Long time, no blog! Time to look back over the last year, I guess, as I have done at the end of the previous two years, and somehow evaluate and isolate the highs and the lows. This last year has probably been one of the most intense of my life, and I'm not sure I have stopped to draw breath and think it over, even yet.
So, I have finally completed my degree. At the start, I went into it thinking 'If I can get a 2:2, I'll be pleased - but if I can push myself to a 2:1, I'll be ecstatic' . Well, I managed (somehow) to surpass my aim, and I've ended my course with a BA (Hons) - 1st class! I've also been named as the joint winner of the 'Mad Hen prize for Design' - which is awarded to the student(s) who demonstrates the Mad Hen values and ethos of working together, having fun, being fair, telling it 'like it is' and realising that however big you are, the world is bigger. Given some of the difficulties faced in the last year, being informed that its felt you have achieved and demonstrated those values leaves me feeling that the hard work was largely worth it.
And I did work as hard as I possibly could, because with the recession impacting on my family and situation, as it has on so many others, I was constantly aware of the financial sacrifices completing this degree put on my family, not to mention how they were neglected whilst I worked incredibly long hours. To not go all out to do my best would have been so wrong, it would have been a waste, and I stressed about and put myself under a lot of pressure to try and take advantage of every opportunity and to do all the work involved to the very best of my ability. The last year has been incredibly hard going, for that reason, as well as others.
The scene for my final year, and the work I did during it, was set unintentionally at the end of my second year, when I decided to go all out to get as much work experience as I could. A lot of what I did has already been detailed in previous blogs, so I'm not going to go over old ground, simply say that from that start I made a lot of contacts and was given a lot of opportunities, that very quickly resulted in the formation of what was initially called 'The Wrexham film and Photography Collective' - group of students who all wanted to develop their professional practise and enhance C.V's, by taking part in a massive range of real life work experience.
The growth of the Collective has formed a huge part of my final year - it wasn't intentional, there was no deliberate plan on my part to take this direction, particularly at the start. It was something that once begun, just seemed to almost have a life of its own, and particularly for the first few months, being honest, it was more a case of reacting to and grabbing opportunities, with no idea where it was leading or how much of an impact it would have. On the advice of my lecturer, The Collective and the work I did with it, formed a massive part of my Negotiated 1 and 2 studies. In addition, I also undertook projects in collaboration with a profession MUA, and in the second half of the year, I also did a brief - but intense - solo project based around the idea of doing something that was a complete contrast to everything else I had been involved in.
I don't think it occurred to me that the Collective would have the impact it did. Too busy just going with the flow and grabbing and responding to the opportunities that arose, it only gradually became apparent to myself and others, that we were causing a bit of a stir. Lecturers, Stewart Edwards and Marrisse Mari were fantastically supportive - I think they saw the potential long before I, or any of the many other students involved, did. All of us involved in the group owe them massive thanks for everything they did - for the advice, practical support and for the facilities and equipment they made available - and for the amount of their free time they gave us. Dave Robinson, another lecturer, was also extremely supportive and gave us a lot of his time, and we owe him big thanks too. This support, for me, is one of the 'Highs' of my final year.
And another high - The Collective ended up being written about in the local press, getting a lot of attention from various departments within the uni and from outside organisations, and through it, myself and others have had access to a range of experiences and opportunities that I think went beyond anything that we could have envisaged. The feedback we have had from a number of sources was a real boost! Fellow 3rd year students Paul Lowndes and Holly Cooper, involved from almost the start, have ended up, like myself, working virtually full time, running the group and devoting a massive amount of time to it. 8 -12 hour days either at events or on jobs, followed by similar days editing and organising at uni (often 5 days a week), with yet more hours packed in working at home, have largely become the norm - I don't think that there have been more than a handful of days, over the last 8 -10 months, that we have actually had as days off. In fact, Paul, Holly and myself are now in the position of gradually turning the basis of the Collective, into a business which we hope will eventually allow us to earn a living - a long way to go, but the feedback we have had, the interest shown and the support offered indicate its worth sticking with. Working alongside Holly and Paul has been a really good experience :)
Up there, also on the list of 'Highs', are the opportunities I've had to work in close collaboration with a lot of fellow students. The massive amount of work that so many have put in, to support the Collective, often at their own expense in terms of both time and money, is amazing - and they have done this alongside completing the set modules, and their own personal work for their degree. Thank you to all of you - and thank you too, for putting up with me stressing my head off on the occasions when we have been put massively under pressure to complete and deliver work under extremely trying circumstances.
I feel that another huge positive of the last year has been the chance to meet such a large number of incredibly creative people, from outside organisations and groups, to interact with them, to work with them, and to learn as I've watched them work. Big Thanks to people like Steffan Jones Hughes and the lovely staff at the Oriel Wrecsam, to Dave Gray and lots of other people based at the Foundry, to Jane Redfern Jones and Offa Councillors, and to Wendy Paintsil and @67 - these people and organisations have given so much support and provided me (and others in the Collective) with a massive range of opportunities :)
The final high for me is the satisfaction of knowing that I honestly did my best, that I (somehow) met a lot of challenges and situations that were difficult, but still managed to deliver.
So - to the lows.
This may be where I piss a few people off - but maybe, I will also give a few individuals pause for thought, too!
