Ok, I don’t think I need to do a huge introduction on this one. As you can already tell, Isobel Wood – a.k.a. Issy – is an artsy riot.

I like her quirky/fresh style and I’m loving she’s censoring cats and other pets (see images below) for the sake of art. Naughty kitties – unite!

TAD: Who is Isobel?

Issy: I’m a 19 year old artist/art student, I was born in North Carolina but am of decidedly British descent. I live on the south coast of England currently, but will be moving to London in the autumn to start my BA in Fine Art and Art History at Goldsmiths College. When I’m not painting I am reading, making music or modelling for artistically-inclined acquaintances.

TAD: When did you first discover the art world?

Issy: I really don’t think I ‘discovered’ art properly until last year. It’s one thing being able to draw a nice picture or make a passable collage but the theoretical side, the meaty academia, is something more recent. As far as painting goes, I tried my hand with oils for the first time last November and fell in love – oil paint is to butter what acrylics are to hydrogenated margarine.

TAD: What major challenges have you faced as an artist?

Issy: There are two challenges for me, the first being an innate lack of respect for my own work. I paint on paper and very rarely use canvas, mainly because I initially consider almost every painting a preparatory study for something ‘better’. These paintings are without exception my best work.

The second challenge is in trying to engage my immediate family in any kind of artistic debate. Both my parents are doctors and my brother intends to go into law so yes, there is a very audible ‘whoosh’ sound when a comment regarding postmodernism goes right over their respective heads.

TAD: How did you overcome them?

Issy: For the former, I have managed to make this slightly detached and neglectful attitude to painting a signature part of my creative process. If anyone sees a slightly rustic looking painting of a cat on the floor with boot prints all over it, they almost always know it’s an Isobel Wood.

As far as my creatively-challenged family members go, I’ve adopted something of a teacher-like role, dragging them round galleries and reading excerpts from This Is Modern Art at the supper table. I like to think, though, that my own work with its current focus on the domestic animal, is accessible to most – it sits in quite a familiar realm.

TAD: What do you do to recharge your creative batteries?

Issy:  I think there’s a lot to be said for a complete removal from any kind of artistic endeavour, so I’m happy to admit to picking up a trashy novel with an appallingly designed front cover or engaging in the mindless repetitive activity of stirring a risotto. The latter is a gravely underrated enterprise and should be considered by all.

TAD: If you could change something in the creative/arts industry, what would it be?

Issy: I’m very aware of how young I am and so probably don’t have any authority to comment on the art industry, having barely had a taste of it. Ask me again in 15 years and I’ll try my best to rustle up a suitably cynical answer.

TAD: What’s your advice for people that want to pursue a creative carrer? Where can they start?

Issy: Again, my age here is an issue. The only advice I’d really want to offer would be to do an Art Foundation course (I don’t know if there is an American equivalent). You will be dragged kicking and screaming out of your comfort zone and everything you thought you knew about art will be turned on its head. There’s a reason why everyone who’s been through arts education goes all glossy eyed when you mention their Foundation year. I’ve just come to the end of mine in Brighton and I have had a bloody wonderful time.

Oh man – “ oil paint is to butter what acrylics are to hydrogenated margarine” haha! I could frame this! Acrylic lovers, you know we’re teasing, right?

Issy, thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to do this interview, I’ll be checking back on you a few years from now to get more answers :)

Folks, give Issy some love – visit her site and if you’re not too creepy, add her on Facebook. Happy weekend!