Kylie King-Hazel - Portrait painter

Greg Straight is an artist and illustrator who moved from the UK at the age of 9 to Aotearoa NZ and is based in Auckland.His work is inspired by life and nature in New Zealand, nostalgia, classic memories, NZ scenes, summer roadies, riding bikes, surfing waves and hanging out at the beach. He is well known for his confident ‘kiwi cool’ aesthetic, defined by his interest in simplicity, balance, colour and pattern. Greg attended Elam School of Fine Arts in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, which is where his much-adored Kiwi flavour emerged. Over the past decade, he’s been in demand creating custom illustrations for a number of iconic NZ brands as well as branding and packaging, digital and screen prints, a children's book and a variety of merchandise.I loved meeting and chatting to Greg and I know you're going to love listening to this episode. We talk about Greg's childhood and the indirect influence his graphic designer father had on him, how and when he found his distinctive style, how he balances his love of painting and drawing with his commercial work and the challenges of graphic design briefs. We discuss running a business, goal setting, his worries for the future as an illustrator, diversifying and creating side hustles to not only have a sustainable career but also to respond to and manage the onset of AI. Greg unpacks his digital design process and some of his series such as the Top Town series, his original circle paintings for Gallery de Novo, and his customised prints.Greg tells us about a major traumatic health event that he went through in 2025 and how that has affected him and his family, his outlook and his career. Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Rolly Munro is a self taught New Zealand wood artist who has been sculpting wood since the early 1980s. His work is held in public and private collections around the world and he has contributed to many publications and symposiums offshore. His sculptures are strongly influenced by natural forms found around the coastlines of New Zealand including shells, shellfish, animals and plants.In this episode Rolly talks about how he discovered his passion for wood and wood turning, his early influences, his time studying fine art at Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin in his twenties and how he came to work as a sculptor.He shares how he developed his gouging tool designing and making business, the Munro Hollowing System, which are groundbreaking tools now used by woodturners worldwide, started initially out of necessity as the tools he needed weren't available. We discuss the challenges of running the business and maintaining his art practice.He talks in depth about one of his latest works, made of NZ native wood Pohutakawa, and other commissions he has completed, and describes his techniques, ideas and creative processes.Rolly also touches on the difficulties he has experienced showing and selling his work in Aotearoa NZ as a wood artist and how off shore commissions are his main source of income.Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Wendy Leach is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Mangawhai Heads, Northland, Aotearoa NZ. In this chat we unpack her long successful artistic career, from making domestic inspired still life works as a young mother to painting European and New Zealand landscapes, painting abstracts, working with oil pastels and gouache, exploring photography and working with light. Wendy talks about her time studying at Elam School of Fine Art at age 18 and why she chose to return to study years later, this time at Whitecliffe College in Auckland, to complete her MFA. We explore the work created in her 2 year MFA course, her Surrogate Self Portrait series and her Light Painting series, and what she gained from this and learnt about herself as an artist and as a person.We discuss the experiences and environments in her life that have influenced her work including a funded trip by a collector to make work and exhibit in Jordan, living in Belgium for 5 years, travelling extensively throughout Europe and the Mangawhai coastline. Wendy talks about why she is no longer interested in being represented by a gallery, her connections with the community Mangawhai Artists' gallery, how she sells her work, her attitude to moments of creative block, what she looks for in a landscape and her oil painting process.https://www.wendyleach.com/https://www.instagram.com/wendyleach_art/https://www.facebook.com/WendyLeachArt/Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Maico Camilo has been a professional contemporary artist for nearly two decades and has made a significant impact on the art scene. His abstracted figurative and abstract paintings are unashamedly neon bright, bold, textured, energetic and unique.Born in Southern Brazil, Maico Camilo first arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2005 and has since lived, travelled and shown his work throughout Europe, Asia, The United States and Oceania. His experiences across different cultures have informed an artistic practice centred around people, connection, perspective and the way we interpret the world around us.You're going to love this episode. Maico talks very honestly about: relationships with galleries; the ups and downs of selling work internationally; marketing and selling his work independently; his views of the art gallery business model and his approach to exhibiting his work.He shares his thoughts on how he is influenced by his Brazilian culture, the art scene and working as an artist in New Zealand, how he thinks of his art practice as a global business and the intricacies of pricing his work. We explore some of the works that are going to be in his upcoming solo show Unapologetically Dazzling at Turua Gallery, from October 16th - 28th. And of course, so much more! Thank you for listening to Creative Connections. Here is Maico Camilo.Unapologetically Dazzling, opens 16 October at TURUA GALLERY in Auckland, featuring 20–25 vibrant, heavily textured works bursting with neon colour, pattern and energy. Opening night is October 16th from 5pm and the show closes October 28th.https://turuagallery.co.nz/collections/unapologetically-dazzlingSupport the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Andrea Robinson is a painter from Wellington Aotearoa NZ. Her paintings celebrate nature and are made with the intention to touch people's hearts and shine a light on conservation and environmental protection.From stylised realism to illustration, Andrea explores many styles and approaches within 3 series: florals; landscapes and native birds with a particular focus on kiwi. In this episode Andrea shares her personal challenges with health issues and periods of chronic pain and how she manages this around her art practice and her love of being in nature. She shares the messages and narratives behind her paintings, the things that are important to her, how she manages her 3 series of work, what she loves so