Although I really can't see how anything I, or the Collective, have done in the last year can possibly have impacted negatively on any other person, it seems some feel it has . And some of the reactions have been really petty and/or unpleasant, and very personal . One person apparently ranted about how 'talentless' I was and actually expressed a desire to physically assault me, for example ! There have been accusations of 'favouritism' and 'teachers pet' style comments made (and yes, when I heard about that, I had to remind myself that I was supposedly in university, and not primary school ! ). First semesters grades were released, and just about everyone was busy exchanging news on how they had done - later, I found out that this led to a couple of particularly vicious attacks, where everything from personal insults were aimed at me, through to the implication being voiced that somehow I was responsible for others not getting the marks they felt they deserved - go figure ! Only a very few individuals were involved in this sort of behaviour and reaction, thankfully - but it was sustained, and repeated, and got to be very boring. I just wonder what it says about these individuals, that none of the nasty comments were actually made to my face . I did tackle one of the culprits, incidentally - curious as to what on earth I had ever done to warrant the appalling comments that had been made . The excuse I got was so pathetic, that I am not even going to repeat it !
At the Graduate show, lecturers asked the Collective to organise a small selection of A4 images depicting the events and work that all its members had covered over the previous 12 months. As part of the groups function is to provide work experience for all years of the course, this display was to partly demonstrate that aspect, which several of us had included in our negotiated studies, or professional practise - collaboration and peer learning . We were given a large noticeboard, that as far as I am aware, isn't usually used to display work for exhibitions, to put this work on, so it didn't take exhibition space from anyone else . Nevertheless, several students apparently got the student rep to approach the lecturers, objecting to the Collectives work being featured . Again - note that these people didn't approach me or anyone else in the group directly .
Because of the amount of client work involved, the Collective were given - at the uni's instigation, not in response to any requests made by the group - the use of two macs and an area for the Collective work to be done in. Really appreciated, and it would have been done for ANY group who were in the situation Collective members were in. It sickens me that it appears that some objected to this, to the extent that it appears that work was deliberately interfered with and destroyed - even now, I would love it if an innocent explanation could be found for us repeatedly finding work had been 'deleted' or 'corrupted' - however, as this immediately stopped happening once a lock was fitted to the editing area's door, it seems unlikely that the explanation can be in any way 'innocent' or 'accidental' . Seriously, how can anyone justify this sort of vandalism and extreme behaviour ? Was the groups work so threatening and important to these sad individuals that they had to stoop to such disgusting behaviour.
A friend happen to publish a quote, that maybe some people need to think about - 'Blowing out someone else's candle won't make yours shine any brighter' .
I am not going to go into the fact that it wasn't just the odd student that seemed to have a problem with the Collective :(
So - that's it . A pity about the lows, but good that they in no way match the 'highs' . I am 100% glad that I went to uni - I have learnt, I have developed, I have had some fantastic experiences, and I have made some great friends, and met some amazing people :) Facing an uphill struggle now, to make a career and a living from my degree - but then so is everyone, in this current economic climate, so its a case of just keeping on, and using everything I've learned to do my best to make it work :) On the horizon now is my first commissioned solo exhibition, with hopefully more opportunities springing from that, and on-going collaboration with a lot of local organisations and individuals, that I hope will eventually, lead to opportunities to enable Paul, Holly and myself, to actually generate a regular income. Small, paid jobs are lined up - its just taking, and building on all that - uni may be over, the hard work isn't !
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Saturday, 20 April 2013
Photocross
Through Glyndwr University, myself and fellow student, Holly Cooper, recently entered III International Photocross "Speed of Flash" competition - basically, at 9am on Thursday 11th of April, we were emailed 10 topics, and by 3pm the next day, we had to produce an image for each topic. The rules were simple - we were to interpret the topics as we pleased - and no editing was allowed!
That last bit really got to me - like most photographers, most of the images I produce end up being tweaked in photoshop, even if its just a crop, or adjusting levels or a bit of cloning - so this was a challenge.
More of a challenge when we got the topics, though !
1) Stylish University
2) More than just sport
3) The Magic of Theatre
4) Smiles of out city
5) Flame of Spring
6) Love Formula
7) Evolution of a student
8)Space near us
9) The Job of my Dream
10)Future starts today!
It added to the fun that Holly and I had organised to do a shoot on the Thursday, anyway, with Holly as my model, working on a fantasy theme, with Sam Raybould, MUA - but, we decided to go for it, and actually - the fantasy shoot provided us with our first of the images we took 'The Magic of Theatre'. Holly and I had registered ourselves as 'The Swans' - in honour of this shoot!
It was a hectic two days with Holly and I hitting several locations from the University to the near by Lager club, from a busy roundabout to Llangollen and the Horseshoe Pass, to get our images - but by 2.45pm the next day, we uploaded the last of the images .
1 Stylish University
2 More than Just sport
3 The Magic of Theatre
4 Smiles of out City (we think this was a typo, and it should be smiles of OUR City)
5. Flame of Spring
6 Love Formula
7. Evolution of a Student
8. Space Near Us
9. The Job of My Dreams
10. Future Starts Today
It was an incredibly challenging and interesting competition to take part in. We initially struggled for idea's for several of the topics, and knowing that we couldn't edit in any way at all certainly forced us to be very careful about actually shooting the images, which is no bad thing, I guess.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and fun competition, that got us thinking fast and pushed us out of our comfort zone - very glad we did it :)
That last bit really got to me - like most photographers, most of the images I produce end up being tweaked in photoshop, even if its just a crop, or adjusting levels or a bit of cloning - so this was a challenge.
