Heaps Creative

Heaps Creative

by Tyler Jackson Chappell
Mickey Mason - Painter
Intergalactic-birdwatching-paradise-cowboy Mickey Mason is doing big things. Painting the world through his cosmic desert/ tropical beach lens of the world. His cold shed is the womb from which beauty and colour and sharks burst forth. Recorded on Ngarrindjeri/ Ramindjeri land on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Links: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mickeymasonpaint/ Mickey at Brunswick Street Gallery https://brunswickstreetgallery.com.au/blogs/artists/mickey-mason Mickey at 19Karen https://www.19karen.com.au/artists/mickey-mason/ Mickey at Maunsell Wickes https://maunsellwickes.com/artists/mickey-mason/ Mickey Mason x Volcom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxRdYf9H_Sk
LIVE ARTIST TALK - Jane Smeets & Ben Saunders - Mixed Media Artists
Something a bit different! I was lucky enough to be invited to Artworx Gallery in Goolwa during their SALA exhibition ’Blue Interpreted’. I sat down with Jane Smeets and Ben Saunders for a wonderful chat in front of a live audience. Jane Smeets’ previous role as an arts psychotherapist in palliative services has a significant influence on her art practice. Working with people facing end of life has raised her awareness of caring for life and the natural world. Jane’s large-scale mixed media paintings of birdlife and kangaroos invite the viewer to cultivate wonder and appreciation for the natural world. Ben Saunders is an award-winning contemporary Australian artist based in Adelaide, South Australia, known for creating atmospheric, textural landscape paintings that sit at the intersection of fine art and modern interior design. His work combines layered textures, earthy palettes, and sculptural surfaces to produce bold, statement artworks that anchor a room and evoke the quiet drama of the natural world. This conversation was recorded on Ngarrindjeri land. Links: Jane Smeets’ website https://www.janesmeetsart.com/ Jane’s instagram https://www.instagram.com/jane_smeets/ Ben Saunders’ website https://www.bensaundersartist.com/ Ben’s instagram https://www.instagram.com/bensaundersartist Artworx Gallery and Gifts https://www.artworxgallery.com.au/
Millie Bird - Potter & Artist
Bio: Millie Bird is a Goolwa-based potter (she prefers that to ceramic artist) working under the creative name Chicky Ceramics. Millie's pots tend to talk about the sea, mortality, the human condition, buildings, and vintage cars, among other things. They often show the interdependence between beauty and sorrow, pain and elegance, death and what it means to be alive. Recorded on Ngarrindjeri land on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Links: Chick Ceramics https://chickyceramics.com/ Chick Ceramics Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chicky.ceramics/?hl=en Chick Ceramics Shop https://chickyceramics.com/collections/shop-all Gerry Wedd https://www.instagram.com/gerrywedd/?hl=en Joseph Boas https://www.instagram.com/josephboas_ceramics/ Goodbank Gallery https://www.instagram.com/goodbankgallery/?hl=en Chilli Octopus https://www.instagram.com/chillioctopus/?hl=en Chantell Murphy https://ilukastudio.com.au
Amanda Westley - Indigenous Artist
Amanda Westley is a Ngarrindjeri woman and artist, born in Victor Harbor, South Australia in 1985. Her totems are the whale, pelican and black swan. Growing up she experienced the best of both worlds living the farm life 12kms out of the coastal country town of Victor Harbor. Her father was a boat builder so the water and the ocean have always been a big part of her life. Amanda’s painting style is dot work and the bright colours from my coastal country hometown and the ocean are represented through her paintings. She has been painting from a very young age and her style is contemporary Aboriginal dot art, having always enjoyed painting and the calm that it brought. Her paintings represent country; for Aboriginal people land has a spiritual and cultural connection and is so important to identity and way of life. With her painting she has used a combination of pinks, yellows, blues, greens and oranges to represent how she sees her Ngarrindjeri country. Amanda’s family is one of the oldest Aboriginal families on the south coast; the land she