Every year, New Art West Midlands (NAWM) supports selected graduates in an exhibition at four of the region's major galleries. As part of NAWM 15, Meadow Arts was one of a number of arts
organisations that worked with Turning Point West Midlands to
arrange follow-on development opportunities for the artists involved. You can find out more about how NAWM supports young artists in the video below.
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| Jade Simpson's work in the NAWM 15 exhibition |
After a
discussion with Jade about her personal aims as an artist we decided that it
would be most beneficial to put her in touch with artist Clare Mitten for a
couple of mentoring sessions. Here is Jade’s account of what she gained from
the experience:
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| Clare Mitten in Jade's studio |
'Being
paired with Clare Mitten has been a wonderful experience. It has given me the
chance to observe up close an artist who is further into their career and
insight into how other artists work. Seeing her studio, her local haunts and
the places she goes for inspiration has motivated my own practice back home. It
has been particularly interesting to compare our backgrounds and how it
has influenced our practice, for instance her being based in London, a
place where museums, exhibitions and culture are openly available, as opposed
to Stoke-on-Trent where the art scene is made up of a close knit community or
small pockets of creative hubs. We also found similarities in our works,
even labelling ourselves as 'art scientists', discovering the natural world
through the medium of art.
During her
visit to my own studio we were able to discuss ideas and directions in which my
work could go. Clare came up with a brilliant idea regarding illustrations by
Audubon and other naturalists that she discovered in my workspace and how
I can adapt them into a 3D medium. At a time when I believed myself to be stuck
in a creative slump she revealed that the inspiration I needed was
already right under my nose. As well as that we discussed how to adapt my
current situation of wanting to be a crafts-person/maker and also continuing
to be an exhibiting fine artist.
I believe
the mentoring programme was a great success, for me in any case, and
I enjoyed every moment of the visits, from seeing an exhibition about
yogic Buddhism, to simply chatting with Clare about or home towns and
influences over a beer.'
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| Jade's studio |
Jade E
Simpson
Twitter:
@jadieeleanor
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/JadieeleanorArtist
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