Develop Your Creative Practice
It all begins with an idea. What if I could make my practice circular? When creating art I save everything I can, and I mean everything! Jars of thread and yarn, scraps of cloth, paper to collage. There was still a niggle, I looked around and thought…..I could do more. I had already experimented with natural dyes on fabric but what if I could print with them, create pigments to paint and print with. And then what if the waste plant material could be combined with scraps of cloth to create paper that I could paint and print on. What if my practice could be circular and toxin free? I had the idea. Now I needed the time and financial space to implement it.
Develop Your Creative Practice or DYCP for short is the most fantastic arts grant, there I said it. Swathes of artists across every creative genre you can imagine applies for this funding. It is an incredibly competitive pot of funding. When I filled out my application I had prepped myself that it would not happen. That most artists take a few runs at it and the first try was just that, a first try. When I opened the email and logged in to see that I had been successful I was so ecstatic that I had a panic attack, burst into tears and had to breathe into a paper bag that had the words “inspirational shit” written on it.
The grant allowed me to work with other artists, develop skills and relationships. I have also reconnected with my ancestral Indian roots during a very emotional trip to The British Museum in London. This has given my work a new focus and taken me back where I started my creative journey as a fibre artist and storyteller.