As the sticker says, I’m very proud to have been chosen as a finalist in the inaugural Creative Bath Awards.
Creative Bath is a hub for local creatives which aims to promote Bath as a great place for creativity to thrive, attracting new businesses and workers. As one of those newbies, over the past year since moving to the area I’ve loved taking advantage of what Bath offers, most recently listening to typography legend Erik Spiekermann talk at the Bath Komedia last month.
Probably my first creative event after moving to Bath was to see a talk by the fabulous Fashion Illustrator David Downton as part of Bath in Fashion. After which and by chance, we were interlopers at a Mediaclash networking event and found out all about Creative Bath.
London used to be my manor and obviously has huge amounts of creative spark, so it’s been incredibly inspiring to find that Bath really is a creatively fertile place to call home. I look forward to adding my work into that, making new creative friends and spreading the illo love. Being a finalist in this award is a great way to introduce myself to the area, and winning it… heh, that would be the bee’s knees. The dog’s bollocks. The (illustrator’s) cat’s whiskers!
The Creative Bath Awards are aiming to support local creative and tech companies; to share creative excellence, help the sector to thrive; and to highlight that Bath is a leading creative city. With 18 categories including Maker, Publisher, Photographer and Live Performance, there’s a real mix to show off all facets of the area’s creativity. I’m a finalist in the Designer category, but I also entered into the Art category – I wasn’t sure which the judges would consider me for. Often the constraints of budget and clients’ wishes make illustration much more similar to design than the freedom art can offer. I’m happy to be flying the illustration flag at these awards, and who knows, there may be an entire category to call our own next year.
I hear the Creative Bath summer party is quite legendary, so hugely looking forward to 8th June to experience both that, and the inaugural Creative Bath Awards ceremony. Best of luck to all finalists and I’ll see you there. Gotta be in it to win it!