More of a challenge when we got the topics, though !
1) Stylish University
2) More than just sport
3) The Magic of Theatre
4) Smiles of out city
5) Flame of Spring
6) Love Formula
7) Evolution of a student
8)Space near us
9) The Job of my Dream
10)Future starts today!
It added to the fun that Holly and I had organised to do a shoot on the Thursday, anyway, with Holly as my model, working on a fantasy theme, with Sam Raybould, MUA - but, we decided to go for it, and actually - the fantasy shoot provided us with our first of the images we took 'The Magic of Theatre'. Holly and I had registered ourselves as 'The Swans' - in honour of this shoot!
It was a hectic two days with Holly and I hitting several locations from the University to the near by Lager club, from a busy roundabout to Llangollen and the Horseshoe Pass, to get our images - but by 2.45pm the next day, we uploaded the last of the images .
1 Stylish University
 |
| For this, we simply made use of the display set up in the Regent Street Foyer |
2 More than Just sport
 |
| This was the last image we took - we were hoping for motor bikes, but for once, there was a complete lack of them on the Horseshoe pass! |
3 The Magic of Theatre
 |
| Doing a shoot that involved theatrical make up was a real God Send! |
4 Smiles of out City (we think this was a typo, and it should be smiles of OUR City)
 |
| Thank you Ryan, for being our model :) |
5. Flame of Spring
 |
| I spotted these flowers in the middle of a busy roundabout, and felt they were a really good interpretation of the title |
6 Love Formula
 |
| My Daughter, cuddling our old dog - there is certainly a lot of love there! |
7. Evolution of a Student
 | |
| Using a long exposure and second curtain on the flash, we eventually managed | to get this one. |
8. Space Near Us
 |
| We decided to interpret this as a landscape - we are luck that we are spoilt for beautiful scenes, quite near us |
9. The Job of My Dreams
 |
| A little tongue in cheek - but surely a lot of peoples dream job involves having lots of cash offered! |
10. Future Starts Today
 |
| Yep - we mocked this up - pleased to announce that Juliet later gave birth to a bouncing baby coat! |
It was an incredibly challenging and interesting competition to take part in. We initially struggled for idea's for several of the topics, and knowing that we couldn't edit in any way at all certainly forced us to be very careful about actually shooting the images, which is no bad thing, I guess.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and fun competition, that got us thinking fast and pushed us out of our comfort zone - very glad we did it :)
Sunday, 17 March 2013
An Hour of Images
This was just for fun - I've seen several fellow photographers and friends taking part in 'a photo a day' type projects - and some of the photographs I've seen have been stunning, and I love the whole idea of getting a daily, very brief glimpse into a persons life. This is a slight twist - for no other reason than I really wanted to take some pictures just for the sheer pleasure of doing so, I decided to photograph an hour in my day. Just an ordinary Sunday, and the only aim was to take a series of pictures that tell a short story and that I found visually appealing. I started to take the images, as soon as the decision to do it was reached, and I reached for the camera every time something about what I was doing, what I was looking at whilst I was doing, appealed to me - it might have been the light, or the texture, or whatever .
During the hour, I did what I often do on a Sunday - I started to prepare the lunch, I washed up and I started to iron.
Considering that I am a non-meat eater, there was something about the texture of the raw lamb I prepped for my carnivore family, that was visually, quite appealing. I liked the colour of the carrots, and the texture of the potatoes - and I loved the effect of the water hitting the food and the sides of the colander as I washed the veg. Washing dishes, and the water hitting the bubbles caught my eye. An accidentally broken wine glass occupied me for several minutes, and after watering a plant on my kitchen window, I got very into the way the light from the somewhat overcast day provided a nice backdrop for the flowers.
Doing this for one hour made me really look at what was in front of me, and consider light, texture and composition - and it was fun, and so nice to just take pictures because I wanted too. I enjoy working to briefs, and producing specific work for clients - but, now and again, its good to remember that taking photographs needs no justification other than doing it just because you want to :)
During the hour, I did what I often do on a Sunday - I started to prepare the lunch, I washed up and I started to iron.
Considering that I am a non-meat eater, there was something about the texture of the raw lamb I prepped for my carnivore family, that was visually, quite appealing. I liked the colour of the carrots, and the texture of the potatoes - and I loved the effect of the water hitting the food and the sides of the colander as I washed the veg. Washing dishes, and the water hitting the bubbles caught my eye. An accidentally broken wine glass occupied me for several minutes, and after watering a plant on my kitchen window, I got very into the way the light from the somewhat overcast day provided a nice backdrop for the flowers.
Doing this for one hour made me really look at what was in front of me, and consider light, texture and composition - and it was fun, and so nice to just take pictures because I wanted too. I enjoy working to briefs, and producing specific work for clients - but, now and again, its good to remember that taking photographs needs no justification other than doing it just because you want to :)
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Creative Futures 2013 - Day 4
This was another busy day, although I again got chance to attend only one lecture - we had the Collective display running in the main foyer, and this gave us the chance to meet several people, and today through up the potential for a few new projects that we may well become involved with.
The one lecture I attended was towards the the end of the day - I was attracted to it, as during the week, we have been given lots of advice to network, network, network, and I felt it would be good to get as many tips and illustrations of its value as I could.
Whats Netwroking Ever Done for Us?
Antonia Dewhurst
Antonia - or Toni, as she prefers - graduated from Coleg Menai in 2010.
Toni started off by introducing herself and then described the three main aspects of her work - I apologise that my Welsh spelling isn't up to me being able to give the Welsh translations she used to describe these aspects, but basically 'Between' focus's on her identity which falls between Welsh and English heritage, Shelter is her work creating a series of structures, as a metaphor for the human condition, as was inspired by the Welsh tradition of 'A house in a night',. and the third, 'Strand' focused on the interior, rather than the exterior of buildings - she says a lot of this work is inspired by her mothers home, which is encapsulated in a 1950/60's bubble - and her fascination with abandoned domestic spaces.
Tonis talk revolved around how she had developed her career through her willingness to take advantage of every opportunity she got for experience and exposure, and how the contacts she made through doing this eventually presented her with further career opportunities. The general message delivered showed how the advice that had been prevalent throughout Creative Futures week, about the benefits of networking, were valid - but sadly, added nothing to the knowledge I'd gained through several other lectures, particularly as it revolved around some aspects that would only be of use to fine and applied arts students. Toni did say, early on in the lecture that she had wanted to call the talk ' What I've done since leaving College' - and had been advised to come up with something more 'snappy' - however, the first title was probably more accurate, and I did feel that this talk was more about her work, and how aspects and options relating specifically to that genre had come into play.
Toni's work is extremely interesting, and I was intrigued by some of the projects she has been involved with, particularly Ty un Nos - an old Welsh tradition whereby if you could erect a house during the hours of sunset and sunrise, that by morning had windows and smoking chimney, you gained the freehold of the land - the project where she actually built a Ty un Nos was one that I particularly liked. However, throughout, I found myself more than a little annoyed that I wasn't getting what I had expected - perhaps more detailed information about the lectures contents would be helpful?
An Overview of the week.
Creative Futures was very different for me this year. Although I attended far less lectures than I wanted too (despite being in everyday) I actually feel I got an awful lot of out of it - for the most part, those lectures I did attend presented networking opportunities - which is the whole point of Creative Futures, I guess - and have led to several potentially exciting future opportunities and projects, that will hopefully advance and enhance my career . The business advice I found particularly useful, as were the talks given by organisations that are specific to my own particular field, as I found a lot of what they said relevant in terms of useful advice and giving insights .
The timetabling was perhaps the most annoying feature - for students involved in creative lens media, to find that on the Wednesday afternoon, lectures in photography and documentary film making were scheduled to run at the same time, was incredibly annoying - particularly as a lecture that involved events work within the Creative Industries , an area I am particularly involved in at the moment - was also scheduled for then.
Sad to think this is my last Creative Futures week at Glyndwr - I'd like to thank those involved in organising it for the last 3 years - overall, its been an extremely useful and informative event .
The one lecture I attended was towards the the end of the day - I was attracted to it, as during the week, we have been given lots of advice to network, network, network, and I felt it would be good to get as many tips and illustrations of its value as I could.
Whats Netwroking Ever Done for Us?
Antonia Dewhurst
Antonia - or Toni, as she prefers - graduated from Coleg Menai in 2010.
Toni started off by introducing herself and then described the three main aspects of her work - I apologise that my Welsh spelling isn't up to me being able to give the Welsh translations she used to describe these aspects, but basically 'Between' focus's on her identity which falls between Welsh and English heritage, Shelter is her work creating a series of structures, as a metaphor for the human condition, as was inspired by the Welsh tradition of 'A house in a night',. and the third, 'Strand' focused on the interior, rather than the exterior of buildings - she says a lot of this work is inspired by her mothers home, which is encapsulated in a 1950/60's bubble - and her fascination with abandoned domestic spaces.
Tonis talk revolved around how she had developed her career through her willingness to take advantage of every opportunity she got for experience and exposure, and how the contacts she made through doing this eventually presented her with further career opportunities. The general message delivered showed how the advice that had been prevalent throughout Creative Futures week, about the benefits of networking, were valid - but sadly, added nothing to the knowledge I'd gained through several other lectures, particularly as it revolved around some aspects that would only be of use to fine and applied arts students. Toni did say, early on in the lecture that she had wanted to call the talk ' What I've done since leaving College' - and had been advised to come up with something more 'snappy' - however, the first title was probably more accurate, and I did feel that this talk was more about her work, and how aspects and options relating specifically to that genre had come into play.
Toni's work is extremely interesting, and I was intrigued by some of the projects she has been involved with, particularly Ty un Nos - an old Welsh tradition whereby if you could erect a house during the hours of sunset and sunrise, that by morning had windows and smoking chimney, you gained the freehold of the land - the project where she actually built a Ty un Nos was one that I particularly liked. However, throughout, I found myself more than a little annoyed that I wasn't getting what I had expected - perhaps more detailed information about the lectures contents would be helpful?
An Overview of the week.
Creative Futures was very different for me this year. Although I attended far less lectures than I wanted too (despite being in everyday) I actually feel I got an awful lot of out of it - for the most part, those lectures I did attend presented networking opportunities - which is the whole point of Creative Futures, I guess - and have led to several potentially exciting future opportunities and projects, that will hopefully advance and enhance my career . The business advice I found particularly useful, as were the talks given by organisations that are specific to my own particular field, as I found a lot of what they said relevant in terms of useful advice and giving insights .
The timetabling was perhaps the most annoying feature - for students involved in creative lens media, to find that on the Wednesday afternoon, lectures in photography and documentary film making were scheduled to run at the same time, was incredibly annoying - particularly as a lecture that involved events work within the Creative Industries , an area I am particularly involved in at the moment - was also scheduled for then.
Sad to think this is my last Creative Futures week at Glyndwr - I'd like to thank those involved in organising it for the last 3 years - overall, its been an extremely useful and informative event .
Creative Futures 2013 - Day 3
I was really looking forward to the two lectures I had marked down to attend today. However, events took an unexpected turn when I found my activities formed part of one of the lecturers deliveries - something I knew nothing about in advance, and in a way that I found to be quite upsetting. I have worried over writing about this, and finally decided that as I did actually learn something useful from it, I am going to give a brief account of what happened - though I am not going to identify the speaker involved. I hope my lecturers who will read this blog understand my reasons for doing so - given that it was all so very public, to ignore it and not write up its impact would, I feel, be somewhat dishonest .
I had attended a lecture by this same person, last year and found it to be one of the most informative and interesting of the week - I hoped (expected?) this years lecture to be just as useful . Although it contained a wealth of information, very little had changed from the previous year - I'm not going to criticise that, however, as I am sure there were plenty there who were hearing it for the first time, and there is no doubt that the information contained was well worth being informed about.
At the end of the lecture, the speaker was talking about doing free work to gain experience, and the pitfalls of doing it - concerns that I actually think are mostly justified and that I understand completely. However, although I wasn't identified by name, the lecturer then went on to use me and my activities, that had led to the formation of the Collective, as an example to illustrate all the pitfalls of doing free work, and to demonstrate that its wrong and foolish to do so - which is completely inaccurate, in my specific case. Others from the Collective were present, and they and several others besides myself recognised immediately that I was the student who was being held up as providing an example of what not to do. I raised my hand, and corrected what was said - politely - and to be fair, there was an immediate apology. However, what was said can't be erased that easily.
My major concern is that the recounting of this tale carried an implication that I may well have complained about the organisations that I had done the work for - this is far from being the case. I actively sought out the work experience, purely for the benefit of gaining practical experience - my choice, I looked on it as perhaps a bit of a gamble initially (as in it might not prove to be of any use) and then, after I started, mainly as an investment of my time and energy in order to grow and develop. And at no time did I expect monetary payment, or complain about not receiving any. I value immensely the practical skills I was able to develop, and I also value the fact that those involved have recommended me, written me testimonials, allowed me to network and develop contacts, given me the opportunity to meet some amazingly creative and interesting people, and given me practical advice and guidance, all of which is now starting to pay off in terms of my future career development.
On the heels of that, was embarrassment and anger that I was portrayed in such a poor light, with the speaker having never spoken to me or checked out the facts. It was worse because the speaker acknowledged, before they launched into their story, that the person they were about to speak about might well be sitting in the audience - and knowing that, they still continued to deliver what was, whichever way you look at it, criticism - and completely unjustified and inaccurate at that. The speaker acknowledged that they must have misunderstood what was said to them when I approached them after the lecture, and I later spoke to the person who had provided the speaker with information about myself, and they were horrified - they confirmed that what they had said had been completely misunderstood, and they were appalled that something that they had said during casual conversation had been picked up on and used in this way.
So - I said I learnt something from this. I guess it was a lesson in professionalism - any argument presented to justify what you are presenting in a professional capacity, has to be be backed by facts that you are 100% sure of. Otherwise it undermines the value of your argument, and detracts from any professional standing you may have.
Thankfully, the second lecture I attended that day proved to be much more enjoyable.
Starting a small business within the Creative Industries can be difficult - but it's achievable and Rewarding
Dave Grey.
I've actually known Dave for several months now, and with the Collective, have been lucky enough to be involved in documenting several of the events he and his company, Rampant Dragon, have produced over the last year. I wanted to attend this lecture because I know Dave to be innovative, creative and knowledgeable, so felt that I would certainly pick up some useful information, and also because I was really interested in how Rampant Dragon had come into being in the first place - I usually spend time with Dave in the middle of either event planning or at the actual event, so there had never been a chance for me to hear about all this before .
Dave's talk encapsulated the last 7 years, explained what led to Rampant Dragon, what Rampant Dragon does and about the projects that they run.
7 years ago Rampant dragon evolved out of Dave's freelancing career - and in talking about it, he wanted to
1 Give an overview of Creativity and Arts
2.Identify Challenges to success
3. What you need in order to get success in Creative industry
4. Talk about spotting commercial opportunities
5. Talk about collaboration and partnerships
6. Talk about networking
7. Talk about marketing.
Dave started off working in accounts for the local authority, then moved into working with carnivals and events, then into business in the community, in a charitable organisation. He was frustrated by continually applying for internal vacancies within the organisation, and always missing out at the last moment to individuals who had NBA qualifications - so he made the decision to go to Bangor University, to get his NBA.
At the end of that, he realised that he wanted to work for himself. and then spent 2 years freelancing in a variety of projects and jobs, where he utilised skills in PR, for example.
The majority of the work he was involved in needed creativity - and he realised how hard it is to be creative when you are working solo - and he found he was used to and preferred being part of a team.
He came up with the concept for The Foundry - a base where a collaborative group could be gathered, giving the opportunity the talk, to 'bounce ideas' off each other - its easier to be creative in a collaborative organisation. So, 5 years ago, the Foundry came into being - a Creative Industry space occupied by both CI businesses and other businesses. Its the bedrock of what Dave does - Its a great springboard for creativity, and provides an infrastructure, in terms of shared equipment, that all can utilise. It offers a range of services - there are meeting places, print and marketing services, web and graphic design services. And its ultimately about bringing people together.
Dave went on to talk about the THIS project - this came about 2 years ago, as a result of Wrexham year of Culture, which gathered together all the organisations that hold events in the Wrexham area - and Wrexham holds approximately 400 events a year - more than Chester, Shrewsbury and Oswestry combined. After the year of culture, there was a wish to see this coming together continue, the THIS project, a magazine, was a way of facilitating this. They got a grant of £5,000 from the arts council, which gave Dave the opportunity to develop the idea and see what would work - for example, working out the most effective frequency of publication. It involved him working with a mumber of partners - the local authority, individual artists, galleries, and participation projects.
The first issue was that although there is so much going on, its hard to get it noticed. he worked on his first participation project with Jo Marsh (who the Collective and myself have also had the pleasure of working with, in both the contemporary art and music scene) and then came ReImagine Wrexham, with local artist, Mike Jones. ReImagine Wrexham was also the first time I met Dave - I was asked by the Wrexham Arts Council to photographically document this event, and later, the start of the Collective was born, when Holly Cooper, fellow Creative Lens Media Student, came on board to help me document the closing night of the event.
Above are some of the images I took during the 4 weeks this event ran - Dave presented a small documentary of the event - it was so funny to see my daughter (pictured in the last of the above images, and a huge fan of the whole event) featured in the documentary.
The success of ReImagine led to plans for future participation events.
So THIS is all about communication, and drawing the arts and culture closer together .
Future projects include the 'EMPTY SHOP project'.
A sister project to THIS is Creative International - and again, this is something that the Collective have already been asked to be involved in - which is hoping to bring together everything involved in Wrexham Arts Festival, creating activities between the different events, and involving Wrexham Council Partnership and Print International and FOCUS Wales.
FOCUS Wales has two branches - music festival and professional practise, by way of a two day conference - and hopefully, the Collective are going to be involved in part of that too .
Dave also spoke about FUSION - which is a project that hopes to bring together people from all aspects of the Creative Industries - along with traditional businesses, as a commercial market is necessary.
Dave went on to talk about another project, one he is very thrilled with - The St Giles Sessions. The Collective was fortunate enough to be involved in the filming of the last St Giles session, and we produced five 3 minute music video's of the acts performing, and an 10 minute documentary overview of the whole event for Rampant Dragon.
Above are two of the videos, filmed and edited by the Collective, featuring the amazing DRK MTR and the fabulous Baby Brave and the Love Bites - which includes Jo Marsh .
Dave then announced - for the first time - the next big project.
Its called 'I'm OK man' and its a text based language that is due to go on-line with mobile operators from around the world - its a hieroglyphic form of text speak that is designed to break down language barriers - and to me, its a mark of how creative and innovative Rampant Dragon is.
Dave then went on to talk about the Wrexham Christmas Light Switch on - a new venture for Rampant Dragon - and something else that the Collective have been involved with.
There are plans also to develop a project called Empty Space - which seeks to utilise empty retail spaces in the town, and Mountain Music, working with young people to develop art skills.
Dave went on to give an overview of Creative Activity in the Wrexham area. He touched on it being a mistake to separate art from creative industries - there is a need to put the two together, for mutual benefit. He mentioned Destination Wrexham, who we have also been recently involved with, which is involved with bringing people into - and keeping them in - the local area, and about developing an infrastructure.
He pointed out that though there is good support for creative Industries from the Assembly, arts are not so well supported - and that needs to change.
The need to celebrate and promote what happens in this area, is great - that would be one way of ensuring that people both come to - and stay - local.
Challenges to success in this area - there is a need for investments in the arts to increase. People need to share what they are doing - let others see and check out what you do, share information. And more Networking is needed - to ensure success, you also need to stand out from the crowd.
And on to spotting commercial opportunities - in CI, you never run out of opportunities to work for free - and this needs to be balanced with the need to earn enough to live - balancing out creative opportunities, with commercial opportunities is essential.
The benefits of collaboration and partnerships were highlighted - these increase capacity and increase resources for those involved .
And the benefits and need for networking and marketing were referenced using FUSION as an example, which is a network group that involves CI, arts and commercial businesses.
Dave said that to succeed in a career in CI, there has to be both work experience and training opportunities - and that you need to take advantage of both. He said that you have to be prepared to 'get your hands dirty' - to sometimes take on less glamorous roles, in order to see a project succeed. He stressed the need for confidence in what you do.
