Earlier this year in March 2024 I was thrilled to receive Arts Council England DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice) funding via The National Lottery funding stream. As anyone who has tackled the online application process alongside the soul searching research and bid writing will tell you, the joy of success is pretty overwhelming. The year of proposed work, research and learning began in April 2024 and feels to be flying along.

My successful DYCP bid focused on new challenges, on new beginnings and personal stretches. I’ve predominantly been a printmaker in my practice with added mark-making, painting and collage, but what I am now starting to explore with the DYCP funding is where a 3D printmaking and installation practice might take me. Following numerous studio explorations plus the undertaking of a large scale work at Quay Arts, Newport for their Open in the summer of 2023 I had began to consider new methodologies. Following the successful bid I have begun to think ‘outside the frame’ and venture more confidently into sculptural 3D, installations and unframed prints. It’s interesting how external validation provides the push needed and I now already find myself undertaking projects and work that previously I might have pushed aside. Knowing that I have been heard and supported as a result, I feel calmer in trusting my judgments and more daring in my progression. The confidence provided by gaining some funding can’t be underestimated for me.

Alongside the opportunity to development new work and learn different techniques, I was also clear to factor in support to ensure that I questioned myself and my direction during this year (and beyond). Prior to submission I had undertaken a mentoring session with Alys Scott-Hawkins through the support of the IW Creative Network. Alys was able to offer the necessary encouragement (and realism!) to allow me to make an application. Speaking out loud about my practice and the associated personal emotions was both practically helpful as well as cathartic, so in recognition of this I included mentoring time from Alys in my DYCP bid. Having a neutral sound board to bounce ideas off means that I have found lines of inquiry otherwise ignored and hidden in my head, and I have been reminded of the significant role mentoring can have. Thank you Alys for your ongoing support and patience!

One of the key actions that I am undertaking for DYCP is the time to research. All too often I have been rushing to the next task or pushing on with a body of work without stopping fro long enough to look. Having the time and head space to properly stop and think, to read and to go visit, all under the auspices of being for my work is such a wonderful feeling. I have time and funds allocated to ensure I visit more exhibitions and also explore potential installation spaces for my own work, both give food to the soul and focus for the brain. I have been reminded once more of the importance of thinking time – it was always there but now I am allowing myself more, reviewing why I return to certain artistic influences, or questioning my draw to certain geographical locations. As an artist whose work focuses on ancestral identity, place and time, these are imperative considerations to be embraced. Here’s to a year of research, thought, writing and drawing.

I very much wish to say a huge thank you to ACE (Arts Council England) and The National Lottery for their support and would encourage any artist to consider engaging with the process – the phone helpline is staffed by especially helpful people too if you’re unsure. Whether successful or not, the very task of identifying priorities and writing the bid is of considerable value. You can find out about DYCP applications here.

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