calls home has been a part of her family for a very long time, and by creating these paintings she acknowledges the important connection her family has with this land. Recorded on Ngarrindjeri/ Ramindjeri Land Links: Amanda’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/amandaindigenousartist/ Amanda at Artworx Gallery - https://www.artworxgallery.com.au/artworx-artists/amanda-westley Art Images Gallery - https://artimagesgallery.com.au/collections/amanda-westley Japingka Gallery https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/amanda-westley-the-painting-of-all-of-me/ Coe Gallery https://coegallery.com/collections/amanda-westley Creative Mob Project https://www.instagram.com/creativemobproject/ “NAIDOC WEEK: Ngarrindjeri woman Amanda Westley reflects on her art being gifted to the pope” - ABC https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/adelaide-mornings/amanda-westley/106892860
Farrin Foster - Writer, Editor & Occasional Filmmaker
Farrin Foster is an editor, writer, and occasional film-maker. She is currently the founding editor of Splinter literary journal, and was previously the editor of independent masthead CityMag. Farrin has worked extensively as a journalist and a writer and has been published by titles like the Guardian, Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, and The Big Issue. Hosted by Tyler Jackson Chappell Recorded on Ngarrindjeri/ Ramindjeri land on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Links: Splinter Journal https://splinterjournal.com/ Farrin Foster https://farrinfoster.com/ Tyrone Ormsby https://tyroneormsby.com/ Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcom https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1989/03/13/the-journalist-and-the-murderer-i Ballkids on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/au/title/82635442 CityMag https://www.indailysa.com.au/citymag Writers SA https://writerssa.org.au/ Authors ditch University of Queensland Press after Indigenous kids book pulled for 'anti-Semitism' of illustrator https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-23/authors-quit-university-of-queensland-press-jazz-money-matt-chun/106596326 Why MasterChef is a Masterclass in Australian Propaganda by Farrin Foster https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/why-masterchef-is-a-masterclass-in-australian-propaganda/ Amra Pajalic https://www.amrapajalic.com/ Ellena Savage https://ellenasavage.com/ Sick Note by Olivia De Zilva https://www.pinkshortspress.com.au/books/p/sick-note?srsltid=AfmBOorCLw98ZnLcPpoDxtRZ5GkB7UsHpW3A-mdqJIMRBCKOBxEauWoK Rat Daniels by Alex Sawyer https://www.hachette.com.au/alex-sawyer/rat-daniels How to Emerge by Jill Jones https://vagabondpress.net/products/jill-jones-how-to-emerge
Tom Ling - Photographer & Educator
Tom Ling is a South Australian based photographer, educator, documentor of space and time and conversational wizard. A profoundly deep thinker, every question I asked him about his work resulted in a cornucopia of insights about the creative practice. Tom boasts an extensive list of clients and collaborators and he was just last year, recognised as a finalist in the Bowness Photography Prize, Australia’s richest photography prize, with the work exhibited at the Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh). Tom is someone who has very intentionally made decisions to lead a prolific and rewarding creative life; an example of all the things this show is about. Recorded on Ngarrindjeri/ Ramindjeri land on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Links: Website https://thomasling.com.au/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/_brotherfish/ https://www.instagram.com/tomling.jpg/ Hart Avenue https://thomasling.com.au/Hart-Avenue-Exhibition Carpark Stories https://thomasling.com.au/Carpark-Stories-Book-Exhibition Museum of Australian Photography https://maph.org.au/artists/934/ Ailish Ling on the podcast https://rss.com/podcasts/heaps-creative/2774287
Kristen Cowell - Graphic Designer & Founder of Kenjo Studio
