In this inaugural first episode Nick talks with Hugh Merrill about his decades as an artist, and his printmaking, teaching, and the philosophy that drives his creative process. We touch on topics relating to his studio work, his studies in the art department at Yale, feminism and MeToo, Buddhism, and other anecdotes like when artist Mel Chin challenged his universal theory of the art with a drawing of a big sausage. It's an art historical episode, with autobiographical undertones mixed with a feeling that you're at a fire side chat with a professor you loved. Recorded in two parts in Kansas City, MO in late 2017.