On March 1st 2017, Natalie and Linda travelled up to Bristol with a group of 24 Level 2 students on a study group trip ,to reconnect and collaborate with Falmouth Alumni, headed by successful Illustrator / Drawn in Bristol founder and Studio Manager, Dave Bain. Dave is recognised nationally and internationally for his playful, vibrant and colourful illustrations.
On our first evening in the city, we headed out, En masse, towards the Bristol waterside for a hedonistic, multi – cultural feast at Za Za bazaar, organised by Teigan.
Falmouth Illustration Alumni and others working in Hamilton House and the Bristol area gave presentations of their work followed by Q and A’s. Our students were very excited to hear about the experiences of graduates working and living in Bristol and were shown around the Illustration studios in Hamilton House , including the space inhabited by the ‘ Drawn in Bristol ‘ collective and were guided through Artists and Illustrators studios in Jamaica Street close by. It was great to hear from our Falmouth Alumni, which included presentations by Harriet Merrion and Hannah Sunny Whaler and for students to be given tours of the studios and to be able to chat with former graduates, including Freya Hartas and Paula Bowles.
The students were excited by what they heard from the Alumni and others working in the field and by the edgy, youthful atmosphere of Stokes Croft, the creative area of Bristol in which Hamilton House is situated.
Inspired by the project theme of ‘Regeneration ‘, students had plenty of free time to explore this culturally and historically vibrant city and to gather and record visual and physical information which would be the catalyst for formulating artwork for their exhibition at the weekend.
One of the highlights of the week was the Light Projection workshop with Tom from Limbic Cinema, a group of Creative Practitioners with a range of skills who collaborate with a variety of clients, including theatres and music venues. Tom worked tirelessly with the students to digitally capture their drawings and project them onto 3D plinths and onto the surface of the gallery space. Students were very inspired by the workshop and it was very exciting for them to see how technologies might be utilised to transform their work.
It was also a great experience for our students to have access to and be able to work alongside Dave Bain and other Illustrators in his new studio, SPACE, which is situated in Old Market, another culturally rich up and coming area of Bristol and for them to have a place to develop their initial ideas into more consolidated artworks and 3D pieces.
The culmination of the trip was at SPACE gallery on Saturday evening and each of our students contributed to the exhibition, which was an exciting mix of 2D, 3D and animated work and included several collaborative outputs, including work produced with Limbic Cinema. The exhibition was well attended by staff, students, Alumni and student’s friends and families and was followed by an extended social get together a few doors down, in Dutch, a local Stokes Croft bar and music venue.
We would like to thanks all Level 2 students who participated, for their enthusiasm and spirit of adventure, in what was a novel and rich experience for all involved and we especially thank our main contact and collaborator in Bristol, Dave Bain, who went above and beyond what was expected, to ensure we all had a great experience.
Linda Scott, March 2017
Thanks to both Linda and Natalie for organising such a valuable trip.
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