WiSP

This week the American Director of Photography and Cinematographer ,Theresa Vitale, whose resume spans all genres of film and TV productions. Theresa is passionate about elevating women both in her love of sport and her dedication to the industry; two paths that have merged as she crossed the bridge from the US U23 National Rugby Team to film and TV production. As we will hear, sport taught her so much that has helped her in her career not least of all the value of team work and collaboration. Theresa was born in 1982 in Wallingford, CT, the eldest of two daughters; she has a sister Rosanne. Shortly after her parents Mario Vitale and Karen Weeks moved to Lawrence, NJ where her father could commute to New York, while her mother was the home care provider. Sports and music dominated her childhood—she played trombone for nine years — and tried every sport she could, eventually, and accidentally, discovering rugby. Her natural talent was soon recognized and within six months she made the squad which was competing for the national championships. Despite coming up short that year she did win the national championship with the US women’s U23 national team in 2005.  Alas, her career called and she chose the University of Massachusetts for its BA in Communications degree with a focus on TV/Film, graduating in 2005. An internship with MTV in New York convinced her that she wanted to be a camera operator and from that point on doors opened and led the way to a highly successful career.  Her work has been featured on major broadcast, cable, and streaming networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, HBO Max, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Showtime, Bravo, to name a few, specializing in docu-series, competition reality, cooking shows, studio shows, live music, documentaries, BTS and women’s sports. Theresa also takes great pride in helping women find and properly fit personal protective equipment (PPE). As an ambassador for EasyRig, she continues the legacy of her mentor, Cat Cummings, by empowering women with the right gear and ensuring it fits them correctly. Theresa lives in Long Beach California with her wife Heidi and son Barron.   Theresa’s website: www.TheresaVitale.com [http://www.theresavitale.com/] I MDB -  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2922553/ Instagram: TheresaVitale21 & TheresaVitale_DP  Theresa’s favorite female cinematographers: Gretchen Warthen Jen Morton Meagan Stockemer  Host: Chris Stafford Produced by Hollowell Studios Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram The AART Podcast on YouTube Email: theaartpodcast@gmail.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

The English textile artist Alison Holt uses her imagination to capture landscapes and nature and then weave them into colorful canvases that are often taken for paintings. Alison says: 'Each piece is a combination of silk painting and freehand machine stitching. The painting creates depth, perspective and richness to the work and combines effectively with stitch to give detail and texture.’ Her work can be found in private collections around the world and in galleries from London to Sydney.  Alison was born in Oswestry, Shropshire in 1956, the youngest of two girls, to Cyril and Brenda Holt who were garage proprietors. Her father died of a brain tumor when she was just 13 and her mother was left to raise her daughters. Her parents always supported her artistic interests and by the time Alison graduated from Oswestry Girls High School she had only one ambition which was to get into art college. From Shrewsbury Art School she was accepted into the prestigious Goldsmith College in London from where she graduated with a BA Hons in Fine Art Textiles, specializing in  Embroidery. By now her talent had already been recognized and she was immediately offered an exhibition and given commissions. She returned to Shropshire and began what was to become a parallel vocation in teaching at Wexham Art College. Alison married in 1993 and worked part time in her studio while raising her two boys Tom and Jonathan. For 40 years now Alison has built her business as a textile artist, which includes writing books about her practice and teaching courses at her home studio throughout the year. Alison lives in Oswestry with her husband John Moses and their dog Bobby. Alison’s links: https://www.alisonholt.co.uk/ [https://www.alisonholt.co.uk/] https://www.instagram.com/alisonlholt/ [https://www.instagram.com/alisonlholt/] Some of Alison’s favorite female artists. Melissa Scott Miller - Artist - painter Jan Beaney - Textile Artist Chiharu Shiota - Installation Artist    Host: Chris Stafford Produced by Hollowell Studios Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram The AART Podcast on YouTube Email: theaartpodcast@gmail.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

This week the Food and Beverage Stylist Chriscilla Browning.  Chriscilla has blended her love of photography with a creative palette of culinary art establishing herself as a leading visionary in the designing and crafting of visual delights for advertising and editorial stages where beauty stimulates the senses with mouth watering creations.  Chriscilla was born in Waynesboro, Virginia in 1973, the eldest of three girls, to Glenna Lyle, a homemaker and latterly a rural mail carrier, and David Miller, US Navy veteran turned electrician, safety inspector and explosives expert.  Chriscilla grew up on the family farm where rural life grounded her while she developed an interest in fashion and illustrating. She was also an athlete in High School proving herself as a runner. Her interest in the finer art of photography took her to the American College in Atlanta from which she graduated with a BA in Fine Arts in 1994. After a period of waiting tables and bars, Chriscilla found work in a photographer’s studio in Atlanta where she learned the tricks of the trade in styling food and dishes, and even beds for Bloomingdales. It was during this time that she met her husband and took a break in her career to have Skyler, the first of her two sons.  Chriscilla has since built a lucrative business in food and beverage styling that leaves her little time for herself beyond exercising, which these days focuses on weight lifting.  Chriscilla live in Greensboro, NC, when she is not traveling the country on photo shoots. Chriscilla on Instagram: @chriscilla_browning  https://www.instagram.com/chriscilla_browning/ [https://www.instagram.com/chriscilla_browning/] Host: Chris Stafford Produced by Hollowell Studios Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram The AART Podcast on YouTube Email: theaartpodcast@gmail.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

