“I used my award to purchase materials, equipment and online tutorials for oil painting. My  main goals were to learn to paint with oils and to establish a regular practice for myself. I feel that I achieved this, though health issues and other matters got in the way of my possibly over ambitious vision of 2-3 days a week of study and practice. However,

“The grant received contributed to the costs of a new computer as well as professional photography of my work. With new software and skills I have been able to update my own website, successfully engage with meetings online, learn new skills including hosting an online exhibition.

“During the month of May 2021, I was able to spend an intensive period of time working in the studio and exploring the use of new surfaces such as kaolin, mica and silver leaf, with a particular focus on the latter.

Funded to undertake research and a period of experimentation in ‘photographic sculptures’: photographic installations that can exhibit in a three dimensional manner.

“Using the research I had gathered I applied (and was successful) for the Balfour Transition commission to produce larger scale photographic sculptures to exhibit at the new hospital, which has taken the project to a stage I didn’t think would be possible. It has also pushed my practice artistically and professionally. The period of research was the most vital element of the whole project as it gave me a greater understanding of where I live and the history behind the place. The research project has developed organically into a larger more public fronted project that has engaged with a wide range of people. This wouldn’t have happened without the initial award that allowed me to undertake research and a period of experimentation.”

"Since pulling the tools together I have spent the majority of the year playing - making lengths of cloth, using firstly 4 shafts and simple patterns, up to 8 shafts and more complex patterns, mixing yarn types to see what would happen. Going with mistakes, seeing what results when you don’t replace a broken warp (or many), watching the fabric grow in a totally arbitrary manner so that only when it is cut off the loom do you have any idea what you have made."