Really interesting podcast today with Stephen Datz. You know, most of the podcasts are more about the history of the person and trying to figure out that journey. And in this case, it was really more of an educational understanding of the process of how Steven does his work and how that translates to our show, which is we're having a show and there will be opening very shortly (Friday April 26, 2024).

It's interesting because I know a lot of the things about Stephen, and as an art dealer, you get to understand your artist, how they tick and what works for them and doesn't work for them. Just like you were a family member. I know certain things about Stephen, but after hearing about his process, it really hones in on who he is and how he has to do things to make it work and also allows me to understand what I have to be aware of when he's going to do a show and the things that he has to deal with himself from a creative point of view, because he's a perfectionist.

This drive for perfection makes him slower than normal artist in the sense that his production can't be that big. He just has to have it a certain way before it ever leaves his studio. If you look at the show, you can see why. I mean, it's just a beautiful show, but it also relates to his color sense and how he sees the world through his eyes.

He has unique eyes because he's, synesthetic. It allows him to see colors and hear music and just perceive things a tad different than the normal human. It's a rare thing to have where a color can be a number and a shape.

I think anybody that wants to get inside the brain an artist. How their methods and creativity work, and what it requires for them to create. They'll enjoy hearing this one. This is Stephen Datz.

I've been wanting to do a podcast with Dominik Modlinski for a very long time. I've represented him for over a decade. He is just such an interesting, unique human being. Not like any other artist I've met actually. I represent him at my gallery not just because a skilled creative soul, but he's also just this, wanderlust incarnate-type person who has to go to the most interesting places on the planet to survive He immerses himself in these places for months at a time to capture the essence of wherever he is.

Sometimes he goes on these long sojourns where he's on a motorcycle for months at a time, paintings and riding through backwoods and boondocks. He just got back from Mexico and he brought us some Mexico pieces and he also was just down in Ecuador. He was there for like nine weeks while they were going through major protests, kind of a "the country is closed down" type of scenario.

He has a very unique unique story too. He comes from Poland initially, but he emigrated to Canada at 16 where he attended Art school. He's a fine artist that's academically trained and could be a very successful studio artist, but he just loves to travel the world.

So a unique human, that paints beautiful paintings. I really had a great time on this podcast. I think everyone will enjoy listening to such an interesting and well-traveled human being. This is Dominik Modlinski on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 291.

View Dominik Modlinski paintings here:
https://www.medicinemangallery.com/collections/modlinski-dominik

One of the great things about this job is that sometimes these things come in that are just wonderful gifts. One of those gifts happened to come in today, and her name is Karen Schmidt. Karen's grandfather was Albert Schmidt, who was a very famous Santa Fe painter.

She came in with a large collection of paintings that she found in Albert's house after her grandmother passed in 1989. The house is not just any old house either. it's a house that was built and designed by artist William Pennhallow Henderson. It’s an important house. In fact, it’s a historical landmark and it's in Tesuque, NM.

So she comes in, I’m looking at the paintings and I’m thinking, wow, this is amazing. These paintings came with her grandfather’s house, and they somehow end up with me. Now I get the opportunity to sell this segment of the Albert Schmidt estate and it’s a very unique and rewarding thing that can happen as a dealer.

It's sort of a dream situation when you have that opportunity and I thought I would share it. So we sat down together for a little bit and recorded the conversation. It’s not a very long podcast, but it’s meaningful and just know that when you’re seeing this, it is in the moment of when I’m meeting her for the first time and seeing these paintings for the first time.

I knew who Albert Schmidt was. I’ve had his paintings. I love his paintings. So it’s a nice little inside scoop of how this collection became available and how it got to Medicine Man Gallery. Anyhow, I just wanted to share it with you and I hope you enjoy. This is Art Dealer Diaries Podcast featuring Karen Schmidt, speaking on the paintings of her grandfather, Albert Schmidt.