have an entrancing ability to translate the power and stillness of nature into timeless and immersive works of art.

We chat about some of the tools she's implemented to manage the challenging balancing act of creativity, motherhood and business, from retiring the “flighty artist” identity, creative celibacy, and why time will never equal price when it comes to art.

This one’s about grounded ambition, long-term thinking, and taking your practice seriously without losing its soul.

Thank you for sitting down to chat with me Tamika, it was a pleasure!

You can find Tamika on Instagram here and on her website here.

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Story time this week. In light of recent events, I wanted to share my experience with galleries — the red flags I ignored, the things I’d do differently now, and the lessons that could have saved me a lot of pain and struggle. If you’re navigating gallery relationships, big opportunities, or that uneasy feeling you can’t quite name, this episode is for you.

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This week, I caught up with illustrator, muralist, designer, and all-round creativity machine, Daren Thomas Magee, aka Real Fun, Wow!

His work lives somewhere between imagination and reality—often landing in that weird, wonderful in-between space. With everything from prints and books to socks, posters, tapestry and tiles, it's obvious Daren is constantly pouring his creativity into every avenue he can and then sharing it with the world.

We dive into everything from building a business from nothing, the highs and lows of money and mindset, and the self-doubt that still creeps in even when your work reaches millions.

This episode is packed with wisdom and full of the kind of creative honesty we rarely get to hear.

Find Real Fun, Wow on Instagram here, and online here.

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This week, my studio partner Holly and I sit down in Byron with self-taught ceramic artist and educator Bianca Pintan, and walk away completely energised by her passion, creativity and warmth.

Bianca’s bold colours, sculptural forms, and intuitive, hand-built process grew from playful experimentation in her garage into a body of work and workshops that inspire artists worldwide. Guided by colour, emotion, and intuition, she doesn’t gatekeep, she openly shares her process through online courses, believing that generosity only expands what’s possible.

We dive into sharing trade secrets, finding balance, embracing flexible plans, and what it really takes to market yourself as a self-represented artist, both organically and through paid channels.

It’s a grounded, expansive conversation packed with practical takeaways, fresh perspective, and a reminder that creativity is freedom.

Explore Bianca’s work and courses on her website here, and on Instagram here.

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This week, I’m in the studio of London-based Australian artist Jess Cochrane to chat through her modern take on a traditional art practice. ⁠

Jess’s paintings depict scenes from the everyday with a focus on familiar scenes of gathering and the things we as humans tend to gather, focusing on themes of consumerism, pop culture and fashion. ⁠

Jess shares openly about the ambition that drives her- a genuine pursuit of mastery, legacy, and a place among the greats. In this chat, we dig into the real-world themes in her work, her interesting perspectives on technology in art and social media life, balancing motherhood, and the freedom she found in starting her practice over.

This one’s for anyone striving for something bigger in their craft and refusing to strive small!

You can find Jess on Instagram here and on her website here.

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