Way back in April 2023, Brave Island started a new fund, Young Creative of the Month, where each month we award £100 to a young creative from the Isle of Wight and share an interview with them on our blog. We had an amazing selection of creatives in 2024, and can’t wait to see who we meet in 2025! We thought it would be great to hear from each of the young creatives again to round off the last year.
Maisie McGregor
Our very first Young Creative of the year was Musician and visual artist Maisie McGregor. Back in January she told us all about her abstract acrylic on canvas paintings, as well as her solo music project where she performs as “Muffy”. We reached out to see how her 2024 went and this is what she said:
“This year has been a real good one! I’ve really pushed myself this year by taking every opportunity possible with my music. I had never done any solo acoustic gigs before, but I’ve done quite a few this year now, which has been a totally different experience to my usual full band set. It’s helped me to really grow in confidence with what I’m doing, and I’ve learnt a lot about what people enjoy and connect with in terms of my songwriting.
My biggest achievement this year was definitely playing at the Isle of Wight Festival, to a full tent of people at the Kashmir Cafe stage.
The past month or so I’ve been working hard in preparation for the Earspeeled Christmas Party, which is always my favourite gig of the year! Hopefully next year will be filled with even more gigs and opportunities!”
Tom Rowe
Tom Rowe was our Young Creative of the Month in February. He is a Fashion designer and told us about starting his final collection in his initial interview. Here’s what he had to add when we reached out in December:
“Since winning I have completed my first ever fashion collection of 6 looks which was displayed during London fashion week with getting lots of press and sponsors along the way from Nico Eyewear and Glide soles which helped pull my collection together.
This was the write up for my collection:
Tom Rowe – ‘Beside the Seaside’
Inspired by 70s photographs of family holidays on the Isle of Wight and his personal memories, Tom Rowe’s imaginative, light-hearted response is a breath of seaside fresh air. Myriad references are drawn from the intricate details of piers, fairground architecture, unpredictable weather and even the process of changing clothes in beach huts. Twisted pieces reflect the vagaries of the British climate, and memories of carrying too much stuff’ to the beach led to the creation of a unique ‘smock’ which incorporates backpack details. Stand-out jeans are re-created from old garments and echo the spiral of a favourite Helter-Skelter’ ride.
Since the show I have loaned lots of my garments out to stylists for celebrity shoots and events, this has helped massively with creating my own platform to do more collections in the future.
I’m very proud of this collection as it connects deeply to my love for the island and how impactful the island life has had on me over my life. It was a joy to express my love for the island to many people in interviews who have never been before. Living and growing up on an island can be a big shock to people but I think my collection truly showed how wonderful and fun this lovely gem we call home can be.”
Mitchell Wright
Mitchell was our Young Creative of the Month back in April this year, he told us about his graphic design work which is inspired by his love for record collecting. You can read his update below:
“I am still producing vinyl content over on my Instagram! I have just been transitioning from autumn albums into the winter albums, with more Christmas albums to come! With my record collection still growing month by month I plan to still keep up with posting into the new year! Still on the look out for a career in something creative or something similar but as for now this is still a hobby on the side.”
Lewis Corry was Brave Island’s Young Creative of the Month for May and told us all about his multidisciplinary creative practice including visual art and poetry. Since then Lewis has gotten into music as he tells us here:
“A lot has changed within my creative practice. Perhaps the most dramatic shift has been that towards music. I’d never considered myself musical, but my friend Hugh and I have since started a band called Lavender Marriage. We had such a wonderful reception at the Fringe and now have CDs for sale in various record stores across the island. I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who supported us and agreed to stock a couple of teenagers’ home-recorded, self-printed first shot at an album.
Switching to an entirely new medium has been really freeing; there’s no expectations of what I create and how technically good it is. Writing songs and playing around with sound has reminded me of all the reasons why I got into the arts in the first place. It’s fed into the rest of my work too. Thinking more about rhythm has done wonders for my poetry, and creating cover art and posters has given me more direction in my visual art.
I am still catastrophically terrified of being a creative on the internet. Fortunately the other 50% of Lavender Marriage is marginally less adverse to it, so if you’re interested in what we do you can find us on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@LavenderMarriage“
Ruby Hawkins
Ruby Hawkins is an Island based jewellery maker and founder of Moon and Stars Jewellery. Ruby won Young Creative of the Month back in March and this is what she had to say when we reached out for an update:
“Since winning Young Creative of the Month in March my jewellery business has grown in lots of different ways!
This summer we have been to many markets and have grown by meeting new customers. We have also had a very busy Christmas with lots of interesting custom orders and Christmas markets.
I have also started a diploma in September on silver jewellery learning lots of new skills and techniques ready for new designs for next year!
