Artist Zoe Blow loves a nude, but will never undress her vegetables
Zoe Blow is an utter ray of sunshine. She’s your true multi-hyphenate, with her brilliance shining from the role of artist to studio director to life drawing host to gallery director to… you get the picture. Zoe’s the kind of person who, when she can’t find what she wants, will create it. Naturally, she decided to start hosting life drawing classes when she was lonely in her studio with a stack of art supplies, craving community. For the past 3 years, she’s been running Council Street Life Drawing in Naarm / Melbourne. Her deep passion is accessible community art, where anyone can be involved.
Early in our chat, it’s clear that art has always been a huge part of Zoe’s life. However, she wasn’t presented with many creative career options when she was at school, so she became a graphic designer. After a stint in advertising, she realised that that world was definitely not for her, finding herself increasingly drawn to prioritise her other big passion, hosting and facilitating.
When chewing on the “Starving Artist” archetype throughout our interview, Zoe thinks about it two different ways. We learn that when she gets very enveloped in work projects she'll often forget to eat. She’s found that this can often be advantageous, as it coincides with her lack of funds. In terms of what she eats, Zoe’s projects dictate the menu. She hyper-focuses, and once she’s ‘plugged in’, it’s intense and she can lose hours. We’re sure many many creatives will be nodding along to this part! To get her through those times, she loves a dairy free UP and GO! *not sponsored, but open to it, hello there Sanitarium! We also talk about the power plays in the industry, the expectations of working for free and hash out ideas about how artists can be better supported and what that looks like. She believes that recognition and being taken seriously by those around you is crucial, and that respect and necessary societal change will flow from there and move out into structures, education and policy. As we chat about how it can be hard for those not in the creative industry to wrap their head around the fact that artists are professionals, we agree that when people around us connect the dots that art is a real job, it can go higher to levels of government and be investigated in cultural economics.
A QUICK WHIP AROUND THE INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE UP ZOE
PRONOUNS: She / Her
HOMETOWN: Naarm / Melbourne
JOB DESCRIPTION: Founder & Director of Nabe Studios & Council Street Life Drawing; Facilitator; Artist; Designer
When she’s not deep in a project, Zoe adores the whole process of food making (planning, going to the market, chatting to the sellers, preparing food, sharing) and as a sensory person, she finds it meditative. It came as a huge surprise to us when she dropped the bombshell that “Schoolies Week” was her cooking turning point. The story will surprise you - it’s not what you think! The discussion then turns to ‘favourites’ and we learn how much Zoe loves chef Yolanda Whelan and artists Joy Hester and Rosalie Gascoigne. A request from all three of us: If you know the science behind why the smell of onion and garlic frying is so luscious, we want to hear from you in the comments! We were so inspired that What Artists Eat has decided to launch our first fragrance, “Eau de Fructose by WAE”, stay tuned.
Listen to us bond over the love of a “good shit pizza” - it’s where Zoe gets it from that will shock you. Her Dream Dinner party guest list is legendary and includes some of music’s biggest names (including icon Lizzo), as well as a celebrated Melbourne artist and of course her Mum, Sezzie Jane. Zoltan and Claire will absolutely be sneaking in through a window to get a look at Zoe, her best friend and sister showing Lizzo the dance routine that they made up to one of her classics. Stick around to hear about the recipe Zoe shared with us, a nod to Sezzie Jane. You’ll love it because it’s a very salvageable stress free recipe, “You can f*ck it up and save it”.
“At Council Street Life Drawing it’s not super serious. It’s not quiet with just me and the model talking and you being quiet, its very conversational”
When she was little, Zoe’s Grandma recorded her declaring “I want to be an artist who will be remembered”. Little Zo was onto something, because after you hear this episode, you won’t be able to get her enthusiasm, talent or shakshuka meteorite horror story out of your mind. We hope you love hearing what Zoe Blow eats!
WHAT ZOE BLOW EATS
SEZZIE JANE’S TUNA PATTIES
HERE’S ZOE’S HANDMADE RECIPE, A MIXED MEDIA PIECE COMPLETE WITH LAYERS OF RECYCLED PAPERS AND INKS.
photo by claire lefebvre
LINKS & MENTIONS
LINKS TO ARTIST INFORMATION, RESOURCES AND ANYTHING ELSE WE CHATTED ABOUT
COUNCIL STREET LIFE DRAWING INSTAGRAM
“Simple” book anchovy salad recipe - scroll down a few recipes to find this one!
INFORMATION AND TAKEAWAYS FROM OUR CHAT
ZOE BELIEVES THAT VEGETABLES DON’T NEED TO BE NAKED. TRY NOT PEELING THEM. LEAVE THEIR CLOTHES ON!
A TINY BUDGET DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN’T FEED MORE THAN ONE PERSON. BUYING DISCOUNTED VEGGIE BOXES FROM THE MARKET HAS ALLOWED ZOE TO FEED LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE VERY CHEAPLY
I’M NOT FROM AUSTRALIA, WHAT THE HELL IS ‘SCHOOLIES WEEK?”
HAVING A JOB IN THE ARTS AND CULTURAL SECTOR IS A REAL LEGITIMATE JOB
A QUESTION FROM OUR GUEST: IF YOU COULD EAT JUST ONE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
COUNCIL STREET LIFE DRAWING RUNS WEEKLY AT NABE STUDIOS IN KENSINGTON, NAARM / MELBOURNE