So - 4 things important in setting out - the people you are involved with - partners, staff - chose the right ones; communication - talk and utilise the skills of others, when you need to; Money - a difficult one to tackle, talking about it is difficult, but you have to learn how - just remember to balance that with satidfaction in what you do; And have confidence in your ideas, make them stand out, be passionate and love what you do.
I really enjoyed this lecture - as well as giving some useful advice, it was really interesting to find out in more detail about some of the things that I've been lucky enough to be involved in. Dave is extremely invested in what he does, and again - the importance of involvement in the local community was demonstrated as being so very important, alongside the benefits of collaboration and communication. Its a common feature of much I've heard during this years creative futures, and one that I think makes complete sense.
I had attended a lecture by this same person, last year and found it to be one of the most informative and interesting of the week - I hoped (expected?) this years lecture to be just as useful . Although it contained a wealth of information, very little had changed from the previous year - I'm not going to criticise that, however, as I am sure there were plenty there who were hearing it for the first time, and there is no doubt that the information contained was well worth being informed about.
At the end of the lecture, the speaker was talking about doing free work to gain experience, and the pitfalls of doing it - concerns that I actually think are mostly justified and that I understand completely. However, although I wasn't identified by name, the lecturer then went on to use me and my activities, that had led to the formation of the Collective, as an example to illustrate all the pitfalls of doing free work, and to demonstrate that its wrong and foolish to do so - which is completely inaccurate, in my specific case. Others from the Collective were present, and they and several others besides myself recognised immediately that I was the student who was being held up as providing an example of what not to do. I raised my hand, and corrected what was said - politely - and to be fair, there was an immediate apology. However, what was said can't be erased that easily.
My major concern is that the recounting of this tale carried an implication that I may well have complained about the organisations that I had done the work for - this is far from being the case. I actively sought out the work experience, purely for the benefit of gaining practical experience - my choice, I looked on it as perhaps a bit of a gamble initially (as in it might not prove to be of any use) and then, after I started, mainly as an investment of my time and energy in order to grow and develop. And at no time did I expect monetary payment, or complain about not receiving any. I value immensely the practical skills I was able to develop, and I also value the fact that those involved have recommended me, written me testimonials, allowed me to network and develop contacts, given me the opportunity to meet some amazingly creative and interesting people, and given me practical advice and guidance, all of which is now starting to pay off in terms of my future career development.
On the heels of that, was embarrassment and anger that I was portrayed in such a poor light, with the speaker having never spoken to me or checked out the facts. It was worse because the speaker acknowledged, before they launched into their story, that the person they were about to speak about might well be sitting in the audience - and knowing that, they still continued to deliver what was, whichever way you look at it, criticism - and completely unjustified and inaccurate at that. The speaker acknowledged that they must have misunderstood what was said to them when I approached them after the lecture, and I later spoke to the person who had provided the speaker with information about myself, and they were horrified - they confirmed that what they had said had been completely misunderstood, and they were appalled that something that they had said during casual conversation had been picked up on and used in this way.
So - I said I learnt something from this. I guess it was a lesson in professionalism - any argument presented to justify what you are presenting in a professional capacity, has to be be backed by facts that you are 100% sure of. Otherwise it undermines the value of your argument, and detracts from any professional standing you may have.
Thankfully, the second lecture I attended that day proved to be much more enjoyable.
Starting a small business within the Creative Industries can be difficult - but it's achievable and Rewarding
Dave Grey.
I've actually known Dave for several months now, and with the Collective, have been lucky enough to be involved in documenting several of the events he and his company, Rampant Dragon, have produced over the last year. I wanted to attend this lecture because I know Dave to be innovative, creative and knowledgeable, so felt that I would certainly pick up some useful information, and also because I was really interested in how Rampant Dragon had come into being in the first place - I usually spend time with Dave in the middle of either event planning or at the actual event, so there had never been a chance for me to hear about all this before .
Dave's talk encapsulated the last 7 years, explained what led to Rampant Dragon, what Rampant Dragon does and about the projects that they run.
7 years ago Rampant dragon evolved out of Dave's freelancing career - and in talking about it, he wanted to
1 Give an overview of Creativity and Arts
2.Identify Challenges to success
3. What you need in order to get success in Creative industry
4. Talk about spotting commercial opportunities
5. Talk about collaboration and partnerships
6. Talk about networking
7. Talk about marketing.
Dave started off working in accounts for the local authority, then moved into working with carnivals and events, then into business in the community, in a charitable organisation. He was frustrated by continually applying for internal vacancies within the organisation, and always missing out at the last moment to individuals who had NBA qualifications - so he made the decision to go to Bangor University, to get his NBA.
At the end of that, he realised that he wanted to work for himself. and then spent 2 years freelancing in a variety of projects and jobs, where he utilised skills in PR, for example.
The majority of the work he was involved in needed creativity - and he realised how hard it is to be creative when you are working solo - and he found he was used to and preferred being part of a team.
He came up with the concept for The Foundry - a base where a collaborative group could be gathered, giving the opportunity the talk, to 'bounce ideas' off each other - its easier to be creative in a collaborative organisation. So, 5 years ago, the Foundry came into being - a Creative Industry space occupied by both CI businesses and other businesses. Its the bedrock of what Dave does - Its a great springboard for creativity, and provides an infrastructure, in terms of shared equipment, that all can utilise. It offers a range of services - there are meeting places, print and marketing services, web and graphic design services. And its ultimately about bringing people together.
