Can Grief and Loss Make You a Better Artist? ATH Podcast | S5E24
Thu Dec 25 2025
On this week's Arts to Hearts Podcast, we sit down with Philemona Williamson, a painter whose work has explored adolescence, gender, and identity for decades. Her paintings carry layers of symbolism and narrative that have developed over a long career of making art that matters to her. In this conversation, Philemona talks about how motherhood, her child's transition, and her experiences with miscarriage have all found their way into her paintings. She discusses what it means to be open about these experiences in her work and why that vulnerability has made what she creates feel more real and necessary. Through her story, we see how the things we live through directly shape what we make. Philemona shows us that staying true to yourself, even when life gets complicated or painful, can lead to work that resonates because it comes from a place of truth. This interview offers a look at how an artist doesn't separate her life from her canvas, and how the hardest moments can become the most important ones to paint. Philemona Williamson shares thoughtful perspectives on how life and art feed into each other, and why authenticity matters more than perfection. Listen to the full episode to hear her full story.
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On this week's Arts to Hearts Podcast, we sit down with Philemona Williamson, a painter whose work has explored adolescence, gender, and identity for decades. Her paintings carry layers of symbolism and narrative that have developed over a long career of making art that matters to her. In this conversation, Philemona talks about how motherhood, her child's transition, and her experiences with miscarriage have all found their way into her paintings. She discusses what it means to be open about these experiences in her work and why that vulnerability has made what she creates feel more real and necessary. Through her story, we see how the things we live through directly shape what we make. Philemona shows us that staying true to yourself, even when life gets complicated or painful, can lead to work that resonates because it comes from a place of truth. This interview offers a look at how an artist doesn't separate her life from her canvas, and how the hardest moments can become the most important ones to paint. Philemona Williamson shares thoughtful perspectives on how life and art feed into each other, and why authenticity matters more than perfection. Listen to the full episode to hear her full story.