When we sat down to create the 200th episode of the Friday Feature Artist podcast, I found myself doing something I don't often do.
Looking back.
Not just at all the artists we've interviewed over the years – but also at us:
And honestly… it made me realise something.
If I’d have waited for things to feel perfect before we began, we never would have made it past episode one.
The truth is, I never really wanted to interview artists.
When we started Take Two, an online art education platform dedicated to championing working artists from around the world, my vision was to always stay behind the scenes. I wanted the artists to shine – with their work and voices front and centre – while I quietly built the platform around them.
At the time, we were working with a business coach who kept encouraging us to champion artists' voices more broadly, not just through our online art courses – also through conversation, storytelling, and creating a space where artists could simply be heard.
And he was right.
The problem was… I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.
I wasn't a trained interviewer. I had never hosted anything live online. I barely even posted on Instagram. So the idea of stepping in front of a camera to interview artists live, for the Friday Feature Artist series on YouTube, felt incredibly uncomfortable.
Terrifying, actually.
If you go back and watch those first few interviews, you can absolutely tell.
I can certainly tell.
But there's something strangely beautiful about that, too.
You see growth. You see people learning in real time. And you see their confidence slowly building through repetition and practice – and simply continuing to show up, week after week, even when life was doing its very best to get in the way.
I think that’s what matters most, especially within a creative life.
So many of us wait until we feel talented, experienced or polished enough. But sometimes readiness only comes after you’ve begun. And you really only find your footing by taking the first step, not by standing still long enough to feel certain about it.
Begin before you're ready, that's what I now believe.
And honestly, done beats perfect almost every time.
Importantly though, that’s not because quality doesn't matter (it absolutely does). As you know, we care deeply about the quality of what we produce here at Take Two. Every Friday Feature Artist interview on YouTube is made with real intention and care – to ensure there’s a real sense of humaneness to all our conversations… and it shows in each of the artist interviews.
We’ve recorded interviews in the midst of young families, during stressful seasons, hard seasons, and really beautiful seasons. It's mind boggling how many time zones we cross to talk with artists from our online art community – a fact that still amazes me.
Sometimes dinner was half-made in the kitchen. Or the kids needed us five minutes after we hit ‘end broadcast’. Life simply couldn't be put on hold to make something that was perfectly polished. And maybe that's part of why the series has resonated with people.
Because it was made by humans, for humans.
Over time, we shifted many of our artist interviews from live broadcasts to pre-recorded conversations, partly for flexibility and sustainability, but also because it allowed us to connect with artists across the world in ways that simply weren't possible before.
But we still love going live when we can. We love seeing your names pop up in the comments as we’re recording. Every comment’s read, which adds further sense and depth to the way conversations have always been at the heart of what this series is about.
You do not need to have everything figured out before you begin. You just need to take the first step. Then another, and another.
You keep putting one foot in front of the other with the skills, knowledge and courage you have available in that moment – not to the version of yourself you're waiting to become.
Those small, imperfect beginnings might just lead you to places, people and pursuits that you never expected. We certainly didn't, when we began 200 episodes ago.
So if there's something in your creative practice, or your life, that you've been putting off because it doesn't feel ready yet: a podcast, a blog, a body of work, even just one piece of artwork, one chapter of a book, one conversation worth having… I hope our 200 episodes of imperfect, evolving, deeply human artist interviews give you a little permission to just begin.
One interview. One chapter. One artwork.
You genuinely never know where it leads.
We'd love to hear from you - just email us at support@taketwoart.com
Episode 200 was made possible by:
Tara Axford - Interviewer and Tutor
Ciska Bothma - Podcast Editor
Naomi Clark - Digital Marketing Manager
Crizel Joy Laurito - Marketing Coordinator
Hosanna Pik - Senior Production Manager
Nicola Rough - Interviewer and Content Manager
Christia Tolentino - FFA Booker and Customer Service Manager
Angela Truscott - Interviewer and Founder
Jo Wright - Interviewer and Creative Director
… and every artist who said yes to a conversation.
Thank you.