Dave went on to talk about the THIS project - this came about 2 years ago, as a result of Wrexham year of Culture, which gathered together all the organisations that hold events in the Wrexham area - and Wrexham holds approximately 400 events a year - more than Chester, Shrewsbury and Oswestry combined. After the year of culture, there was a wish to see this coming together continue, the THIS project, a magazine, was a way of facilitating this. They got a grant of £5,000 from the arts council, which gave Dave the opportunity to develop the idea and see what would work - for example, working out the most effective frequency of publication. It involved him working with a mumber of partners - the local authority, individual artists, galleries, and participation projects.
The first issue was that although there is so much going on, its hard to get it noticed. he worked on his first participation project with Jo Marsh (who the Collective and myself have also had the pleasure of working with, in both the contemporary art and music scene) and then came ReImagine Wrexham, with local artist, Mike Jones. ReImagine Wrexham was also the first time I met Dave - I was asked by the Wrexham Arts Council to photographically document this event, and later, the start of the Collective was born, when Holly Cooper, fellow Creative Lens Media Student, came on board to help me document the closing night of the event.
Above are some of the images I took during the 4 weeks this event ran - Dave presented a small documentary of the event - it was so funny to see my daughter (pictured in the last of the above images, and a huge fan of the whole event) featured in the documentary.
The success of ReImagine led to plans for future participation events.
So THIS is all about communication, and drawing the arts and culture closer together .
Future projects include the 'EMPTY SHOP project'.
A sister project to THIS is Creative International - and again, this is something that the Collective have already been asked to be involved in - which is hoping to bring together everything involved in Wrexham Arts Festival, creating activities between the different events, and involving Wrexham Council Partnership and Print International and FOCUS Wales.
FOCUS Wales has two branches - music festival and professional practise, by way of a two day conference - and hopefully, the Collective are going to be involved in part of that too .
Dave also spoke about FUSION - which is a project that hopes to bring together people from all aspects of the Creative Industries - along with traditional businesses, as a commercial market is necessary.
Dave went on to talk about another project, one he is very thrilled with - The St Giles Sessions. The Collective was fortunate enough to be involved in the filming of the last St Giles session, and we produced five 3 minute music video's of the acts performing, and an 10 minute documentary overview of the whole event for Rampant Dragon.
Above are two of the videos, filmed and edited by the Collective, featuring the amazing DRK MTR and the fabulous Baby Brave and the Love Bites - which includes Jo Marsh .
Dave then announced - for the first time - the next big project.
Its called 'I'm OK man' and its a text based language that is due to go on-line with mobile operators from around the world - its a hieroglyphic form of text speak that is designed to break down language barriers - and to me, its a mark of how creative and innovative Rampant Dragon is.
Dave then went on to talk about the Wrexham Christmas Light Switch on - a new venture for Rampant Dragon - and something else that the Collective have been involved with.
There are plans also to develop a project called Empty Space - which seeks to utilise empty retail spaces in the town, and Mountain Music, working with young people to develop art skills.
Dave went on to give an overview of Creative Activity in the Wrexham area. He touched on it being a mistake to separate art from creative industries - there is a need to put the two together, for mutual benefit. He mentioned Destination Wrexham, who we have also been recently involved with, which is involved with bringing people into - and keeping them in - the local area, and about developing an infrastructure.
He pointed out that though there is good support for creative Industries from the Assembly, arts are not so well supported - and that needs to change.
The need to celebrate and promote what happens in this area, is great - that would be one way of ensuring that people both come to - and stay - local.
Challenges to success in this area - there is a need for investments in the arts to increase. People need to share what they are doing - let others see and check out what you do, share information. And more Networking is needed - to ensure success, you also need to stand out from the crowd.
And on to spotting commercial opportunities - in CI, you never run out of opportunities to work for free - and this needs to be balanced with the need to earn enough to live - balancing out creative opportunities, with commercial opportunities is essential.
The benefits of collaboration and partnerships were highlighted - these increase capacity and increase resources for those involved .
And the benefits and need for networking and marketing were referenced using FUSION as an example, which is a network group that involves CI, arts and commercial businesses.
Dave said that to succeed in a career in CI, there has to be both work experience and training opportunities - and that you need to take advantage of both. He said that you have to be prepared to 'get your hands dirty' - to sometimes take on less glamorous roles, in order to see a project succeed. He stressed the need for confidence in what you do.
So - 4 things important in setting out - the people you are involved with - partners, staff - chose the right ones; communication - talk and utilise the skills of others, when you need to; Money - a difficult one to tackle, talking about it is difficult, but you have to learn how - just remember to balance that with satidfaction in what you do; And have confidence in your ideas, make them stand out, be passionate and love what you do.
I really enjoyed this lecture - as well as giving some useful advice, it was really interesting to find out in more detail about some of the things that I've been lucky enough to be involved in. Dave is extremely invested in what he does, and again - the importance of involvement in the local community was demonstrated as being so very important, alongside the benefits of collaboration and communication. Its a common feature of much I've heard during this years creative futures, and one that I think makes complete sense.
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