This week the British Fine Artist Frances Featherstone. Frances says her art is guided by an appreciation for storytelling. Narrative serves at the heart of her work with which she seeks to fill her paintings with ideas and conceptual depth. Her creative explorations revolve around the interplay between figures and interior spaces offering viewers a window into intimate emotions that are entangled with the spaces we occupy. Frances employs aerial perspectives to craft patterns seen from above that compress and flatten the spatial dimensions. These pieces venture beyond the constraints of conventional perception and seek to challenge our normal sense of space. One of two children—she has a brother Walter, Frances was born in 1976 in Roade, England, to parents Jane Gill, a teacher —formerly a silversmith and jeweler—and Michael Featherstone a furniture designer. Art runs throughout her family and Frances was always encouraged and supported in her talent which naturally led a formal art education. She achieved an Art Foundation Distinction and First Class Degree in Fine Art and Visual Culture from the University of the West of England, Bristol. before changing direction for her Post Grad in Interactive Multimedia at Bath Spa University, graduating in 2000. She worked as a Designer in the BBC’s Interactive Factual and Learning Department for six years. In 2006 she got married and started a family, at which point she returned to painting, firstly by taking commissions for portraits. Her work took off and she was quickly gaining recognition. In 2019 Frances was shortlisted for ‘Artist of the Year’ by ‘Artists and Illustrators Magazine’. In 2021 she won the ‘The Chair’s Purchase Prize’ at the ING Discerning Eye exhibition at The Mall Galleries in London. And in 2024 was awarded a Certificate of Commendation for ‘an exceptional work selected for the Royal Institute of Oil Painters’ annual exhibition. She has also won Sky Arts Portrait of the Week twice for her paintings of Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo and the singer Dannii Minogue.  Frances is represented by the Fairfax Gallery in Tunbridge Wells and Arcadia Contemporary Gallery in New York. She lives near Groombridge in East Sussex with her husband Munir Hassan and children Sam and Layla.   Frances' links: https://www.francesfeatherstone.co.uk/ [https://www.francesfeatherstone.co.uk/] Instagram: @francesfeatherstone    Some favorite female artists: Paula Rego Jenny Saville Frida Kahlo Joan Mitchell Rachel Whiteread    Host: Chris Stafford Produced by Hollowell Studios Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram The AART Podcast on YouTube has bonus content not included on the podcast. Email: theaartpodcast@gmail.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].

Hungarian Esther Horvath is a multi-award winning polar photographer whose work focuses on climate research in the polar regions. By documenting the work and life of scientists who deliver important data, Esther hopes to help make a difference in how people understand what actually is occurring, and her collaborations with scientists help raise public awareness about these increasingly fragile environments. Esther was born in 1979 in Sopron, Hungary. Esther grew up behind the Iron Curtain and even though she lived only a few kilometers from the Austrian border she was ten years old before the ‘curtain’ came down and she was able to explore the Austrian mountains where the Alps start, discovering a world that held a fascination which would become a life-long passion for her as an explorer.  Despite a childhood interest in art and photography Esther chose to study Economics at West Hungarian University for her Masters Degree. Upon graduating she worked in the private sector in Vienna  and at 25 she owned her first camera which would prove to be life-changing. With a growing passion for photography she decided to go to New York to study Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at International Center of Photography, (ICP). After finishing ICP, she received an assignment from Audubon magazine, to the Arctic Ocean, which was the next most important milestone in her life. Today she documented 25 scientific expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica. From 2019 – 2020, Esther spent almost four months on board the Polarstern icebreaker during polar nights in extreme conditions, documenting the MOSAiC expedition in the Central Arctic Ocean, the largest ever Arctic Ocean science expedition.  In 2022 she was the official photographer of the Endurance22 expedition, searching and finding Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship the Endurance. Esther won the first prize in World Press Photo Award, Environmental single category in 2020. In 2022, she received the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography in New York for her work in raising awareness about conservation, environmental justice and climate change. Esther is a contributing photographer and explorer for National Geographic Explorer, and a Nikon Ambassador and photographer for the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. Esther has homes in Sopron, Hungary and Hamburg, Germany even though she spends most of her time traveling.    Esther’s links: https://estherhorvath.com/ [https://estherhorvath.com/] https://www.instagram.com/estherhorvath [https://www.instagram.com/estherhorvath]   Some of Esther’s favorite female artists: Ami Vitale (photographer) Lyndsey Addario photojournalist) Deirdre Hyde (painter) Rita Rebecca Kirady (interior designer)  Host: Chris Stafford Produced by Hollowell Studios Follow @theaartpodcast on Instagram The AART Podcast on YouTube Email: theaartpodcast@gmail.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support [https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss].