Down to a Fine Art

Tune in for Izzy and Anna’s latest existential crisis as they discuss the relationship between art and the climate emergency. Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot to cover from the role artists have in communicating critical information, to the sustainability of their own practices. Join them for some Gaia Theory, intense bird watching, and the potential rebrand as the Rachel Sussman podcast. Music: Kets...

Actual professional (!) graphic designer Alice Letten joins Izzy and Anna for this week’s episode as they once again conquer the three Cs: capitalism, commercialism and crafts. Grilling Alice for all she’s worth, they gain insight into the journey of becoming a graphic designer, what it’s like to be a young woman in a male-dominated industry, and the pressures of wanting to incite positive change...

This week Izzy and Anna throw it back to episode 1 and re-visit their practices, looking at how they’ve changed over the last 10 months. Covering the basics of artist inspiration, used materials and thematic concepts, grab a hot chocolate and join them as they get excited about new-found links in their work and potential collaborations. There’s also a musical interlude. To see their art as they ta...

Despite the fun festivities of the Christmas holidays and new year period, it can be a difficult time of year for many in terms of mental health. This episode centres around honest and open discussion of such issues, in particular focusing on the complex relationship between mental health and creativity. As well as sharing their own experiences, Izzy and Anna are joined by guest Jules Dautel to he...

Izzy and Anna examine the world of craft in this week’s Christmassy episode. They discuss the differences between arts and crafts, touching on capitalism and feminism along the way, revise a bit of art history, and end on some Christmas craft recommendations. Prepare some mulled wine, get your creative Christmas activities ready and get crafting as you listen to this episode! Music: Ketsa, Still R...

What is interior design? Fellow student Ashley Powell joins Izzy and Anna to help answer this question, and it’s more complex than you may think! This week they cover spaceports, how not to use a protractor, the headaches of stair design, interior design career options, and Ashley’s dream of a multi-disciplinary studio. They also touch on why they chose Falmouth University, and in the words of Ash...

In this episode Izzy and Anna tackle the complexities of having an online presence as an artist. They start by mapping the field for any boomers listening (and themselves it turns out), aggressively shout fungible for a while, and then explore the differences in their own social media uses. Although they touch on a wide variety of online platforms, the episode mainly revolves around Instagram – ca...

Melting glaciers, stoats and weasels in New Zealand, radioactive fallout – you name it, it’s covered in this episode as Izzy and Anna delve into their dissertations. Join them for (actually surprisingly calm) tutorial vibes as they outline their dissertation structures and discuss their relevant materials. There’s leaps of faith, high stakes, high emotions and some live paper rustling. Music: Kets...

It’s an all-singing, all-dancing Halloween celebration, spanning multiple creative disciplines and brought to you by five Halloween-loving guests. Split into four segments, Izzy and Anna learn about Halloween and horror across history, film, music, and costume and prosthetics. Notable highlights include: some 4th Century chanting monks, the beauty of fleeting things, an unwelcome curse, some bad g...

This week Izzy and Anna tackle the small matter of how art impacts the world, whether it has a purpose, and what that purpose could be. They cover everything from political art to atomic bombs, even giving some questionable advice along the way (e.g. knit something, you’ll feel better). The combination of their low battery brains and excessively large questions results in, in Anna’s words, ‘a lot...

Hyped up on excessive amounts of Pick n Mix, Izzy and Anna approach this week’s episode as a kind of therapy session, getting all their worries out in a sugar fuelled panic and reflecting on how they feel in preparation for the start of third year. Among other things, they chat about the work they’ve made over summer (or lack thereof), the difficulties of fitting into either commercial or non-comm...

Anna does some artist-friend matchmaking as Izzy gets to know this week’s guest – creative and fellow nature lover Beth Sykes. They discuss their mutual love of trees, natural materials, process-led art, and panic over life after graduation. There’s also a very wholesome artist exchange and they make plans to escape to Scotland together. To check out Beth’s art, see her Instagram @beth.sykes.art....

Brace yourself for an existential nightmare as Izzy and Anna tackle deep time. Join them for some profound moments and metaphors as they jump on the ‘deep time party bus’, battle with the ‘double edged deep time sword’ and float along the ‘deep time river’. But seriously, this episode unpicks big ideas that are central to both Izzy and Anna’s practices, as well as exploring how this affects them o...

In this episode Izzy and Anna are joined by Joely Mae Greally, a Falmouth-based artist just back from her European travels which inspired her upcoming project Arts Culture Commune. Tune in for discussions on the accessibility of white cube galleries, alternative viewing arrangements, combining art with everyday life and the moveability of studio spaces. To find tickets for the debut exhibition of...

Ever wanted to find out the story behind Izzy and Anna’s arrival at Falmouth? Both include an early love of art, some beautiful childhood drawings and a previous attempt at university (spoiler alert: they both dropped out). They discuss their respective reasons for this decision and what they learnt from the process, as well as why they gravitated towards Falmouth and decided to give uni another s...

Izzy and Anna are joined by Emma Booth, a self-described ‘creative’ with specialisms in photography and curation. Emma shares the goss on life as a pandemic graduate, juggling multiple creative pursuits and how to not lose your way when released from the support bubble of university. Tune in as they plough through everything from the crushing weight of artistic freedom to getting free wine at your...

(CW: non-graphic discussions around death) This week Izzy and Anna talk death: funeral arrangements, liminality and the afterlife. Bonus content includes Izzy clarifying that as a vegetarian she doesn’t eat badger and Anna considering the pitfalls of vampirism. In this episode, they’re asking for your input – head on over to their Instagrams to take part: @izzyfineart and @anna.harris.art. Buckle...

In this week’s podcast Izzy and Anna chat with guest Maddy Whitby, a science student with a love of theatre. Some previous themes re-emerge as they touch on the relationship between science and art, as well as delving into new territories to learn about the intricacies of theatre. Want to learn what roles there are in the theatre besides acting? Or why it’s a bad idea to swear in front of an orche...

Delving into the world of life away from uni, this week Izzy and Anna discuss plans for after graduation, expanding their practices outside of their studies, and Anna interviews Izzy about her pet portrait commissions. They get into the knitty gritty of prices, framing, material choices and the importance of having your fingers in lots of pies, plus the never-ending joys of networking. Music: Kets...

Fellow student Paige Warrington joins Izzy and Anna for an artist interview. They cover Falmouth’s obsession with gherkins, the uncanny, a fear of colour, artist influences, ‘networking’, and then end with a slight spiral about life after graduation. Paige’s art can be found at @paige_warrington_art on Instagram, Paige Warrington on YouTube, and nigel4096.wixsite.com/website. Music: Ketsa, Still R...

In this episode Izzy and Anna pause for moment of reflection in the midst of deadline chaos, have a little catch up, see how they’re feeling about current assignments, how the podcast is going and what they hope the future holds. Spoiler alert: there are tears less than 5mins in. Music: Ketsa, Still Room On The Night Train available at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa

With deadlines coming up Izzy and Anna decide to kill two birds with one stone and do some essay prep on the podcast, discussing their chosen topics and reassuring each other that it isn’t too late to be at the planning stage (right?!). Some highlights include: it gets a bit existential, they say humanness a LOT, and Anna waves her hands around excessively trying to describe ‘thingness’. Plus ther...

This week Izzy and Anna are joined by two guests, Izzy Lawrence and Rae Badham, to discuss Art in relation to English and Science. What starts out as a simple Art and English vs Art and Science discussion soon turns into an overall unpicking of the school system as the group gets confused about what those subject divides even mean. Disclaimer: technology was not our friend this episode so enjoy th...

On this week’s podcast Izzy and Anna invent a new game, questionably trying to link together their creative inspirations and actively not talk about their own practice. Artists mentioned: Solomon Kammer - @solomonkammer, Erica Van Loon - @erica_van_loon, Joel Sartore - @joelsartore, Rachel Sussman - @_sussman_, Harriet Lowther - @harriet_lowther, Katie Paterson - @katiempaterson. Music: Ketsa, Sti...

Izzy and Anna introduce the podcast, talk about their own practice and get vulnerable with their artistic insecurities. Get ready to hear the unprepared ramblings of two overwhelmed Fine Art students as they try and find their way in the art world (or just the world in general let's be honest). To see their art as they talk about it, check out their art Instagrams: @anna.harris.art and @izzyfinear...