Kristen Cowell is the founder of Kenjo Studio, a branding and design studio based in Middleton, South Australia. After 10 years of design school and agency work she decided it was time to take the leap and start her own design studio. Kristen works closely with clients as she turns ideas into cohesive, personality-driven brands that move beyond templates and passing trends. Kenjo Studio perfectly balances their own style and the unique needs of their clients with bold and ambitious designs. Hosted by Tyler Jackson Chappell Recorded on Ngarrindjeri/ Ramindjeri land on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Links: Kenjo Studio website https://www.kenjostudio.com.au/ Kenjo Studio instagram https://www.instagram.com/kenjo_studio/ Kenjo Studio projects https://www.kenjostudio.com.au/projects Lor Vis https://www.lorvismedia.com/
Nathan Lean - Surfboard Shaper (Sticks by Sticks)
Nathan Lean aka Sticks of Sticks by Sticks. Nathan is the creator of spiritual chariots and foam dance floors. Through the act of shaping surfboards Nathan explores creativity and connection to nature and his fellow humans. Nathan is at heart a teacher, one who respects the importance of lineage but who is also more than happy to share his knowledge with anyone who shows a genuine interest. Nathan is creating functional sculptures in an iterative process driven by community so enjoy and make sure to shop local. Hosted by Tyler Jackson Chappell Recorded on Ngarrindjeri/ Ramindjeri land on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Links: Nathan’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nathanlean_/ Sticks by Sticks https://www.instagram.com/sticksbysticks/ Nathan’s voiceover work https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVXop42gdOs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Some of Nathan’s boards https://www.yeohaus.com/collections/surfboards Nathan’s mentions for SA shapers: Gravelle Surfboards https://gravellesurfboards.com.au/ The Ding King Leighton Clark https://www.facebook.com/thedingkingAUS/ Fried Surfboards https://www.instagram.com/fried._stf/ 96 Surfboards https://www.instagram.com/ninetysixsurf/ Robin Surfboards https://www.instagram.com/robinsurfboards/
Emily Hart - Publisher & Founder of Pink Shorts Press
Emily Hart is publisher and co-founder of Pink Shorts Press. She was previously publisher at Hardie Grant Books, and before that worked at Wakefield Press and Dillons Bookshop. She was named the book industry’s Rising Star in 2022. As well as bookselling, ghostwriting and art teaching, she also has experience (and a degree) in marketing and brand voice which is super evident in the distinct look and feel that herself and Margot Lloyd have created at Pink Shorts. Hosted by Tyler Jackson Chappell This conversation was recorded on the land of the Karuna people of the Adelaide plains. Links: Pink Shorts Press https://www.pinkshortspress.com.au/ Buy Pink Shorts books https://www.pinkshortspress.com.au/books Pink Shorts Press on Substack https://pinkshortspress.substack.com/ Pink Shorts on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pinkshortspress/ Akiko Chan (designer) https://akikochan.com/index.html Splinter Journal https://splinterjournal.com/ caps lock https://www.instagram.com/capslock.adl/ Goodwood Books https://www.goodwoodbooks.com.au/
Ailish Ling - Ceramicist, collage artist & teacher
Ailish Ling is a South Australian based artist driven by a desire to bring people together through a shared love of collage, clay and the practice of bringing elements of the outside in. Haus Collage & Stoneware is a space where her two favourite mediums collide, drawing inspiration from the surrounding natural landscape and the human form. Her work dives into the contemporary whilst holding onto and utilising traditional methods. Hosted by Tyler Jackson Chappell Recorded on Ngarrindjeri land on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Links: Zen Panda https://www.abc.net.au/triplejunearthed/artist/zen-panda Haus Collage & Stoneware Instagram https://www.instagram.com/haus_collage_and_stoneware/ Haus Collage & Stoneware https://ailishling.wixsite.com/website-1?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnh9qBW5y9XsBuWlsjZ8mAkMNlzuU8rEtCl4apCvC_KN-rVP3ZshisFS9oOkg_aem_R0EA4ECCMZFWCKFG9lnBkA Ailish in Fleurieu Living Magazine https://issuu.com/fleurieu-living/docs/flm_winter_2021/s/13365983 1000 Vases 2021 Milan https://www.1000vases.com/milan-2021/xpddlciut1rlsljc72rnwwcj4knkvn
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