much about kiwis and the volunteer work she does with them, and she unpacks her painting process.I think you'll find Andrea very inspiring in the way she deals with the challenges in her life, her attitude to the world and her positive mindset.https://www.andrearobinson.co.nz/https://www.instagram.com/andrearobinsonartistnz/Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Nicole Russell is a watercolour artist born in Germany and now living in Ruby Bay in the Tasman district at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. Nicole paints her local environment and what she sees and she loves to paint en plein air.In this episode Nicole talks about how she came to a full time painting practice after a career in law, her journey to living in Aotearoa, her watercolour journaling practice and what informs the paintings she makes.We discuss her experience studying visual arts online with The Learning Connexion, what caused her to lose confidence in her practice when her focus shifted to teaching watercolour painting and her connection to local surroundings and events. Nicole talks about her landscapes work and the quirky little caricatures she enjoys and the narratives that are communicated through her work.And Nicole gives one of the most detailed descriptions of her plein air and studio painting process we've had on the podcast. Enjoy! https://www.nicolerussellart.com/Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Tallulah Nunez was born in Wellington and raised in the Hawkes Bay. She is a painter currently based in the remote Gascoyne region of Western Australia, with a strong creative connection to New Zealand. Her practice is grounded in place — exploring the rich textures, colours, and forms of arid landscapes, native botanicals, and geological structures.Working primarily in drawing and painting, she uses layered mark-making, and gestural linework to reflect the raw beauty and quiet resilience of the land. Her style is intuitive yet grounded in observation, often blending abstract impressions with botanical and environmental detail.Tallulah had a traumatic upbringing and suffers from a number of mental health issues including Obessive Compulsive Disorder, Dis-associative Identity Disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tallulah generously shares her life dealing with these challenges and how painting, particularly repetitive mark making, is a positive way for her to respond to and process her life and mental health.This is another unique, enlightening episode I know you'll enjoy. Nga mihi, thank you to Tallulah for her honesty and authenticity and for highlighting mental health issues in the way she has and for explaining how being an artist has supported and created a 'safe space' as a person dealing with mental health illness. https://www.instagram.com/tallulahnunez_studio/Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Kylie King-Hazel is a portrait painter living in Pōneke Wellington. https://www.instagram.com/kyliekinghazel/Kylie's practice inhabits the space of a soliloquy - an internal dialogue shaped by uncomfortable questions and self-reflection. It begins as a love letter to her Māori husband and children and moves to questioning her responsibility in creating work shaped by love, proximity and relationships.Kylie's practice sits intentionally in an uneasy place and explores the uncomfortable question of what it means to be Tangata te Tiriti in Aotearoa. Rather than finding resolution, her work is shaped by ongoing questioning and reflects her responsibility as a Pākehā artist, wife and mother.Through painting she explores the emotional and political weight of portraiture, where gaze, visibility, histories, relationships and power dynamics combine, considering the accountability of making work in relation to Māori.This episode is unique, thought provoking, authentic, beautifully honest and even raw and emotional at times. Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Tracey Coakley is a narrative oil painter working primarily in figurative painting and portraiture. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Tracey has lived in New Zealand since 2007 and now works from her studio in Waipu, Northland. https://www.instagram.com/traceycoakleyart/Predominantly self-taught, she has been painting since 2000 and working full-time as an artist since 2017, completing a Diploma of Visual Arts in 2006. Her subjects are often friends, family, and self-portraits, and over time have included her children as they navigate from childhood into adolescence and adulthood. BETWEEN USArt That ConnectsOpening Day Ceremony16th May 2026 2-4pmDepot Artspace, Devonport, Aucklandhttps://www.betweenus.co.nz/https://depot.org.nz/https://www.instagram.com/figurativeartnz/This exhibition has been developed to showcase the plurality of voices in contemporary figurative art and portraiture in Aotearoa New Zealand by exploring the rich themes of identity and lived experience with a goal to expand audience appreciation for the genres of figurative art and portraiture, and foster greater expression and connection in our communities. We start talking about this show 1 hour and 6 minutes in to this episode. Tracey and Karlalise would like to sincerely thank Depot Artspace in Devonport for their wonderful venue and all their support.Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram

Lynne Sandri is a contemporary artist and a curious idealist living in Seatoun in Wellington. With a career spanning over 25 years as a full time artist Lynne has had over 100 exhibitions and numerous artist residencies, she has built studios and opened them to the public, she's taught students and mentored artists and she sells just about everything she makes throughout NZ and internationally.Lynne’s artwork delves into the beauty of nature, the cycles of life and the evolving concept of home and being a care-taker of land. She’s a maker, curator and collector with an insatiable appetite and curiosity for art in all its glorious forms.I see Lynne as an amazing experienced role model for artists with some sound advice. as well as a damn good human! In this episode we talk about the benefits of art communities, creating and opening her studio to the public, stepping away from being represented by galleries and why she has chosen to do this, why she loves working 'her own gig', and how she sustains her practice by thinking creatively and outside the box as well as taking calculated risks and her business like approach to her art career.As a past judge, selector, member of the board and part of the founding team of the NZ Art Show, and a guest judge in other art shows, Lynne shares her experiences selecting and judging art. Lynne talks in depth about her various series, including floral paintings on long rolls of canvas that gather on the ground, her landmark paintings, painting on books, her still life and landscape paintings, and her heavily textured sculptural paintings.  http://www.lynnesandri.co.nz/Support the show CREATIVE CONNECTIONS Instagram