I feel like I know Evelyn Politzer forever. I have been seeing her yarn, thread, and fabric exhibits all over Miami for years, especially airline terminals, parks, and a vast array of galleries. Her work makes you stop and stare. You can’t believe what this woman can do with soft hand-dyed fibers to create unconventional pieces ranging from small two-dimensional tapestries to monumental projects. She is definitely a pioneer in this area of art.

I know a secret about Evelyn. Shh, don’t tell anyone. While she is a leading fiber artist for a few decades now, she actually never knitted a sweater. It’s difficult to believe considering all the millions of people who knit a sweater every year. Evelyn has been spending her time conquering art exhibits all over the world.

I have tried to meet Evelyn for years but I keep missing her at her exhibits. She either left before I showed up or she was at one of her other exhibitions. Then a few weeks ago Evelyn and I were at the same event and she made sure we finally shook hands, or in this case hugged. I knew I wanted to interview her on my podcast so I made her agree to it that night.

Evelyn started her practice in her native land of Uruguay, a country where sheep outnumber human inhabitants, and where wool and other natural fibers continue to be an essential tool for people’s livelihood, especially women. The relationship between the fibers she works with and the place where she was born evokes the comfort of belonging, no matter where she is in the world.

Thank you Evelyn for joining us.

I’m thrilled to be interviewing Jeanne Jaffe today because she is not the typical artist that I usually meet. She has been creating art for 40 years and continues to put out more work than most people half her age. She is a true inspiration for folks who have something to say.

Jeanne is a multi-disciplinary artist working in installation, sculpture, and stop motion animation. Her work is influenced by an interest in language, literature, psychology, and history and explores how we construct identity, our world, and our value systems. Jeanne began her professional career studying archeology and anthropology, examining how people create and express meaning and values through objects, rituals, and behaviors.

Presently, Jeanne has a very mind boggling and profound exhibit at Spinello Projects in Miami. Titled "Before I Wake." The solo exhibition spans her work from 1997 to 2024.

Jeanne was a Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and was a visiting artist for five years at Xian Academy of Fine Arts in Xian, China. She is the recipient of fellowship grants for outstanding artistic development from the Gottlieb Foundation, for support of her automatronic installation about the life of Nicola Tesla from the National Endowment for the Arts, an artist residency in Mino Japan, as well as grants from the Mid Atlantic/NEA, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Independence Foundation, the Leeway Foundation, among others.

Most recently she was awarded an Innovative Artist Fellowship from the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County and a project artist residency from the Deering Estate. Works by Jeanne have been exhibited nationally and internationally at such places as Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art Museum, Phila. Pa; Seokang Museum of Art, Busan, Korea; Mino Washi Museum, Mino, Japan; The Royal Scottish Academy of Edinburgh, Scotland; Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton, N.J.; American Museum of Papermaking, Atlanta, Georgia; Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pa; Woodmere Art Museum, Phila. Pa; Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE; Abington Sculpture Garden, Abington, Pa; Rowan University Gallery, Glassboro, N.J; Marginal Utility Gallery; and Gallery Joe in Phila, Pa.

She also has shown at LNS Gallery, Bridge Red, Doral Art Museum, Coral Springs Art Museum, IS Projects, Hollywood Art and Culture Center, Deering Estate, the Mexican Consulate, the Arts Warehouse, Edge Zones, IPC Artspace and Collective 62.

Her work has been reviewed in Art in America, The New York Times, and Sculpture Magazine among others.

Most people refer to Bianca Bosker as the New York Times best-selling author of Cork Dork and, most recently, Get the Picture.

I refer to Bianca as the most self-assured writer alive who doesn’t mind putting herself in vulnerable and embarrassing situations if it means she gets to write kick ass books that shake up entire industries for the better. Most of the folks I know would never allow themselves to be in an inferior position for the sake of anything. Every day when I was reading “Get The Picture” I kept thinking about how brave and fearless Bianca was.

Bianca did that both in her book about wine, Cork Dork, and most recently, Get the Picture, about art.

I just finished reading Get the Picture because my husband and I seriously collect art even though we were never formally trained to do so. Yet hundreds of thousands of dollars have gone from our piggy banks to the hands of gallerists around the world.

I couldn’t put Bianca’s book down. Most everything she detailed I have witnessed, or heard, over the years. Of course it was always discussed in hush-hush, one on one, conversations. Bianca took the lid off of snotty attitudes, pricing practices, artist loyalties, the challenges of art fairs, and everything else you can think of.

Most of my collector friends who read Get The Picture were not only impressed by Bianca’s remarks but truly appreciated her writing style. I kept hearing “a brilliant writer who knows how to captivate.”

Now we get to hear her voice.

Just for some background, Bianca is a contributing writer at The Atlantic. She has also written for publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Her work has been recognized with awards from the New York Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, and more, and has been included in “The Best American Travel Writing.” She lives in New York City.