I am still planning lots for next year including the launch of the Moon and Stars website. Finally I plan on learning lots of new skills to work towards opening my dream shop!”
Our Young Creative for the Month of July was local animator Jack Holliday Hughes. See below for what he had to say when we reached out for an update:
“I’m currently still looking into publishing my book. Since the interview I’ve finished all the art, and have moved onto formatting and self publishing…its not been a particularly eventful time, just carrying on with a mix of smaller scale projects and my book while I try to find more reliable animation work.”
Liam Downer
Liam Downer is a filmmaker and videographer, who won Young Creative of the Month in August. We reached to him for an update and this is what he had to say:
“I’m now freelancing within the Events industry and have been off the Island for the last 2 months working on a UK tour. I’m looking forward to next year where there‘ll hopefully be more opportunities. My work can still be found on Instagram and YouTube: @liamdownerfilmmaker.
Isaac Leal
Our Young Creative of the month in September was Writer and Filmmaker Isaac Leal. Back then he told us about his inspirations in the world of film as well as his blog “10 Years Post Diagnosis”. Here’s what he had to say when we reached out to find out what he’s been up to:
“Since my interview I’ve been continuing to take part in activities that provoke creative ideas and suggest experiences to discuss in my writing. A good example is the book group I set up with friends, where we’ve read classics like Catch 22, Misery and Brave New World. These book’s have suggested ideas for future stories to me; I found Catch 22’s non-chronological satire about the chaos of war particularly effective as a story structure, one I hadn’t considered before.
Another example of these inspirations comes from the films I’ve watched recently; throughout October I’ve binged a months worth of classic and modern horror movies. Seeing Alien Romulus when rewatching the franchise made me recognise that there is some excellent character writing worked into it. I wrote a piece titled Andy’s Prime Directive that discusses my thoughts on the film. Plus, I’ve also been finishing my chronological viewing of the classic Japanese Godzilla movies, there’s a lot of mediocre entries but some very entertaining and poignant ones, I like elaborate Kaiju destroying stuff, the sillier the better. It’s helped me develop an appreciation for the way older films forefront their themes in a way I feel is becoming less common lately.
However the most successful work I’ve produced recently was inspired by my own experiences as a person who’s visually impaired. Comic books are a format I’d like to read more of but can’t, so I researched what accessibility options were out there, once up to date I wrote an informative piece explaining my findings. I shared this article in a few places and was very pleased with the positive feedback I received from people my words reached. It has been an excellent opportunity to have been hosted on the Brave Island blog and advertise the creative skills I have, thank you to all involved.“
“I have primarily been heavily involved in two University productions. Firstly, I co-edited a student-produced 30-second advertisement for an investment bank called ‘Pirates’. The ad follows a group of pirates as they initially argue about what to do with their treasure, whether to spend it or hide it; the ad concludes after a stowaway suggests they invest their treasure into the investment bank, and the pirates relax and drink cocktails on the beach. My time spent completing this project alongside a fellow student was very challenging but ultimately rewarding through the experience I gained about the commercial post-production industry and the opportunity for creative freedom I had during the process.
Secondly, I have been raising money for the Graduation short film I will be co-editing, titled Milk Candies. The film follows Tyler as he revisits his childhood and re-evaluates his closest relationships while facing the closure of his family’s Chinese supermarket, addressing themes such as change, friendship and the inevitability of growing up. Collectively, myself and the rest of the crew managed to raise over £7200 for the project, which will begin production in the new year. You can find the film’s Instagram and crowdfunding pages linked below.
In terms of what I plan to do in the next year, I plan to continue to produce my own independent short films and projects outside of university, including partaking in Brave Island’s short film commission collaboration with The Bone Ensemble about the joys and challenges of island life, as well as aiming to continue to focus on producing film & tv-related digital content for my social channels.”
Talitha is a musician based on the Island and won Young Creative of the Month in November. When we last spoke they were preparing to release their EP “Tales from the Tavern”. This is what they had to say when we reached out for an update:
“Since the beginning of November I’ve completed my EP and it will be releasing on all music platforms on the 19th of December! I also have CDs for sale on my website and am part of multiple Carol concerts including one at Quarr Abbey, and I’ll be part of multiple services at all saints church.”
You can find Talitha’s work at the following links:
Singer/songwriter and visual artist Luca Frankland rounded off 2024 by becoming the Young Creative of the Month for December. You can read his interview here to learn about his artwork inspired by his home town of Ventnor and involvement in Island band The Missing.
Since Brave Island launched four years ago, we’ve consistently heard that you want more work opportunities. Whether you’re looking to gain valuable experience for future
