Earlier this year, members of the IW Creative Network were invited to apply for a bursary award of £1000 to help develop their creative practice. Three grants were available with additional mentoring support to help them realise their ambitions!
The bursaries were awarded to applications that were innovative, well developed, realistic and deliverable.
The recipients for the 2024 bursaries are…. Emma Goss, Holly Maslen and Nathan Holt.
Emma Goss
Emma is a versatile creative practitioner, working as a mural artist and self-taught digital designer. Her work ranges from creating logos and labels for small businesses to designing and installing large-scale murals for private and commercial clients. Emma enjoys bringing ideas to life and enhancing the places where we live and work. With the bursary, Emma plans to expand her creative practice into the signwriting industry. She aims to study with local signwriter Terry Ryan and attend an intensive training course with signwriting master Joby Carter. This training will help her develop new skills and explore a new area of artistic expression
Emma will also benefit from mentoring sessions with a professional photographer, which will enhance her ability to capture stunning visuals of her work to promote her practice. Emma plans to deliver public workshops on the basics of signwriting at her local business, “Game On,” which features a splatter room used for creative sessions. These workshops will engage the community and share the new skills she develops through the bursary.
Keep an eye out for Emma’s upcoming workshops and events, where she will showcase how the bursary has advanced her creative practice. For more updates, follow Emma’s journey on her website.
Holly Maslen
Holly is a creative practitioner who transforms second-hand clothes. She paints unique designs and dyes fabrics using natural materials like avocado skins, onion skins, and tea. Her work aims to prevent a throwaway culture and keep fabrics in circulation by turning unwanted items into beautiful, sustainable clothing.
With the bursary, Holly plans to develop a small collection of clothes that link nat ure, architecture, tourism, recycling, and circular fashion. She will photograph the process of foraging and dyeing fabrics with natural materials and present these alongside the finished clothes in a physical exhibition. Holly also intends to incorporate designs based on Victorian architecture, reflecting the origins of the fabrics, such as hotel linens no longer in use. The bursary will also enable Holly to take essential sewing lessons, as she currently sews everything by hand.
Holly will benefit from mentoring to gain advice on opportunities and funding, ensuring she can sustain her creative work. Stay tuned for Holly’s upcoming exhibition in Ventnor, where she will showcase how the bursary has advanced her creative practice. For more updates, follow Holly’s journey on Instagram.
Nathan Holt
Nathan specialises in visual and sound art that blends sacred geometry, cymatics, and contemporary technology to promote wellbeing. With the bursary, Nathan will develop a multi-sensory immersive art installation that people can walk through and interact with, creating a unique and transformative experience. The bursary will help Nathan acquire high-tech tools and materials, as well as research special locations to enhance his project. Additionally, he will receive mentoring to improve his project management skills and learn how to effectively promote his art, which will help him grow professionally and reach a larger audience.
Stay tuned for Nathan’s upcoming public event, where he will showcase how the bursary has advanced his creative practice. For more updates, follow Nathan’s journey on Instagram.
The IW Creative Network brings together artists, makers and creative professionals wanting to develop their business and creative skills on the IW. It seeks to widen and strengthen the artistic and creative community on the IW and enables creative individuals the skills they need to grow and give them the opportunity to share their knowledge with one another, retain talent and sustain their creative practice on the IW.
The IW Creative Network’s talent development programme is designed to help creatives and artists on the Isle of Wight develop their practice – involving Creative Training sessions, 1-2-1 creative business mentoring, photo shoots, portfolio sessions, away days, networking events and bursaries.
If you’d like to join the network, you still can! Click here and sign up today and become part of this growing community of creatives the Isle of Wight.
