/// ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING!! ///

You may have seen that I’ve been awarded a Develop Your Creative Practice Grant from @aceagrams. I am absolutely thrilled and my head is racing with everything this funding will bring. The funding covers activities from January - July 2024. Eeeeeeeek!

However, I do want to start by saying if you think this was an easy gain think again, because a few people have made comments demonstrating some may not appreciate just how difficult it is to get this funding, how much time and energy goes into the application. I’ve been plotting this application since 2019 shortly after I’d finished my Masters (in Creative Entrepreneurship - an entire module devoted to funding applications) and took a funding course with @workshowgrow. I spent years considering my priorities and which path I want my practice to take. The whole pandemic thing kinda threw me off course for a bit but I’m back to a good place now with very clear aims and goals.

Time to develop my skills was always at the core of the application, the details of what the grant would fund have been fluid. I went through various different projects and dabbled in a few things here and there but it was only once I followed my heart and went for it with Water Towers that things came together. Everything now makes sense and I have a very clear focus with this project.

Without years of ruminating I don’t think my application would’ve been successful. Those learned application writing skills. the feedback, support and guidance from professionals, along with the years of consideration and wanting it to be utilised in the most beneficial way in every area of my practice as possible. For every win there are plentiful losses. And boy has there been some crushing rejections. But one thing I am is consistent. I have carried on regardless, working hard while being true to myself and finding what works for me to have a long and happy career as a silversmith. In a way which works for me as an artist. The reason why I became a silversmith after a couple of decades in other jobs was so I could have a career I love, one which allows some flexibility, aligns with my values, one which can grow and evolve as I grow and evolve. No path is set in stone and I love that. The love of creating is priority and everything else falls into place after that. (I saw fall, its bloody hard work and nothing is easy BUT doing what I love makes it all so satisfying that the hard work doesn’t feel so bad!)

So what will this grant fund? I thought about what would benefit my practice most, both in the short term and long term. I need some practical skills training, some help with finding my audience and understanding the steps I need to take to achieve my goals, the luxury of time to consistently work on my ideas, designs and skills, and some mentoring.

So for the practical side:

A week of skills training with an exceptional silversmith, to help me develop new ways of approaching my work, take me out of my narrow mindset, and help learn new skills.

An intensive masterclass in larger scale soldering, with a trade silversmith who is used to having to be time and material efficient. I will be soldering various different shapes together, something completely out of my comfort zone. This both petrifies and excites me, I know its going to be bloody hard but repetition is key and I’m sure once I get stuck in my soldering will improve tenfold. Which in turn will naturally lead to a more diverse collection of future designs. This training will be in my own studio with my own tools, which means I will not just learn the skills, but on my own equipment so I’ll be able to continue without needing to get used to it all again with my torch/set up.

A course in mixed metals. I have had my eye on this course for a while but clocking in at just over the £1,000 mark it was out of my reach. Silversmithing skills training is few and far between and is not cheap, which is why I don’t have it very often. Which hinders my development, which hinders creating saleable pieces, which hinders having the funds to pay for training. It’s a vicious cycle and this funding is going to help sooo much.

Some research into the best way forward to get my work seen by the right people, including a trip and a meeting with someone who knows my work from early graduate days. This means I can get tailored advice to my own practice. I can’t wait!

A monthly reflection and guidance session with a mentor. This will be a regular catch up to go over my progression, ideas, reflection, and again the person is very experienced in all things creative sector so will bring ideas which I’m sure otherwise wouldn’t be on my radar.

Two crit sessions with a silversmith. I miss the days at uni when I was surrounded by likeminded people to bounce ideas off. Silversmithing - especially in your own studio, especially in Norfolk, is such a lonely career and while I don’t mind that element when I’m working on my pieces (no distractions or disruptions) I do really miss having a network of people to talk to about it. So I’m having a couple of crits with a very straight talking silversmith.

And most importantly it will fund focused studio time each month for seven months, for me to dedicate to this new collection, the water tower works. The one thing I’ve not managed to achieve yet due to, quite frankly, not being able to afford to spend days not earning. It’s going to be so so good. My previous journal entry goes over what the project involves, I wrote it when I thought I hadn’t been successful in getting the funding (I muddled up the notification dates so thought I had been unsuccessful!) so now I can devote time to it each and every week, which will really help build up the momentum and allow all kinds of ideas to come to the front.

I am incredibly grateful and very excited by this and how much my practice will grow over the next 7 months. Thank you everyone who plays the lottery, you’ve funded a dream come true for this silversmith 🧡 I get to write “Supported using public funding by Arts Council England”.