10 January 2023

This month’s featured artist led our ‘Imagine: 100 Years of Housing in Bath’ project in 2022. Over 20 people worked with artist Ellie Shipman and staff from the Bath Record Office to create artworks for the exhibition and zine. Participants enjoyed creative sessions inspired by archives about housing, and this prompted much discussion and debate around the provision of local housing. Participants donated some of their artworks to Bath Record Office.

You can view a zine of the artworks here.

Ellie studied Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art, and to date Ellie has created fabric for two sofas with refugee women and researchers (HERE / THERE: To be a woman); co-curated Vietnam’s first large scale exhibition on sustainable fashion (Who Made My Clothes?); and installed a permanent exhibit of 24 hourglasses exploring the sustainability of sand at Bristol’s science centre’s ‘We the Curious’ (24 Hours of Sand). 

Please could you introduce yourself and what you do for Creativity Works
Hello! I’m Ellie Shipman, a participatory artist and illustrator living in Bristol and working around the world, most recently spending a year in Vietnam. Debate around sustainability, urban change, what it means to be a woman and notions of community underpin my creative practice. My work responds to and challenges public, urban and socio-political tensions through encouraging and engaging the general public and a diverse range of community groups: from older people in care to school children or women who have experienced displacement amongst others.

I have worked with Creativity Works as an artist and project manager, teacher and facilitator and taken part as a participant in a few things too!

What have been the highlights of your freelance work for Creativity Works?
I have delivered a number of projects for Creativity Works: from Love Letter to Radstock, a permanent public art trail of letters to the town written by local residents guided by an illustrated map; to teaching online courses on social practice and craft tutorials; to recently facilitating Imagine: 100 Years of Housing in Bath – a 12 week creative course, exhibition and project zine exploring housing archives with participants from Creativity Works and Genesis Trust in partnership with Bath Record Office.

Could you briefly describe your career path to date
I have always been an artist really, always drawing and making things as a child and having visions beyond what I had the skills for at the time! I studied BA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art from 2008-11, and became interested in social practice – bringing art out of the studio and gallery into the public realm, often creating work with and for the public.

I have always been freelance alongside community engagement roles for various charities, galleries, Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol. I studied a Masters in Sustainable Development at UWE in 2016 to frame my art practice in a new way and further investigate my interest in climate change and human behaviour. I took a year out in 2019 to live in Vietnam with my partner, and spent the time taking on art residencies, developing exhibitions, illustration and pattern design skills and new artwork.

I have been full time freelance since returning to Bristol in December 2019, and my practice now has multiple strands including: participatory art projects and illustration for charities, arts organisations and universities; pattern design for fabric and wallpaper; and teaching on Skillshare where I am a ‘Top Teacher’, selected by the platform for my classes on fabric design and illustration.

What advice would you give freelancers looking to work in arts and wellbeing?
Know your value and be aware of your role – often freelance artists are thrown into complex social situations and expected to manage it with the expertise of a therapist or social worker (I made a toolkit of recommendations to help with this). Drawing boundaries around your time, only working the days you are paid for and clarifying expectations and roles at the start of every project is vital to avoiding burnout and giving your work the respect it deserves. Easier said than done and most artists I know (myself included!) are still on a learning journey with this balance.

Is there anywhere our readers can follow your career and work?
Say hello on Instagram @ellieshipman
Participatory art portfolio: eleanorshipman.com
Illustration portfolio: ellieshipman.com